Copyright 1994-2002 Sun Microsystems

Installing the Solaris[tm] XFree86[tm] Video Drivers and Porting Kit (Binary Edition)

1. Ensure that you are running Solaris 8 Intel Platform Edition, an Update of the Solaris 8 Intel Platform Edition, or Solaris 9 Intel Platform Edition Beta. Ensure you have an additional space of 7 MB in the /usr partition.

2. Become superuser.

3. Copy the tar file that you downloaded into an empty directory that you choose.

   Examples : /tmp/xf86 or /home/molly/xf86

4. Change to the directory into which you copied the tar file :

   #&nbsp;<b>cd</b> directory_path

5. Ensure that gunzip is available on your system.

   You can install gunzip from the Solaris 8 Companion CD, or you can download it from one of the mirror sites that are listed at
   http://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html.

6. Uncompress and untar the file :

   #&nbsp;<b>gunzip</b> tarfile<b>.tar.gz</b>
#&nbsp;<b>tar xvf</b> tarfile<b>.tar</b>

7. Have you already installed the Solaris version of the XFree86 X server on your system ?

   • If no, go to the next step.
   • If yes, remove or rename directory /usr/X11R6, and remove or rename any XFree86 configuration file /etc/X11/XF86Config*.
8. Add these two packages in this exact order (order is important !) :

   #&nbsp;<b>pkgadd -d<span class="base64" title="PGNvZGUgY2xhc3M9InNwaXBfY29kZSBzcGlwX2NvZGVfaW5saW5lIiBkaXI9Imx0ciI+cHdkPC9jb2RlPg=="></span> SUNWxf86u</b><br>
   
   #&nbsp;<b>pkgadd -d<span class="base64" title="PGNvZGUgY2xhc3M9InNwaXBfY29kZSBzcGlwX2NvZGVfaW5saW5lIiBkaXI9Imx0ciI+cHdkPC9jb2RlPg=="></span> SUNWxf86r</b>

   Note : If you intend to use the Binary Edition of the Porting Kit on a system through a remotely mounted user file system, apply SUNWxf86u to that remotely mounted system, and then apply SUNWxf86r to your local system.

9. Are you using Solaris 8, or Solaris 8 Update 1 through Solaris 8 Update 4 ?

   • If no, go to the next step. You do not need these patches. The changes they provide are already integrated on your system.
   • If yes, add the following patches :

     #&nbsp;<b>patchadd 109401-10</b><br>
     #&nbsp;<b>patchadd 108653-30</b>

     Note : You can download the latest versions of these patches from
     SunSolve.

10. Run kdmconfig :

    #&nbsp;<b>kdmconfig</b>

11. On the View and Edit Window System Configuration screen, select Change Video Device/Monitor.

12. Press <b>F2</b>.

    The Video Device Selection screen is displayed.

13. Type <b>x</b>.

    XFree86 video drivers are displayed. The prefix "XF86-" identifies each XFree86 video driver.

14. Select the XFree86 video driver that you want.

    If you cannot find the specific XFree86 video driver that you want, determine the name of the vendor of your video card, select the XFree86 video driver whose name matches the name of the vendor, and try that video driver to see if it works.

    If you cannot find a name that matches a vendor, or if you can but the XFree86 video driver that you selected does not work correctly, or if your video card is not supported by XFree86, version 4.2.0, select the XF86-VESA entry. The VESA video driver works with most graphics cards, although at a lower performance level.

15. Continue to set up and configure your system with kdmconfig as you would with any video driver that Sun Microsystems provides with the Solaris operating environment.

Notes :

kdmconfig does not automatically select XFree86 drivers at this time. If you want to use an XFree86 video driver for a graphic card that the Solaris operating environment also supports, kdmconfig may detect it and prompt you with the Solaris version of the video driver. In this case you have to manually select the XFree86 video driver with the procedure given above.

Regarding monitor selection : some Plug and Play monitor files may not be created correctly in some systems. If a problem arises with a Plug and Play monitor that you select, try a MultiFrequency monitor entry. In using a MultiFrequency monitor entry, the refresh rates that are obtained by XFree86 drivers are an approximation of what is offered in the associated VDA file. Generally speaking, the higher the frequency rate that you select, the higher the realized refresh rate will be.

XFree86 video drivers produce substantially more output than the video drivers that Sun Microsystems provides with the Solaris operating environment. Output from the XFree86 video drivers is directed to stderr, as well as to file /var/log/XFree86.0.log. If you are using Common Desktop Environment (CDE), you can also view the output in /var/dt/Xerrors.

XFree86 video drivers might offer more resolutions and color depths than are actually supported on a particular device, most often due to a lack of video memory. If you select a resolution that is not supported by your video device, the XFree86 video driver automatically selects the next lower resolution that is supported.

A virtual screen feature is supported with most of the drivers. You can enable it in kdmconfig by selecting a Virtual Screen Resolution Selection entry that is larger than the Resolution/Colors Selection entry. However, the virtual screen feature is currently not supported with the VESA driver.

Copyright 1994-2002 Sun Microsystems