Running Linux, Third Edition

Filling in Video Card Information

Your XF86Config file is now ready to go with the exception of complete information on the video card. What we’re going to do is use the X server to probe for the rest of this information and fill it into XF86Config.

Instead of probing for this information with the X server, you can find the XF86Config values for many cards in the files modeDB.txt, AccelCards, and Devices. These files are all in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc. In addition, there are various README files for certain chipsets. You should look in these files for information on your video card, and use that information (the clock values, chipset type, and any options) in the XF86Config file. Unfortunately, some manufacturers put out a graphics board with a new chipset without changing the board’s name. If any information is missing, you can probe for it as described here.

In these examples, we will demonstrate configuration for a #9 GXE 64 video card, which uses the XF86_S3 chipset. This card happens to be the one that used by one of the authors, but the discussion here applies to any video card.

The first thing to do is to determine the video chipset used on the card. Running SuperProbe (found in /usr/X11R6/bin) will tell you this information, but you need to know the chipset name as it is known to the X server.

To do this, run the command:

# X -showconfig

This lists the chipset names known to your X server. (The manual pages for each X server list these as well.) For example, with the accelerated ...