Table of Contents
The X configuration file provides a means to configure the X server. This section describes the settings necessary to enable the NVIDIA driver. A comprehensive list of parameters is provided in Appendix B, X Config Options.
The NVIDIA Driver includes a utility called nvidia-xconfig, which is designed to make editing the X configuration file easy. You can also edit it by hand.
The Solaris distribution for x86 comes with two X servers: Xsun and X.Org. Xsun is the proprietary X server developed by Sun Microsystems. The X.Org X server is released by the X.Org Foundation. The NVIDIA Accelerated SunOS Driver is enabled with the X.Org X server.
The installation process puts a sample X.Org configuration file
in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.nvidia.
An X.Org getconfig rules file, /usr/X11/lib/X11/getconfig/nvda.cfg, is also
installed. This configuration file will automatically choose the
NVIDIA X driver if the console device has the NVIDIA kernel driver
bound to it and no X.Org configuration file is found.
The X.Org configuration file is /etc/X11/xorg.conf. This document refers to this
file as “the X config
file”.
The X.Org log file is /var/log/Xorg.#.log (where # is the server number -- usually 0) This
document refers to this file as “the X
log file”.
In order for any changes to be read into the X server, you must edit the configuration file used by the server. It is easy to determine the correct file by searching for the line
(==) Using config file:
in the X log file. This line indicates the name of the X config file in use.
If you do not have a working X config file, there are a few different ways to obtain one:
Using nvidia-xconfig to configure the X server: nvidia-xconfig will find the X.Org configuration file and modify it to use the NVIDIA X driver. nvidia-xconfig will make a backup copy of your configuration file before modifying it.
A sample config file is included with the NVIDIA driver package
(at /usr/share/doc/NVIDIA/xorg.conf.nvidia).
Tools for generating a config file (such as xorgconfig) are included in the Solaris distributions.
Additional information on the X config syntax can be found in
the xorgconfig manual page (man
xorg.conf).
If you have a working X config file for a different driver (such as the “nv” or “vesa” driver), then simply edit the file as follows.
Remove the line:
Driver "nv"
(or Driver "vesa")
(or Driver "fbdev")
and replace it with the line:
Driver "nvidia"
Remove the following lines:
Load "dri"
Load "GLCore"
In the Module section of the
file, add the line (if it does not already exist):
Load "glx"
If the X config file does not have a Module section, you can safely skip the
last step if the X server installed on your system is an X.Org X
server or an XFree86 X release version 4.4.0 or greater. If you are
using an older XFree86 X server, add the following to your X config
file:
Section "Module"
Load "extmod"
Load "dbe"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
EndSection
There are numerous options that may be added to the X config file to tune the NVIDIA X driver. See Appendix B, X Config Options for a complete list of these options.
Once you have completed these edits to the X config file, you may restart X and begin using the accelerated OpenGL libraries. After restarting X, any OpenGL application should automatically use the new NVIDIA libraries. (NOTE: If you encounter any problems, see Chapter 7, Common Problems for common problem diagnoses.)
If X is explicitly configured to use the NVIDIA driver, then the X config file should be edited to use a different X driver after uninstalling the NVIDIA driver. Otherwise, X may fail to start, since the driver it was configured to use will no longer be present on the system after uninstallation.
If you edited the file manually, revert any edits you made. If you used the nvidia-xconfig utility, either by answering "Yes" when prompted to configure the X server by the installer, or by running it manually later on, then you may restore the backed-up X config file, if it exists and reflects the X config state that existed before the NVIDIA driver was installed.
If you do not recall any manual changes that you made to the file, or do not have a backed-up X config file that uses a non-NVIDIA X driver, you may want to try simply renaming the X configuration file, to see if your X server loads a sensible default.