$PAGER=more man 5 xorg.conf
xorg.conf(5) xorg.conf(5)
NAME
xorg.conf - configuration File for Xorg X server
INTRODUCTION
Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration
and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables,
the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback
defaults. When the same information is supplied in more than one way,
the highest precedence mechanism is used. The list of mechanisms is
ordered from highest precedence to lowest. Note that not all parame-
ters can be supplied via all methods. The available command line
options and environment variables (and some defaults) are described in
the Xserver(1) and Xorg(1) manual pages. Most configuration file
parameters, with their defaults, are described below. Driver and mod-
ule specific configuration parameters are described in the relevant
driver or module manual page.
DESCRIPTION
Xorg uses a configuration file called xorg.conf for its initial setup.
This configuration file is searched for in the following places when
the server is started as a normal user:
/etc/X11/<cmdline>
/usr/etc/X11/<cmdline>
/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
/usr/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
/etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/etc/xorg.conf
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf-4
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf
where <cmdline> is a relative path (with no ".." components) specified
with the -config command line option, $XORGCONFIG is the relative path
(with no ".." components) specified by that environment variable, and
<hostname> is the machine's hostname as reported by gethostname(3).
When the Xorg server is started by the "root" user, the config file
search locations are as follows:
<cmdline>
/etc/X11/<cmdline>
/usr/etc/X11/<cmdline>
$XORGCONFIG
/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
/usr/etc/X11/$XORGCONFIG
/etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/etc/xorg.conf
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf-4
/usr/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.<hostname>
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf-4
/usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf
where <cmdline> is the path specified with the -config command line
option (which may be absolute or relative), $XORGCONFIG is the path
specified by that environment variable (absolute or relative), $HOME is
the path specified by that environment variable (usually the home
directory), and <hostname> is the machine's hostname as reported by
gethostname(3).
The xorg.conf file is composed of a number of sections which may be
present in any order, or omitted to use default configuration values.
Each section has the form:
Section "SectionName"
SectionEntry
...
EndSection
The section names are:
Files File pathnames
ServerFlags Server flags
Module Dynamic module loading
Extensions Extension enabling
InputDevice Input device description
Device Graphics device description
VideoAdaptor Xv video adaptor description
Monitor Monitor description
Modes Video modes descriptions
Screen Screen configuration
ServerLayout Overall layout
DRI DRI-specific configuration
Vendor Vendor-specific configuration
The following obsolete section names are still recognised for compati-
bility purposes. In new config files, the InputDevice section should
be used instead.
Keyboard Keyboard configuration
Pointer Pointer/mouse configuration
The old XInput section is no longer recognised.
The ServerLayout sections are at the highest level. They bind together
the input and output devices that will be used in a session. The input
devices are described in the InputDevice sections. Output devices usu-
ally consist of multiple independent components (e.g., a graphics board
and a monitor). These multiple components are bound together in the
Screen sections, and it is these that are referenced by the ServerLay-
out section. Each Screen section binds together a graphics board and a
monitor. The graphics boards are described in the Device sections, and
the monitors are described in the Monitor sections.
Config file keywords are case-insensitive, and "_" characters are
ignored. Most strings (including Option names) are also case-insensi-
tive, and insensitive to white space and "_" characters.
Each config file entry usually takes up a single line in the file.
They consist of a keyword, which is possibly followed by one or more
arguments, with the number and types of the arguments depending on the
keyword. The argument types are:
Integer an integer number in decimal, hex or octal
Real a floating point number
String a string enclosed in double quote marks (")
Note: hex integer values must be prefixed with "0x", and octal values
with "0".
A special keyword called Option may be used to provide free-form data
to various components of the server. The Option keyword takes either
one or two string arguments. The first is the option name, and the
optional second argument is the option value. Some commonly used
option value types include:
Integer an integer number in decimal, hex or octal
Real a floating point number
String a sequence of characters
Boolean a boolean value (see below)
Frequency a frequency value (see below)
Note that all Option values, not just strings, must be enclosed in
quotes.
Boolean options may optionally have a value specified. When no value
is specified, the option's value is TRUE. The following boolean option
values are recognised as TRUE:
1, on, true, yes
and the following boolean option values are recognised as FALSE:
0, off, false, no
If an option name is prefixed with "No", then the option value is
negated.
Example: the following option entries are equivalent:
Option "Accel" "Off"
Option "NoAccel"
Option "NoAccel" "On"
Option "Accel" "false"
Option "Accel" "no"
Frequency option values consist of a real number that is optionally
followed by one of the following frequency units:
Hz, k, kHz, M, MHz
When the unit name is omitted, the correct units will be determined
from the value and the expectations of the appropriate range of the
value. It is recommended that the units always be specified when using
frequency option values to avoid any errors in determining the value.
FILES SECTION
The Files section is used to specify some path names required by the
server. Some of these paths can also be set from the command line (see
Xserver(1) and Xorg(1)). The command line settings override the values
specified in the config file. The Files section is optional, as are
all of the entries that may appear in it.
The entries that can appear in this section are:
FontPath "path"
sets the search path for fonts. This path is a comma separated
list of font path elements which the Xorg server searches for
font databases. Multiple FontPath entries may be specified, and
they will be concatenated to build up the fontpath used by the
server. Font path elements can be absolute directory paths,
catalogue directories or a font server identifier. The formats
of the later two are explained below:
Catalogue directories:
Catalogue directories can be specified using the prefix cat-
alogue: before the directory name. The directory can then be
populated with symlinks pointing to the real font directo-
ries, using the following syntax in the symlink name:
<identifier>:[attribute]:pri=<priority>
where <identifier> is an alphanumeric identifier,
[attribute] is an attribute which will be passed to the
underlying FPE and <priority> is a number used to order the
fontfile FPEs. Examples:
75dpi:unscaled:pri=20 -> /usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi
gscript:pri=60 -> /usr/share/fonts/default/ghostscript
misc:unscaled:pri=10 -> /usr/share/X11/fonts/misc
Font server identifiers:
Font server identifiers have the form:
<trans>/<hostname>:<port-number>
where <trans> is the transport type to use to connect to the
font server (e.g., unix for UNIX-domain sockets or tcp for a
TCP/IP connection), <hostname> is the hostname of the
machine running the font server, and <port-number> is the
port number that the font server is listening on (usually
7100).
When this entry is not specified in the config file, the server
falls back to the compiled-in default font path, which contains
the following font path elements (which can be set inside a cat-
alogue directory):
/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc/
/usr/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/
/usr/lib/X11/fonts/OTF/
/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/
/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/
/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/
Font path elements that are found to be invalid are removed from
the font path when the server starts up.
ModulePath "path"
sets the search path for loadable Xorg server modules. This
path is a comma separated list of directories which the Xorg
server searches for loadable modules loading in the order speci-
fied. Multiple ModulePath entries may be specified, and they
will be concatenated to build the module search path used by the
server. The default module path is
/usr/lib/xorg/modules
XkbDir "path"
sets the base directory for keyboard layout files. The -xkbdir
command line option can be used to override this. The default
directory is
/usr/share/X11/xkb
SERVERFLAGS SECTION
In addition to options specific to this section (described below), the
ServerFlags section is used to specify some global Xorg server options.
All of the entries in this section are Options, although for compati-
bility purposes some of the old style entries are still recognised.
Those old style entries are not documented here, and using them is dis-
couraged. The ServerFlags section is optional, as are the entries that
may be specified in it.
Options specified in this section (with the exception of the "Default-
ServerLayout" Option) may be overridden by Options specified in the
active ServerLayout section. Options with command line equivalents are
overridden when their command line equivalent is used. The options
recognised by this section are:
Option "DefaultServerLayout" "layout-id"
This specifies the default ServerLayout section to use in the
absence of the -layout command line option.
Option "NoTrapSignals" "boolean"
This prevents the Xorg server from trapping a range of unex-
pected fatal signals and exiting cleanly. Instead, the Xorg
server will die and drop core where the fault occurred. The
default behaviour is for the Xorg server to exit cleanly, but
still drop a core file. In general you never want to use this
option unless you are debugging an Xorg server problem and know
how to deal with the consequences.
Option "UseSIGIO" "boolean"
This controls whether the Xorg server requests that events from
input devices be reported via a SIGIO signal handler (also known
as SIGPOLL on some platforms), or only reported via the standard
select(3) loop. The default behaviour is platform specific.
In general you do not want to use this option unless you are
debugging the Xorg server, or working around a specific bug
until it is fixed, and understand the consequences.
Option "DontVTSwitch" "boolean"
This disallows the use of the Ctrl+Alt+Fn sequence (where Fn
refers to one of the numbered function keys). That sequence is
normally used to switch to another "virtual terminal" on operat-
ing systems that have this feature. When this option is
enabled, that key sequence has no special meaning and is passed
to clients. Default: off.
Option "DontZap" "boolean"
This disallows the use of the Terminate_Server XKB action (usu-
ally on Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, depending on XKB options). This
action is normally used to terminate the Xorg server. When this
option is enabled, the action has no effect. Default: off.
Option "DontZoom" "boolean"
This disallows the use of the Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus and
Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus sequences. These sequences allows you to
switch between video modes. When this option is enabled, those
key sequences have no special meaning and are passed to clients.
Default: off.
Option "DisableVidModeExtension" "boolean"
This disables the parts of the VidMode extension used by the
xvidtune client that can be used to change the video modes.
Default: the VidMode extension is enabled.
Option "AllowNonLocalXvidtune" "boolean"
This allows the xvidtune client (and other clients that use the
VidMode extension) to connect from another host. Default: off.
Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "boolean"
This tells the mousedrv(4) and vmmouse(4) drivers to not report
failure if the mouse device can't be opened/initialised. It has
no effect on the evdev(4) or other drivers. The previous func-
tionality of allowing the server to start up even if the mouse
device can't be opened/initialised is now handled by the
AllowEmptyInput option. Default: false.
Option "VTSysReq" "boolean"
enables the SYSV-style VT switch sequence for non-SYSV systems
which support VT switching. This sequence is Alt-SysRq followed
by a function key (Fn). This prevents the Xorg server trapping
the keys used for the default VT switch sequence, which means
that clients can access them. Default: off.
Option "BlankTime" "time"
sets the inactivity timeout for the blank phase of the screen-
saver. time is in minutes. This is equivalent to the Xorg
server's -s flag, and the value can be changed at run-time with
xset(1). Default: 10 minutes.
Option "StandbyTime" "time"
sets the inactivity timeout for the standby phase of DPMS mode.
time is in minutes, and the value can be changed at run-time
with xset(1). Default: 10 minutes. This is only suitable for
VESA DPMS compatible monitors, and may not be supported by all
video drivers. It is only enabled for screens that have the
"DPMS" option set (see the MONITOR section below).
Option "SuspendTime" "time"
sets the inactivity timeout for the suspend phase of DPMS mode.
time is in minutes, and the value can be changed at run-time
with xset(1). Default: 10 minutes. This is only suitable for
VESA DPMS compatible monitors, and may not be supported by all
video drivers. It is only enabled for screens that have the
"DPMS" option set (see the MONITOR section below).
Option "OffTime" "time"
sets the inactivity timeout for the off phase of DPMS mode.
time is in minutes, and the value can be changed at run-time
with xset(1). Default: 10 minutes. This is only suitable for
VESA DPMS compatible monitors, and may not be supported by all
video drivers. It is only enabled for screens that have the
"DPMS" option set (see the MONITOR section below).
Option "Pixmap" "bpp"
This sets the pixmap format to use for depth 24. Allowed values
for bpp are 24 and 32. Default: 32 unless driver constraints
don't allow this (which is rare). Note: some clients don't
behave well when this value is set to 24.
Option "PC98" "boolean"
Specify that the machine is a Japanese PC-98 machine. This
should not be enabled for anything other than the Japanese-spe-
cific PC-98 architecture. Default: auto-detected.
Option "NoPM" "boolean"
Disables something to do with power management events. Default:
PM enabled on platforms that support it.
Option "Xinerama" "boolean"
enable or disable XINERAMA extension. Default is disabled.
Option "AIGLX" "boolean"
enable or disable AIGLX. AIGLX is enabled by default.
Option "DRI2" "boolean"
enable or disable DRI2. DRI2 is disabled by default.
Option "GlxVisuals" "string"
This option controls how many GLX visuals the GLX modules sets
up. The default value is typical, which will setup up a typical
subset of the GLXFBConfigs provided by the driver as GLX visu-
als. Other options are minimal, which will set up the minimal
set allowed by the GLX specification and all which will setup
GLX visuals for all GLXFBConfigs.
Option "UseDefaultFontPath" "boolean"
Include the default font path even if other paths are specified
in xorg.conf. If enabled, other font paths are included as well.
Enabled by default.
Option "IgnoreABI" "boolean"
Allow modules built for a different, potentially incompatible
version of the X server to load. Disabled by default.
Option "AllowEmptyInput" "boolean"
If enabled, don't add the standard keyboard and mouse drivers,
if there are no input devices in the config file. Enabled by
default if AutoAddDevices and AutoEnableDevices is enabled, oth-
erwise disabled. If AllowEmptyInput is on, devices using the
kbd, mouse or vmmouse driver are ignored.
Option "AutoAddDevices" "boolean"
If this option is disabled, then no devices will be added from
HAL events. Enabled by default.
Option "AutoEnableDevices" "boolean"
If this option is disabled, then the devices will be added (and
the DevicePresenceNotify event sent), but not enabled, thus
leaving policy up to the client. Enabled by default.
Option "Log" "string"
This option controls whether the log is flushed and/or synced to
disk after each message. Possible values are flush or sync.
Unset by default.
MODULE SECTION
The Module section is used to specify which Xorg server modules should
be loaded. This section is ignored when the Xorg server is built in
static form. The type of modules normally loaded in this section are
Xorg server extension modules. Most other module types are loaded
automatically when they are needed via other mechanisms. The Module
section is optional, as are all of the entries that may be specified in
it.
Entries in this section may be in two forms. The first and most com-
monly used form is an entry that uses the Load keyword, as described
here:
Load "modulename"
This instructs the server to load the module called modulename.
The module name given should be the module's standard name, not
the module file name. The standard name is case-sensitive, and
does not include the "lib" prefix, or the ".a", ".o", or ".so"
suffixes.
Example: the DRI extension module can be loaded with the follow-
ing entry:
Load "dri"
Disable "modulename"
This instructs the server to not load the module called module-
name. Some modules are loaded by default in the server, and
this overrides that default. If a Load instruction is given for
the same module, it overrides the Disable instruction and the
module is loaded. The module name given should be the module's
standard name, not the module file name. As with the Load
instruction, the standard name is case-sensitive, and does not
include the "lib" prefix, or the ".a", ".o", or ".so" suffixes.
The second form of entry is a SubSection, with the subsection name
being the module name, and the contents of the SubSection being Options
that are passed to the module when it is loaded.
Example: the extmod module (which contains a miscellaneous group of
server extensions) can be loaded, with the XFree86-DGA extension dis-
abled by using the following entry:
SubSection "extmod"
Option "omit XFree86-DGA"
EndSubSection
Modules are searched for in each directory specified in the ModulePath
search path, and in the drivers, extensions, input, internal, and mul-
timedia subdirectories of each of those directories. In addition to
this, operating system specific subdirectories of all the above are
searched first if they exist.
To see what extension modules are available, check the extensions sub-
directory under:
/usr/lib/xorg/modules
The "extmod", "dbe", "dri", "dri2", "glx", and "record" extension mod-
ules are loaded automatically, if they are present, unless disabled
with "Disable" entries. It is recommended that at very least the
"extmod" extension module be loaded. If it isn't, some commonly used
server extensions (like the SHAPE extension) will not be available.
EXTENSIONS SECTION
The Extensions section is used to specify which X11 protocol extensions
should be enabled or disabled. The Extensions section is optional, as
are all of the entries that may be specified in it.
Entries in this section are listed as Option statements with the name
of the extension as the first argument, and a boolean value as the sec-
ond. The extension name is case-sensitive, and matches the form shown
in the output of "Xorg -extension ?".
Example: the MIT-SHM extension can be disabled with the follow-
ing entry:
Section "Extensions"
Option "MIT-SHM" "Disable"
EndSection
INPUTDEVICE SECTION
The config file may have multiple InputDevice sections. Recent X
servers employ input hotplugging to add input devices, with the HAL
backend being the default backend for X servers since 1.4. It is usu-
ally not necessary to provide InputDevice sections in the xorg.conf if
hotplugging is enabled.
If hotplugging is disabled, there will normally be at least two: one
for the core (primary) keyboard and one for the core pointer. If
either of these two is missing, a default configuration for the missing
ones will be used. In the absence of an explicitly specified core input
device, the first InputDevice marked as CorePointer (or CoreKeyboard)
is used. If there is no match there, the first InputDevice that uses
the "mouse" (or "kbd") driver is used. The final fallback is to use
built-in default configurations. Currently the default configuration
may not work as expected on all platforms.
InputDevice sections have the following format:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "name"
Driver "inputdriver"
options
...
EndSection
The Identifier and Driver entries are required in all InputDevice sec-
tions. All other entries are optional.
The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this input device.
The Driver entry specifies the name of the driver to use for this input
device. When using the loadable server, the input driver module
"inputdriver" will be loaded for each active InputDevice section. An
InputDevice section is considered active if it is referenced by an
active ServerLayout section, if it is referenced by the -keyboard or
-pointer command line options, or if it is selected implicitly as the
core pointer or keyboard device in the absence of such explicit refer-
ences. The most commonly used input drivers are evdev(4) on Linux sys-
tems, and kbd(4) and mousedrv(4) on other platforms.
InputDevice sections recognise some driver-independent Options, which
are described here. See the individual input driver manual pages for a
description of the device-specific options.
Option "CorePointer"
Deprecated, use SendCoreEvents instead.
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Deprecated, use SendCoreEvents instead.
Option "AlwaysCore" "boolean"
Deprecated, use SendCoreEvents instead.
Option "SendCoreEvents" "boolean"
Both of these options are equivalent, and when enabled cause the
input device to report core events through the master device.
They are enabled by default. Any device configured to send core
events will be attached to the virtual core pointer or keyboard
and control the cursor by default. Devices with SendCoreEvents
disabled will be "floating" and only accessible by clients
employing the X Input extension. This option controls the
startup behavior only, a device may be reattached or set float-
ing at runtime.
Option "SendDragEvents" "boolean"
Send core events while dragging. Enabled by default.
For pointing devices, the following options control how the pointer is
accelerated or decelerated with respect to physical device motion. Most
of these can be adjusted at runtime, see the xinput(1) man page for
details. Only the most important acceleration options are discussed
here.
Option "AccelerationProfile" "integer"
Select the profile. In layman's terms, the profile constitutes
the "feeling" of the acceleration. More formally, it defines how
the transfer function (actual acceleration as a function of cur-
rent device velocity and acceleration controls) is constructed.
This is mainly a matter of personal preference.
0 classic (mostly compatible)
-1 none (only constant deceleration is applied)
1 device-dependent
2 polynomial (polynomial function)
3 smooth linear (soft knee, then linear)
4 simple (normal when slow, otherwise accelerated)
5 power (power function)
6 linear (more speed, more acceleration)
Option "ConstantDeceleration" "real"
Makes the pointer go deceleration times slower than normal. Most
useful for high-resolution devices.
Option "AdaptiveDeceleration" "real"
Allows to actually decelerate the pointer when going slow. At
most, it will be adaptive deceleration times slower. Enables
precise pointer placement without sacrificing speed.
Option "AccelerationScheme" "string"
Selects the scheme, which is the underlying algorithm.
predictable default algorithm (behaving more predictable)
lightweight old acceleration code (as specified in the X protoco
ol spec)
none no acceleration or deceleration
DEVICE SECTION
The config file may have multiple Device sections. There must be at
least one, for the video card being used.
Device sections have the following format:
Section "Device"
Identifier "name"
Driver "driver"
entries
...
EndSection
The Identifier and Driver entries are required in all Device sections.
All other entries are optional.
The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this graphics
device. The Driver entry specifies the name of the driver to use for
this graphics device. When using the loadable server, the driver mod-
ule "driver" will be loaded for each active Device section. A Device
section is considered active if it is referenced by an active Screen
section.
Device sections recognise some driver-independent entries and Options,
which are described here. Not all drivers make use of these
driver-independent entries, and many of those that do don't require
them to be specified because the information is auto-detected. See the
individual graphics driver manual pages for further information about
this, and for a description of the device-specific options. Note that
most of the Options listed here (but not the other entries) may be
specified in the Screen section instead of here in the Device section.
BusID "bus-id"
This specifies the bus location of the graphics card. For
PCI/AGP cards, the bus-id string has the form
PCI:bus:device:function (e.g., "PCI:1:0:0" might be appropriate
for an AGP card). This field is usually optional in single-head
configurations when using the primary graphics card. In multi-
head configurations, or when using a secondary graphics card in
a single-head configuration, this entry is mandatory. Its main
purpose is to make an unambiguous connection between the device
section and the hardware it is representing. This information
can usually be found by running the pciaccess tool scanpci.
Screen number
This option is mandatory for cards where a single PCI entity can
drive more than one display (i.e., multiple CRTCs sharing a sin-
gle graphics accelerator and video memory). One Device section
is required for each head, and this parameter determines which
head each of the Device sections applies to. The legal values
of number range from 0 to one less than the total number of
heads per entity. Most drivers require that the primary screen
(0) be present.
Chipset "chipset"
This usually optional entry specifies the chipset used on the
graphics board. In most cases this entry is not required
because the drivers will probe the hardware to determine the
chipset type. Don't specify it unless the driver-specific docu-
mentation recommends that you do.
Ramdac "ramdac-type"
This optional entry specifies the type of RAMDAC used on the
graphics board. This is only used by a few of the drivers, and
in most cases it is not required because the drivers will probe
the hardware to determine the RAMDAC type where possible. Don't
specify it unless the driver-specific documentation recommends
that you do.
DacSpeed speed
DacSpeed speed-8 speed-16 speed-24 speed-32
This optional entry specifies the RAMDAC speed rating (which is
usually printed on the RAMDAC chip). The speed is in MHz. When
one value is given, it applies to all framebuffer pixel sizes.
When multiple values are given, they apply to the framebuffer
pixel sizes 8, 16, 24 and 32 respectively. This is not used by
many drivers, and only needs to be specified when the speed rat-
ing of the RAMDAC is different from the defaults built in to
driver, or when the driver can't auto-detect the correct
defaults. Don't specify it unless the driver-specific documen-
tation recommends that you do.
Clocks clock ...
specifies the pixel that are on your graphics board. The clocks
are in MHz, and may be specified as a floating point number.
The value is stored internally to the nearest kHz. The ordering
of the clocks is important. It must match the order in which
they are selected on the graphics board. Multiple Clocks lines
may be specified, and each is concatenated to form the list.
Most drivers do not use this entry, and it is only required for
some older boards with non-programmable clocks. Don't specify
this entry unless the driver-specific documentation explicitly
recommends that you do.
ClockChip "clockchip-type"
This optional entry is used to specify the clock chip type on
graphics boards which have a programmable clock generator. Only
a few Xorg drivers support programmable clock chips. For
details, see the appropriate driver manual page.
VideoRam mem
This optional entry specifies the amount of video ram that is
installed on the graphics board. This is measured in kBytes.
In most cases this is not required because the Xorg server
probes the graphics board to determine this quantity. The
driver-specific documentation should indicate when it might be
needed.
BiosBase baseaddress
This optional entry specifies the base address of the video BIOS
for the VGA board. This address is normally auto-detected, and
should only be specified if the driver-specific documentation
recommends it.
MemBase baseaddress
This optional entry specifies the memory base address of a
graphics board's linear frame buffer. This entry is not used by
many drivers, and it should only be specified if the driver-spe-
cific documentation recommends it.
IOBase baseaddress
This optional entry specifies the IO base address. This entry
is not used by many drivers, and it should only be specified if
the driver-specific documentation recommends it.
ChipID id
This optional entry specifies a numerical ID representing the
chip type. For PCI cards, it is usually the device ID. This
can be used to override the auto-detection, but that should only
be done when the driver-specific documentation recommends it.
ChipRev rev
This optional entry specifies the chip revision number. This
can be used to override the auto-detection, but that should only
be done when the driver-specific documentation recommends it.
TextClockFreq freq
This optional entry specifies the pixel clock frequency that is
used for the regular text mode. The frequency is specified in
MHz. This is rarely used.
Option "ModeDebug" "boolean"
Enable printing of additional debugging information about mode-
setting to the server log.
Options
Option flags may be specified in the Device sections. These
include driver-specific options and driver-independent options.
The former are described in the driver-specific documentation.
Some of the latter are described below in the section about the
Screen section, and they may also be included here.
VIDEOADAPTOR SECTION
Nobody wants to say how this works. Maybe nobody knows ...
MONITOR SECTION
The config file may have multiple Monitor sections. There should nor-
mally be at least one, for the monitor being used, but a default con-
figuration will be created when one isn't specified.
Monitor sections have the following format:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "name"
entries
...
EndSection
The only mandatory entry in a Monitor section is the Identifier entry.
The Identifier entry specifies the unique name for this monitor. The
Monitor section may be used to provide information about the specifica-
tions of the monitor, monitor-specific Options, and information about
the video modes to use with the monitor.
With RandR 1.2-enabled drivers, monitor sections may be tied to spe-
cific outputs of the video card. Using the name of the output defined
by the video driver plus the identifier of a monitor section, one asso-
ciates a monitor section with an output by adding an option to the
Device section in the following format:
Option "Monitor-outputname" "monitorsection"
(for example, Option "Monitor-VGA" "VGA monitor" for a VGA output)
In the absence of specific association of monitor sections to outputs,
if a monitor section is present the server will associate it with an
output to preserve compatibility for previous single-head configura-
tions.
Specifying video modes is optional because the server will use the DDC
or other information provided by the monitor to automatically configure
the list of modes available. When modes are specified explicitly in
the Monitor section (with the Modes, ModeLine, or UseModes keywords),
built-in modes with the same names are not included. Built-in modes
with different names are, however, still implicitly included, when they
meet the requirements of the monitor.
The entries that may be used in Monitor sections are described below.
VendorName "vendor"
This optional entry specifies the monitor's manufacturer.
ModelName "model"
This optional entry specifies the monitor's model.
HorizSync horizsync-range
gives the range(s) of horizontal sync frequencies supported by
the monitor. horizsync-range may be a comma separated list of
either discrete values or ranges of values. A range of values
is two values separated by a dash. By default the values are in
units of kHz. They may be specified in MHz or Hz if MHz or Hz
is added to the end of the line. The data given here is used by
the Xorg server to determine if video modes are within the spec-
ifications of the monitor. This information should be available
in the monitor's handbook. If this entry is omitted, a default
range of 28-33kHz is used.
VertRefresh vertrefresh-range
gives the range(s) of vertical refresh frequencies supported by
the monitor. vertrefresh-range may be a comma separated list of
either discrete values or ranges of values. A range of values
is two values separated by a dash. By default the values are in
units of Hz. They may be specified in MHz or kHz if MHz or kHz
is added to the end of the line. The data given here is used by
the Xorg server to determine if video modes are within the spec-
ifications of the monitor. This information should be available
in the monitor's handbook. If this entry is omitted, a default
range of 43-72Hz is used.
DisplaySize width height
This optional entry gives the width and height, in millimetres,
of the picture area of the monitor. If given this is used to
calculate the horizontal and vertical pitch (DPI) of the screen.
Gamma gamma-value
Gamma red-gamma green-gamma blue-gamma
This is an optional entry that can be used to specify the gamma
correction for the monitor. It may be specified as either a
single value or as three separate RGB values. The values should
be in the range 0.1 to 10.0, and the default is 1.0. Not all
drivers are capable of using this information.
UseModes "modesection-id"
Include the set of modes listed in the Modes section called mod-
esection-id. This makes all of the modes defined in that sec-
tion available for use by this monitor.
Mode "name"
This is an optional multi-line entry that can be used to provide
definitions for video modes for the monitor. In most cases this
isn't necessary because the built-in set of VESA standard modes
will be sufficient. The Mode keyword indicates the start of a
multi-line video mode description. The mode description is ter-
minated with the EndMode keyword. The mode description consists
of the following entries:
DotClock clock
is the dot (pixel) clock rate to be used for the mode.
HTimings hdisp hsyncstart hsyncend htotal
specifies the horizontal timings for the mode.
VTimings vdisp vsyncstart vsyncend vtotal
specifies the vertical timings for the mode.
Flags "flag" ...
specifies an optional set of mode flags, each of which is a
separate string in double quotes. "Interlace" indicates
that the mode is interlaced. "DoubleScan" indicates a mode
where each scanline is doubled. "+HSync" and "-HSync" can
be used to select the polarity of the HSync signal.
"+VSync" and "-VSync" can be used to select the polarity of
the VSync signal. "Composite" can be used to specify com-
posite sync on hardware where this is supported. Addition-
ally, on some hardware, "+CSync" and "-CSync" may be used to
select the composite sync polarity.
HSkew hskew
specifies the number of pixels (towards the right edge of
the screen) by which the display enable signal is to be
skewed. Not all drivers use this information. This option
might become necessary to override the default value sup-
plied by the server (if any). "Roving" horizontal lines
indicate this value needs to be increased. If the last few
pixels on a scan line appear on the left of the screen, this
value should be decreased.
--More--
Most commands optionally preceded by integer argument k. Defaults in brackets.
Star (*) indicates argument becomes new default.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<space> Display next k lines of text [current screen size]
z Display next k lines of text [current screen size]*
<return> Display next k lines of text [1]*
d or ctrl-D Scroll k lines [current scroll size, initially 11]*
q or Q or <interrupt> Exit from more
s Skip forward k lines of text [1]
f Skip forward k screenfuls of text [1]
b or ctrl-B Skip backwards k screenfuls of text [1]
' Go to place where previous search started
= Display current line number
/<regular expression> Search for kth occurrence of regular expression [1]
n Search for kth occurrence of last r.e [1]
!<cmd> or :!<cmd> Execute <cmd> in a subshell
v Start up /usr/bin/vi at current line
ctrl-L Redraw screen
:n Go to kth next file [1]
:p Go to kth previous file [1]
:f Display current file name and line number
. Repeat previous command
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VScan vscan
specifies the number of times each scanline is painted on
the screen. Not all drivers use this information. Values
less than 1 are treated as 1, which is the default. Gener-
ally, the "DoubleScan" Flag mentioned above doubles this
value.
ModeLine "name" mode-description
This entry is a more compact version of the Mode entry, and it
also can be used to specify video modes for the monitor. is a
single line format for specifying video modes. In most cases
this isn't necessary because the built-in set of VESA standard
modes will be sufficient.
The mode-description is in four sections, the first three of
which are mandatory. The first is the dot (pixel) clock. This
is a single number specifying the pixel clock rate for the mode
in MHz. The second section is a list of four numbers specifying
the horizontal timings. These numbers are the hdisp, hsync-
start, hsyncend, and htotal values. The third section is a list
of four numbers specifying the vertical timings. These numbers
are the vdisp, vsyncstart, vsyncend, and vtotal values. The
final section is a list of flags specifying other characteris-
tics of the mode. Interlace indicates that the mode is inter-
laced. DoubleScan indicates a mode where each scanline is dou-
bled. +HSync and -HSync can be used to select the polarity of
the HSync signal. +VSync and -VSync can be used to select the
polarity of the VSync signal. Composite can be used to specify
composite sync on hardware where this is supported. Addition-
ally, on some hardware, +CSync and -CSync may be used to select
the composite sync polarity. The HSkew and VScan options men-
tioned above in the Modes entry description can also be used
here.
Option "DPMS" "bool"
This option controls whether the server should enable the DPMS
extension for power management for this screen. The default is
to enable the extension.
Option "SyncOnGreen" "bool"
This option controls whether the video card should drive the
sync signal on the green color pin. Not all cards support this
option, and most monitors do not require it. The default is
off.
Option "Primary" "bool"
This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be treated
as the primary monitor. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
Option "PreferredMode" "string" This optional entry specifies a
mode to be marked as the preferred initial mode of the monitor.
(RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
Option "Position" "x y"
This optional entry specifies the position of the monitor within
the X screen. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
Option "LeftOf" "output"
This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be posi-
tioned to the left of the output (not monitor) of the given
name. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
Option "RightOf" "output"
This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be posi-
tioned to the right of the output (not monitor) of the given
name. (RandR 1.2-supporting drivers only)
Option "Above" "output"
This optional entry specifies that the monitor should be posi-
tioned above the output (not monitor) of the given name. (RandR
1.2-supporting drivers only)
/see\ also
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