3. Running XFree86

This section describes the changes to the LynxOS environment which may be necessary to successfully run XFree86.

3.1. System tuning

3.1.1. Tunable parameters

To reasonably run XFree86 you may have to adjust a few system parameters.

On LynxOS 2.5.x and 3.0.x include a line

#define X_WINDOWS

in /sys/lynx.os/uparam.h.

3.1.2. Adjustment for "nv" driver for NVidia graphics cards

If you're using the "nv" driver (Riva 128, nVidia TNT, TNT2, GeForce), you will have to increase the value of the SMEMS parameter in /sys/lynx.os/uparam.h from 10 to 20.

3.1.3. Increase number of ptys

You should also increase the number of ptys to be able run a couple more xterms. You may replace /sys/cfg/pty.cfg with /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/pty.cfg.

3.1.4. MTRR device driver

If you're using an Intel PentiumPRO or Pentium II (or higher) class CPU you might want to install the MTRR device driver. This driver enables the XFree86 X server to manipulate the CPU memory type range registers which may improve performance on certain systems.

To install the driver (on LynxOS x86 2.5.0 systems an higher) follow these steps:

  # cd /
  # bash /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/etc/MTRR-Lynx.shar
  # cd sys/drivers/mtrr
  # make install

Then add a line

  I:../drivers/mtrr/mtrr.cfg

3.1.5. Kernel build

If you plan to use a PS/2 mouse to the following sections before rebuilding the kernel, if not, you should rebuild the kernel now:

     # cd /sys/lynx.os
     # make install
     # reboot -N
  

3.2. Mouse support in XFree86

XFree86 includes support for PnP mice (see also Mouse Support in XFree86). The current LynxOS TTY device driver doesn't allow the necessary manipulation of the RTS line and therefore the support for PnP mice has been disabled for LynxOS.

3.3. PS/2 mouse drivers

LynxOS x86 comes with a PS/2 mouse driver. If it is not currently installed on your system install it with /usr/bin/Install.ps2mouse. Older versions of this driver contained code to translate the PS/2 mouse protocol to the format of a serial mouse, thus you'll have to specify "Microsoft" as the mouse protocol format. The mouse driver contained in LynxOS x86 patchlevel 015 (and higher) does no longer perform the protocol translation an therefore can be defined as "PS/2" protocol format.

3.4. ATC console driver and VT switching

Currently there is no support for virtual terminal switching once the server has started. Support for this feature may be added in future versions (it requires a patch to the vt100 LynxOS terminal driver).

You will need a free console which the X server will use for keyboard input. You must disable login on at least one of the four virtual terminals in /etc/ttys, e.g. /dev/atc3:

change

       /dev/atc3:1:default:vt100at:/bin/login
  

to

       /dev/atc3:0:default:vt100at:/bin/login
                 ^
  

3.5. X Server debug diagnostics output and other VT peculiarities

Output made by the XFree86 X on its stdout or stderr will be lost after the server switches to graphics mode. The XFree86 4.0.3 server stores its output in /usr/adm/XFree86.n.log (where n is the screen number).

When the X server is running output made to other consoles will be lost. After server shutdown the screen contents of other consoles may be inconsistent with what one would expect (i.e. random).