Configuring Display Graphics


When you add or change the graphics devices used in your system after the initial installation, you must configure those devices. Adding or changing the display for your system can be as simple as swapping out the monitor or replacing a display adapter. For Intel-based PCs, this can mean switching from the use of the motherboard's built-in display adapter (if available)by inserting a graphics card in the accelerated graphics port (AGP) or peripheral component interface (PCI) slotor perhaps adding a second display adapter to support the use of multiple display monitors for X sessions.

Although a display monitor can be easily disconnected or reattached to a running system, insertion or removal of a graphics display adapter will require downtimethe bane of academic, enterprise, corporate, or small-business operations.

Linux and KVM

Keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) hardware provides the capability to quickly switch display and control between banks of individual computers using a single monitor, keyboard, and pointer. This provides efficient organization, diagnostics, and use of computers in larger installations, and allows a single operator to perform system administration tasks without physically moving to each computer.

Using KVM can bring other cost savings. Eliminating the need for some monitors reduces the amount of storage required for the system and the amount of energy used to run and cool the system.

Linux system administrators should be careful to research any hardware compatibility issues before implementing KVM. Many switches work regardless of the operating system and application used; however, take time to research what keyboard and pointer devices you will need to use (such as whether serial I/O, PS/2, or USB devices might be required). Some KVM switches come with some form of an embedded operating system (even Linux) that provides hardware emulation; these switches will have power requirements.

Other issues to consider include cable construction, compatibility, and distance limitations, hardware or software switch configuration (such as providing push-button or key-combination switching), security, and scalability.

If you use X and want to control the graphical desktops of remote hosts on your network, use the Xvnc server and vncviewer clients, discussed in "Remote X" in Chapter 19, "Remote Access with SSH and Telnet." You can also try the x2x and X2vnc clients. Although not included with Fedora, you can find these clients at http://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/SRC/x2x/ and http://www.hubbe.net/~hubbe/x2vnc.html.

Smaller Linux-based operations can avoid the use of KVM switching hardware by instead leveraging the graphical networking features of X11, multiple terminal sessions, and virtual desktops. Text-based virtual consoles can also be used on servers or workstations that do not use X11 to manage multiple computers or to receive logging messages from various services (such as email or web servers and the kernel). See Chapter 5, "First Steps with Fedora," to learn more about using virtual consoles. If you are limited to a single remote session window, use the screen command, a text-based window manager that enables a single terminal session to manage several shells. For additional information on using virtual consoles, see http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO.html.


Your Fedora desktop is provided by the X Window System, a client and server software package that is configured to use your computer's video card, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. If you use the graphical desktop and kudzu (discussed earlier in this chapter) and change your graphics card, monitor, keyboard, or mouse, you might be asked to remove existing hardware configuration and reconfigure the new equipment the next time you boot.

The details about configuring X.org for Linux are covered in Chapter 6, but the basic utility used to configure a new xorg.conf file is system-config-display, Fedora's graphical X configuration tool. You can also use Xorg -configure, which can generate an xorg.conf file by probing installed hardware.

Note

Connecting and using an external monitor with a notebook can be convenient, especially if the external monitor provides a larger desktop than the notebook's built-in display. However, configuring an external display for a notebook can sometimes be a problem when using X11. The notebook's graphics chipset must be supported by an X.org driver module, and the module must enable switching or concurrent use of an external monitor. Fortunately, many notebook chipsets are supported, and some notebook manufacturers provide support information for configuring external displays. For example, if your notebook has a Neomagic chipset, use the internDisp and externDisp options in the notebook's xorg.conf to enable use of an external display. Keep in mind that although Red Hat encourages and supports X.org development efforts, the X.Org Foundation LLC controls X.org development and X graphics support. See Chapter 6 for more information about Linux and X11.


Fortunately, creating a working xorg.conf file (found in the directory /etc/X11) is usually easily accomplished when installing Fedora. If a new video card or monitor is put in use before installation, it will most likely work because X.org supports many families and types of graphics chipsets. Although newer graphics chipsets might cause some display compatibility problems, it is usually possible to configure a basic working display using existing software. The X.Org Foundation and contributing developers do a great job of providing software that works with nearly every product on the market.

If you are experiencing X11 configuration problems during installation, skip the configuration. Various README files with specifics about a particular chipset are included with X.org and you should also check the X.Org Foundation website (see the "Reference" section at the end of this chapter) for any errata, changes, updates, or new releases.

Tip

Before running any X configuration tool, be sure to make a copy or back up any working xorg.conf configuration file.




Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed
Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed
ISBN: 067232847X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 362

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