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Ubuntu 8.10: HAL .fdi files replace xorg.conf

February 2nd, 2009 Dominic Baranski Leave a comment Go to comments

With the release of Ubuntu 8.10 comes a relatively radical change from the norm; The obsolescence of the xorg.conf file!

The xorg.conf file is now replaced with the use of .fdi files that can be “plugged” and “unplugged” without the need to restart the computer.  More information on the usage of these fdi files can be found on Ubuntu’s wiki site. Overall they provide more flexibility then the previous xorg.conf syntax, make use of XML, and allow for “matching” or “pairing” if the system has enabled components.

Here’s a .fdi file I whipped up for my touchpad that I called touchpad.fdi and placed in the /etc/hal/fdi/policy folder as per the wiki’s instructions.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
  <device>
    <match key="input.x11_driver" string="synaptics">
      <merge key="input.x11_options.SendCoreEvents" type="string">true</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Device" type="string">/dev/psaux</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Protocol" type="string">auto-dev</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.HorizEdgeScroll" type="string">0</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">on</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.FingerLow" type="string">7</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.FingerHigh" type="string">8</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.MinSpeed" type="string">0.60</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.MaxSpeed" type="string">1.10</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.AccelFactor" type="string">0.030</merge>
    </match>
  </device>
</deviceinfo>
Categories: Ubuntu Tags: , , ,
  • Guest
    I'm afraid I must agree that this is the WRONG PATH!!! I HATE Windows because things like configuration are hidden in a thousand little dark corners and handled by a wizard that is supposed to know how I want my system to work. Problem is the evil little troll has his own agenda and now rather than go to the xorg.conf file and read a TEXT file and make adjustments I need to first FIND a file full of cryptic markup tags and then try to get the settings the way I want them. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, after I make said changes I now have to reboot for the changes to take effect.

    Congratulations! You have taken a giant step toward turning the solution (I'll clarify here, since the folks who decided to abort xorg.conf seem to be pretty clueless, LINUX) into the problem (clarification again, WINDOWS).
  • Yeah no more .conf editing!!! Now we have .fdi editing!!!
    And as Linus says: xml is not text-file.
  • Dominic Baranski
    I'm sorry the link is not very visible at first glance. The direct link to the HAL wiki is https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Input#hal

    The change to totally wipe out the xorg.conf file is rather drastic. However, in a sense necessary. How many windows installations do you remember using where you had to edit a window.conf file to get your devices working correctly? None, and I think this is what will "eventually" be accomplished.. Though it's still a long, buggy, broken road ahead.
  • dred
    What wiki ?

    Thanks!


    This whole HAL thing is a kick in the nads, xorg.conf wiped out with no indication of how to modify the config.

    Well done ubuntu, you suck ass!
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