XFree86 Version 4.0 Installation and Configuration
Written By: Er-Zah
Home Page: http://www.xfree86.org
Warning
Please read this document in its entirety before you begin installation
and configuration. Installing XFree86 is a more advanced operation, and
should only be attempted if you are confident that you can do it. Also, I
strongly recommend backing up your original X server installation.
That way, if you get stuck, you will have a fallback. You have been
warned!
Description:
The XFree86 Project, Inc. has released version 4.0 of their popular X
server distribution. A number of people have been wanting to install this
upgrade, myself included. The new version contains updated drivers for
many video cards, first time drivers for some of the latest video cards,
and the added feature that it only requires one X server to be installed.
No more wading through trying to decide which X server is right for you,
just install 4.0 and configure it properly, and the stock X server
(XFree86) will work beautifully. Also, from my experience, once you have
XFree86 4.0 installed on your system, you will notice a slight decrease in
server startup time.
I have included a copy of my XF86Config
file with this NHF. Please note that it is NOT advisable to use
this XF86Config file without modification unless you are using the same
kind of computer that I am. I use a Sony PCG-F180 Laptop running RedHat
6.1.
Getting Started:
First, download the file Xinstall.sh from XFree86 Project, Inc.'s ftp server and run it with the '-check'
option to find out exactly which distribution you need to download for
your computer. Execute the following command as root:
# sh Xinstall.sh -check
The program will then tell you:
- What OS you are using
- What version of the kernel you are running
- What your hardware architecture is
- The Object format for your system
- The version number of libc that is installed on your system
- Most importantly, which binary distribution name you need
Use that last piece of information to determine which directory you need
to download from on the XFree86 ftp
server.
Mandatory Downloads:
Here is a list of the files that you must download to
proceed with installation:
- Xinstall.sh
- extract
- Xbin.tgz
- Xlib.tgz
- Xman.tgz
- Xdoc.tgz
- Xfnts.tgz
- Xfenc.tgz
- Xetc.tgz
- Xvar.tgz
- Xxserv.tgz
- Xmod.tgz
Backing up current installation
If you have a previous installation of XFree86 or any other distribution
of X11 on your computer, I highly recommend backing up your
existing files. Here is what I did to back mine up: (as root)
- cd /
- mkdir xbackup
- cp /usr/X11R6 /xbackup -Rr
- cp /etc/X11 /xbackup -Rr
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