minimal X.org xserver installation on Debian Wheezy

Post by Martin T
Hi,
I installed Debian Wheezy with no desktop environment as I would like
to use lightweight dwm window manager instead. However, as a first
step, I need to install xserver. I would like to install minimal
components needed for running the xserver. What are the exact
components(binaries, libraries, configuration files, etc) needed to
run xserver? Obviously xinit(starts X server session), but what else?
Or are the components needed for running xserver so scattered that
practically one needs to install xserver-xorg package which will
handle all the dependencies needed?

apt-get --no-install-recommends install xserver-xorg-video-intel
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg xinit libgl1-mesa-dri

xserver-xorg-video-intel - change to appropriate driver for you machine
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics - perhaps does not need, if it is not laptop
bgl1-mesa-dri - for 3D, optional

See dmesg(1) for above first two points.

Also, perhaps you need install xterm. I don't remember exactly, it is
default terminal emulator for me.

For errors, if X does not started, see ~/.xsession-errors and
/var/log/Xorg.0.log

Brian

2014-05-11 09:43:14 UTC

Post by Martin T
I installed Debian Wheezy with no desktop environment as I would like
to use lightweight dwm window manager instead. However, as a first
step, I need to install xserver. I would like to install minimal
components needed for running the xserver. What are the exact
components(binaries, libraries, configuration files, etc) needed to
run xserver? Obviously xinit(starts X server session), but what else?
Or are the components needed for running xserver so scattered that
practically one needs to install xserver-xorg package which will
handle all the dependencies needed?

If my notes are accurate ; from the last time I did it:

xinit
xserver-org
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati

I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

Andrei POPESCU

2014-05-11 10:14:28 UTC

xinit
xserver-org

Yes.

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

These two have been replaced by xserver-xorg-input-evdev

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati
I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

Last time I did this I also needed an xfonts- package, like xfonts-base,
but since it is a Recommends: of xserver-common I will probably be
pulled in if one doesn't disable them.

Kind regards,
Andrei

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Brian

2014-05-11 11:47:08 UTC

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

These two have been replaced by xserver-xorg-input-evdev

Thanks. I did have -evdev because it is a Depends: of xserver-xorg. -kbd
and -mouse are now purged, which gives me about 300K of disk space back.

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati
I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

Last time I did this I also needed an xfonts- package, like xfonts-base,
but since it is a Recommends: of xserver-common I will probably be
pulled in if one doesn't disable them.

After looking at the machine I'm now certain I didn't use recommended
packages. There is no xfonts- package and (for what I use the machine
for) there do not seem to be any ill-effects.

Артур Истомин

2014-05-11 16:59:42 UTC

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

These two have been replaced by xserver-xorg-input-evdev

Thanks. I did have -evdev because it is a Depends: of xserver-xorg. -kbd
and -mouse are now purged, which gives me about 300K of disk space back.

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati
I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

Last time I did this I also needed an xfonts- package, like xfonts-base,
but since it is a Recommends: of xserver-common I will probably be
pulled in if one doesn't disable them.

After looking at the machine I'm now certain I didn't use recommended
packages. There is no xfonts- package and (for what I use the machine
for) there do not seem to be any ill-effects.

This are bitmap fonts. They are necessary for x11-apps and similar
software, which today is not used by the majority.

Marko Randjelovic

2014-05-12 10:43:45 UTC

On Sun, 11 May 2014 13:14:28 +0300

Post by Andrei POPESCU
These two have been replaced by xserver-xorg-input-evdev

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati
I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

Last time I did this I also needed an xfonts- package, like xfonts-base,
but since it is a Recommends: of xserver-common I will probably be
pulled in if one doesn't disable them.
Kind regards,
Andrei

You will need xbase-clients as well.

--
http://markorandjelovic.hopto.org

One should not be afraid of humans.
Well, I am not afraid of humans, but of what is inhuman in them.
Ivo Andric, "Signs near the travel-road"

Sven Joachim

2014-05-11 10:16:33 UTC

xinit
xserver-org
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

Those are obsoleted by xserver-xorg-input-evdev.

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati
I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

I would also install the -vesa and -fbdev packages in case there are
problems with the native driver.

Cheers,
Sven

Brian

2014-05-11 11:51:12 UTC

Post by Brian
xinit
xserver-org
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

Those are obsoleted by xserver-xorg-input-evdev.

Thank you.

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati
I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

I would also install the -vesa and -fbdev packages in case there are
problems with the native driver.

Even though I've experienced no problems I suppose I could install them.
After all, I now have a free 300K of space after purging -kbd and -mouse. :)

Martin T

2014-05-11 17:31:35 UTC

Thank you for replies! As I understand, "xserver-xorg" will install
/usr/bin/X binary, which is a X Window Server itself and "xinit"
installs the /usr/bin/xinit utility which starts the X Window Server
and window manager(dwm in my case) as a X Windows Server client. As I
have Intel 945GM video card, I need to install
"xserver-xorg-video-intel" package, but why exactly is this needed? I
mean at the moment, according to "lspci -vvv", I use i915.ko driver
and it's able to show the picture. Or is the performance lot better
with intel_drv.so driver which will be installed with
"xserver-xorg-video-intel" package? Or is it a problem for xserver if
the driver module runs in kernel space?
In addition, am I correct that "xserver-xorg-input-evdev" just
installs the necessary user-space driver for handling mouse and
keyboard input to xserver?

regards,
Martin

Post by Brian
xinit
xserver-org
xserver-xorg-input-kbd
xserver-xorg-input-mouse

Those are obsoleted by xserver-xorg-input-evdev.

Thank you.

Post by Brian
xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-ati
I'm fairly sure I installed the Recommends:. You may need to have
different video packages.

I would also install the -vesa and -fbdev packages in case there are
problems with the native driver.

Even though I've experienced no problems I suppose I could install them.
After all, I now have a free 300K of space after purging -kbd and -mouse. :)
--

Patrick Bartek

2014-05-11 23:35:42 UTC

Post by Martin T
Thank you for replies! As I understand, "xserver-xorg" will install
/usr/bin/X binary, which is a X Window Server itself and "xinit"
installs the /usr/bin/xinit utility which starts the X Window Server
and window manager(dwm in my case) as a X Windows Server client. As I

All I installed to get a running X on my Wheezy/Openbox "minimal" system
was xserver-xorg-core and xinit.

B

Brian

2014-05-12 12:14:41 UTC

Post by Patrick Bartek

All I installed to get a running X on my Wheezy/Openbox "minimal" system
was xserver-xorg-core and xinit.

You probably did this at a time when a video driver would have been
pulled in by xserver-xorg-core because it depended on xserver-xorg. This
dependency has gone so there might be a problem getting X running with
these two packages alone.

xorg-server (2:1.9.4-2) unstable; urgency=low
.
* Put an end to the dependency hell! Now that we have proper
dependencies between drivers and the server, remove xserver-xorg from
xserver-xorg-core's Depends (Closes: #362313). In a nutshell, one may
want to choose between installing:
- xserver-xorg-core: the server itself, with no strings attached.
- xserver-xorg: pulls the server and drivers, contains the X wrapper
and some documentation.
- xorg: pulls xserver-xorg as well as various X11 clients and fonts.

-- Cyril Brulebois <***@debian.org> Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:17:07 +0100

Patrick Bartek

2014-05-12 17:28:12 UTC