It seems that a lot of us have problems installing X. The major
trouble seems to be getting the file /etc/X11/XF86Config to
contain the right things. The utilities xconfigurator and
XF86setup seem to work for some of us but not for the others.
Well, it is an imperfect world and hardware *and* software are
both evolving (not necessarily is sync with each other). A long
time back when I first installed Linux I had an Alliance
Promotion AP6422 video card which was not supported by the
kernel. Courtsey Amit Singh who used to write in computing
magazines I got a later version of the kernel which had support
for the AP6422. Even then getting X to run was not so simple
(this list wasn't around at that time and in any case I had no
internet connection).
Guess what helped me most in getting X up and running? It was a
simple text file on my machine itself:
/usr/lib/X11/doc/VideoModes.doc
It took me two days to understand what this file really said (I
am not very bright *and* a biologist!) but on the night of the
second day X was running. Much later that same night I even
figured out that I had a choice between twm and fvwm! Of course,
I chose twm because on my 8Mb monster fvwm crawled. This file
that I am talking about was written by some fellow called Eric S.
Raymond.
At that time I didn't realize how big a name this was. May be it
wasn't so big at that time. I continued to install X on machines
of friends and acquaintances and always referred to this file for
getting the best and the smallest XF86Config. Lately I have
installed X on three i810 machines. I got the files from
support.intel.com but VideoModes.doc remained the guide to the
best XF86Config.
Everybody knows 'ESR' now but his name still reminds me of
VideoModes.doc. All of you out there using X or trying to set it
up should read it because it has the conceptual clarity that can
only come from a master hacker.
Govind Chandra
Virology Division
NBRI, Lucknow 226 001
India
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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