path: root/sgml/NetBSD.sgml

<!DOCTYPE linuxdoc PUBLIC "-//XFree86//DTD linuxdoc//EN">

<article>
<title>README for XFree86 3.3.2 on NetBSD
<author>Rich  Murphey,
David Dawes,
Marc  Wandschneider,
Mark  Weaver,
Matthieu Herrb
<Date>Last modified on: 21 February 1998

<toc>


<sect>What and Where is XFree86?

<p>
XFree86 3.3.2 is a port of X11R6.3 that supports several versions of
Intel-based Unix.  It is derived from X386 1.2, which was the X server
distributed with X11R5.  This release consists of many new features
and performance improvements as well as many bug fixes.  The release
is available as source patches against the X Consortium X11R6.3 code, as
well as binary distributions for many architectures.

See the <htmlurl url="COPYRIGHT.html" name="Copyright Notice">.

The sources for XFree86 are available by anonymous ftp from:

<htmlurl name="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current"
url="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current">

Binaries for NetBSD 1.2 and later   are available from:

<htmlurl name="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current/binaries/"
url="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/current/binaries/NetBSD">

A list of mirror sites is provided by
<htmlurl name="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/MIRRORS"
url="ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/MIRRORS">

<p>
Other NetBSD versions:

These binaries are not compatible with earlier NetBSD versions. If
you're still running NetBSD 0.9, 1.0 or 1.1, you should think about
upgrading to a newer version of NetBSD first.

If you don't upgrade, you'll have to build XFree86 from the sources.
XFree86 3.3.2 should compile cleanly under earlier versions of
NetBSD, although this has not been tested.

XFree86 3.3.2 also builds on NetBSD/sparc. See section
<ref id="sparc" name="Building on other architectures"> for details.

The client side of XFree86 also builds on NetBSD/alpha and many other 
architecture supported by NetBSD. 

XFree86 3.3.2 also supports NetBSD on PC98 machines. 


<sect>Bug Reports for This Document

<p>
Send email to <em/matthieu@laas.fr/ (Matthieu Herrb) or
<em/XFree86@XFree86.org/ if you have comments or suggestions about
this file and we'll revise it.

<sect>New features in this release

<p>
<enum>
<item>See the <htmlurl url="RELNOTES.html" name="Release Notes"> for
non-OS dependent new features in XFree86 3.3.2.
</enum>

<sect>Installing the Binaries

<p>
Refer to section 5 of the <htmlurl url="RELNOTES.html" name="Release
Notes">  for detailed installation instructions.


<sect1>Installing Xdm, the display manager

<p>
The file <tt>xc/lib/Xdmcp/WrapHelp.c</tt> is not available in
France (where the binary distribution is built) so support for
XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1 is not included here. You'll have to get
WrapHelp.c and rebuild xdm after having set <tt/HasXdmAuth/ in
<tt/xf86site.def/.

The file is available within the US; for
details see <htmlurl name="ftp.x.org:/pub/R6/xdm-auth/README"
url="ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6/xdm-auth/README">.

To start the display manager, log in as root on the console and type:
``<tt/xdm -nodaemon/''.

You can start xdm automatically on bootup by disabling the console getty
and adding the following code to <tt>/etc/rc.local</tt>:

<tscreen><verb>
  if [ -x /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm ]; then
    echo -n ' xdm'; /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm
  fi
</verb></tscreen>

To disable the console getty, change ``<bf/on/'' to ``<bf/off/'' in
the console entry in <tt>/etc/ttys</tt>:

<tscreen><verb>
 ttyv0	"/usr/libexec/getty Pc"	pc	off secure
</verb></tscreen>


<sect>Configuring X for Your Hardware

<p>
The <tt/XF86Config/ file tells the X server what kind of monitor,
video card and mouse you have.  You <em/must/ create it to tell the
server what specific hardware you have.
<p>
XFree86 3.2 introduced a new, user-friendly configuration utility
called <bf/XF86Setup/. It has to be run as root. Refer to its
documentation for details about its use.
<p>
You'll need info on your hardware:
<itemize>
<item>Your mouse type, baud rate and its /dev entry.
<item>The video card's chipset (e.g. ET4000, S3, etc).
<item>Your monitor's sync frequencies.
</itemize>


The recommended way to generate an <tt/XF86Config/ file is to use the
<tt/XF86Setup/ utility.  The xf86config text utility is still there
for the (few) cases where XF86Setup can't be used. Also, there is a
sample file installed as <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config.eg</tt>,
which can be used as a starting point.

For details about the <tt/XF86Config/ file format, refer to the
<em>XF86Config(5)</em> manual page.

In order to protect your hardware from damage, the server will no
longer read <tt>XF86Config</tt> files from a user's home directory,
but requires that it be in <tt>/etc/XF86Config</tt>,
<tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config.hostname</tt> or
<tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/XF86Config</tt>.

Once you've set up a XF86Config file, you can fine tune the video
modes with the <tt>xvidtune</tt> utility. 

<sect1>About mouse configuration

<p>
If your serial mouse does not work try using <tt>kermit</tt> or
<tt>tip</tt> to connect to the mouse serial port and verify that it
does indeed generate characters.
<p>
The NetBSD pms mouse driver handles PS/2 style mice as
Busmouse. Specify the protocol <bf/busmouse/ in the mouse section of your
<tt/XF86Config/ file if you're using a PS/2 mouse.
<p>
Only standard PS/2 mice are supported by this driver. Newest PS/2
mice that send more than three bytes at a time (especially
intellimouse, or mouseman+ with a "3D" roller) are not supported yet. 
<p>
See <htmlurl url="mouse.html" name="README.mouse">  for general
instruction on mouse configuration in XFree86.

<sect1>Other input devices
<p>
XFree86  supports the dynamic loading of drivers for external
input devices using the <tt/XInput/ extension. Currently supported
devices are:
<itemize>
<item>Joystick (<tt/xf86Jstk.so/)
<item>Wacom tablets (Wacom IV protocol only, <tt/xf86Wacom.so/)
<item>SummaSketch tablets (<tt/xf86Summa.so/)
<item>Elographics touchscreen (<tt/xf86Elo.so/)
</itemize>

To use a specific device, add the line
<tscreen>
<tt/load/ <tt/"/<em/module/<tt/"/
</tscreen>
in the <bf/Module/ section of <tt/XF86Config/, where <em/module/ is
the name of the <tt/.so/ file corresponding to your device.
You also need to set up a <bf/XInput/ section in <tt/XF86Config/. 
Refer to the <em>XF86Config(5)</em> man page for detailed
configuration instructions.
<p>
You can then change the device used to drive the X pointer with the
<em/xsetpointer(1)/ command.
<p>
For joystick support, you'll need to install the joystick device
driver in the kernel. It is included in NetBSD 1.2. See
<em/joy(4)/ for details.

<sect1>Configuring PEX and XIE extensions
<p>
The PEX and XIE extensions are  supported as external modules.
If you want to have access to these extensions, add the following
lines to the <bf/Module/ section of <tt/XF86Config/:
<tscreen><verb>
   load    "pex5.so"
   load    "xie.so"
</verb></tscreen>


<sect>Running X

<p>
8mb of memory is a recommended minimum for running X.  The server,
window manager and an xterm take about 4 Mb of memory themselves.  On
a 4Mb system that would leave nothing left over for other applications
like gcc that expect a few meg free.  X will work with 4Mb of memory,
but in practice compilation while running X can take 5 or 10 times as
long due to constant paging.

The easiest way for new users to start X windows is to type: ``<tt/startx
>&amp; startx.log/''.  Error messages are lost unless you redirect them
because the server takes over the screen.

To get out of X windows, type: ``<tt/exit/'' in the console xterm.
You can customize your X by creating <tt/.xinitrc/, <tt/.xserverrc/,
and <tt/.twmrc/ files in your home directory as described in the xinit
and startx man pages.

<sect>Kernel Support for X

<p>
To make sure X support is enabled under NetBSD, the following
line must be in your config file in <tt>/sys/arch/i386/conf</tt>:

<tscreen>
 options XSERVER, UCONSOLE
</tscreen>

The server supports the two standard NetBSD/i386
console drivers: pccons and pcvt. They are detected at runtime and no
configuration of the server itself is required.

<p>
The pccons driver is the most widely tested and is the console driver
contained in the NetBSD binary distribution's kernels.

<p>
The pcvt console driver is bundled with NetBSD. The pcvt X
mode is compatible with the pccons driver X mode. It offers several
virtual consoles and international keyboard support. In order to use
this driver, change the line:

<tscreen>
 device          pc0     at isa? port "IO_KBD" irq 1
</tscreen>

to

<tscreen>
 device         vt0     at isa? port "IO_KBD" irq 1
</tscreen>

in your kernel config file, and rebuild and install your kernel.

<p>
When not using XKB, the server can read the actual keymap from
the keyboard driver and use to build the X keymap. Be sure to use
``<tt/RightAlt ModeShift/'' in <tt/XF86Config/ to have the right <bf/Alt/ key
behave as <bf/AltGr/.

<p>
Syscons and codrv are not bundled with NetBSD. They are
available by anonymous FTP from a number of sites. They are not
supported by the XFree86 binary distribution anymore. You can compile
support for them by adding -DSYSCONS_SUPPORT or -DCODRV_SUPPORT to
<tt/XFree86ConsoleDefines/ in <tt/xf86site.def/. See the section <ref
id="console-drivers" name="Console drivers"> for details.


If using pccons you get the message:
<tscreen><verb>
> Fatal server error:
> xf86OpenConsole: CONSOLE_X_MODE_OFF failed (Inappropriate ioctl for device)
> Was expecting pccons driver with X support
> Check your kernel's console driver configuration and /dev entries
> 
</verb></tscreen>

then delete <tt>/dev/ttyv0</tt>. I don't know why ``<tt/MAKEDEV/''
move <tt>/dev/ttyqf</tt> to <tt>/dev/ttyv0</tt>. (from Hung-Chi Chu
<em/hcchu@r350.ee.ntu.edu.tw/)


<sect1>Aperture Driver
<p>
By default NetBSD 0.9C and higher include the BSD 4.4 kernel security
feature that disable access to the <tt>/dev/mem</tt> device when in
multi-users mode. But XFree86 servers can take advantage (or require)
linear access to the display memory.

The P9000, Mach64 and AGX servers require linear memory access, other
accelerated servers can take advantage of it, but do not require it.

There are two ways to allow XFree86 to access linear memory:
<enum>
<item>Disable the kernel security feature by adding
   `option INSECURE' in the kernel configuration file and build a new
   kernel. 

   On NetBSD-1.0 you have to disable kernel security by initializing
   the ``<bf/securelevel/'' variable to <bf/-1/ in
   <tt>/sys/kern/kern_sysctl.c</tt>, line 205. For more informations,
   see the comments in <tt>/usr/include/sys/systm.h</tt>.

<item>Install the aperture driver:
<enum>
<item> The first step is highly dependent from your exact operating
system version:
<itemize>
<item> NetBSD 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2.1:
   <p>
   Add the following lines to the end of <tt>/etc/rc.local</tt>:
<tscreen><verb>
 KERNDIR=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/kernel
 if [ -f ${KERNDIR}/ap.o ]; then
   modload -o ${KERNDIR}/ap -e ap -p ${KERNDIR}/apinstall ${KERNDIR}/ap.o
 fi
</verb></tscreen>

<item> NetBSD 1.2D and later
    <p>
    Add the following line to  <tt>/etc/lkm.conf</tt>:
<tscreen><verb>
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/kernel/ap.o  -  ap /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/kernel/apinstall - 
</verb></tscreen> 

<item> NetBSD 1.2G, 1.3 and later
    <p>
    The <tt>lkm.conf</tt> format changed in 1.2G. 
    Add the following line to  <tt>/etc/lkm.conf</tt>:
<tscreen><verb>
/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/kernel/ap.o  -  ap /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/kernel/apinstall - -AFTERMOUNT
</verb></tscreen> 
</itemize>

<item> Reboot your system. XFree86 will auto-detect the aperture
       driver if available.
</enum>

    <bf/Warning:/ if you boot another kernel than <tt>/netbsd</tt> or
    <tt>/bsd</tt>,
    loadable kernel modules can crash your system. Always boot in
    single user mode when you want to run another kernel.

<p>
<quote>
   <bf/Caveat:/ the  aperture driver only allows one access at a time
   (so that the system is in the same security state once X is
   launched). This means that if you run multiple servers on multiples
   VT, only the first one will have linear memory access.
   Use 'option INSECURE' if you need more that one X server at a time.
</quote>

</enum>


<sect1>MIT-SHM
<p>
NetBSD 1.0 and later supports System V shared memory. If XFree86 
detects this support in your kernel, it will support the MIT-SHM
extension.

    To add support for system V shared memory to your kernel add the
    lines:

<tscreen><verb>
 # System V-like IPC
 options         SYSVMSG
 options         SYSVSEM
 options         SYSVSHM
</verb></tscreen>
 
    to your kernel config file. Then from <tt>/sys/arch/i386/config</tt>, type:

<tscreen><verb>
 # rm -f ../compile/<KERNEL-NAME>/*
 # config <KERNEL-NAME>
 # cd ../compile/<KERNEL-NAME>
 # make depend 
 # make
</verb></tscreen>

 Then install your new kernel and re-boot:

<tscreen><verb>
 # cp /netbsd /onetbsd
 # cp netbsd /
 # reboot
</verb></tscreen>


<sect> Rebuilding the XFree86 Distribution

<p>
The server link kit allow you to rebuild just the X server with a
minimum amount of disk space.  Just unpack it, make the appropriate
changes to the <tt/xf86site.def/, type ``<tt>./mkmf</tt>'' and
``<tt/make/'' to link the server.  See <tt>/usr/X11R6/lib/Server/README</tt>
for more info.

See <htmlurl url="INSTALL.html" name="INSTALL"> for instructions on
unbundling and building the source distribution.

You should configure the distribution by editing
<tt>xc/config/cf/xf86site.def</tt>  before compiling.  To compile the
sources, invoke ``<tt/make World/'' in the xc directory.

<sect1>Console drivers<label id="console-drivers">

<p>
XFree86 3.3.2 has a configuration option to select the console
drivers to use in <tt/xf86site.def/:
<itemize>
<item> if you're using pccons put:
<tscreen><verb>
 #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DPCCONS_SUPPORT
</verb></tscreen>
<item>if you're using pcvt put:
<tscreen><verb>
 #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DPCVT_SUPPORT
</verb></tscreen>
<item>if you're using syscons put:
<tscreen><verb>
 #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DSYSCONS_SUPPORT
</verb></tscreen>
<item>if you're running codrv put:
<tscreen><verb>
 #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DCODRV_SUPPORT
</verb></tscreen>
</itemize>
If you don't define <bf/XFree86ConsoleDefines/ in <tt/xf86site.def/ the
pccons and pcvt drivers will be supported.

<sect1>pcvt_ioctl.h file:

<p>
XFree86's defaults config includes support for the PCVT console
driver. Unfortunately, NetBSD doesn't install the <tt/pcvt_ioctl.h/
file in <tt>/usr/include/machine</tt>. If you want to build XFree86
with PCVT support, execute the following command as root before
starting <tt/make World/:
<tscreen><verb>
cp /usr/src/sys/arch/i386/isa/pcvt/pcvt_ioctl.h /usr/include/machine
</verb></tscreen>

If you don't have kernel sources, you can grab this file from
ftp.netbsd.org or one of its mirrors. If you're not running PCVT, you
can remove -DPCVT_SUPPORT from <bf/XFree86ConsoleDefines/ in
<tt/xf86site.def/ too.

If you have a full source tree, you may want to copy this file to
<tt>/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/include</tt>, so that it gets reinstalled
every time you run <tt/make includes/.

This problem is documented in NetBSD PR&num;1391, which has not been
handled yes.

<sect1>console.h and ioctl_pc.h files:

<p>
If you want to build a server supporting codrv and you
don't already have the corresponding header file 
<tt/ioctl_pc.h/ installed in <tt>/usr/include/machine</tt>, then
install the copy that is supplied in
<tt>xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/etc</tt>.  If you run
NetBSD-current you probably want to install it in
<tt>/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/include</tt> too, so that it get
reinstalled each time you run <tt/make includes/.

If you have installed the  codrv console driver, this
file should be taken from your installed version of the driver.

The <tt/console.h/ file for syscons isn't distributed with XFree86
anymore. You should get it from the syscons distribution.

<sect1>Support for shared libs under NetBSD 1.0 and later

<p>
    By default XFree86 3.3.2 builds for NetBSD with shared libraries 
    support. If you're building on 0.9 or don't want shared libraries 
    add the following line to <tt/xf86site.def/:

<tscreen>	
 #define BuildBsdSharedLibs 	NO
</tscreen>

<sect1>Building on other architectures<label id="sparc">

<p>
XFree86 3.3.2 also compiles on NetBSD/sparc. The Sun server
patches from Dennis Ferguson and Matthew Green have been integrated in
<tt>xc/programs/Xserver/hw/sun</tt>.  Small
modifications to <tt/xf86site.def/ are needed:
<itemize>
<item>Set all variables defining the servers to build to
<bf/NO/. (The variables controlling the Sun servers to build
<bf/Xsun24Server/, <bf/XsunServer/ and <bf/XsunMonoServer/ are
defined at the end of <tt/NetBSD.cf/.)
<item>Set <bf/ServerToInstall/ to the sun server of your
choice. (Xsun or XsunMono).
<item>Look at other applicable options in the <htmlurl name="INSTALL document"
url="INSTALL.html">.
</itemize>

Problems with this port should be reported to the
<em/port-sparc@NetBSD.Org/ mailing list or directly to me
<em/matthieu@laas.fr/ rather than to the xfree86 mailing list. 

<p> 
Note that the NetBSD project has now its own source tree, based on the
XFree86 source tree, with some local modifications. You may want to
start with this tree to rebuild from sources. 
The NetBSD xsrc source tree is available at: 
<htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/xsrc/"
name="ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/xsrc/">

<sect>Building New X Clients

<p>
The easiest way to build a new client (X application) is to use
<tt/xmkmf/ if an <tt/Imakefile/ is included in the sources.  Type
``<tt/xmkmf -a/'' to create the Makefiles, check the configuration if
necessary and type ``<tt/make/''.  Whenever you install additional man
pages you should update <tt/whatis.db/ by running ``<tt>makewhatis
/usr/X11R6/man</tt>''.

To avoid the ``Virtual memory exhausted'' message from cc while
compiling, increase the data and stack size limits (in csh type ``<tt/limit
datasize 32M/'' and ``<tt/limit stacksize 16M/'').

Note: Starting with XFree86 2.1 and NetBSD 0.9A, the symbol
<bf/__386BSD__/ no longer gets defined either by the compiler or via the
X config files for *BSD systems.  When porting clients to *BSD
systems, make use of the symbol <bf/BSD/ for code which is truly
BSD-specific.  The value of the symbol can be used to distinguish
different BSD releases.  For example, code specific to the Net-2 and
later releases can use:

<tscreen>                   
#if (BSD >= 199103)
</tscreen>

To ensure that this symbol is correctly defined, include
<tt>&lt;sys/param.h&gt;</tt> in the source that requires it.  Note that
the symbol <bf/CSRG_BASED/ is defined for *BSD systems in XFree86 3.1.1
and later.  This should be used to protect the inclusion of
<tt>&lt;sys/param.h&gt;</tt>.

For code that really is specific to a particular i386 BSD port, use
<bf/__FreeBSD__/ for FreeBSD, <bf/__NetBSD__/ for NetBSD,
<bf/__OpenBSD__/ for OpenBSD,
<bf/__386BSD__/ for 386BSD, and <bf/__bsdi__/ for BSD/386.

Another note: If you get the message:

<tscreen>                   
 ld.so: undefined symbol _XtCvtStringToFont 
</tscreen>

at run-time, you've stumbled on a semantic weakness of the NetBSD 
dynamic linker. Applications that use libXmu also need libXt. If the
client uses a standard <tt/Imakefile/, this dependency will probably by
included in the Makefile automagically -- you'll not see the
problem. Otherwise, just add ``<tt/-lXt/'' to your library list in the
Imakefile or Makefile and relink.

<sect> Thanks
<p>
Many thanks to:
<itemize>
<item><bf/Pace Willison/ for providing the initial port to 386BSD.
<item><bf/Amancio Hasty/ for fixing cursor restoration, mouse bugs
and many others. 
<item><bf/Christoph Robitschko/ for fixing <tt/com.c/ and thus select().
<item><bf/Nate Williams/ for the patchkit support for X.
<item><bf/Rod Grimes/ and <bf/Jack Velte/ of Walnut Creek Cdrom for use
  of their machines in preparing the FreeBSD binary release.
</itemize>

<verb>
$XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/NetBSD.sgml,v 3.45.2.7 1998/02/26 13:59:07 dawes Exp $





$Xorg: NetBSD.sgml,v 1.3 2000/08/17 19:50:56 cpqbld Exp $
</verb>

</article>