1xorg.conf(5) File Formats Manual xorg.conf(5)
2
6 xorg.conf and xorg.conf.d - configuration files for Xorg X server
7
9 Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration
10 and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables,
11 the xorg.conf and xorg.conf.d configuration files, auto-detection, and
12 fallback defaults. When the same information is supplied in more than
13 one way, the highest precedence mechanism is used. The list of mecha‐
14 nisms is ordered from highest precedence to lowest. Note that not all
15 parameters can be supplied via all methods. The available command line
16 options and environment variables (and some defaults) are described in
17 the Xserver(1) and Xorg(1) manual pages. Most configuration file param‐
18 eters, with their defaults, are described below. Driver and module spe‐
19 cific configuration parameters are described in the relevant driver or
20 module manual page.
21
23 Xorg uses a configuration file called xorg.conf and files ending in the
24 suffix .conf from the directory xorg.conf.d for its initial setup. The
25 xorg.conf configuration file is searched for in the following places
26 when the server is started as a normal user:
27 /etc/X11/<cmdline>
29 /usr/etc/X11/<cmdline>
30 /etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
31 /usr/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
32 /etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
33 /etc/X11/xorg.conf
34 /etc/xorg.conf
35 /usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
36 /usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
37 /usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf
38 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
39 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf-4
40 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf
41 where <cmdline> is a relative path (with no “..” components) specified
43 with the -config command line option, $XORGCONFIG is the relative path
44 (with no “..” components) specified by that environment variable, and
45 <hostname> is the machine's hostname as reported by gethostname(3).
46 When the Xorg server is started by the “root” user, the config file
48 search locations are as follows:
49 <cmdline>
51 /etc/X11/<cmdline>
52 /usr/etc/X11/<cmdline>
53 $XORGCONFIG
54 /etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
55 /usr/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
56 /etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
57 /etc/X11/xorg.conf
58 /etc/xorg.conf
59 /usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
60 /usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
61 /usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf
62 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
63 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf-4
64 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf
65 where <cmdline> is the path specified with the -config command line
67 option (which may be absolute or relative), $XORGCONFIG is the path
68 specified by that environment variable (absolute or relative), $HOME is
69 the path specified by that environment variable (usually the home
70 directory), and <hostname> is the machine's hostname as reported by
71 gethostname(3).
72 Additional configuration files are searched for in the following direc‐
74 tories when the server is started as a normal user:
75 /etc/X11/<cmdline>
77 /etc/X11/<cmdline>
78 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
79 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
80 where <cmdline> is a relative path (with no “..” components) specified
82 with the -configdir command line option.
83 When the Xorg server is started by the “root” user, the config direc‐
85 tory search locations are as follows:
86 <cmdline>
88 /etc/X11/<cmdline>
89 /etc/X11/<cmdline>
90 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
91 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
92 where <cmdline> is the path specified with the -configdir command line
94 option (which may be absolute or relative).
95 Finally, configuration files will also be searched for in directories
97 reserved for system use. These are to separate configuration files from
98 the vendor or 3rd party packages from those of local administration.
99 These files are found in the following directories:
100 /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d
102 /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d
103 The xorg.conf and xorg.conf.d files are composed of a number of sec‐
105 tions which may be present in any order, or omitted to use default con‐
106 figuration values. Each section has the form:
107 Section "SectionName"
109 SectionEntry
110 ...
111 EndSection
112 The section names are:
114 Files File pathnames
116 ServerFlags Server flags
117 Module Dynamic module loading
118 Extensions Extension enabling
119 InputDevice Input device description
120 InputClass Input class description
121 Device Graphics device description
122 VideoAdaptor Xv video adaptor description
123 Monitor Monitor description
124 Modes Video modes descriptions
125 Screen Screen configuration
126 ServerLayout Overall layout
127 DRI DRI-specific configuration
128 Vendor Vendor-specific configuration
129 The following obsolete section names are still recognised for compati‐
131 bility purposes. In new config files, the InputDevice section should
132 be used instead.
133 Keyboard Keyboard configuration
135 Pointer Pointer/mouse configuration
136 The old XInput section is no longer recognised.
138 The ServerLayout sections are at the highest level. They bind together
140 the input and output devices that will be used in a session. The input
141 devices are described in the InputDevice sections. Output devices usu‐
142 ally consist of multiple independent components (e.g., a graphics board
143 and a monitor). These multiple components are bound together in the
144 Screen sections, and it is these that are referenced by the ServerLay‐
145 out section. Each Screen section binds together a graphics board and a
146 monitor. The graphics boards are described in the Device sections, and
147 the monitors are described in the Monitor sections.
148 Config file keywords are case-insensitive, and “_” characters are
150 ignored. Most strings (including Option names) are also case-insensi‐
151 tive, and insensitive to white space and “_” characters.
152 Each config file entry usually takes up a single line in the file.
154 They consist of a keyword, which is possibly followed by one or more
155 arguments, with the number and types of the arguments depending on the
156 keyword. The argument types are:
157 Integer an integer number in decimal, hex or octal
159 Real a floating point number
160 String a string enclosed in double quote marks (")
161 Note: hex integer values must be prefixed with “0x”, and octal values
163 with “0”.
164 A special keyword called Option may be used to provide free-form data
166 to various components of the server. The Option keyword takes either
167 one or two string arguments. The first is the option name, and the
168 optional second argument is the option value. Some commonly used
169 option value types include:
170 Integer an integer number in decimal, hex or octal
172 Real a floating point number
173 String a sequence of characters
174 Boolean a boolean value (see below)
175 Frequency a frequency value (see below)
176 Note that all Option values, not just strings, must be enclosed in
178 quotes.
179 Boolean options may optionally have a value specified. When no value
181 is specified, the option's value is TRUE. The following boolean option
182 values are recognised as TRUE:
183 1, on, true, yes
185 and the following boolean option values are recognised as FALSE:
187 0, off, false, no
189 If an option name is prefixed with "No", then the option value is
191 negated.
192 Example: the following option entries are equivalent:
194 Option "Accel" "Off"
196 Option "NoAccel"
197 Option "NoAccel" "On"
198 Option "Accel" "false"
199 Option "Accel" "no"
200 Frequency option values consist of a real number that is optionally
202 followed by one of the following frequency units:
203 Hz, k, kHz, M, MHz
205 When the unit name is omitted, the correct units will be determined
207 from the value and the expectations of the appropriate range of the
208 value. It is recommended that the units always be specified when using
209 frequency option values to avoid any errors in determining the value.
210
212 The Files section is used to specify some path names required by the
213 server. Some of these paths can also be set from the command line (see
214 Xserver(1) and Xorg(1)). The command line settings override the values
215 specified in the config file. The Files section is optional, as are
216 all of the entries that may appear in it.
217 The entries that can appear in this section are:
219 FontPath "path"
221 sets the search path for fonts. This path is a comma separated
222 list of font path elements which the Xorg server searches for
223 font databases. Multiple FontPath entries may be specified, and
224 they will be concatenated to build up the fontpath used by the
225 server. Font path elements can be absolute directory paths,
226 catalogue directories or a font server identifier. The formats
227 of the later two are explained below:
228 Catalogue directories:
230 Catalogue directories can be specified using the prefix cat‐
232 alogue: before the directory name. The directory can then be
233 populated with symlinks pointing to the real font directo‐
234 ries, using the following syntax in the symlink name:
235 <identifier>:[attribute]:pri=<priority>
237 where <identifier> is an alphanumeric identifier,
239 [attribute] is an attribute which will be passed to the
240 underlying FPE and <priority> is a number used to order the
241 fontfile FPEs. Examples:
242 75dpi:unscaled:pri=20 -> /usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi
244 gscript:pri=60 -> /usr/share/fonts/default/ghostscript
245 misc:unscaled:pri=10 -> /usr/share/X11/fonts/misc
246 Font server identifiers:
248 Font server identifiers have the form:
250 <trans>/<hostname>:<port-number>
252 where <trans> is the transport type to use to connect to the
254 font server (e.g., unix for UNIX-domain sockets or tcp for a
255 TCP/IP connection), <hostname> is the hostname of the
256 machine running the font server, and <port-number> is the
257 port number that the font server is listening on (usually
258 7100).
259 When this entry is not specified in the config file, the server
261 falls back to the compiled-in default font path, which contains
262 the following font path elements (which can be set inside a cat‐
263 alogue directory):
264 /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc/
266 /usr/share/fonts/X11/TTF/
267 /usr/share/fonts/X11/OTF/
268 /usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/
269 /usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/
270 /usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/
271 Font path elements that are found to be invalid are removed from
273 the font path when the server starts up.
274 ModulePath "path"
276 sets the search path for loadable Xorg server modules. This
277 path is a comma separated list of directories which the Xorg
278 server searches for loadable modules loading in the order speci‐
279 fied. Multiple ModulePath entries may be specified, and they
280 will be concatenated to build the module search path used by the
281 server. The default module path is
282 /usr/lib64/xorg/modules
284 XkbDir "path"
286 sets the base directory for keyboard layout files. The -xkbdir
287 command line option can be used to override this. The default
288 directory is
289 /usr/share/X11/xkb
291
293 In addition to options specific to this section (described below), the
294 ServerFlags section is used to specify some global Xorg server options.
295 All of the entries in this section are Options, although for compati‐
296 bility purposes some of the old style entries are still recognised.
297 Those old style entries are not documented here, and using them is dis‐
298 couraged. The ServerFlags section is optional, as are the entries that
299 may be specified in it.
300 Options specified in this section (with the exception of the "Default‐
302 ServerLayout" Option) may be overridden by Options specified in the
303 active ServerLayout section. Options with command line equivalents are
304 overridden when their command line equivalent is used. The options
305 recognised by this section are:
306 Option "DefaultServerLayout" "layout-id"
308 This specifies the default ServerLayout section to use in the
309 absence of the -layout command line option.
310 Option "NoTrapSignals" "boolean"
312 This prevents the Xorg server from trapping a range of unex‐
313 pected fatal signals and exiting cleanly. Instead, the Xorg
314 server will die and drop core where the fault occurred. The
315 default behaviour is for the Xorg server to exit cleanly, but
316 still drop a core file. In general you never want to use this
317 option unless you are debugging an Xorg server problem and know
318 how to deal with the consequences.
319 Option "UseSIGIO" "boolean"
321 This controls whether the Xorg server requests that events from
322 input devices be reported via a SIGIO signal handler (also known
323 as SIGPOLL on some platforms), or only reported via the standard
324 select(3) loop. The default behaviour is platform specific.
325 In general you do not want to use this option unless you are
326 debugging the Xorg server, or working around a specific bug
327 until it is fixed, and understand the consequences.
328 Option "DontVTSwitch" "boolean"
330 This disallows the use of the Ctrl+Alt+Fn sequence (where Fn
331 refers to one of the numbered function keys). That sequence is
332 normally used to switch to another "virtual terminal" on operat‐
333 ing systems that have this feature. When this option is
334 enabled, that key sequence has no special meaning and is passed
335 to clients. Default: off.
336 Option "DontZap" "boolean"
338 This disallows the use of the Terminate_Server XKB action (usu‐
339 ally on Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, depending on XKB options). This
340 action is normally used to terminate the Xorg server. When this
341 option is enabled, the action has no effect. Default: off.
342 Option "DontZoom" "boolean"
344 This disallows the use of the Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus and
345 Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus sequences. These sequences allows you to
346 switch between video modes. When this option is enabled, those
347 key sequences have no special meaning and are passed to clients.
348 Default: off.
349 Option "DisableVidModeExtension" "boolean"
351 This disables the parts of the VidMode extension used by the
352 xvidtune client that can be used to change the video modes.
353 Default: the VidMode extension is enabled.
354 Option "AllowNonLocalXvidtune" "boolean"
356 This allows the xvidtune client (and other clients that use the
357 VidMode extension) to connect from another host. Default: off.
358 Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "boolean"
360 This tells the mousedrv(4) and vmmouse(4) drivers to not report
361 failure if the mouse device can't be opened/initialised. It has
362 no effect on the evdev(4) or other drivers. The previous func‐
363 tionality of allowing the server to start up even if the mouse
364 device can't be opened/initialised is now handled by the
365 AllowEmptyInput option. Default: false.
366 Option "VTSysReq" "boolean"
368 enables the SYSV-style VT switch sequence for non-SYSV systems
369 which support VT switching. This sequence is Alt-SysRq followed
370 by a function key (Fn). This prevents the Xorg server trapping
371 the keys used for the default VT switch sequence, which means
372 that clients can access them. Default: off.
373 Option "BlankTime" "time"
375 sets the inactivity timeout for the blank phase of the screen‐
376 saver. time is in minutes. This is equivalent to the Xorg
377 server's -s flag, and the value can be changed at run-time with
378 xset(1). Default: 10 minutes.
379 Option "StandbyTime" "time"
381 sets the inactivity timeout for the standby phase of DPMS mode.
382 time is in minutes, and the value can be changed at run-time
383 with xset(1). Default: 10 minutes. This is only suitable for
384 VESA DPMS compatible monitors, and may not be supported by all
385 video drivers. It is only enabled for screens that have the
386 "DPMS" option set (see the MONITOR section below).
387 Option "SuspendTime" "time"
389 sets the inactivity timeout for the suspend phase of DPMS mode.
390 time is in minutes, and the value can be changed at run-time
391 with xset(1). Default: 10 minutes. This is only suitable for
392 VESA DPMS compatible monitors, and may not be supported by all
393 video drivers. It is only enabled for screens that have the
394 "DPMS" option set (see the MONITOR section below).
395 Option "OffTime" "time"
397 sets the inactivity timeout for the off phase of DPMS mode.
398 time is in minutes, and the value can be changed at run-time
399 with xset(1). Default: 10 minutes. This is only suitable for
400 VESA DPMS compatible monitors, and may not be supported by all
401 video drivers. It is only enabled for screens that have the
402 "DPMS" option set (see the MONITOR section below).
403 Option "Pixmap" "bpp"
405 This sets the pixmap format to use for depth 24. Allowed values
406 for bpp are 24 and 32. Default: 32 unless driver constraints
407 don't allow this (which is rare). Note: some clients don't
408 behave well when this value is set to 24.
409 Option "PC98" "boolean"
411 Specify that the machine is a Japanese PC-98 machine. This
412 should not be enabled for anything other than the Japanese-spe‐
413 cific PC-98 architecture. Default: auto-detected.
414 Option "NoPM" "boolean"
416 Disables something to do with power management events. Default:
417 PM enabled on platforms that support it.
418 Option "Xinerama" "boolean"
420 enable or disable XINERAMA extension. Default is disabled.
421 Option "AIGLX" "boolean"
423 enable or disable AIGLX. AIGLX is enabled by default.
424 Option "DRI2" "boolean"
426 enable or disable DRI2. DRI2 is disabled by default.
427 Option "GlxVisuals" "string"
429 This option controls how many GLX visuals the GLX modules sets
430 up. The default value is typical, which will setup up a typical
431 subset of the GLXFBConfigs provided by the driver as GLX visu‐
432 als. Other options are minimal, which will set up the minimal
433 set allowed by the GLX specification and all which will setup
434 GLX visuals for all GLXFBConfigs.
435 Option "UseDefaultFontPath" "boolean"
437 Include the default font path even if other paths are specified
438 in xorg.conf. If enabled, other font paths are included as well.
439 Enabled by default.
440 Option "IgnoreABI" "boolean"
442 Allow modules built for a different, potentially incompatible
443 version of the X server to load. Disabled by default.
444 Option "AllowEmptyInput" "boolean"
446 If enabled, don't add the standard keyboard and mouse drivers,
447 if there are no input devices in the config file. Enabled by
448 default if AutoAddDevices and AutoEnableDevices is enabled, oth‐
449 erwise disabled. If AllowEmptyInput is on, devices using the
450 kbd, mouse or vmmouse driver are ignored.
451 Option "AutoAddDevices" "boolean"
453 If this option is disabled, then no devices will be added from
454 HAL events. Enabled by default.
455 Option "AutoEnableDevices" "boolean"
457 If this option is disabled, then the devices will be added (and
458 the DevicePresenceNotify event sent), but not enabled, thus
459 leaving policy up to the client. Enabled by default.
460 Option "Log" "string"
462 This option controls whether the log is flushed and/or synced to
463 disk after each message. Possible values are flush or sync.
464 Unset by default.
465
467 The Module section is used to specify which Xorg server modules should
468 be loaded. This section is ignored when the Xorg server is built in
469 static form. The type of modules normally loaded in this section are
470 Xorg server extension modules. Most other module types are loaded
471 automatically when they are needed via other mechanisms. The Module
472 section is optional, as are all of the entries that may be specified in
473 it.
474 Entries in this section may be in two forms. The first and most com‐
476 monly used form is an entry that uses the Load keyword, as described
477 here:
478 Load "modulename"
480 This instructs the server to load the module called modulename.
481 The module name given should be the module's standard name, not
482 the module file name. The standard name is case-sensitive, and
483 does not include the “lib” prefix, or the “.a”, “.o”, or “.so”
484 suffixes.
485 Example: the DRI extension module can be loaded with the follow‐
487 ing entry:
488 Load "dri"
490 Disable "modulename"
492 This instructs the server to not load the module called module‐
493 name. Some modules are loaded by default in the server, and
494 this overrides that default. If a Load instruction is given for
495 the same module, it overrides the Disable instruction and the
496 module is loaded. The module name given should be the module's
497 standard name, not the module file name. As with the Load
498 instruction, the standard name is case-sensitive, and does not
499 include the "lib" prefix, or the ".a", ".o", or ".so" suffixes.
500 The second form of entry is a SubSection, with the subsection name
502 being the module name, and the contents of the SubSection being Options
503 that are passed to the module when it is loaded.
504 Example: the extmod module (which contains a miscellaneous group of
506 server extensions) can be loaded, with the XFree86-DGA extension dis‐
507 abled by using the following entry:
508 SubSection "extmod"
510 Option "omit XFree86-DGA"
511 EndSubSection
512 Modules are searched for in each directory specified in the ModulePath
514 search path, and in the drivers, extensions, input, internal, and mul‐
515 timedia subdirectories of each of those directories. In addition to
516 this, operating system specific subdirectories of all the above are
517 searched first if they exist.
518 To see what extension modules are available, check the extensions sub‐
520 directory under:
521 /usr/lib64/xorg/modules
523 The “extmod”, “dbe”, “dri”, “dri2”, “glx”, and “record” extension mod‐
525 ules are loaded automatically, if they are present, unless disabled
526 with "Disable" entries. It is recommended that at very least the
527 “extmod” extension module be loaded. If it isn't, some commonly used
528 server extensions (like the SHAPE extension) will not be available.
529
531 The Extensions section is used to specify which X11 protocol extensions
532 should be enabled or disabled. The Extensions section is optional, as
533 are all of the entries that may be specified in it.
534 Entries in this section are listed as Option statements with the name
536 of the extension as the first argument, and a boolean value as the sec‐
537 ond. The extension name is case-sensitive, and matches the form shown
538 in the output of "Xorg -extension ?".
539 Example: the MIT-SHM extension can be disabled with the follow‐
541 ing entry:
542 Section "Extensions"
544 Option "MIT-SHM" "Disable"
545 EndSection
546
548 The config file may have multiple InputDevice sections. Recent X
549 servers employ input hotplugging to add input devices, with the HAL
550 backend being the default backend for X servers since 1.4. It is usu‐
551 ally not necessary to provide InputDevice sections in the xorg.conf if
552 hotplugging is enabled.
553 If hotplugging is disabled, there will normally be at least two: one
555 for the core (primary) keyboard and one for the core pointer. If
556 either of these two is missing, a default configuration for the missing
557 ones will be used. In the absence of an explicitly specified core input
558 device, the first InputDevice marked as CorePointer (or CoreKeyboard)
559 is used. If there is no match there, the first InputDevice that uses
560 the “mouse” (or “kbd”) driver is used. The final fallback is to use
561 built-in default configurations. Currently the default configuration
562 may not work as expected on all platforms.
563 InputDevice sections have the following format:
565 Section "InputDevice"
567 Identifier "name"
568 Driver "inputdriver"
569 options
570 ...
571 EndSection
572 The Identifier and Driver entries are required in all InputDevice sec‐
574 tions. All other entries are optional.
575 The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this input device.
577 The Driver entry specifies the name of the driver to use for this input
578 device. When using the loadable server, the input driver module
579 "inputdriver" will be loaded for each active InputDevice section. An
580 InputDevice section is considered active if it is referenced by an
581 active ServerLayout section, if it is referenced by the -keyboard or
582 -pointer command line options, or if it is selected implicitly as the
583 core pointer or keyboard device in the absence of such explicit refer‐
584 ences. The most commonly used input drivers are evdev(4) on Linux sys‐
585 tems, and kbd(4) and mousedrv(4) on other platforms.
586 InputDevice sections recognise some driver-independent Options, which
588 are described here. See the individual input driver manual pages for a
589 description of the device-specific options.
590 Option "AutoServerLayout" "boolean"
592 Always add the device to the ServerLayout section used by this
593 instance of the server. This affects implied layouts as well as
594 explicit layouts specified in the configuration and/or on the
595 command line.
596 Option "CorePointer"
598 Deprecated, use SendCoreEvents instead.
599 Option "CoreKeyboard"
601 Deprecated, use SendCoreEvents instead.
602 Option "AlwaysCore" "boolean"
604 Deprecated, use SendCoreEvents instead.
605 Option "SendCoreEvents" "boolean"
607 Both of these options are equivalent, and when enabled cause the
608 input device to report core events through the master device.
609 They are enabled by default. Any device configured to send core
610 events will be attached to the virtual core pointer or keyboard
611 and control the cursor by default. Devices with SendCoreEvents
612 disabled will be "floating" and only accessible by clients
613 employing the X Input extension. This option controls the
614 startup behavior only, a device may be reattached or set float‐
615 ing at runtime.
616 Option "SendDragEvents" "boolean"
618 Send core events while dragging. Enabled by default.
619 For pointing devices, the following options control how the pointer is
621 accelerated or decelerated with respect to physical device motion. Most
622 of these can be adjusted at runtime, see the xinput(1) man page for
623 details. Only the most important acceleration options are discussed
624 here.
625 Option "AccelerationProfile" "integer"
627 Select the profile. In layman's terms, the profile constitutes
628 the "feeling" of the acceleration. More formally, it defines how
629 the transfer function (actual acceleration as a function of cur‐
630 rent device velocity and acceleration controls) is constructed.
631 This is mainly a matter of personal preference.
632 0 classic (mostly compatible)
634 -1 none (only constant deceleration is applied)
635 1 device-dependent
636 2 polynomial (polynomial function)
637 3 smooth linear (soft knee, then linear)
638 4 simple (normal when slow, otherwise accelerated)
639 5 power (power function)
640 6 linear (more speed, more acceleration)
641 7 limited (like linear, but maxes out at threshold)
642 Option "ConstantDeceleration" "real"
644 Makes the pointer go deceleration times slower than normal. Most
645 useful for high-resolution devices.
646 Option "AdaptiveDeceleration" "real"
648 Allows to actually decelerate the pointer when going slow. At
649 most, it will be adaptive deceleration times slower. Enables
650 precise pointer placement without sacrificing speed.
651 Option "AccelerationScheme" "string"
653 Selects the scheme, which is the underlying algorithm.
654 predictable default algorithm (behaving more predictable)
656 lightweight old acceleration code (as specified in the X protocol spec)
657 none no acceleration or deceleration
658 Option "AccelerationNumerator" "integer"
660 Option "AccelerationDenominator" "integer"
662 Set numerator and denominator of the acceleration factor. The
663 acceleration factor is a rational which, together with thresh‐
664 old, can be used to tweak profiles to suit the users needs. The
665 simple and limited profiles use it directly (i.e. they acceler‐
666 ate by the factor), for other profiles it should hold that a
667 higher acceleration factor leads to a faster pointer. Typically,
668 1 is unaccelerated and values up to 5 are sensible.
669 Option "AccelerationThreshold" "integer"
671 Set the threshold, which is roughly the velocity (usually device
672 units per 10 ms) required for acceleration to become effective.
673 The precise effect varies with the profile however.
674
677 The config file may have multiple InputClass sections. These sections
678 are optional and are used to provide configuration for a class of input
679 devices as they are automatically added. An input device can match more
680 than one InputClass section. Each class can override settings from a
681 previous class, so it is best to arrange the sections with the most
682 generic matches first.
683 InputClass sections have the following format:
685 Section "InputClass"
687 Identifier "name"
688 entries
689 ...
690 options
691 ...
692 EndSection
693 The Identifier entry is required in all InputClass sections. All other
695 entries are optional.
696 The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this input class.
698 The Driver entry specifies the name of the driver to use for this input
699 device. After all classes have been examined, the "inputdriver" module
700 from the first Driver entry will be enabled when using the loadable
701 server.
702 When an input device is automatically added, its characteristics are
704 checked against all InputClass sections. Each section can contain
705 optional entries to narrow the match of the class. If none of the
706 optional entries appear, the InputClass section is generic and will
707 match any input device. If more than one of these entries appear, they
708 all must match for the configuration to apply.
709 There are two types of match entries used in InputClass sections. The
711 first allows various tokens to be matched against attributes of the
712 device. An entry can be constructed to match attributes from different
713 devices by separating arguments with a '|' character. Multiple entries
714 of the same type may be supplied to add multiple matching conditions on
715 the same attribute. For example:
716 Section "InputClass"
718 Identifier "My Class"
719 # product string must contain example and
720 # either gizmo or gadget
721 MatchProduct "example"
722 MatchProduct "gizmo|gadget"
723 ...
724 EndSection
725 MatchProduct "matchproduct"
727 This entry can be used to check if the substring "matchproduct"
728 occurs in the device's product name.
729 MatchVendor "matchvendor"
731 This entry can be used to check if the substring "matchvendor"
732 occurs in the device's vendor name.
733 MatchDevicePath "matchdevice"
735 This entry can be used to check if the device file matches the
736 "matchdevice" pathname pattern.
737 MatchOS "matchos"
739 This entry can be used to check if the operating system matches
740 the case-insensitive "matchos" string. This entry is only sup‐
741 ported on platforms providing the uname(2) system call.
742 MatchPnPID "matchpnp"
744 The device's Plug and Play (PnP) ID can be checked against the
745 "matchpnp" shell wildcard pattern.
746 MatchUSBID "matchusb"
748 The device's USB ID can be checked against the "matchusb" shell
749 wildcard pattern. The ID is constructed as lowercase hexadecimal
750 numbers separated by a ':'. This is the same format as the
751 lsusb(8) program.
752 MatchDriver "matchdriver"
754 Check the case-sensitive string "matchdriver" against the cur‐
755 rently configured driver of the device. Ordering of sections
756 using this entry is important since it will not match unless the
757 driver has been set by the config backend or a previous Input‐
758 Class section.
759 MatchTag "matchtag"
761 This entry can be used to check if tags assigned by the config
762 backend matches the "matchtag" pattern. A match is found if at
763 least one of the tags given in "matchtag" matches at least one
764 of the tags assigned by the backend.
765 The second type of entry is used to match device types. These entries
767 take a boolean argument similar to Option entries.
768 MatchIsKeyboard "bool"
770 MatchIsPointer "bool"
772 MatchIsJoystick "bool"
774 MatchIsTablet "bool"
776 MatchIsTouchpad "bool"
778 MatchIsTouchscreen "bool"
780 When an input device has been matched to the InputClass section, any
782 Option entries are applied to the device. One InputClass specific
783 Option is recognized. See the InputDevice section above for a descrip‐
784 tion of the remaining Option entries.
785 Option "Ignore" "boolean"
787 This optional entry specifies that the device should be ignored
788 entirely, and not added to the server. This can be useful when
789 the device is handled by another program and no X events should
790 be generated.
791
793 The config file may have multiple Device sections. There must be at
794 least one, for the video card being used.
795 Device sections have the following format:
797 Section "Device"
799 Identifier "name"
800 Driver "driver"
801 entries
802 ...
803 EndSection
804 The Identifier and Driver entries are required in all Device sections.
806 All other entries are optional.
807 The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this graphics
809 device. The Driver entry specifies the name of the driver to use for
810 this graphics device. When using the loadable server, the driver mod‐
811 ule "driver" will be loaded for each active Device section. A Device
812 section is considered active if it is referenced by an active Screen
813 section.
814 Device sections recognise some driver-independent entries and Options,
816 which are described here. Not all drivers make use of these
817 driver-independent entries, and many of those that do don't require
818 them to be specified because the information is auto-detected. See the
819 individual graphics driver manual pages for further information about
820 this, and for a description of the device-specific options. Note that
821 most of the Options listed here (but not the other entries) may be
822 specified in the Screen section instead of here in the Device section.
823 BusID "bus-id"
825 This specifies the bus location of the graphics card. For
826 PCI/AGP cards, the bus-id string has the form
827 PCI:bus:device:function (e.g., “PCI:1:0:0” might be appropriate
828 for an AGP card). This field is usually optional in single-head
829 configurations when using the primary graphics card. In multi-
830 head configurations, or when using a secondary graphics card in
831 a single-head configuration, this entry is mandatory. Its main
832 purpose is to make an unambiguous connection between the device
833 section and the hardware it is representing. This information
834 can usually be found by running the pciaccess tool scanpci.
835 Screen number
837 This option is mandatory for cards where a single PCI entity can
838 drive more than one display (i.e., multiple CRTCs sharing a sin‐
839 gle graphics accelerator and video memory). One Device section
840 is required for each head, and this parameter determines which
841 head each of the Device sections applies to. The legal values
842 of number range from 0 to one less than the total number of
843 heads per entity. Most drivers require that the primary screen
844 (0) be present.
845 Chipset "chipset"
847 This usually optional entry specifies the chipset used on the
848 graphics board. In most cases this entry is not required
849 because the drivers will probe the hardware to determine the
850 chipset type. Don't specify it unless the driver-specific docu‐
851 mentation recommends that you do.
852 Ramdac "ramdac-type"
854 This optional entry specifies the type of RAMDAC used on the
855 graphics board. This is only used by a few of the drivers, and
856 in most cases it is not required because the drivers will probe
857 the hardware to determine the RAMDAC type where possible. Don't
858 specify it unless the driver-specific documentation recommends
859 that you do.
860 DacSpeed speed
862 DacSpeed speed-8 speed-16 speed-24 speed-32
864 This optional entry specifies the RAMDAC speed rating (which is
865 usually printed on the RAMDAC chip). The speed is in MHz. When
866 one value is given, it applies to all framebuffer pixel sizes.
867 When multiple values are given, they apply to the framebuffer
868 pixel sizes 8, 16, 24 and 32 respectively. This is not used by
869 many drivers, and only needs to be specified when the speed rat‐
870 ing of the RAMDAC is different from the defaults built in to
871 driver, or when the driver can't auto-detect the correct
872 defaults. Don't specify it unless the driver-specific documen‐
873 tation recommends that you do.
874 Clocks clock ...
876 specifies the pixel that are on your graphics board. The clocks
877 are in MHz, and may be specified as a floating point number.
878 The value is stored internally to the nearest kHz. The ordering
879 of the clocks is important. It must match the order in which
880 they are selected on the graphics board. Multiple Clocks lines
881 may be specified, and each is concatenated to form the list.
882 Most drivers do not use this entry, and it is only required for
883 some older boards with non-programmable clocks. Don't specify
884 this entry unless the driver-specific documentation explicitly
885 recommends that you do.
886 ClockChip "clockchip-type"
888 This optional entry is used to specify the clock chip type on
889 graphics boards which have a programmable clock generator. Only
890 a few Xorg drivers support programmable clock chips. For
891 details, see the appropriate driver manual page.
892 VideoRam mem
894 This optional entry specifies the amount of video ram that is
895 installed on the graphics board. This is measured in kBytes.
896 In most cases this is not required because the Xorg server
897 probes the graphics board to determine this quantity. The
898 driver-specific documentation should indicate when it might be
899 needed.
900 BiosBase baseaddress
902 This optional entry specifies the base address of the video BIOS
903 for the VGA board. This address is normally auto-detected, and
904 should only be specified if the driver-specific documentation
905 recommends it.
906 MemBase baseaddress
908 This optional entry specifies the memory base address of a
909 graphics board's linear frame buffer. This entry is not used by
910 many drivers, and it should only be specified if the driver-spe‐
911 cific documentation recommends it.
912 IOBase baseaddress
914 This optional entry specifies the IO base address. This entry
915 is not used by many drivers, and it should only be specified if
916 the driver-specific documentation recommends it.
917 ChipID id
919 This optional entry specifies a numerical ID representing the
920 chip type. For PCI cards, it is usually the device ID. This
921 can be used to override the auto-detection, but that should only
922 be done when the driver-specific documentation recommends it.
923 ChipRev rev
925 This optional entry specifies the chip revision number. This
926 can be used to override the auto-detection, but that should only
927 be done when the driver-specific documentation recommends it.
928 TextClockFreq freq
930 This optional entry specifies the pixel clock frequency that is
931 used for the regular text mode. The frequency is specified in
932 MHz. This is rarely used.
933 Option "ModeDebug" "boolean"
935 Enable printing of additional debugging information about mode‐
936 setting to the server log.
937 Options
939 Option flags may be specified in the Device sections. These
940 include driver-specific options and driver-independent options.
941 The former are described in the driver-specific documentation.
942 Some of the latter are described below in the section about the
943 Screen section, and they may also be included here.
944
947 Nobody wants to say how this works. Maybe nobody knows ...
948
951 The config file may have multiple Monitor sections. There should nor‐
952 mally be at least one, for the monitor being used, but a default con‐
953 figuration will be created when one isn't specified.
954 Monitor sections have the following format:
956 Section "Monitor"
958 Identifier "name"
959 entries
960 ...
961 EndSection
962 The only mandatory entry in a Monitor section is the Identifier entry.
964 The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this monitor. The
966 Monitor section may be used to provide information about the specifica‐
967 tions of the monitor, monitor-specific Options, and information about
968 the video modes to use with the monitor.
969 With RandR 1.2-enabled drivers, monitor sections may be tied to spe‐
971 cific outputs of the video card. Using the name of the output defined
972 by the video driver plus the identifier of a monitor section, one asso‐
973 ciates a monitor section with an output by adding an option to the
974 Device section in the following format:
975 Option "Monitor-outputname" "monitorsection"
977 (for example, Option "Monitor-VGA" "VGA monitor" for a VGA output)
979 In the absence of specific association of monitor sections to outputs,
981 if a monitor section is present the server will associate it with an
982 output to preserve compatibility for previous single-head configura‐
983 tions.
984 Specifying video modes is optional because the server will use the DDC
986 or other information provided by the monitor to automatically configure
987 the list of modes available. When modes are specified explicitly in
988 the Monitor section (with the Modes, ModeLine, or UseModes keywords),
989 built-in modes with the same names are not included. Built-in modes
990 with different names are, however, still implicitly included, when they
991 meet the requirements of the monitor.
992 The entries that may be used in Monitor sections are described below.
994 VendorName "vendor"
996 This optional entry specifies the monitor's manufacturer.
997 ModelName "model"
999 This optional entry specifies the monitor's model.
1000 HorizSync horizsync-range
1002 gives the range(s) of horizontal sync frequencies supported by
1003 the monitor. horizsync-range may be a comma separated list of
1004 either discrete values or ranges of values. A range of values
1005 is two values separated by a dash. By default the values are in
1006 units of kHz. They may be specified in MHz or Hz if MHz or Hz
1007 is added to the end of the line. The data given here is used by
1008 the Xorg server to determine if video modes are within the spec‐
1009 ifications of the monitor. This information should be available
1010 in the monitor's handbook. If this entry is omitted, a default
1011 range of 28-33kHz is used.
1012 VertRefresh vertrefresh-range
1014 gives the range(s) of vertical refresh frequencies supported by
1015 the monitor. vertrefresh-range may be a comma separated list of
1016 either discrete values or ranges of values. A range of values
1017 is two values separated by a dash. By default the values are in
1018 units of Hz. They may be specified in MHz or kHz if MHz or kHz
1019 is added to the end of the line. The data given here is used by
1020 the Xorg server to determine if video modes are within the spec‐
1021 ifications of the monitor. This information should be available
1022 in the monitor's handbook. If this entry is omitted, a default
1023 range of 43-72Hz is used.
1024 DisplaySize width height
1026 This optional entry gives the width and height, in millimetres,
1027 of the picture area of the monitor. If given this is used to
1028 calculate the horizontal and vertical pitch (DPI) of the screen.
1029 Gamma gamma-value
1031 Gamma red-gamma green-gamma blue-gamma
1033 This is an optional entry that can be used to specify the gamma
1034 correction for the monitor. It may be specified as either a
1035 single value or as three separate RGB values. The values should
1036 be in the range 0.1 to 10.0, and the default is 1.0. Not all
1037 drivers are capable of using this information.
1038 UseModes "modesection-id"
1040 Include the set of modes listed in the Modes section called mod‐
1041 esection-id. This makes all of the modes defined in that sec‐
1042 tion available for use by this monitor.
1043 Mode "name"
1045 This is an optional multi-line entry that can be used to provide
1046 definitions for video modes for the monitor. In most cases this
1047 isn't necessary because the built-in set of VESA standard modes
1048 will be sufficient. The Mode keyword indicates the start of a
1049 multi-line video mode description. The mode description is ter‐
1050 minated with the EndMode keyword. The mode description consists
1051 of the following entries:
1052 DotClock clock
1054 is the dot (pixel) clock rate to be used for the mode.
1055 HTimings hdisp hsyncstart hsyncend htotal
1057 specifies the horizontal timings for the mode.
1058 VTimings vdisp vsyncstart vsyncend vtotal
1060 specifies the vertical timings for the mode.
1061 Flags "flag" ...
1063 specifies an optional set of mode flags, each of which is a
1064 separate string in double quotes. "Interlace" indicates
1065 that the mode is interlaced. "DoubleScan" indicates a mode
1066 where each scanline is doubled. "+HSync" and "-HSync" can
1067 be used to select the polarity of the HSync signal.
1068 "+VSync" and "-VSync" can be used to select the polarity of
1069 the VSync signal. "Composite" can be used to specify com‐
1070 posite sync on hardware where this is supported. Addition‐
1071 ally, on some hardware, "+CSync" and "-CSync" may be used to
1072 select the composite sync polarity.
1073 HSkew hskew
1075 specifies the number of pixels (towards the right edge of
1076 the screen) by which the display enable signal is to be
1077 skewed. Not all drivers use this information. This option
1078 might become necessary to override the default value sup‐
1079 plied by the server (if any). “Roving” horizontal lines
1080 indicate this value needs to be increased. If the last few
1081 pixels on a scan line appear on the left of the screen, this
1082 value should be decreased.
1083 VScan vscan
1085 specifies the number of times each scanline is painted on
1086 the screen. Not all drivers use this information. Values
1087 less than 1 are treated as 1, which is the default. Gener‐
1088 ally, the "DoubleScan" Flag mentioned above doubles this
1089 value.
1090 ModeLine "name" mode-description
1092 This entry is a more compact version of the Mode entry, and it
1093 also can be used to specify video modes for the monitor. is a
1094 single line format for specifying video modes. In most cases
1095 this isn't necessary because the built-in set of VESA standard
1096 modes will be sufficient.
1097 The mode-description is in four sections, the first three of
1099 which are mandatory. The first is the dot (pixel) clock. This
1100 is a single number specifying the pixel clock rate for the mode
1101 in MHz. The second section is a list of four numbers specifying
1102 the horizontal timings. These numbers are the hdisp, hsync‐
1103 start, hsyncend, and htotal values. The third section is a list
1104 of four numbers specifying the vertical timings. These numbers
1105 are the vdisp, vsyncstart, vsyncend, and vtotal values. The
1106 final section is a list of flags specifying other characteris‐
1107 tics of the mode. Interlace indicates that the mode is inter‐
1108 laced. DoubleScan indicates a mode where each scanline is dou‐
1109 bled. +HSync and -HSync can be used to select the polarity of
1110 the HSync signal. +VSync and -VSync can be used to select the
1111 polarity of the VSync signal. Composite can be used to specify
1112 composite sync on hardware where this is supported. Addition‐
1113 ally, on some hardware, +CSync and -CSync may be used to select
1114 the composite sync polarity. The HSkew and VScan options men‐
1115 tioned above in the Modes entry description can also be used
1116 here.
1117 Option "DPMS" "bool"
1119 This option controls whether the server should enable the DPMS
1120 extension for power management for this screen. The default is
1121 to enable the extension.
1122 Option "SyncOnGreen" "bool"
1124 This option controls whether the video card should drive the
1125 sync signal on the green color pin. Not all cards support this
1126 option, and most monitors do not require it. The default is
1127 off.
1128 Option "Primary" "bool"
1130 This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be treated
1131 as the primary monitor. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1132 Option "PreferredMode" "string"
1134 This optional entry specifies a mode to be marked as the pre‐
1135 ferred initial mode of the monitor. (RandR 1.2-supporting driv‐
1136 ers only)
1137 Option "Position" "x y"
1139 This optional entry specifies the position of the monitor within
1140 the X screen. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1141 Option "LeftOf" "output"
1143 This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be posi‐
1144 tioned to the left of the output (not monitor) of the given
1145 name. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1146 Option "RightOf" "output"
1148 This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be posi‐
1149 tioned to the right of the output (not monitor) of the given
1150 name. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1151 Option "Above" "output"
1153 This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be posi‐
1154 tioned above the output (not monitor) of the given name. (RandR
1155 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1156 Option "Below" "output"
1158 This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be posi‐
1159 tioned below the output (not monitor) of the given name. (RandR
1160 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1161 Option "Enable" "bool"
1163 This optional entry specifies whether the monitor should be
1164 turned on at startup. By default, the server will attempt to
1165 enable all connected monitors. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers
1166 only)
1167 Option "DefaultModes" "bool"
1169 This optional entry specifies whether the server should add sup‐
1170 ported default modes to the list of modes offered on this moni‐
1171 tor. By default, the server will add default modes; you should
1172 only disable this if you can guarantee that EDID will be avail‐
1173 able at all times, or if you have added custom modelines which
1174 the server can use. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1175 Option "MinClock" "frequency"
1177 This optional entry specifies the minimum dot clock, in kHz,
1178 that is supported by the monitor.
1179 Option "MaxClock" "frequency"
1181 This optional entry specifies the maximum dot clock, in kHz,
1182 that is supported by the monitor.
1183 Option "Ignore" "bool"
1185 This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be ignored
1186 entirely, and not reported through RandR. This is useful if the
1187 hardware reports the presence of outputs that don't exist.
1188 (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1189 Option "Rotate" "rotation"
1191 This optional entry specifies the initial rotation of the given
1192 monitor. Valid values for rotation are "normal", "left",
1193 "right", and "inverted". (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
1194
1197 The config file may have multiple Modes sections, or none. These sec‐
1198 tions provide a way of defining sets of video modes independently of
1199 the Monitor sections. Monitor sections may include the definitions
1200 provided in these sections by using the UseModes keyword. In most
1201 cases the Modes sections are not necessary because the built-in set of
1202 VESA standard modes will be sufficient.
1203 Modes sections have the following format:
1205 Section "Modes"
1207 Identifier "name"
1208 entries
1209 ...
1210 EndSection
1211 The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this set of mode
1213 descriptions. The other entries permitted in Modes sections are the
1214 Mode and ModeLine entries that are described above in the Monitor sec‐
1215 tion.
1216
1218 The config file may have multiple Screen sections. There must be at
1219 least one, for the “screen” being used. A “screen” represents the
1220 binding of a graphics device (Device section) and a monitor (Monitor
1221 section). A Screen section is considered “active” if it is referenced
1222 by an active ServerLayout section or by the -screen command line
1223 option. If neither of those is present, the first Screen section found
1224 in the config file is considered the active one.
1225 Screen sections have the following format:
1227 Section "Screen"
1229 Identifier "name"
1230 Device "devid"
1231 Monitor "monid"
1232 entries
1233 ...
1234 SubSection "Display"
1235 entries
1236 ...
1237 EndSubSection
1238 ...
1239 EndSection
1240 The Identifier and Device entries are mandatory. All others are
1242 optional.
1243 The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this screen. The
1245 Screen section provides information specific to the whole screen,
1246 including screen-specific Options. In multi-head configurations, there
1247 will be multiple active Screen sections, one for each head. The
1248 entries available for this section are:
1249 Device "device-id"
1251 This mandatory entry specifies the Device section to be used for
1252 this screen. This is what ties a specific graphics card to a
1253 screen. The device-id must match the Identifier of a Device
1254 section in the config file.
1255 Monitor "monitor-id"
1257 specifies which monitor description is to be used for this
1258 screen. If a Monitor name is not specified, a default configu‐
1259 ration is used. Currently the default configuration may not
1260 function as expected on all platforms.
1261 VideoAdaptor "xv-id"
1263 specifies an optional Xv video adaptor description to be used
1264 with this screen.
1265 DefaultDepth depth
1267 specifies which color depth the server should use by default.
1268 The -depth command line option can be used to override this. If
1269 neither is specified, the default depth is driver-specific, but
1270 in most cases is 8.
1271 DefaultFbBpp bpp
1273 specifies which framebuffer layout to use by default. The
1274 -fbbpp command line option can be used to override this. In
1275 most cases the driver will chose the best default value for
1276 this. The only case where there is even a choice in this value
1277 is for depth 24, where some hardware supports both a packed 24
1278 bit framebuffer layout and a sparse 32 bit framebuffer layout.
1279 Options
1281 Various Option flags may be specified in the Screen section.
1282 Some are driver-specific and are described in the driver docu‐
1283 mentation. Others are driver-independent, and will eventually
1284 be described here.
1285 Option "Accel"
1287 Enables XAA (X Acceleration Architecture), a mechanism that
1288 makes video cards' 2D hardware acceleration available to the
1289 Xorg server. This option is on by default, but it may be neces‐
1290 sary to turn it off if there are bugs in the driver. There are
1291 many options to disable specific accelerated operations, listed
1292 below. Note that disabling an operation will have no effect if
1293 the operation is not accelerated (whether due to lack of support
1294 in the hardware or in the driver).
1295 Option "InitPrimary" "boolean"
1297 Use the Int10 module to initialize the primary graphics card.
1298 Normally, only secondary cards are soft-booted using the Int10
1299 module, as the primary card has already been initialized by the
1300 BIOS at boot time. Default: false.
1301 Option "NoInt10" "boolean"
1303 Disables the Int10 module, a module that uses the int10 call to
1304 the BIOS of the graphics card to initialize it. Default: false.
1305 Option "NoMTRR"
1307 Disables MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) support, a feature of
1308 modern processors which can improve video performance by a fac‐
1309 tor of up to 2.5. Some hardware has buggy MTRR support, and
1310 some video drivers have been known to exhibit problems when
1311 MTRR's are used.
1312 Option "XaaNoCPUToScreenColorExpandFill"
1314 Disables accelerated rectangular expansion blits from source
1315 patterns stored in system memory (using a memory-mapped aper‐
1316 ture).
1317 Option "XaaNoColor8x8PatternFillRect"
1319 Disables accelerated fills of a rectangular region with a
1320 full-color pattern.
1321 Option "XaaNoColor8x8PatternFillTrap"
1323 Disables accelerated fills of a trapezoidal region with a
1324 full-color pattern.
1325 Option "XaaNoDashedBresenhamLine"
1327 Disables accelerated dashed Bresenham line draws.
1328 Option "XaaNoDashedTwoPointLine"
1330 Disables accelerated dashed line draws between two arbitrary
1331 points.
1332 Option "XaaNoImageWriteRect"
1334 Disables accelerated transfers of full-color rectangular pat‐
1335 terns from system memory to video memory (using a memory-mapped
1336 aperture).
1337 Option "XaaNoMono8x8PatternFillRect"
1339 Disables accelerated fills of a rectangular region with a mono‐
1340 chrome pattern.
1341 Option "XaaNoMono8x8PatternFillTrap"
1343 Disables accelerated fills of a trapezoidal region with a mono‐
1344 chrome pattern.
1345 Option "XaaNoOffscreenPixmaps"
1347 Disables accelerated draws into pixmaps stored in offscreen
1348 video memory.
1349 Option "XaaNoPixmapCache"
1351 Disables caching of patterns in offscreen video memory.
1352 Option "XaaNoScanlineCPUToScreenColorExpandFill"
1354 Disables accelerated rectangular expansion blits from source
1355 patterns stored in system memory (one scan line at a time).
1356 Option "XaaNoScanlineImageWriteRect"
1358 Disables accelerated transfers of full-color rectangular pat‐
1359 terns from system memory to video memory (one scan line at a
1360 time).
1361 Option "XaaNoScreenToScreenColorExpandFill"
1363 Disables accelerated rectangular expansion blits from source
1364 patterns stored in offscreen video memory.
1365 Option "XaaNoScreenToScreenCopy"
1367 Disables accelerated copies of rectangular regions from one part
1368 of video memory to another part of video memory.
1369 Option "XaaNoSolidBresenhamLine"
1371 Disables accelerated solid Bresenham line draws.
1372 Option "XaaNoSolidFillRect"
1374 Disables accelerated solid-color fills of rectangles.
1375 Option "XaaNoSolidFillTrap"
1377 Disables accelerated solid-color fills of Bresenham trapezoids.
1378 Option "XaaNoSolidHorVertLine"
1380 Disables accelerated solid horizontal and vertical line draws.
1381 Option "XaaNoSolidTwoPointLine"
1383 Disables accelerated solid line draws between two arbitrary
1384 points.
1385 Each Screen section may optionally contain one or more Display subsec‐
1387 tions. Those subsections provide depth/fbbpp specific configuration
1388 information, and the one chosen depends on the depth and/or fbbpp that
1389 is being used for the screen. The Display subsection format is
1390 described in the section below.
1391
1394 Each Screen section may have multiple Display subsections. The
1395 “active” Display subsection is the first that matches the depth and/or
1396 fbbpp values being used, or failing that, the first that has neither a
1397 depth or fbbpp value specified. The Display subsections are optional.
1398 When there isn't one that matches the depth and/or fbbpp values being
1399 used, all the parameters that can be specified here fall back to their
1400 defaults.
1401 Display subsections have the following format:
1403 SubSection "Display"
1405 Depth depth
1406 entries
1407 ...
1408 EndSubSection
1409 Depth depth
1411 This entry specifies what colour depth the Display subsection is
1412 to be used for. This entry is usually specified, but it may be
1413 omitted to create a match-all Display subsection or when wishing
1414 to match only against the FbBpp parameter. The range of depth
1415 values that are allowed depends on the driver. Most drivers
1416 support 8, 15, 16 and 24. Some also support 1 and/or 4, and
1417 some may support other values (like 30). Note: depth means the
1418 number of bits in a pixel that are actually used to determine
1419 the pixel colour. 32 is not a valid depth value. Most hardware
1420 that uses 32 bits per pixel only uses 24 of them to hold the
1421 colour information, which means that the colour depth is 24, not
1422 32.
1423 FbBpp bpp
1425 This entry specifies the framebuffer format this Display subsec‐
1426 tion is to be used for. This entry is only needed when provid‐
1427 ing depth 24 configurations that allow a choice between a 24 bpp
1428 packed framebuffer format and a 32bpp sparse framebuffer format.
1429 In most cases this entry should not be used.
1430 Weight red-weight green-weight blue-weight
1432 This optional entry specifies the relative RGB weighting to be
1433 used for a screen is being used at depth 16 for drivers that
1434 allow multiple formats. This may also be specified from the
1435 command line with the -weight option (see Xorg(1)).
1436 Virtual xdim ydim
1438 This optional entry specifies the virtual screen resolution to
1439 be used. xdim must be a multiple of either 8 or 16 for most
1440 drivers, and a multiple of 32 when running in monochrome mode.
1441 The given value will be rounded down if this is not the case.
1442 Video modes which are too large for the specified virtual size
1443 will be rejected. If this entry is not present, the virtual
1444 screen resolution will be set to accommodate all the valid video
1445 modes given in the Modes entry. Some drivers/hardware combina‐
1446 tions do not support virtual screens. Refer to the appropriate
1447 driver-specific documentation for details.
1448 ViewPort x0 y0
1450 This optional entry sets the upper left corner of the initial
1451 display. This is only relevant when the virtual screen resolu‐
1452 tion is different from the resolution of the initial video mode.
1453 If this entry is not given, then the initial display will be
1454 centered in the virtual display area.
1455 Modes "mode-name" ...
1457 This optional entry specifies the list of video modes to use.
1458 Each mode-name specified must be in double quotes. They must
1459 correspond to those specified or referenced in the appropriate
1460 Monitor section (including implicitly referenced built-in VESA
1461 standard modes). The server will delete modes from this list
1462 which don't satisfy various requirements. The first valid mode
1463 in this list will be the default display mode for startup. The
1464 list of valid modes is converted internally into a circular
1465 list. It is possible to switch to the next mode with
1466 Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus and to the previous mode with Ctrl+Alt+Key‐
1467 pad-Minus. When this entry is omitted, the valid modes refer‐
1468 enced by the appropriate Monitor section will be used. If the
1469 Monitor section contains no modes, then the selection will be
1470 taken from the built-in VESA standard modes.
1471 Visual "visual-name"
1473 This optional entry sets the default root visual type. This may
1474 also be specified from the command line (see the Xserver(1) man
1475 page). The visual types available for depth 8 are (default is
1476 PseudoColor):
1477 StaticGray
1479 GrayScale
1480 StaticColor
1481 PseudoColor
1482 TrueColor
1483 DirectColor
1484 The visual type available for the depths 15, 16 and 24 are
1486 (default is TrueColor):
1487 TrueColor
1489 DirectColor
1490 Not all drivers support DirectColor at these depths.
1492 The visual types available for the depth 4 are (default is Stat‐
1494 icColor):
1495 StaticGray
1497 GrayScale
1498 StaticColor
1499 PseudoColor
1500 The visual type available for the depth 1 (monochrome) is Stat‐
1502 icGray.
1503 Black red green blue
1505 This optional entry allows the “black” colour to be specified.
1506 This is only supported at depth 1. The default is black.
1507 White red green blue
1509 This optional entry allows the “white” colour to be specified.
1510 This is only supported at depth 1. The default is white.
1511 Options
1513 Option flags may be specified in the Display subsections. These
1514 may include driver-specific options and driver-independent
1515 options. The former are described in the driver-specific docu‐
1516 mentation. Some of the latter are described above in the sec‐
1517 tion about the Screen section, and they may also be included
1518 here.
1519
1521 The config file may have multiple ServerLayout sections. A “server
1522 layout” represents the binding of one or more screens (Screen sections)
1523 and one or more input devices (InputDevice sections) to form a complete
1524 configuration. In multi-head configurations, it also specifies the
1525 relative layout of the heads. A ServerLayout section is considered
1526 “active” if it is referenced by the -layout command line option or by
1527 an Option "DefaultServerLayout" entry in the ServerFlags section (the
1528 former takes precedence over the latter). If those options are not
1529 used, the first ServerLayout section found in the config file is con‐
1530 sidered the active one. If no ServerLayout sections are present, the
1531 single active screen and two active (core) input devices are selected
1532 as described in the relevant sections above.
1533 ServerLayout sections have the following format:
1535 Section "ServerLayout"
1537 Identifier "name"
1538 Screen "screen-id"
1539 ...
1540 InputDevice "idev-id"
1541 ...
1542 options
1543 ...
1544 EndSection
1545 Each ServerLayout section must have an Identifier entry and at least
1547 one Screen entry.
1548 The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this server layout.
1550 The ServerLayout section provides information specific to the whole
1551 session, including session-specific Options. The ServerFlags options
1552 (described above) may be specified here, and ones given here override
1553 those given in the ServerFlags section.
1554 The entries that may be used in this section are described here.
1556 Screen screen-num "screen-id" position-information
1558 One of these entries must be given for each screen being used in
1559 a session. The screen-id field is mandatory, and specifies the
1560 Screen section being referenced. The screen-num field is
1561 optional, and may be used to specify the screen number in
1562 multi-head configurations. When this field is omitted, the
1563 screens will be numbered in the order that they are listed in.
1564 The numbering starts from 0, and must be consecutive. The posi‐
1565 tion-information field describes the way multiple screens are
1566 positioned. There are a number of different ways that this
1567 information can be provided:
1568 x y
1570 Absolute x y
1572 These both specify that the upper left corner's coordinates
1573 are (x,y). The Absolute keyword is optional. Some older
1574 versions of XFree86 (4.2 and earlier) don't recognise the
1575 Absolute keyword, so it's safest to just specify the coordi‐
1576 nates without it.
1577 RightOf "screen-id"
1579 LeftOf "screen-id"
1581 Above "screen-id"
1583 Below "screen-id"
1585 Relative "screen-id" x y
1587 These give the screen's location relative to another screen.
1588 The first four position the screen immediately to the right,
1589 left, above or below the other screen. When positioning to
1590 the right or left, the top edges are aligned. When posi‐
1591 tioning above or below, the left edges are aligned. The
1592 Relative form specifies the offset of the screen's origin
1593 (upper left corner) relative to the origin of another
1594 screen.
1595 InputDevice "idev-id" "option" ...
1597 One of these entries should be given for each input device being
1598 used in a session. Normally at least two are required, one each
1599 for the core pointer and keyboard devices. If either of those
1600 is missing, suitable InputDevice entries are searched for using
1601 the method described above in the INPUTDEVICE section. The
1602 idev-id field is mandatory, and specifies the name of the Input‐
1603 Device section being referenced. Multiple option fields may be
1604 specified, each in double quotes. The options permitted here
1605 are any that may also be given in the InputDevice sections.
1606 Normally only session-specific input device options would be
1607 used here. The most commonly used options are:
1608 "CorePointer"
1610 "CoreKeyboard"
1611 "SendCoreEvents"
1612 and the first two should normally be used to indicate the core
1614 pointer and core keyboard devices respectively.
1615 Options
1617 In addition to the following, any option permitted in the
1618 ServerFlags section may also be specified here. When the same
1619 option appears in both places, the value given here overrides
1620 the one given in the ServerFlags section.
1621 Option "IsolateDevice" "bus-id"
1623 Restrict device resets to the specified bus-id. See the BusID
1624 option (described in DEVICE SECTION, above) for the format of
1625 the bus-id parameter. This option overrides SingleCard, if
1626 specified. At present, only PCI devices can be isolated in this
1627 manner.
1628 Option "SingleCard" "boolean"
1630 As IsolateDevice, except that the bus ID of the first device in
1631 the layout is used.
1632 Here is an example of a ServerLayout section for a dual headed configu‐
1634 ration with two mice:
1635 Section "ServerLayout"
1637 Identifier "Layout 1"
1638 Screen "MGA 1"
1639 Screen "MGA 2" RightOf "MGA 1"
1640 InputDevice "Keyboard 1" "CoreKeyboard"
1641 InputDevice "Mouse 1" "CorePointer"
1642 InputDevice "Mouse 2" "SendCoreEvents"
1643 Option "BlankTime" "5"
1644 EndSection
1645
1647 This optional section is used to provide some information for the
1648 Direct Rendering Infrastructure. Details about the format of this sec‐
1649 tion can be found on-line at <http://dri.freedesktop.org/>.
1650
1652 The optional Vendor section may be used to provide vendor-specific con‐
1653 figuration information. Multiple Vendor sections may be present, and
1654 they may contain an Identifier entry and multiple Option flags. The
1655 data therein is not used in this release.
1656
1658 General: X(7), Xserver(1), Xorg(1), cvt(1), gtf(1).
1659 Not all modules or interfaces are available on all platforms.
1661 Display drivers: apm(4), ati(4), chips(4), cirrus(4), cyrix(4),
1663 fbdev(4), glide(4), glint(4), i128(4), i740(4), imstt(4), intel(4),
1664 mga(4), neomagic(4), nv(4), openchrome(4), r128(4), radeon(4), rendi‐
1665 tion(4), savage(4), s3virge(4), siliconmotion(4), sis(4), sisusb(4),
1666 sunbw2(4), suncg14(4), suncg3(4), suncg6(4), sunffb(4), sunleo(4),
1667 suntcx(4), tdfx(4), trident(4), tseng(4), vesa(4), vmware(4),
1668 voodoo(4), wsfb(4), xgi(4), xgixp(4).
1669 Input drivers: acecad(4), citron(4), elographics(4), evdev(4), fpit(4),
1671 joystick(4), kbd(4), mousedrv(4), mutouch(4), penmount(4), synap‐
1672 tics(4), vmmouse(4), void(4), wacom(4).
1673 Other modules and interfaces: exa(4), fbdevhw(4), v4l(4).
1675
1677 This manual page was largely rewritten by David Dawes
1678 <dawes@xfree86.org>.
1679X Version 11 xorg-server 1.9.5 xorg.conf(5)