Xorg: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 02:57, 4 May 2026

Xorg is an open source implementation of the X Window System. It used to be the de-facto standard way to launch graphical applications. Wayland is its recent alternative. Wayback is a X11 compatibility layer which allows for running full X11 desktop environments using Wayland components.

Installation

Xorg can be installed automatically by running the setup-xorg-base script as follows:

# setup-xorg-base

The above command installs the following packages xorg-server, xf86-input-libinput, xinit, eudev, mesa-dri-gallium and Sets up eudev

Install atleast one X11 based desktop before proceeding further.

Configuration

You may also want per-user configuration. Create the ~/.xinitrc file to start the window manager with startx or xinit. If you installed cwm desktop, the ~/.xinitrc file should be as follows:

Contents of ~/.xinitrc

exec cwm

If D-Bus is installed and enabled along with cwm desktop, the ~/.xinitrc file should be as follows:

Contents of ~/.xinitrc

exec dbus-launch --exit-with-session cwm

Xorg sessions can be started via display manager or manually with command:

$ startx

Video drivers

Most basic X features should work fine with just using the default kernel video-modesetting drivers.

For better performance, you may want to choose appropriate drivers for your hardware. For legacy driver support or in case of errors, refer to Xf86 Video page or Graphics driver|graphics drivers]] page for current video drivers.

Input packages

You probably at least want xf86-input-libinput or xf86-input-evdev. The former is for Wayland with wrapper for Xorg and is installed by the setup-xorg-base script. The xf86-input-evdev package is Xorg only.

For touchpad tapping support on many laptops:

# apk add xf86-input-synaptics

If the Numlock settings are not working, or getting 'setleds not found' errors:

# apk add kbd

If some input device is not working at all, the available xf86-input drivers can be listed with:

$ apk search xf86-input

The following legacy drivers are not packaged at least as of 2/2022:

xf86-input-mouse
xf86-input-keyboard

Configure xorg-server (optional)

On most systems, xorg should be able to autodetect all devices. However you can still configure xorg-server by hand by launching:

# Xorg -configure

This will create a /root/xorg.conf.new file. You can modify this file to fit your needs. When finished modifying and testing the above configuration file, move it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf for normal usage.

Keyboard Layout (optional)

If you use a keyboard layout different than "us", and you are using a window manager or desktop environment that does not support to configure the keyboard layout itself, then you need to install setxkbmap package:

# apk add setxkbmap

Then try

# setxkbmap <%a language layout from /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/xorg.lst%>

In order to make it persistent add this section to /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "InputClass" Identifier "Keyboard Default" MatchIsKeyboard "yes" Option "XkbLayout" "<%a language layout from /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/xorg.lst%>" EndSection

Another way to change the keymap when logging into X is to use ~/.xinitrc. The following example loads a British keymap, simply add this line to the beginning of the file as follows :

Contents of ~/.xinitrc

setxkbmap gb &
...

Troubleshooting

If the Numlock settings are not working, or getting 'setleds not found' errors, refer to Input packages section above.

If some input device is not working at all, refer to Input packages section above for various options to resolve this.

In case of errors, refer to Xf86 Video page for legacy video hardware driver support or graphics drivers page for current video drivers.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[https://www.x.org/wiki/ Xorg] is an open source implementation of the X Window System. It used to be the de-facto standard way to launch graphical applications. Its recent alternative is [[Wayland]]. [https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayback/wayback wayback] is a X11 compatibility layer which allows for running full X11 desktop environments using Wayland components.
+[https://www.x.org/wiki/ Xorg] is an open source implementation of the X Window System. It used to be the de-facto standard way to launch graphical applications. [[Wayland]] is its recent alternative. [https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayback/wayback Wayback] is a X11 compatibility layer which allows for running full X11 desktop environments using Wayland components.
 == Installation ==
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 == Video drivers ==
-Most basic X features should work fine with just using the default [[#Kernel Modesetting|kernel video-modesetting]] drivers. For better performance or in case of errors, install legacy [[Xf86 Video]] drivers or [[Graphics driver|graphics drivers]].
+Most basic X features should work fine with just using the default [[#Kernel Modesetting|kernel video-modesetting]] drivers.
+For better performance, you may want to choose appropriate drivers for your hardware. For legacy driver support or in case of errors, refer to [[Xf86 Video]] page or Graphics driver|graphics drivers]] page for current video drivers.
 == Input packages ==
@@ Line 57: / Line 59: @@
 Another way to change the keymap when logging into X is to use {{Path|~/.xinitrc}}. The following example loads a British keymap, simply add this line to the beginning of the file as follows :{{Cat|~/.xinitrc|setxkbmap gb &
 ...}}
+== Troubleshooting ==
+If the <b>Numlock</b> settings are not working, or getting <b>'setleds not found'</b> errors, refer to [[#Input packages|Input packages]] section above.
+If some input device is not working at all, refer to [[#Input packages|Input packages]] section above for various options to resolve this.
+In case of errors, refer to [[Xf86 Video]] page for legacy video hardware driver support  or [[Graphics driver|graphics drivers]] page for current video drivers.
 == See also ==
+* [[Xf86 Video]]
 * [https://www.x.org/wiki/ Xorg Wiki]
 * [[Wayland]]
+* [[Kodi]]
 [[category: Desktop]]