Re: Confusion about X in woody
Randy Orrison <randy@orrison.com> wrote:
I installed Potato from CDs, and have since done an apt-get dist-upgrade
to woody, and have been following woody since (with apt-get upgrade and
install as needed when new packages arrived). I've recently noticed
that I appear to be using X version 4.1, as shown by this partial output
from dpkg -l:
ii xdm 4.1.0-11 X display manager
ii xfree86-common 4.1.0-11 X Window System (XFree86) infrastructure
ii xfs 4.1.0-11 X font server
ii xlib6g 4.1.0-11 pseudopackage providing X libraries
ii xlibs 4.1.0-11 X Window System client libraries
ii xserver-common 4.1.0-11 files and utilities common to all X servers
ii xserver-common-v3 3.3.6-42 files and utilities common to XFree86 3.x X
ii xserver-svga 3.3.6-42 X server for SVGA graphics cards
ii xterm 4.1.0-11 X terminal emulator
ii xutils 4.1.0-11 X Window System utility programs
ii xvfb 4.1.0-11 virtual framebuffer X server
--snip-- <
>
So, all is working again, but I think I'm running some weird 3.3.6/4.1
crossbreed which worries me. I'd like to be able to get rid of the
3.3.6 stuff. My video card is an NVIDIA Riva TNT Model 64, which 3
didn't support directly (hence the svga). Does 4 support this directly,
and how do I configure it to use it?
Thanks!
It IS confusing!! Lets see if this helps a bit.
You are correct in your observation that you are running a "mix" of 4.1
and 3.3.6.... under a certain definition of the term "mix". When
XFree86-v4.0 came out there was some MAJOR changes to how the X-Servers
were handled. Most (but not all) of the previous "Servers" like
xserver-svga were rolled into a single "super" server called
"xserver-xfree86". This new xserver provided a LOT of new features like
auto-detection of the card and loading of the appropriate driver
module(s) to enable all the newer features being developed.
Unfortunately, some of the older and rarer video cards were NOT
supported by this new server, so they included a way to make use of
older 3.3.6 servers that had been proven to work with these cards. This
provided sort of a backwards-compatability for these cards in the new X.
version 4.0. Essentially, for most cards you have TWO different ways of
setting up an xserver for the card:
1. Use the features of the new xserver-xfree86 if your card is supported
2. Continue to use the features of the older 3.3.6 xserver specific for
your card.
You probably don't remember it now, but there WAS a question during the
install about this. You probably chose to use the "xserver-svga" mode,
which is the older "compatability" mode like I did because you didn't
recognize the other option, and it wasn't at all clear what you should do!!
From what I can determine, your card IS supported by the new
xserver-xfree86, and I would highly recommenc you use it. If you want
to check, take a look at this site:
http://www.xfree86.com/current/Status22.html#22
If you have a working & current install of Woody at the moment, you can
re-do the X config section of the install by running:
"dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86". You might want to make back-up
copies of your current XF86Config-4 file to be safe. Once you have the
new xserver working, then you can probably get rid of the old files like
"xserver-common-v3 3.3.6-42" and " xserver-svga 3.3.6-42".
Cheers,
-Don Spoon-
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