6. Running X

8mb of memory is a recommended minimum for running X. The server, window manager and an xterm take about 4 Mb of memory themselves. On a 4Mb system that would leave nothing left over for other applications like gcc that expect a few meg free. X will work with 4Mb of memory, but in practice compilation while running X can take 5 or 10 times as long due to constant paging.

The easiest way for new users to start X windows is to type:

startx >& startx.log

To get out of X windows, type: ``exit'' in the console xterm. You can customize your X by creating .xinitrc, .xserverrc, and .twmrc files in your home directory as described in the xinit and startx man pages.

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 disabling the console getty and adding the following code to /etc/rc.local:

  if [ -x /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm ]; then
    echo -n ' xdm'; /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm
  fi

To disable the console getty, change ``on'' to ``off'' in the console entry in /etc/ttys:

 ttyv0	"/usr/libexec/getty Pc"	pc	off secure

Under NetBSD 1.4 with the wscons console driver, you must enable a virtual console for the X server first. To do this follow these steps:

• Make sure the device file exists. If not, ``cd /dev ; ./MAKEDEV wscons''.
• Next, make sure your kernel wants to do wscons. (see below).
• Next, make sure ``wscons=YES'' in /etc/rc.conf.
• Next, make sure /etc/wscons.conf exists. The relevant bits:

  #screen	0	-	vt100
  screen	1	-	vt100
  screen	2	-	vt100
  screen	3	-	vt100
  screen	4	-	-
  screen	5	-	vt100
  

Note that the binary distributions of XFree86 for NetBSD don't include support for the XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1 protocol.