X11 configuration at 5.3 ?

[Mike Jeays]

On Mon, 2005-01-17 at 19:21, John wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 17, 2005 at 07:12:16PM -0500, Mike Jeays wrote:
> > On Mon, 2005-01-17 at 10:24, Giorgos Keramidas wrote:
> > > On 2005-01-17 14:44, Frank Bonnet <f.bonnet at esiee.fr> wrote:
> > > > how is called the X11 configuration tool at 5.3 ?
> > > 
> > > It is called `xorgcfg'.  Try running as root:
> > > 
> > > 	# xorgcfg -textmode
> > > 
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> > 
> > I had a lot of difficulty when I installed 5.3, even though I have been
> > configuring X since FreeBSD 2.1.5.  The tools seem to have taken a step
> > backwards with xorg.  xorgcfg -textmode seems to result in a bad
> > configuration file, and in graphical mode, it is very obscure, and does
> > not show scroll bars on list boxes and the like.
> > 
> > Having to run Knoppix (which gets it right without asking any questions
> > at all) isn't a very satisfying solution.
> 
> I agree about the tools, but...
> 
> I am having VERY good luck with the steps in section 5.4 of
> the handbook:
> 1) X -configure
> 2) Test the config where it stands by starting X directly
> 3) Add monitor or any other information you need
> 4) Copy it to a standard location
> Done!  Up and running! (but see the handbook pages)
> 
> For laptops, I have found it very helpful to glean the flat panel display
> info from /var/logs/Xorg.0.log where it is put.
> 
> I have had very BAD luck using the config scripts.  They left me with
> locked up or unreadable systems.

Yes, next time I am going to follow the handbook to the letter!  And I
shall also carefully preserve my old configuration files, just in case.

By now, I have installed several Linux distributions, and last night I
tried Freesbie 1.1 for the first time.  They all seem to get the right
answers automatically, which proves it can be done at least for some
machines.