9.4.3 The X server
See XFree86(1x) for X server information.
Invoke X server from a local console:
$ startx -- :<display> vtXX
e.g.:
$ startx -- :1 vt8 -bpp 16
... start on vt8 connected to localhost:1 with 16 bpp mode
Arguments given after -- are for the X server.
Note, when using a ~/.xserverrc script to customize the X server
startup process, be sure to exec the real X server. Failing to do
this can make the X server slow to start and exit. For example:
#!/bin/sh
exec /usr/bin/X11/X -dpi 100 -nolisten tcp
9.4.3.1 Configuring the X server (version 4)
To (re-)configure an XF4 server,
# dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low xserver-common
# dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low xserver-xfree86
will generate /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file and configure X using the
script dexconf.
9.4.3.2 Configuring the X server (version 3)
To (re-)configure an XF3 server, for example, for ATI mach64,
# dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low xserver-common-v3
# dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low xserver-mach64
will generate /etc/X11/XF86Config file and configure X using the
script xf86config-v3.
9.4.3.3 Configuring the X server manually
For Woody, to add user customizations to /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
file, do not edit the configuration file between the text:
### BEGIN DEBCONF SECTION
[snip]
### END DEBCONF SECTION
Instead, add the customizations before the text. For example,
to use a custom video device, add something resembling the following text to
the top of the file:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Custom Device"
Driver "ati"
Option "NoAccel"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Custom Screen"
Device "Custom Device"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Custom"
Screen "Custom Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse" "CorePointer"
EndSection
For Sarge (testing at the time of writing), if you wish to retain
user customizations to /etc/X11/XF86Config file through upgrade,
run the following commands as root:
# cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.custom
# md5sum /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 > /var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.md5sum
# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
In order to achieve font de-uglification, you need to edit
/etc/X11/XF86Config-4 as described in
TrueType
fonts in X, Section 9.4.13.
Please also check the other parts of your X configuration. Bad monitor
settings can be even more of a headache than bad fonts, so make sure your
refresh rate is as high as your monitor can handle (85 Hz is great, 75 Hz is
OK, 60 Hz is painful).
