Second X

[Derek Atkins]

I had this working a while ago -- I needed a second X because some
applications _only_ ran in 8bpp or 24bpp mode, but my laptop could
only do 8 or 16.  So I ran a second X on vt08 in 8bpp mode.

I had an alias that said:

        (cd ; startx second -- :1 -bpp 8 vt08)

The "second" is passed as an argument into .xinitrc so you can
decide what to do on the second screen.

-derek

John Chambers <jc at trillian.mit.edu> writes:

> Drew Taylor asks:
> | I have a RH 7.1 box that I did not install X on due to memory limitations
> | at the time. Since I now have more memory, I'd like to run X. So I
> | installed the binary distribution of XFree86 4.2.0. But it won't startup w/
> | the usual startx. I can briefly see something on the screen, but after a
> | couple of seconds the monitor goes into standby mode. I haven't had a
> | chance to try older versions yet.
> 
> And for the next step, I have a RH 7.1 box that  has  X  running,  as
> usual on the CTL-ALT-F7 screen. What I'd like to do is get it running
> also on another screen, such as CTL-ALT-F6. This is so two people can
> be  logged  in at the same time, without the need to log out and shut
> all your stuff down every time  you  want  to  switch  who's  in  the
> driver's  seat.   It'd also be handy when I want to run more than one
> thing as root.
> 
> I've dug around in TFM, and seen a number of claims that all  I  need
> to  do is log in and run "startx -- :1" or some variant thereof.  But
> what it does is complains that there's already an X server running on
> the display. Of course there is; I knew that. But it's running on :0,
> not on :1.  I haven't found any clues so far about  how  to  make  it
> work.  I have gotten a few replies that "It should work", which isn't
> much consolation when it doesn't.
> 
> Funny thing; I have a slightly older RH version on another  box,  and
> the  above  command  works there.  I have no idea what the difference
> might be.
> 
> Any suggestions on how to Do It Right?  Even better,  is  this  topic
> actually documented anywhere?
> 
> (I wouldn't be surprised if it's covered in some HOWTO, but  to  find
> it, you have to guess the right keywords, and I don't seem to be able
> to stumble onto them.)
> 
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-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available