Supported video-card chip-sets

# 5 Supported video-card chip-sets Important Changes

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There are a number of important user-visible changes between XFree86 2.1.1 and XFree86 3.1. The first is the default install location. The XFree86 distribution is now installed by default under `/usr/X11R6` instead of `/usr/X386`. This moves away from the now out-dated "X386" name, and it also makes it possible for both versions to co-exist.

The next major change is related to the server configuration file. The old `Xconfig` file has been replaced in XFree86 3.1 by an `XF86Config` file. This is more than just a name change. The new `XF86Config` file uses a format that is quite different from the old `Xconfig` file. The new format is more structured, logical, and extensible than the old format. We realise that the transition to this new format won't be without problems. To help in this transition we have provided a program (`reconfig') to convert the old `Xconfig` format into the new `XF86Config` format. This doesn't provide a perfect conversion mostly because the new format contains more information than the old format. Some manual editing will always be required. One of the new types of information the `XF86Config` contains is a description of the monitor(s) you are using. This addition allows the servers to check that the video modes are within the specifications of the monitor.

For information about the new config file format and how to use it, refer to the XF86Config(4/5) and reconfig(1) manual pages, and the `README.Config` file which can be found in `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc`.

Another change related to the config file is the locations the servers look for it in. In previous releases the servers would look in places which could be specified by the user. This raised a number of security concerns. To address these, the server now only looks in places which are normally under the control of the system administrator. For further details, refer to the XFree86(1) manual page.

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