X configuration under Slack 13

bogzab · 10-25-2009, 02:37 PM

I will soon be taking the plunge and replacing Slackware 12 on various boxes with 13. I have been following a lot of KDE 4 versus KDE 3 threads and it seems to me that while the early KDE4 versions were worth avoiding, Slack 13 seems to have adopted something that is perfectly usable.

However in reading a bit about version 13 I was surprised to hear that X configuration is no longer done by the old trusted xorg.conf which I have invested some time in learning and customising for various PCs. Can anybody explain how X is now configured and where the config files reside ?

Thanks

hitest · 10-25-2009, 02:56 PM

I've finished my upgrade cycle to Slackware 13.0.
The newest version of Xorg for the most part requires no configuration at all (I didn't modify any xorg settings). I recommend a full install and choose your WM during the install process. After you've created a user account just fire-up your WM with startx and you'll be up and running in X windows.

BrZ · 10-25-2009, 03:49 PM

You can keep using xorg.conf to tweak your video card =]

sycamorex · 10-25-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

I have been following a lot of KDE 4 versus KDE 3 threads and it seems to me that while the early KDE4 versions were worth avoiding, Slack 13 seems to have adopted something that is perfectly usable.

Note that a few days ago slackware-current upgraded KDE to version 4.3.2 which is said to work better than the one included in Slackware 13 (KDE 4.2.4). That's just in case you want to try -current

knudfl · 10-25-2009, 04:46 PM

*
Is is a very very good idea to save / backup
the current 'xorg.conf' files from the Slackware 12's.

( I use a Slackware 10.2 xorg.conf for Slackware 13.)

amiga32 · 10-25-2009, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bogzab

However in reading a bit about version 13 I was surprised to hear that X configuration is no longer done by the old trusted xorg.conf which I have invested some time in learning and customising for various PCs. Can anybody explain how X is now configured and where the config files reside ?

Hi. Between the new xorg server and HAL, everything gets auto detected. I was a bit put off by this too but I checked the logs and everything works fine. You can still use xorg.conf to override anything you want/don't want too.

bogzab · 10-27-2009, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amiga32

Between the new xorg server and HAL, everything gets auto detected. I was a bit put off by this too but I checked the logs and everything works fine. You can still use xorg.conf to override anything you want/don't want too.

That's the general view that seems to be coming through, so I think I can be reasonably confident that all should be smooth.

Just in case : Where do you go for the documentation on all this HAL autodetection and where were the logs that you were able to check ? Thanks.

Lufbery · 10-27-2009, 08:21 AM

I've got a follow-up question: I've installed Slackware 13 on my laptop and the video and sound worked perfectly without an xorg.conf file. I then created a HAL policy for the mouse so my Thinkpad scroll button would work. So the new X.org worked perfectly as advertised.

But, my desktop computer has an Nvidia card, so I'd like to use the proprietary driver package from Slackbuilds.org. So, after installing the Nvidia kernel module and driver (in runlevel 3, of course), do I run xorgsetup to create an xorg.conf file?

Thanks,

slackd · 10-27-2009, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lufbery

But, my desktop computer has an Nvidia card, so I'd like to use the proprietary driver package from Slackbuilds.org. So, after installing the Nvidia kernel module and driver (in runlevel 3, of course), do I run xorgsetup to create an xorg.conf file?

Thanks,

This is what i do.

- Get the closed source from nvidia website
- run nvidia's xconfig utility with customized arguments, E.g->

Code:

nvidia-xconfig --use-events \
--render-extension --render-accel --randr-rotation \
--multisample-compatibility --multigpu='Auto' --flip --damage-events \
--dynamic-twinview --enable-acpi-hotkeys --composite \
--allow-glx-with-composite --add-argb-glx-visuals --cool-bits=4

MQMan · 10-28-2009, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lufbery

But, my desktop computer has an Nvidia card, so I'd like to use the proprietary driver package from Slackbuilds.org. So, after installing the Nvidia kernel module and driver (in runlevel 3, of course), do I run xorgsetup to create an xorg.conf file?

Here's my xorg.conf for the nVidia driver:

Code:

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "** NVIDIA (generic)                   [nv]"
    Driver      "nvidia"
    #VideoRam    262144
    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
    # Option "CustomEDID" "DFP-0:/etc/X11/edid.raw"
EndSection

You only need to add options that you want to override, from the detected hardware. Simple, huh.

Cheers.