We can specify the vty number in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers as:

:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X vt4

can we not?

I know this is troublesome in the sense that if we want to change the vty for X, we need to update both /etc/tty and /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers ;-<

In any case, the race condition regarding xdm and getty which we discussed in this mailing list should be reflected in FAQ. Our FAQ currently has an entry for xdm; it gives you the impression that the race condition exists only when we start xdm from one of rc.* files, and people may think there should be no problem when xdm is started from /etc/ttys.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9.7 How do I start XDM on boot?

There are two schools of thought on how to start xdm. One school starts xdm from /etc/ttys using the supplied example, while the other simply runs xdm from rc.local or from a X.sh script in /usr/local/etc/rc.d. Both are equally valid, and one may work in situations where the other doesn't. In both cases the result is the same: X will popup a graphical login: prompt.

The ttys method has the advantage of documenting which vty X will start on and passing the responsibility of restarting the X server on logout to init. The rc.local method makes it easy to kill xdm if there is a problem starting the X server.

If loaded from rc.local, xdm should be started without any arguments (i.e., as a daemon). xdm must start AFTER getty runs, or else gettty and xdm will con- flict, locking out the console. The best way around this is to have the script sleep 10 seconds or so then launch xdm.

A previous version of the FAQ said to add the vt you want X to use to the /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers file. This is not necessary: X will use the first free vt it finds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last paragraph should be modified to something like:

"If you are to start xdm from /etc/ttys, there still is a chance of conflict between xdm and getty. One way to avoid this is to add the vt number in the /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers file.

:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X vt4

The above example will direct the X server to run in /dev/ttyv3. Note the number is offset by one. The X server counts the vt from one, whereas the FreeBSD kernel numbers vt from zero."

Comments?

Kazu

To Unsubscribe: send mail to majo...@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-smp" in the body of the message