Arch Linux

yehdev_cc

Member

Registered: 2008-06-03

Posts: 26

xorg.conf ... alternative ?

May be this sounds weird but,... is there any alternative to using xorg.conf ?
Why I'm asking this is that I examined my fedora 9 ( I have dual boot machine) xorg.conf, wich has nothing about the screen or modes and resolutions...
same is ubuntu ... they don't have these information in xorg.conf, however, they manage to set screen resolution right, but with arch I have to it manually ... I will probably have to install pardus again to copy the information I need from its xorg.conf..
I'm really curious to know how they do this ?

starbuck

Member

Registered: 2008-11-04

Posts: 2

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

Ubuntu for sure relies on HAL auto-detection, I'm assuming thats what Fedora is doing too. I think this can be done in Arch, but it may require xorg from testing.

-star

Last edited by starbuck (2008-11-15 06:15:25)

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

You can probably run without a xorg.conf file all together now. You'll most likely end up with the vesa driver, but it should work. Mine doesn't have much, and I could probably bring it down even more. I'm guessing that I don't need half of this, but I don't care enough to try:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier      "Layout0"
    Screen      0   "Screen0" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 8800 GT"
    Option         "DPI"    "96 x 96"
    Option           "UseEdidDpi" "false"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

yehdev_cc

Member

Registered: 2008-06-03

Posts: 26

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

Thank you guys for the replies..
@starbuck:
yes, probably...
but they both (fedora & ubuntu) do have xorg.conf that's working....
I think I'll google some about it as I don't know they work together..

@skottish :
Yes... but the minimum part you posted is just exactly the missing one in ubuntu
what I want to check now is whether using video drivers other than mesa would alter xorg.conf or not ? (I mean by using the gui tools that come with ubuntu for example)
If they do change xorg.conf, then you're probably right about that it runs mesa by default when parts or all of xorg.conf is missing...
and If It doesn't change xorg.conf then it probably uses other methods.. may be hal...

I have my doubts becuase in Mint(ubuntu based), when I use safe mode for boot from livecd which uses mesa driver... it uses 1024*768 for my screen resolution by default, with these parts missing from xorg.conf as well..
But, in Arch... I log into 640*480  by default!

any ideas ?
thanx

JGC

Developer

Registered: 2003-12-03

Posts: 1,664

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

For normal single-screen configurations not using fglrx or nvidia, you can throw away xorg.conf and use xorg-server and its dependencies, drivers, etc from testing. If your display isn't autodetected correctly, you'll need to adjust things in xorg.conf, for input devices, configuration has to be done in hal fdi files with xorg from testing.

yehdev_cc

Member

Registered: 2008-06-03

Posts: 26

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

Thanks  you JGC,
What I understand from your post that, unless I'm using non-vesa driver, I don't have to edit xorg.conf .. and if I'm using non-vesa driver(Intel like the one I have) then I MUST modify xorg.conf .. right?
So, hal doesn't have nothing to do with this ....., still I don't know why xorg behaves differently from ubuntu one ?
one more questions please, what's a good tool to use to detect my screen sync. rate ? it's my big problem... Pardus GNU/Linux does detect it very will and write them in xorg.conf.. I don't know what should I do in Arch..
one last question , why should I use  xorg 'testing' ? what's the difference ?
Thank you very much

patroclo7

Member

From: Bassano del Grappa, ITALY

Registered: 2006-01-11

Posts: 915

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

Autodetection works fine here with intel inegrated i945 (and the intel driver is used with the right 1333x768 resolution)

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azleifel

Member

Registered: 2007-10-28

Posts: 486

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

Autodetection works fine here too with the ordinary xorg and nvidia driver packages from [extra] and has done for some time.

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT"
        Driver          "nvidia"
        BusID           "PCI:2:0:0"
        Option          "BackingStore" "True"
        Option          "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP"
        Option          "ConnectToAcpid" "False"
        Option          "TripleBuffer" "True"
        Option          "DynamicTwinView" "False"
        Option          "UseEdidDpi" "False"
        Option          "DPI" "96 x 96"
        Option          "RandRRotation" "True"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "P223W"
        Option          "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT"
        Monitor         "P223W"
        DefaultDepth    24
EndSection

I've always thought that the easiest way to find out the horizontal and vertical sync rates for a monitor is to look in the manual , though running xrandr without any options should get a list of available modes and vertical refresh rates.

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

Auto-detection for the screen makes my system completely unusable. I can't even log in at the console because all keystrokes get swallowed or the system hangs. I have to go in with a live CD to repair the system. This is why I still have a xorg.conf file. And yes, that's with the new xorg-server and family from testing.

Last edited by skottish (2008-11-15 17:49:29)

yehdev_cc

Member

Registered: 2008-06-03

Posts: 26

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

Thank you very much for the replies, I do appreciate it..
I 'commented' the lines in xorg.conf about vertical & horizontal sync., and it just worked perfectly !!!
I'm really not sure how does xorg manage default settings... I think it's a good point to look deeper into ..
and as for the autodetection... it works well except for the horizontal and vertical sync. rate ... needs another deeper look...
Anyway, I'm happy my system is working now.. and I'll get you informed as soon as I find out was going in there

muunleit

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2008-02-23

Posts: 234

Re: xorg.conf ... alternative ?

about autodetection: I had some problems with the new Ubuntu on Benq-Notebooks. I had t add Depth and Modes to the Screensection.f

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"The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven" -- John Milton