How To Configure XWindows

XWindows is launched with the command startx or init 5 . There are some differences between init 5 and startx but if you don't know which one to choose try startx, because it uses less memory.

An X server can be thought as a driver for graphics cards that the system uses to run GUI. Linux supports lots of graphics cards and you probably won't get trouble with it. If you don't know the chip you have, try to run utilities that comes with your distribution called Xconfigurator , xf86config or something.

The configuration file for your XWindows is at /etc/X11/XF86Config . If Xconfigurator doesn't suit your needs you have to edit it manually. A lot of people have trouble about it. The main reason is the lack of hardware knowledge. It might take a hundred times, but using defaults will usually get you by.

Now, let's discuss some specific problems you may face with about the subject.

• When I try to launch XWindows I see a gray screen with a x-shaped mouse and it quits. What's wrong?

  
  You probably don't have a window manager installed on your system. You can find information about how to obtain a window manager on my Where to Find Linux Applications page. I suggest you to use and support KDE. Although, it is still Beta, it is really powerfull. The only fault about it is "It sometimes crashes!..."

• How can I make my XWindows running at the resolution I want?

  
  Try launching XWindows with the command startx -- -bpp [resolution] You may try to use resolutions like 15, 16, 24, 32 or whatever you like.

  It may be boring to type this long command string everytime you launch XWindows. Then make an alias... If you don't kow how to make this refer to my ls tip page and do everything for startx as you do for ls.

• How can I turn virtual desktop off?

  
  Try commenting out the all of the lines starting with the word "Virtual" by putting a pound sign (#) at the beginning of the line in your /etc/X11/XF86Config file . Of course it is not the only way but I guess it works. If you got stuck with this just mail me. In case you need it, here is my sample /etc/X11/XF86Config file.

• I can not use my mouse in XWindows. What can I do?

  
  There are a lot possibilities for this. The wrong device to use for modem is the main reason. The mouse section in your /etc/X11/XF86Config file is the "Pointer" section. Try to follow the instructions in it, and edit it. If you don't know which device you are using try to use utilities like mouse-test . They will probably help. By the way, don't forget that COM1 is equal to cua0 and COM2 is equal to cua1.

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