Xorg Setup

Most modern video cards support 24-bit colors, but you might not want a display resolution as high as 1280x1024. This will make everything look tiny unless you have a big (say 19 inch or higher) monitor. As we'll be using 24-bit color, but don't want that highest resolution, we entered "3" to customize the display resolution settings for this color depth.

Enter the numbers and/or letters (sequentially, without spaces) of the display resolutions you want to be able to use. I used the default "432" for my ThinkPad, as my usual resolution is 1024x768 on my 13.3 inch laptop display, but Dan likes a resolution of 1152x864, so he entered "943" as his options.

We don't like this option, and you would probably only use it if you have a really old monitor that can only support a low (such as 640x480) resolution. If you select this option, moving the mouse to one of the edges of your screen will cause the screen to "scroll" to reveal more of the desktop. (Your desktop will be bigger than your monitor). After entering "n" for "No," press 'Enter' to continue.

After entering our custom display resolutions (if any), we'll be returned to this screen. Notice that the resolutions listed for 24-bit have been changed to the custom ones we selected at the last screen. If these settings are correct, enter "4" and then press 'Enter' to continue.

We are now asked what color depth we want to use by default. On both of our systems (and probably on yours, unless you're using really old hardware), we chose "5" for 24-bit. Were we to choose something else, it would render our previous configuration rather pointless.

Final confirmation screen. Enter "y" and press 'Enter' to complete the setup and save the new configuration file we just created.

Done. We now have an X.Org configuration file (which can be found at "/etc/X11/xorg.conf").

If you have a Logitech MX500 or Logitech Marble Mouse you may go here for the proper configuration for Xorg. Otherwise, you will have to figure out how to setup extra functionality (such as side buttons or a scroll wheel) on your own.

There is one last thing we'll want to do before moving on. (Don't worry, we'll get out this scary text mode before too much longer). There is an annoying error ("bad display name") when you start X (graphics mode) that will make it take about 1-2 seconds longer to start X. Correcting this is optional, but as it's quick and easy to do, we're going to tell you how to do it.

# $FreeBSD: src/etc/hosts,v 1.16 2003/01/28 21:29:23 dbaker Exp $
#
# Host Database
#
# This file should contain the addresses and aliases for local hosts that
# share this file. Replace 'my.domain' below with the domainname of your
# machine.
#
# In the presence of the domain name service or NIS, this file may
# not be consulted at all; see /etc/nsswitch.conf for the resolution order.
#
#
::1                     localhost localhost.my.domain
127.0.0.1               localhost localhost.my.domain
#
# Imaginary network.
#10.0.0.2               myname.my.domain myname
#10.0.0.3               myfriend.my.domain myfriend
#
# According to RFC 1918, you can use the following IP networks for
# private nets which will never be connected to the Internet:
#
#       10.0.0.0        -   10.255.255.255
#       172.16.0.0      -   172.31.255.255
#       192.168.0.0     -   192.168.255.255
#
# In case you want to be able to connect to the Internet, you need
# real official assigned numbers. Do not try to invent your own network
# numbers but instead get one from your network provider (if any) or
# from your regional registry (ARIN, APNIC, LACNIC, RIPE NCC, or AfriNIC.)

We are going to set the hostname just the same as we did in our post-installation configuration. Remember in our case we used "bsd.domain.actdsltmp."

Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the cursor until you have selected the first "l" in "localhost.my.domain" on the line we specified. Press the 'x' key until you have deleted "localhost.my.domain". Then press the 'i' key and type in the name you specified for your domain. (In our example, "bsd.domain.actdsltmp"). That section of your "/etc/hosts" file should then look like this (with your domain name in place of "bsd.domain.actdsltmp"):

Got it? Press 'Esc' to stop adding text, then hold in the 'Shift' key and press 'ZZ' to save your changes and exit. Now you won't get that annoying error when you start X.

Congratulations! We've finished setting up X.Org! There are a few more things we'll want to do before booting into graphical mode (don't worry, we'll get you out of this text mode soon enough), so please continue on to our next section.