README for XFree86 4.0.1 on OpenBSD Matthieu Herrb Last modified on: 1 July 2000 1. What and Where is XFree86? XFree86 is a port of X11R6.4 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 improve- ments as well as many bug fixes. See the Copyright Notice. The sources for XFree86 4.0.1 are available by anonymous ftp from: ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.0.1 Binaries for OpenBSD/i386 2.6 and later are available from: ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.0.1/binaries/OpenBSD A list of mirror sites is provided by ftp://ftp.XFree86.org/pub/XFree86/MIR- RORS XFree86 also builds on other OpenBSD architectures. See section Building on other architectures (section 8.2, page 1) for details. 2. Bug Reports for This Document Send email to (Matthieu Herrb) or if you have comments or suggestions about this file and we'll revise it. 3. New OS dependent features See the Release Notes for non-OS dependent new features in XFree86 4.0.1. 3.1 New OS dependent features in 4.0.1 o Several features from the OpenBSD X11 tree were merged into xdm: o support for Kerberos IV authentication o use the arc4random(4) random number generator o add a new resource "allowRootLogin", which can be used to disable root logins through xdm o log failed logins to syslogd o verify that the shell is valid using /etc/shell o verify that the account hasn't expired o The Xsun server can be built again on OpenBSD/sparc. 3.2 New OS dependent features in 4.0 o Multi-thread safe libraries are built by default on OpenBSD 2.6 and later, o Preliminary APM support. 3.3 New OS dependent features in 3.9.18 o Support for USB mices has been added on OpenBSD. o Soft-booting secondary cards through the int10 BIOS interface is now possible using the x86emu real mode emulator. 3.4 New OS dependent features in 3.9.17 o Silken mouse is supported for serial mices, and, under post 2.6 OpenBSD- current for PS/2 mices. o MTRR Write Combining is enabled under post 2.6 OpenBSD-current. 4. Installing the Binaries Refer to the Installation Document for detailed installation instructions. 5. Configuring X for Your Hardware The /etc/XF86Config file tells the X server what kind of monitor, video card and mouse you have. You must create it to tell the server what specific hardware you have. You'll need info on your hardware: o Your mouse type, baud rate and its /dev entry. o The video card's chipset (e.g. ET4000, S3, etc). o Your monitor's sync frequencies. For details about the XF86Config file format, refer to the XF86Config(5) man- ual page. Once you've set up a XF86Config file, you can fine tune the video modes with the xvidtune utility. 5.1 About mouse configuration If your serial mouse does not work try using kermit or tip to connect to the mouse serial port and verify that it does indeed generate characters. The OpenBSD pms driver provides both ``raw'' and ``cooked'' (translated) modes. ``raw'' mode does not do protocol translation, so XFree86 would use the PS/2 protocol for talking to the device in that mode. ``Cooked'' mode is the old BusMouse translation. The driver runs in ``raw'' mode when using the /dev/psm0 device name. See README.mouse for general instruction on mouse configuration in XFree86. 6. Running X 6.1 Starting xdm, the display manager To start the display manager, log in as root on the console and type: ``xdm -nodaemon''. You can start xdm automatically on bootup by changing the line xdm_flags=NO # for normal use: xdm_flags="" to: xdm_flags="" # for normal use: xdm_flags="" in /etc/rc.conf. Note that the binary distributions of XFree86 for OpenBSD on ftp.xfree86.org and its mirrors don't include support for the XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1 protocol, because of the US export rules. 6.2 Running X without the display manager The easiest way for new users to start X windows is to type: ``startx >& startx.log''. Error messages are lost unless you redirect them because the server takes over the screen. To get out of X windows, type: ``exit'' in the console xterm. You can cus- tomize your X by creating .xinitrc, .xserverrc, and .twmrc files in your home directory as described in the xinit and startx man pages. 7. Kernel Support for X To make sure X support is enabled under OpenBSD, the following line must be in your config file in /sys/arch/i386/conf: option XSERVER option APERTURE 7.1 Console drivers The server supports the two standard OpenBSD/i386 console drivers: pcvt and pccons. They are detected at runtime and no configuration of the server itself is required. The pcvt console driver is the default in OpenBSD. It offers several virtual consoles and international keyboard support. 7.2 Aperture Driver By default OpenBSD includes the BSD 4.4 kernel security feature that disable access to the /dev/mem device when in multi-users mode. But the XFree86 server require linear access to the display memory in most cases. OpenBSD now requires the aperture driver to be enabled for all X servers, because the aperture driver also controls access to the I/O ports of the video boards. To enable the aperture driver, once included in the kernel, set machdep.allowaperture=1 in /etc/sysctl.conf. Another (less recommended) way to enable linear memory and I/O ports access is to disable the kernel security feature by adding ``option INSECURE'' in your kernel configuration file and build a new kernel. You will also need to comment out the line initializing securelevel to 1 in /etc/rc.securelevel. 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 INSE- CURE' if you need more that one X server at a time. 7.3 MIT-SHM OpenBSD 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: # System V-like IPC options SYSVMSG options SYSVSEM options SYSVSHM to your kernel config file. 8. Rebuilding the XFree86 Distribution The server developer's kit allow you to rebuild just the X server with a min- imum amount of disk space. Just unpack it, make the appropriate changes to the xf86site.def, type ``./mkmf'' and ``make'' to link the server. See /usr/X11R6/lib/Server/README for more info. You should configure the distribution by editing xc/config/cf/host.def before compiling. To compile the sources, invoke ``make World'' in the xc directory. 8.1 Console drivers XFree86 has a configuration option to select the console drivers to use in xf86site.def: o if you're using pccons only put: #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DPCCONS_SUPPORT o if you're using pcvt only put: #define XFree86ConsoleDefines -DPCVT_SUPPORT If you don't define XFree86ConsoleDefines in xf86site.def the pccons and pcvt drivers will be supported. 8.2 Building on other architectures XFree86 should also compiles on other OpenBSD architectures. However, please note that 3.9.x snapshots have only been tested on the i386 for now. 9. Building New X Clients The easiest way to build a new client (X application) is to use xmkmf if an Imakefile is included in the sources. Type ``xmkmf -a'' to create the Make- files, check the configuration if necessary and type ``make''. Whenever you install additional man pages you should update whatis.db by running ``make- whatis /usr/X11R6/man''. 10. Thanks Many thanks to all people who contributed to make XFree86 work on *BSD, in particular, David Dawes, Pace Willison, Amancio Hasty, Christoph Robitschko, Nate Williams, Rod Grimes, Jack Velte and Michael Smith. Generated from XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/doc/sgml/OpenBSD.sgml,v 1.11 2000/07/02 02:35:27 dawes Exp $