General FAQ
===========
:toc:
Cyril Brulebois <kibi@debian.org>
Input drivers
-------------
* _How do I configure input for X?_ +
Look at the link:../howto/configure-input.html[how to configure input] documentation.
* _Why can’t I kill X through `Ctrl+Alt+Backspace`?_ +
That’s explained in the above-mentioned documentation.
<<<
Video drivers
-------------
All drivers
~~~~~~~~~~~
* _What’s wrong with the DPI setting?_ +
By the default, the X server uses 96 DPI, as seen on upstream bug
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23705[#23705] (in
particular
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23705#c6[Keith’s comment]). A
particular DPI setting can be set through desktop environment’s
preferences, through the `-dpi` X server command line option (see
++Xserver++’s manual page), or through ++xrandr++’s `--dpi` option.
* _How do I get some info about 3D support?_ +
Look at the link:../howto/build-mesa.html[instructions to build mesa],
there are a few commands to learn about 3D support, the current driver,
etc.
Ati driver
~~~~~~~~~~
* _Why is it I’m getting low performances, or even crashes?_ +
Make sure you have installed the
link:https://packages.debian.org/firmware-linux&exact=1[`firmware-linux`
package]. The driver might still be working without the firmware,
but using code paths which aren’t supported as well as the “normal”
ones.
Intel driver
~~~~~~~~~~~~
* _Why isn’t it working?_ +
KMS is mandatory, as documented in its `README.Debian` (view it
online:
https://salsa.debian.org/xorg-team/driver/xserver-xorg-video-intel/blob/debian-unstable/debian/README.Debian?viewer=simple[salsa.debian.org]). You
probably disabled KMS or didn’t include it in your kernel
configuration if you’re using a custom kernel.
* _X is crashing all the time with my “old” Intel card. What can I do?_ +
Unfortunately, old cards are not very well supported, and you can’t
do much more than switching to a generic driver, like `fbdev` or
`vesa`, as documented in `README.Debian` (view it online:
https://salsa.debian.org/xorg-team/driver/xserver-xorg-video-intel/blob/debian-unstable/debian/README.Debian?viewer=simple[salsa.debian.org]). Please
note that you need to disable `KMS` if you want to use the `vesa`
driver. A minimal `xorg.conf` would look like:
----
Section "Device"
Identifier "MyBuggyCard"
Driver "fbdev"
EndSection
----
Nouveau driver
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* _Why isn’t it working?_ +
Since it’s still considered experimental by its authors, the
interfaces aren’t stable yet, so the driver has particular
dependencies on the kernel, which are documented in `README.Debian`
(view it online:
https://salsa.debian.org/xorg-team/driver/xserver-xorg-video-nouveau/blob/debian-unstable/debian/README.Debian?viewer=simple[salsa.debian.org]).
<<<
Others
------
Session management
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* _How to start a bare X session (without Gnome, KDE, etc.)?_ +
Assuming there’s no X running on the `:1` display, run this from a
VT:
----
startx /usr/bin/xterm -- :1
----
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