configuring X

[eraker]

I'm having a helluva time trying to get X working on an older hp pc with i386 sarge debian. I installed the x-window-system and xlibs-dev packages and I though I figured out the mouse problem, but all I see is a blank screen or a set of rgb vertical lines across the screen. Any ideas?

[eraker]

Holy **** I got it to work. I put in VGA graphics card (which pager /proc/pci told me I had), but then whenever I tried to enter in a set of color values for the driver, it told me it didnt have them. I finally went down to 8-bit graphics antd it worked! But now I have a different problem: everything on the screen is so huge I can't see what I'm doing. Also, I know this computer used to run XP, and it didn't look that terrible. Is there any way to configure it so that it looks semi-normal?

I should just be able to change the resolution but for some reason this does absolutely nothing. I'm totally stumped.

[TheBigPhish]

if you put in a plain-jane VGA card, you may be limited to the 640x480 resolution that you see in front of you. Resolution is usually limited to the horsepower on the graphics card, and if you're down there in the boneyard of the VGA cards, you are proabably NOT gonna get more than a stock resolution. El cheapo pci graphics cards are out there for under 10 bucks on clearance sites, grab one...pick a chipset that is nice for you and install it. Or, get real friendly with a CLI and give up the GUI.

what is lspci showing you?

[eraker]

I didn't put this computer together, actually. It's an HP Pavilion 7920 that my wife got when she was a student, so it's all pre-packaged. The thing is, she got the thing around 2001 and it ran XP fairly well. It must have had more than 8 bits of color. In fact, it must have had at least 24, but I get a message whenever I go over 8 that it's not going to work. Is this not a driver issue then?

Intel has all kinds of info about the chip and kernel modules that need to be downloaded to work with it. It also mentioned something about xserver "vga16"? I think I can get this to work, but I am getting sleepy.

[devils casper]

Hi !!!


$ gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.....

in Section Monitor...
check default depth and modes.....
right now default depth should be 8.. and mode less than 800 X 600...
change mode... see if size changes.... you can change depth later....



.... casper ....

[eraker]

Preliminarily, I think I found a way to fix the problem and I found a whole series of links that will help me. I thought I might post them here in the event that someone else is having the same problem at some point in the future and this is the solution they need (I still haven't figured out if it will work yet).

For problems regarding graphics drivers for the intel 82810 chipset on linux (i810 graphics drivers) on debian:
1. read this: http://absolutebeginner.wordpress.co...ubuntu-debian/

2. Here's the driver and the kernel module:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scri...9&submit=Go%21

3. here's the intel faq:
http://www.intel.com/support/graphic...-010512.htm#1c

4. Here are the release notes (pdf):
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/df-s...ease_linux.pdf

[eraker]

I've run into a problem compiling and installing the kernel module necessary. I'm not sure if I'll be able to resolve it. It could have been something in the way I compiled and installed the kernel.

[antidrugue]

You really shouldn't go there (compiling modules for your card) in my opinion. The i810 driver (if that is the one your card is using) present in the default Debian Sarge kernel (2.4.27-2-386) is perfectly fine and should handle your card very well.

Instead you would be better off digging into what devil-casper told you : X settings. Check out the file /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 : the default settings may not be adequate.

If you need more help, post the output of

lspci | grep -i vga

and the content of your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file.

[eraker]

hmm. But from what I've read, I think I need the agpgart module to use the card efficiently (I noticed while compiling the kernel just now where there was a specific question regarding the i810 chipset). I just ran modprobe agpgart and I didn't receive a response, so I don't think that module is on here, but I also didn't notice it as an option while compiling the kernel.

Also, the output of the above command reveals:

VGA compatible controller: Intel Corp. 82810 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 03)

[eraker]

Also, I can't at the moment post the XF86-Config file, but I've tried a large number of settings variations in there. Whenever I try to enter a color depth over 8 bit, startx crashes and says "Nothing over 8 bits is supported." This is the primary problem. I know the graphics card supports color depths at least up 24 bits because I've seen it do so. In addition, when x starts up in 8 bits, it appears to be running fine except for the fact that everything is so giant that nothing can really be done, and from within kde I am offered no resolutions above 300x200 (adn this I can only discover by moving windows around to a point where I can see a useful corner of information).

Any help would be seriously, amazingly appreciated.