From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

I have not had a need to configure X for a long time--probably several
years. But today I was reviewing some old code and notes, and they
inspired me to try.

My notes described a command, /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig, but it is gone.
In the same directory is the Slackware tool, xorgsetup, but it didn't
work. It produced a screenful of gibberish.

I'm guessing what happened is that X no longer needs, or allows,
configuring, and the Slackware tool remains for the benefit of users with older machines.

What do you, my fellow Slackers, make of this?

-Joe
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On 04.05.2025 00:44 Uhr Joseph Rosevear wrote:

I have not had a need to configure X for a long time--probably
several years. But today I was reviewing some old code and notes,
and they inspired me to try.

My notes described a command, /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig, but it is
gone. In the same directory is the Slackware tool, xorgsetup, but it
didn't work. It produced a screenful of gibberish.

xorg is normally configured by xorg.conf and the files in xorg.conf.d,
both in /etc/X11. Is there a reason not to use them?

I'm guessing what happened is that X no longer needs, or allows, configuring, and the Slackware tool remains for the benefit of users
with older machines.

X11 can still be configured, but many stuff can also be done with
commands or the desktop environment, if you run one.

What do you, my fellow Slackers, make of this?

What do you want to exactly configure?
--
kind regards
Marco

Send spam to 1746312242muell@stinkedores.dorfdsl.de

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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Sun, 4 May 2025 00:44:02 -0000 (UTC), Joseph Rosevear wrote:

I have not had a need to configure X for a long time--probably several
years. But today I was reviewing some old code and notes, and they
inspired me to try.

My notes described a command, /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig, but it is gone.
In the same directory is the Slackware tool, xorgsetup, but it didn't
work. It produced a screenful of gibberish.

I'm guessing what happened is that X no longer needs, or allows,
configuring, and the Slackware tool remains for the benefit of users
with older machines.

What do you, my fellow Slackers, make of this?

-Joe

Update.

I found the command which makes an xorg.conf type file. It is:

Xorg -configure

I'll play with it.

Thanks, all!
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Sun, 4 May 2025 08:44:19 +0200, Marco Moock wrote:

On 04.05.2025 00:44 Uhr Joseph Rosevear wrote:

I have not had a need to configure X for a long time--probably several
years. But today I was reviewing some old code and notes, and they
inspired me to try.

My notes described a command, /usr/X11R6/bin/xorgconfig, but it is
gone. In the same directory is the Slackware tool, xorgsetup, but it
didn't work. It produced a screenful of gibberish.

xorg is normally configured by xorg.conf and the files in xorg.conf.d,
both in /etc/X11. Is there a reason not to use them?

Much thanks! Yes, I have a file xorg.conf.d, although I didn't make it.
It was produced by or included with Slackware, it seems. The file
xorg.conf was absent. See my other post.

I'm guessing what happened is that X no longer needs, or allows,
configuring, and the Slackware tool remains for the benefit of users
with older machines.

X11 can still be configured, but many stuff can also be done with
commands or the desktop environment, if you run one.

What do you, my fellow Slackers, make of this?

What do you want to exactly configure?

I have some old xorg.conf files, but none of them worked. I'm trying to resurrect an old script I wrote which allows one to boot a Slackware
system on a flash drive on different machines, providing a box name as a
boot parameter. The code reads the box name and finds and uses
corresponding rc.inet1.conf and xorg.conf files.

-Joe
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On 04.05.2025 08:09 Uhr Joseph Rosevear wrote:

I have some old xorg.conf files, but none of them worked. I'm trying
to resurrect an old script I wrote which allows one to boot a
Slackware system on a flash drive on different machines, providing a
box name as a boot parameter. The code reads the box name and finds
and uses corresponding rc.inet1.conf and xorg.conf files.

What do you need to configure at X11?
If there is nothing you need to change at X11, don't mess with it. Many
old configs aren't needed nowadays in most situations.
--
kind regards
Marco

Send spam to 1746338972muell@stinkedores.dorfdsl.de

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

Joseph Rosevear <Mail@joeslife.org> wrote:
<<snip>>

Much thanks! Yes, I have a file xorg.conf.d, although I didn't make it.
It was produced by or included with Slackware, it seems.

Actually, you have a directory /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/
And you probably have a default file there named 10-libvnc.conf
that's entirely comments. You can put your own files there, too,
starting with two digits and a dash, and startx will execute
all those files in numerical order.

I have just one extra file there called 11-monitor.conf containing just
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "HDMI-1"
### Option "PreferredMode" "2048x1152"
Option "PreferredMode" "3840x2160"
EndSection
to increase the default resolution (commented as "2048x1152")
on my connected HDMI-1 that startx starts up with. (Run xrandr
with no args to see all that stuff.)

And you can have lots of different kinds of Section blocks,
each with lots of different commands, allowing you to configure
just about anything X-related. And there's a whole bunch of
documentation about all that, but I'm not recalling where it is.
Somebody want to remind us about that?...
--
John Forkosh
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Sun, 4 May 2025 13:55:47 -0000 (UTC), John Forkosh wrote:

Joseph Rosevear <Mail@joeslife.org> wrote:
<<snip>>

Much thanks! Yes, I have a file xorg.conf.d, although I didn't make
it.
It was produced by or included with Slackware, it seems.

Actually, you have a directory /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/
And you probably have a default file there named 10-libvnc.conf that's entirely comments. You can put your own files there, too, starting with
two digits and a dash, and startx will execute all those files in
numerical order.

I have just one extra file there called 11-monitor.conf containing just
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "HDMI-1"
### Option "PreferredMode" "2048x1152"
Option "PreferredMode" "3840x2160"
EndSection
to increase the default resolution (commented as "2048x1152")
on my connected HDMI-1 that startx starts up with. (Run xrandr with no
args to see all that stuff.)

And you can have lots of different kinds of Section blocks,
each with lots of different commands, allowing you to configure just
about anything X-related. And there's a whole bunch of documentation
about all that, but I'm not recalling where it is. Somebody want to
remind us about that?...

I used to not have a lot of config info in there but there are a few
things now.. Some high refresh rate screens won't default to their highest settings so you have X dump all the modelines it knows and then force the right one as an option you can use with PreferredMode.

Or if you have multiple screens you can throw in a Primary screen setting
and RightOf/LeftOf setting if they don't default to the right spot.

If you get tearing in videos, usually anti-tear settings go in there too.
(for AMD it's "TearFree" in the Device section)

Standby, suspend, blanktime, etc all go there I think..

None of those are absolutely required though since mine does at least go
into the correct resolution (just not a buttery smooth refresh rate :) )
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Sun, 4 May 2025 10:38:37 +0200, Marco Moock wrote:

On 04.05.2025 08:09 Uhr Joseph Rosevear wrote:

I have some old xorg.conf files, but none of them worked. I'm trying
to resurrect an old script I wrote which allows one to boot a Slackware
system on a flash drive on different machines, providing a box name as
a boot parameter. The code reads the box name and finds and uses
corresponding rc.inet1.conf and xorg.conf files.

What do you need to configure at X11?
If there is nothing you need to change at X11, don't mess with it. Many
old configs aren't needed nowadays in most situations.

Perhaps that didn't make sense. I was testing my script to see if I
*could* change the settings. The script is called rc.JBD. This
invocation checks to see if file /etc/X11/local/xorg.conf-<box> differs
from the current xorg.conf:

/etc/rc.d/rc.JBD box=<box>

If it differs, it backs up the current xorg.conf, then replaces the
contents with what's in the new file. Or something like that.

Alternately "box=<box>" can be given on the bootline. Looking at it now
I think this old script needs rewriting.

Anyway, I was just testing.

I think you are right about old xorg.conf often not being needed
anymore. Back then I was doing some graphics programming VESA and VGA,
and I don't remember what else.

-Joe
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Sun, 4 May 2025 13:55:47 -0000 (UTC), John Forkosh wrote:

[snip]

Actually, you have a directory /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/
And you probably have a default file there named 10-libvnc.conf that's entirely comments. You can put your own files there, too, starting with
two digits and a dash, and startx will execute all those files in
numerical order.

Right! I didn't notice it was a directory. Mine is empty. I didn't
know about putting files in it that would execute--in order.

I have just one extra file there called 11-monitor.conf containing just
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "HDMI-1"
### Option "PreferredMode" "2048x1152"
Option "PreferredMode" "3840x2160"
EndSection
to increase the default resolution (commented as "2048x1152")
on my connected HDMI-1 that startx starts up with. (Run xrandr with no
args to see all that stuff.)

And you can have lots of different kinds of Section blocks,
each with lots of different commands, allowing you to configure just
about anything X-related. And there's a whole bunch of documentation
about all that, but I'm not recalling where it is. Somebody want to
remind us about that?...

-Joe
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Mon, 05 May 2025 06:27:02 +0000, Joseph Rosevear wrote:

This invocation checks to see if file /etc/X11/local/xorg.conf-<box>
differs from the current xorg.conf

As most systems today don't have any rather complete xorg.conf file I
would instead suggest to check if a /etc/X11/local/xorg_custom.conf-<box> differs from /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-custom.conf

regards Henrik
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Mon, 5 May 2025 16:33:48 -0000 (UTC), Henrik Carlqvist wrote:

On Mon, 05 May 2025 06:27:02 +0000, Joseph Rosevear wrote:

This invocation checks to see if file /etc/X11/local/xorg.conf-<box>
differs from the current xorg.conf

As most systems today don't have any rather complete xorg.conf file I
would instead suggest to check if a
/etc/X11/local/xorg_custom.conf-<box>
differs from /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-custom.conf

regards Henrik

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I see now that something like that might in fact be needed. Perhaps
I would simply treat the whole xorg.conf.d directory in the same manner
as xorg.conf, replacing it with xorg.conf.d-<box> when it differs from
the current xorg.conf.d?

-Joe
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On 5/6/25 10:05, Joseph Rosevear wrote:

On Mon, 5 May 2025 16:33:48 -0000 (UTC), Henrik Carlqvist wrote:

As most systems today don't have any rather complete xorg.conf file I
would instead suggest to check if a
/etc/X11/local/xorg_custom.conf-<box>
differs from /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-custom.conf

regards Henrik

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I see now that something like that might in fact be needed. Perhaps
I would simply treat the whole xorg.conf.d directory in the same manner
as xorg.conf, replacing it with xorg.conf.d-<box> when it differs from
the current xorg.conf.d?

In my limited experience no xorg.conf is required.

"udev" is able to configure the server and my initial attempts to use
the file from 14.2 led to bad configurations.

The log file /var/log/xorg.0.log shows the various steps at startup and
I found that the defaults where better than those I supplied from
previous releases.

Currently in my new box (2021) there are no directives in directory /etc/X11/xorg.d/ and those in directory /usr/share/X11/xorg.d/ are not
used because are to correct special hardware cases.

Only if You have very old hardware, not detectable by udev, You have to
use a configuration file.

Ciao
Giovanni
--
A computer is like an air conditioner,
it stops working when you open Windows.
< https://giovanni.homelinux.net/ >
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On 2025-05-04, John Forkosh wrote:

... And there's a whole bunch of documentation about all that, but I'm
not recalling where it is. Somebody want to remind us about that?...

I hope that you mean ...

/usr/man/man5/xorg.conf.5.gz
/usr/man/man5/xorg.conf.d.5.gz
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sylvain Robitaille syl@therockgarden.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Tue, 06 May 2025 11:47:14 +0200, Giovanni wrote:

Currently in my new box (2021) there are no directives in directory /etc/X11/xorg.d/ and those in directory /usr/share/X11/xorg.d/ are not
used because are to correct special hardware cases.

Only if You have very old hardware, not detectable by udev, You have to
use a configuration file.

I usually place some file in xorg.conf.d:

86-maxclients.conf
90-keyboard-layout.conf

Sometimes I also put one more file there:

85-dpms.conf


The first file is to avoid annoying failures when trying to open more
than 256 windows:

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/86-maxclients.conf
# Set max clients to maximum value 512 instead of default 256

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "MaxClients" "512"
EndSection


The second file is to get a swedish (same as finish) keyboard layout:

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-keyboard-layout.conf
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "keyboard-all"
MatchIsKeyboard "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "evdev"
Option "XkbLayout" "fi"
Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
Option "XkbOptions" "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp"
EndSection


My optional third file is power saving settings for the monitor:

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/85-dpms.conf
# Turn off monitor at inactivity

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "BlankTime" "20"
Option "StandbyTime" "30"
Option "SuspendTime" "40"
Option "OffTime" "50"
EndSection

I can easily come to think of situations when someone want different
settings for different machines. It would be possible to put all those settings in the same file in the xorg.conf.d directory, but splitting up different settings in different files does loook nice.

regards Henrik
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

Sylvain Robitaille <syl@therockgarden.ca> wrote:

On 2025-05-04, John Forkosh wrote:

... And there's a whole bunch of documentation about all that, but I'm
not recalling where it is. Somebody want to remind us about that?...

I hope that you mean ...

/usr/man/man5/xorg.conf.5.gz
/usr/man/man5/xorg.conf.d.5.gz

Could be, now that I'm seeing it. I had man5/xorg.conf.5.gz,
but man xorg.conf was saying No manual entry until I ran
mandb. In any case, I kind of vaguely remember a longer
discussion from somewhere, but couldn't google anything that
matched my vague recollection.
--
John Forkosh
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

Giovanni <lsodgf0@home.net.it> wrote:

Only if You have very old hardware, not detectable by udev, You have to
use a configuration file.

Or you might want to specify an alternate driver, or event to ensure
a specific one of the three videocards you have inexplicably installed
in your machine. :-)

The default settings you get without a config are usually fine; but
not always exactly what is optimal, or what you want.

#Paul
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