Running Linux, 5th Edition

Configuring X.org

Setting up X.org is not difficult in most cases. However, if you happen to be using hardware for which drivers are under development, or wish to obtain the best performance or resolution from an accelerated graphics card, configuring X.org can be somewhat time-consuming.

In this section, we describe how to create and edit the xorg.conf file, which configures the X.org server. This file is by default located in /etc/X11/, but is searched for in many other locations, so your distribution might elect to put it elsewhere. In any case, it is best to start out with a skeleton configuration file generated by any of the means described earlier. Then go for a low resolution: a good choice is 640 × 480, which should be supported on all video cards and monitor types. Once you have X.org working at a lower, standard resolution, you can tweak the configuration to exploit the capabilities of your video hardware. The idea is that you want to make sure X.org works at least minimally on your system and that something isn't wrong with your installation before attempting the sometimes difficult task of setting up X.org for real use. With current hardware, you should easily be able to get up to 1280 × 1024 pixels (1024 × 768 on most laptops).

In addition to the information here, you should read the documentation at http://www.x.org/X11R6.8.2/doc/, in particular the README files for your particular graphics chipset.

The main configuration file you need to create is /etc/X11/xorg.conf ...