[SLUG] Slackware Questions & Answers

Paul Teasdale pdt at rcsuk.fsnet.co.uk
Wed Sep 1 19:43:20 BST 2004


Hi All,

This is a coversation that went on between Phil and myself earlier this 
week. With Phil's permission I have posted this to the list in order 
that it may help someone else.

Regards,

Paul.

On Tuesday 31 Aug 2004 20:57, Phil Kershaw wrote:
> Hi Paul,
>

Hi Phil,

> Fluxbox works really well with slackware 10, it seems quite fast on
> this low spec machine. A bit of fiddling got the mouse and keyboard
> working correctly. I've even had a look at bash to change a few
> things and that was a first. I have a couple of questions if you
> don't mind.
>

Excellent; progress is good!! Questions are not a problem as I already 
said.

> Version 10 seems to be using xorg.conf for the X windows system. I
> have previously used xfree86 on redhat which had a setup utility
> called Xconfigurator to set things up. Slackware has xorgconfig that
> does similar I think but it does not probe the video card as
> Xconfigurator does. It doesn't have SuperProbe either. Question 1.
> How do you probe the video card to establish its parameters? Question
> 2. Is there a utility I'm missing to help setup the video resolution.
> At the moment it is working at 640x480 I think. I would prefer
> 800x600 if possible.
>

Q1) AFAIK there is nothing like Xconfigurator in Slackware however...

Try xorgsetup. I have never used it because I know the exact settings 
for my video card(s) and monitor(s) and I got these from the manuals. 
xorgsetup detects my video card correctly but makes a total hash of my 
monitor settings. You will probably be best having a look in your 
monitor/video card manual or otherwise on the Internet and setting them 
manually by editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf. I have included my xorg.conf 
for reference after the sig but beware using it directly as it will not 
suit your hardware config (unless it's identical to mine that is).

Note that in the monitor section I only have one ModeLine. This is 
because I only want to run at 1024x768 @ 85Hz and nothing else. Most X 
configs have a few of these so the user can choose.

Q2) There may be other utils available but I don't use them. I have 
heard of one called videogen but I have never used it and it's not part 
of default Slackware. It claims to generate ModeLines and claims to be 
very good.

Try: http://www.dynaweb.hu/opensource/videogen/

BTW another good tweaking util is /etc/X11R6/bin/xvidtune as it can help 
you discover the correct ModeLine settings however it can also damage 
your monitor if you push it too far. Tweak with caution. This is part 
of the Slackware X install.

> Question 3. How do you set the keyboard for uk rather than us for a
> normal terminal session? I have altered the setup in xorg.conf for an
> X session but it is still wrong of course for a terminal session. I
> think the problem was I didn't set it up for uk on installation.
>

You're correct but read on:

During the setup of Slackware you get asked for a keymap. If you choose 
the one at this point it will setup it up for you as the default keymap 
and that is the end of the issue BUT...... don't burst into tears at 
this point because you can setup it up after the installation as 
follows (as root):

In /etc/rc.d find a file called rc.keymap.

If it does not exist then create it and ensure that it permissions are 
as follows:

-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root          140 Mar 31 
07:30 /etc/rc.d/rc.keymap*

Put the following commands in this file:

#!/bin/sh
# Load the keyboard map.  More maps are in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps.
if [ -x /usr/bin/loadkeys ]; then
  /usr/bin/loadkeys uk.map
fi

Everytime you reboot the uk keymap will now be set. To set the uk keymap 
without rebooting at this point type (as root):

/usr/bin/loadkeys uk.map

You're done.

> Regards
>
> Phil

Hope all of this helps.

Kind regards,

Paul.

-- 
Linux User #351704 (http://counter.li.org)
Scarborough LUG Member (http://www.scarborough.lug.org.uk)
Another Happy Slacker!! (http://www.slackware.com)

Here is my xorg.conf:

Section "ServerFlags"
        # Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal 
is
        # received.  This may leave the console in an unusable state, 
but may
        # provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in 
debugging
        #NoTrapSignals

        # Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort 
sequence
        # This allows clients to receive this key event.
        #DontZap

        # Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode 
switching
        # sequences.  This allows clients to receive these key events.
        #DontZoom

        # This  allows  the  server  to start up even if the
        # mouse device can't be opened/initialised.
        AllowMouseOpenFail
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier      "Desktop"
        Screen          "Monitor"       0 0
        InputDevice     "Mouse"         "CorePointer"
        InputDevice     "Keyboard"      "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
        #FontPath       "unix/:7100"
        #FontPath       "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
        #FontPath       "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/URW"
        #FontPath       "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/PEX"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        
"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/Type1"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/kwintv"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/uni"
        #FontPath       "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/ucs/misc"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        
"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/hellas/Type1"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/sgi"
        FontPath        "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/xtest
EndSection

Section "Module"
        Load  "dbe"             # Double-buffering
        Load  "glx"             # OpenGL X protocol interface
        Load  "extmod"          # Misc. required extensions
        Load  "record"          # X event recorder
        #Load  "v4l"            # Video4Linux
        #Load  "fb"             # Framebuffer
        #Load "fbdevhw"         # ?
        #Load  "pex5"           # PHIGS for X 3D environment (obsolete)
        #Load  "xie"            # X Image Extension (obsolete)
        #Load  "freetype"       # TrueType font handler
        #Load   "xtt"
        #Load  "type1"          # Adobe Type 1 font handler
        #Load  "speedo"          # Load speedo fonts
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Keyboard"
        Driver          "keyboard"
        Option          "CoreKeyboard"
        Option          "AutoRepeat"            "250 30"
        Option          "XkbRules"              "xfree86"
        Option          "XkbLayout"             "gb"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Mouse"
        Driver          "mouse"
        Option          "Device"                "/dev/psaux"
        Option          "Protocol"              "IMPS/2"
        #Option         "Emulate3Buttons"       "yes"
        #Option         "Emulate3Timeout"       "50"
        Option          "Buttons"               "3"
        Option          "ZAxisMapping"          "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "CRT"
        VendorName      "Iiyama"
        ModelName       "Vision Master Pro 410 (A702HT)"
        HorizSync       27 - 90
        VertRefresh     50 - 160
        ModeLine        "1024x768 at 85" 100.94 1024 1056 1432 1464 768 782 
793 807
        Option          "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "NVidia"
        Driver          "nvidia"
        VideoRAM        65536
        VendorName      "NVidia"
        BoardName       "GeForce 2 MX400"
        Option          "PageFlip"              "on"            # 
default=on
        Option          "CursorShadow"          "on"            # 
default=on
        Option          "CursorShadowAlpha"     "32"            # 
0-transparent 255-opaque
        Option          "CursorShadowXOffset"   "4"             # 0-32
        Option          "FlatPanelScalingMode"  "scaled"        # or 
"centered"
        Option          "HWCursor"              "on"            # 
default=on
        Option          "SWCursor"              "off"           # 
default=off
        Option          "IgnoreEDID"            "off"           # 
default=off
        Option          "NoRenderAccel"         "off"           # 
default=off
        Option          "NoLogo"                "on"            # 
default=off
        Option          "UseEdidFreqs"          "off"           # 
default=off
        Option          "NvAGP"                 "3"             # 0=no 
AGP, 1=Nvidia AGP, 2=AGPGART, 3=AGPGART else Nvidia AGP
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Monitor"
        Device          "NVidia"
        Monitor         "CRT"
        DefaultDepth    24
        SubSection      "Display"
                Depth   16
                Modes   "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        Subsection      "Display"
                Depth   24
                Modes   "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
        Mode 0666
EndSection





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