Xorg: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:56, 23 July 2025

Xorg is an open source implementation of the X Window Systemx. It used to be the de-facto standard way to launch graphical applications. Its recent alternative is Wayland

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 appropriate graphics drivers for your hardware and 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

Start session

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

$ startx

Legacy X11 video drivers

Most basic X features should work fine with just using the default kernel video-modesetting drivers. Install specific xf86 driver packages for your legacy video card's chipset, so they may support specific features, effects and acceleration modes, and avoid error messages during X initialization.

Tip: xf86 driver packages follow standard naming conventions. So information found in ArchWiki, or Gentoo wiki are to a large degree, also applicable to configuring the video hardware on Alpine Linux, except for proprietary drivers which are not available.

To see available xf86 video driver packages run:

$ apk search xf86-video

For Sis video chipset install xf86-video-sis
For VMware guests use xf86-video-vmware
For VirtualBox guests use xf86-video-vboxvideo. Refer VirtualBox guest additions
For Hyper-V guests use xf86-video-fbdev. Refer Hyper-V guest services.
For KVM/QEMU guests refer Xorg within QEMU

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 &
...

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[https://www.x.org/wiki/ Xorg] is an open source implementation of the X Window Systemx. It used to be the de-facto standard way to launch graphical applications. Its recent alternative is [[Wayland]]
-Xorg is a x.org implementation of X window system.
+== Installation ==
-It is de-facto standard way to launch graphical applications.
-Its most popular alternative is [https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Wayland Wayland]
-== Installation ==
+Xorg can be installed automatically by running the [[Alpine_setup_scripts#setup-xorg-base|setup-xorg-base]] script as follows:{{Cmd|# setup-xorg-base}}
-Can be installed automatically with [https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Alpine_setup_scripts#setup-xorg-base setup-xorg-base]
+The above command installs the following packages {{pkg|xorg-server}}, {{pkg|xf86-input-libinput}}, {{pkg|xinit}}, {{pkg|eudev}}, {{pkg|mesa-dri-gallium}} and Sets up [[Include:Setup Device Manager|eudev]]
-{{Note|ensure you have the necessary video drivers}}
+Install appropriate [[Graphics driver|graphics drivers]] for your hardware and atleast one X11 based [[Desktop environments and Window managers|desktop]] before proceeding further.
-== Start session ==
+== Configuration ==
-Xorg can be started via [https://wiki.alpinelinux.org/wiki/Display_manager display manager]
+You may also want per-user configuration. Create the {{Path|~/.xinitrc}} file to start the window manager with <code>startx</code> or <code>xinit</code>. If you installed {{pkg|cwm}} desktop, the {{Path|~/.xinitrc}} file should be as follows:{{Cat|~/.xinitrc|exec cwm}}
-or manually with command:
-{{Cmd|# startx }}
-{{Note| startx is intended to run as user.}}
+If [[D-Bus#Installation|D-Bus]] is installed and enabled along with {{pkg|cwm}} desktop, the {{Path|~/.xinitrc}} file should be as follows:{{Cat|~/.xinitrc|exec dbus-launch --exit-with-session cwm}}
-You may also want per-user configuration:
+=== Start session ===
-{{Cmd|# cp /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc ~/.xinitrc}}
-{{Warning| carefully read the default configuration, it may look for itself to execute,
+Xorg sessions can be started via [[Display_manager|display manager]] or manually with command: {{Cmd|$ startx }}
-which causes terminal to hang!
-}}
-== Video Drivers ==
+=== Legacy X11 video drivers ===
 {{Main|Graphics driver}}
+Most basic X features should work fine with just using the default kernel video-modesetting drivers. Install specific xf86 driver packages for your legacy video card's chipset, so they may support specific features, effects and acceleration modes, and avoid error messages during X initialization.
-To install X11 based [[Desktop environments and Window managers|desktop]], you may want to install specific Xorg xf86 driver packages for your video card's chipset, as they may support specific features, effects and acceleration modes, and avoid error messages during X initialization. However, the most basic X features should work fine with just using the default kernel video-modesetting drivers.
 {{Tip| xf86 driver packages follow standard naming conventions. So information found in  [https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#Driver_installation ArchWiki], or [https://packages.gentoo.org/categories/x11-drivers Gentoo wiki] are to a large degree, also applicable to configuring the video hardware on Alpine Linux, except for proprietary drivers which are not available.}}
-To see available xf86 video driver packages run:
+To see available xf86 video driver packages run: {{cmd|$ apk search xf86-video}}
-{{cmd|$ apk search xf86-video}}
 * For Sis video chipset install {{pkg|xf86-video-sis}}
@@ Line 43: / Line 35: @@
 == Input packages ==
-If the <b>Numlock</b> settings are not working, or getting <b>'setleds not found'</b> errors:
+You probably at least want {{pkg|xf86-input-libinput}} or {{pkg|xf86-input-evdev}}. The former is for Wayland with wrapper for Xorg and is installed by the [[#Installation|setup-xorg-base]] script. The {{pkg|xf86-input-evdev}} package is Xorg only.
-{{cmd|# apk add kbd}}
+For touchpad tapping support on many laptops:{{Cmd|# apk add xf86-input-synaptics}}
-If some input device is not working at all, the available xf86-input drivers can be listed with:
+If the <b>Numlock</b> settings are not working, or getting <b>'setleds not found'</b> errors: {{cmd|# apk add kbd}}
-{{cmd|$ apk search xf86-input}}
-You probably at least want {{cmd| xf86-input-libinput}} or {{cmd| xf86-input-evdev}}
+If some input device is not working at all, the available xf86-input drivers can be listed with: {{cmd|$ apk search xf86-input}}
-libinput is for Wayland with wrapper for Xorg. evdev is Xorg only.<br><br>
+The following legacy drivers are not packaged at least as of 2/2022:
+* xf86-input-mouse
+* xf86-input-keyboard
-Typical legacy drivers (not packaged. at least as of 2/2022):
+== Configure xorg-server (optional) ==
-{{cmd|# apk add xf86-input-mouse xf86-input-keyboard}}
+On most systems, xorg should be able to autodetect all devices. However you can still configure xorg-server by hand by launching: {{Cmd|# Xorg -configure}}
-And for touchpad tapping support on many laptops, also:
+This will create a {{Path|/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 {{Path|/etc/X11/xorg.conf}} for normal usage.
-{{Cmd|# apk add xf86-input-synaptics}}
-== 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:
-{{Cmd|# Xorg -configure}}
-This will create a {{Path|/root/xorg.conf.new}} file. You can modify this file to fit your needs.<BR>
-(When finished modifying and testing the above configuration file, move it to {{Path|/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
+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 {{pkg|setxkbmap}} package: {{Cmd|# apk add setxkbmap}}
-* [[Repositories#Enabling_the_community_repository|Enable the "community" repository]]
-and install setxkbmap:
-{{Cmd|# apk add setxkbmap}}
-Then try
-{{Cmd|# setxkbmap <%a language layout from /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/xorg.lst%>}}
+Then try {{Cmd|# setxkbmap <%a language layout from /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/xorg.lst%>}}
 In order to make it persistent add this section to {{Path|/etc/X11/xorg.conf}}:
@@ Line 91: / Line 67: @@
 }}
-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:
+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 &
-<code>setxkbmap gb &</code>
+...}}
+== See also ==
-If you need to create the {{Path|~/.xinitrc}} file, you may also want to add a second line like <code>exec openbox-session</code> to still start the window manager with <code>startx</code> or <code>xinit</code>.
+* [https://www.x.org/wiki/ Xorg Wiki]
+* [[Wayland]]
-<br>
-[[category:Graphics]]
-[[category: Drivers]]
 [[category: Desktop]]