Running Into Trouble
Often, something will not be quite right when you initially fire up the
X server. This is almost always caused by a problem in your XF86Config
file. Usually, the monitor timing values are off or the video-card
dot clocks are set incorrectly. If your display seems to roll, or the edges
are fuzzy, this is a clear indication that the monitor timing values or
dot clocks are wrong. Also be sure you are correctly specifying
your video card chipset, as well as other options for the Device
section of XF86Config
. Be absolutely certain that you are using
the right X server and that /usr/X11R6/bin/X
is a symbolic link
to this server.
If all else fails, try to start X “bare”; that is, use a command such as:
X > /tmp/x.out 2>&1
You can then kill the X server (using the Ctrl-Alt-Backspace
key combination) and examine the contents of
/tmp/x.out
. The X server reports any warnings or
errors—for example, if your video card doesn’t have a dot clock
corresponding to a mode supported by your monitor. This output can be
very helpful in diagnosing all kinds of problems. Examine it closely
if your X server does not start up at all, does not
provide the resolutions you wanted, or shows a flaky, snowy, or
otherwise insufficient picture. Even if everything works to your
satisfaction, you might want to check this file for interesting
information that the X server has found out about your hardware.
The lines starting
with (**)
contain data that you provided yourself in the configuration ...
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