dexconf fixes xserver display problems
11 September 2006The scenario was I took a drive out of a laptop that had no cd or floppy. I put the drive in my desktop machine and installed Ubuntu desktop. So, xserver was configured for the video card in my desktop and when I put the drive back in the laptop, xserver naturally would not start.
Running dexconf from the command line allowed me to reconfigure xserver for the video controller in the laptop.
- NAME
- dexconf - generate XFree86 X server configuration file from debconf data
- SYNOPSIS
- dexconf [ options ]
- DESCRIPTION
- dexconf retrieves values from debconf(7) ’s database and uses them to build an XF86Config-4 file.
The information that dexconf uses is typically entered via a debconf frontend (or possibly in part by hardware autodetection tools). Note that dexconf itself does not set any values in the debconf database; it only retrieves them. If configuration parameters of the debconf database need to be changed, dpkg-reconfigure(8) should be used to do so.
It is also important to note that dexconf , and the corresponding debconf questions whose answers it retrieves, are not intended to replace a full-featured XFree86 X server configuration tool; that is the province of xf86cfg(1) , currently under development by the XFree86 Project, Inc. In the meantime, however, users inexperienced with the syntax of the XF86Config-4 file may use dexconf to generate the XFree86 X server configuration file with a minimal amount of detailed knowledge of their hardware characteristics.
More experienced users should feel free to use dexconf -generated configuration files as a starting point for their customizations, since individual preferences vary greatly.
- OPTIONS
- -h, –help
- Display a usage message and exit.
- -o file , –output= file
- By default, dexconf writes to /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 . This option instructs dexconf to write to file instead. Note that dexconf unconditionally overwrites its destination file if it has sufficient access rights to do so.
- ENVIRONMENT
- COLUMNS
- This variable is used to format diagnostic messages so that they fit the width of the terminal. If not set, a terminal width of 80 columns is assumed.
- TMPDIR
- dexconf creates a subdirectory of the directory name stored in this variable, and uses that subdirectory as a scratch area. If not set, /tmp is used as the parent of the scratch directory.
- OUTPUT FILES
- /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
- is the configuration file for the XFree86 4. x X server.
- DIAGNOSTICS
- dexconf produces diagnostic messages upon encountering various error conditions. These messages are prefixed with the name of the command and a colon; for example:
- This option, and XFree86 3.x output, are no longer supported.
- dexconf no longer supports the -f , –format option. See the “HISTORY” section below.
- cannot create temporary work directory; dirname does not exist or is not a directory”
- dexconf was unable to create a scratch directory to work in because the parent directory ( dirname ) was not does not exist or is not a directory. Create dirname and set its permissions properly, or set the TMPDIR environment variable to the name of an existing directory.
- cannot create temporary work directory in dirname ; directory not writable”
- dexconf had insufficient permissions to create a directory in dirname . Change the permissions on dirname or set the TMPDIR environment variable to the of a writeable directory.
- cannot generate configuration file; question not set
- An answer to the indicated question was expected in the debconf database, but none was found. dexconf cannot write a valid configuration file without this information. This problem can be rectified by reconfiguring the X server package with the dpkg-reconfigure(8) command.
- creation of temporary work directory dirname failed
- dexconf was unable to create a scratch directory ( dirname ) to work in. This diagnostic is only issued after dexconf has checked to ensure that the parent directory of dirname is writable, and after the temporary directory to be used has been removed (if necessary). This diagnostic message could indicate that something on the system is attempting to use a temporary-file race condition to compromise the system’s integrity.
- error while getting options
- dexconf received an error from getopt(1) while attempting to interpret the command-line arguments. Use only the documented options.
- received signal; aborting
- dexconf was sent a fatal signal; see the section on asynchronous events below.
- this program does not know how to configure the package X server
- dexconf only knows how to write configuration files for XFree86 version 4. x X servers. The value of the shared/default-x-server debconf template was set to a package name that dexconf did not recognize. A different tool will have to be used to configure the selected X server, or dpkg-reconfigure(8) will have to be used to change the default X server.
- unable to write to configfile
- dexconf was unable to write to configfile because it lacked permissions to do so. Run dexconf as a user with permissions to write to configfile, or specify an alternate file to write with the -o or –output options.
- unrecognized option option
- An unrecognized option was specified. Use only the documented options.
dexconf: messageA list of diagnostic messages currently issued by dexconf follows.
- ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
- dexconf traps the HUP, INT, QUIT, and TERM signals. dexconf removes its scratch directory and exits when it receives any of these signals.
- EXIT STATUS
- 0
- A configuration file was successfully written.
- 1
- An error occurred, or dexconf was interrupted. See the section on diagnostics above.
- HISTORY
- Earlier versions of dexconf supported an -f , –format option, but support for this option has been dropped along with support for XFree86 3. x configuration files. The reasons for termination of XFree86 3. x support are described in “Debian X Window System Frequently Asked Questions” .
It is also worth noting that the (oqdebconf section(cq and (oqmanage this file with debconf?(cq approaches to handling the XF86Config-4 file on Debian systems which were in use from approximately versions 4.0.1-9 to 4.2.1-9 of the xfree86 Debian packages are no longer in use. For more information, see “Debian X Window System Frequently Asked Questions” .
For a period prior to the release of Debian 3.1 (”sarge”), dexconf supported a -s , –stdout option which attempted to send the configuration file to standard output, but this was withdrawn because it was buggy (the output went to standard error instead), and it proved impractical to fix the bug due to debconf ’s creative handling of the standard output and standard error streams. If you need this functionality, use the -o , –output option. Note that using /dev/stdout as an option will not work for the same reason the -s , –stdout could not be implemented correctly in the first place. /dev/tty might not work either. It may be best to use a temporary file or known location.
- BUGS
- See If you wish to report a bug in dexconf , please see /usr/share/doc/debian/bug-reporting.txt or the reportbug(1) command.
- AUTHOR
- dexconf was written by Branden Robinson with sponsorship from Progeny Linux Systems.
- SEE ALSO
- XF86Config-4 (5x), xf86cfg (1x), dpkg-reconfigure(8) , debconf(7)
“Debian X Window System Frequently Asked Questions” : /usr/share/doc/xfree86-common/FAQ.xhtml
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