Bug 672416 - No way to create xorg.conf on F14
Summary: No way to create xorg.conf on F14
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED NOTABUG
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: xorg-x11
Version: 14
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: X/OpenGL Maintenance List
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2011-01-25 03:44 UTC by Steevithak
Modified: 2018-04-11 12:17 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2011-01-26 08:47:16 UTC
Type: ---


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Steevithak 2011-01-25 03:44:59 UTC
Description of problem:
I need to modify the xorg.conf file to get my ATI card working better. On previous versions of Fedora, the xorg.conf was missing but it was possible to create it using system-config-display. On Fedora 14, this utility is also missing. There is a Fedora doc which says it can be created by running Xorg -configure but this only works if Xorg is not already running. 

The trouble is that Xorg *is* running (otherwise, how am I browsing the web to see the web page that says Xorg shouldn't be running!?) - so what do we do on a computer where Xorg is already running but we still need an xorg.conf? 

Is there some way to shut down the X server without crashing the system? Might be a good idea to tell how to do it on the web page about creating xorg.conf. I tried doing a ctrl-alt-f1 to get into text mode but Xorg -configure still didn't work.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
Fedora 14

How reproducible:
Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Boot a computer with a working Xorg 
2. Try to create xorg.conf by methods recommended by fedoraproject.org
3. 
  
Actual results:
various error messages

Expected results:
an xorg.conf

Additional info:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_create_xorg.conf

Comment 1 Matěj Cepl 2011-01-25 09:33:55 UTC
(In reply to comment #0)
> I need to modify the xorg.conf file to get my ATI card working better.

Could you elaborate on "working better", please? What exactly is the problem?

> There is a Fedora doc which says it can be created by running Xorg
> -configure but this only works if Xorg is not already running. 

Yes.

> Is there some way to shut down the X server without crashing the system? Might
> be a good idea to tell how to do it on the web page about creating xorg.conf. I
> tried doing a ctrl-alt-f1 to get into text mode but Xorg -configure still
> didn't work.

Logout from your desktop (so you get to gdm login dialog), Ctrl-Alt-F2, login as root and run

telinit 3

Then you have system with no Xorg whatsoever (test it with pgrep -f -l Xorg; if it still runs, pkill -KILL -f Xorg will take care of it) and running

Xorg -configure

should work as expected.

Comment 2 Steevithak 2011-01-25 23:08:20 UTC
Thanks, that worked. Maybe need to change this to just a bug against the documentation. Those last few steps you mention are missing from the fedora web page that explains how to create the xorg.conf file! This is harder and more complicated than it used to be. Any reason we can't just have the xorg.conf file put in as part of the install? Or if not, how about a simpler way of creating one.

With regard to the ATI card. I'm on a Dell Inspiron Studio 1558 laptop with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 (RV710 chipid = 0x9553) and it's running very slow with the default config; only getting about 60 fps on glxgears for example. Wanted to tweak some of the settings and see if I could improve the performance at all.

Comment 3 Matěj Cepl 2011-01-26 08:47:16 UTC
(In reply to comment #2)
> Thanks, that worked. Maybe need to change this to just a bug against the
> documentation. Those last few steps you mention are missing from the fedora web
> page that explains how to create the xorg.conf file! This is harder and more
> complicated than it used to be. Any reason we can't just have the xorg.conf
> file put in as part of the install? Or if not, how about a simpler way of
> creating one.

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_create_xorg.conf has been updated.

> with the default config; only getting about 60 fps on glxgears for example.

http://qa-rockstar.livejournal.com/7869.html

If you want to do at least slightly meaningful benchmarks (and with all due respect, I don't think you can do it, it is really really hard to do it well) then use rather some demos from mesa-demos, e.g. teapot is pretty nice.

As it concerns this bug, we are not focused now on profiling drivers, so I am closing this bug as NOTABUG.

Comment 4 Steevithak 2011-01-26 17:25:43 UTC
Thanks! And I consider the bug to be a lack of documentation, so if those additional steps have been added to the wiki, you can close it as "fixed" too. My ATI card works, just not as fast as older ones - doesn't seem to be a bug. I'm sure the radeon folks will continue improving the driver.


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