X.Org
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[edit] Prerequisites
Before installing X.Org you have to configure a few important variables, namely VIDEO_CARDS and INPUT_DEVICES. These are alias for the x11-drivers/xf86-video-* and x11-drivers/xf86-input-* packages and, in the case of the package x11-base/xorg-drivers, acts as "pull in" USE flags. So setting these variables is a good idea as it will make the emerge include your drivers.
See the Input drivers and Graphics drivers articles before continuing.
[edit] USE Flags
Make sure the xorg USE flag is enabled. It's also a good idea to enable the dri USE flag and leave the minimal USE flag disabled as you most likely want to have DRI enabled as it provides accelerated graphics. Note that your X11 graphics driver (x11-drivers/xf86-video-*) might also carry this USE flag so enable it there as well and/or globally in /etc/make.conf. Make sure you also enable the hal USE flag, if available, on your input devices driver(x11-drivers/xf86-input-*) if you enabled hal for x11-base/xorg-server.
- debug - Build with debug information.
- dmx - Enable Distributed Multihead X.
- hal - Enable HAL support. This enables autoconfiguration of input devices. Enable this if you intend to use x11-drivers/xf86-input-evdev.
- ipv6 - Enable IPv6 support.
- kdrive - Build the Kdrive server. Required if you want to build Xephyr.
- minimal - Disable building the xorgcfg, xvfb, xnest, xtrap, record, xfree86-utils, libxf86config, dri and glx modules.
- nptl - Enable Native POSIX threads.
- sdl - Build the XSDL test application, this also needs the kdrive USE flag enabled.
- tslib - Enable touchscreen support through x11-libs/tslib. Enable this if you intend to use x11-drivers/xf86-input-tslib.
- xorg - Build the X.Org X11 Server.
[edit] Installation
It's often a good idea to run a pretend emerge and check so you have set the VIDEO_CARDS, INPUT_DEVICES and USE flags to your liking,
If all is good, emerge,
If you changed your VIDEO_CARDS or INPUT_DEVICES variable, update your world for the changes to take effect,
[edit] Configuration
Once X.Org has emerged, you might need to configure it in order to make it work. The configuration is mostly done through the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. There are automated tools available to perform the configuration for you or guide you.
The recommended method is to run X.Org without a configuration file by utilizing HAL/udev, evdev and dbus. HAL/udev will determine what it thinks to be the best setup for the machine it is operating on. In such case that HAL/udev doesn't get things quite right, you can specify specific options in the configuration file while leaving the rest of the options undefined. (See example.)
If you decide against utilizing evdev, HAL/udev and/or dbus, follow the steps in the next subsection.
[edit] Xorg -configure
X.Org comes with it's automated tool. To use it, run,
The tool will create the configuration under the file /root/xorg.conf.new. You may want to test it using,
prior moving it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Your video driver package may provide an automated tool helping you configure the video part of X.Org. (ie. nvidia-xconfig for nvidia GPUs.) Refer to the proper article, so start with finding your driver in Graphics drivers.
[edit] xorgconfig
If the above tool doesn't work, you can try xorgconfig. This tool will ask you about your hardware configuration and will configure xorg.conf accordingly. It's often a good idea to run it in textmode just to be safe,
This tool can also be used to further tune the xorg.conf generated by Xorg -configure. Once configured, move your new xorg.conf to /etc/X11/.
[edit] Troubleshooting
[edit] Zap (Terminate Server)
For a long time, the X server had a default key binding,Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, to terminate, or "zap", the server. This option was gradually removed between version 1.5 and 1.6. Refer to Gentoo's Xorg 1.6 Upgrade Guide for the current way to get this often useful and much-demanded functionality enabled again.
[edit] x11 Overlay
For the very latest version of the X.Org suite, you can use the x11 overlay,
And update your system,
See Layman for further instructions.
