xorg.conf causing problems on Scientific Linux 5.5 :(

[machinus]

I am new to RHEL. I am using a Thinkpad W510 and SL 5.5. I am trying to get everything working smoothly on my system.

I am having issues with the gpu drivers and the touchpad, both of which seem to be traced back to xorg.conf.

I can set the proper resolution using nvidia-settings, but it resets to 800x600 on restart no matter what I do. I have used the gui to save, I have tried nvidia-xconfig, and I have tried to just editing the xorg myself, but it always goes back.

I am having even worse problems with the trackpad. I downloaded and installed the synaptics package, but nothing I do changes the trackpad settings. Mouse properties has no trackpad info in it.

How do you properly configure resolution and trackpad settings on rhel?

[Rubberman]

Personally, I would not use RHEL 5 or clones such as SL5 on a laptop. Too many problems, IMO. SL6 is another beast, and should work just fine on most laptops today. What video hardware does your laptop have?

[machinus]

Whenever SL upgrades to rh6 I will probably use that instead.

I have a quadro 880 in my laptop. I can get the 1920 to display just fine, but it resets on restart.


At the moment, I can't turn off "tapping" on my trackpad and it is driving me nuts.

[Rubberman]

SL has already upgraded to rh6. It was in beta until last month, but is officially released now. I'm using it on my desktop and have run the liveDVD on my laptop. We're still waiting for Fermi Linux 6, but that should be out "real soon now"...

[meton_magis]

don't mean to thread jack, but I thought Fermi linux was transitioned into SL, that they are the same thing. Am I mising somethign??



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He'll have the strength of Hercules with the flexibility of Gumbi

Gubercules?? I love that guy.

[Rubberman]

Other way around. SL transitions into Fermi Linux. So, it goes RHEL->SL->FL. There is some lab-specific security stuff they have to add to SL in order to get FL. In any case, FL is not intended for general distribution, but SL is. That's what my resident expert (physicist wife who works in the Fermi Lab computing division) says. Usually she knows what she is talking about, unlike yours truly!

[meton_magis]

AH, that makes sense now actually.

I was reading that Fermi was at risk of running out of funds in the near future, I wonder what that means for SL, as it's developed by them and CERN (according to wikipedia anyway, Scientific Linux - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

It would suck if releases got stalled, CentOS is already starting to look like it's falling apart, so it would leave a void for community based RHEL rebrandings.

[tmcadams222]

Xorg.... You can't live without video.

[Rubberman]

AH, that makes sense now actually.

I was reading that Fermi was at risk of running out of funds in the near future, I wonder what that means for SL, as it's developed by them and CERN (according to wikipedia anyway, Scientific Linux - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

It would suck if releases got stalled, CentOS is already starting to look like it's falling apart, so it would leave a void for community based RHEL rebrandings.

The lab is continuing. Just the Tevatron (proton/anti-proton beam) will be shut down later this year unless someone wants to donate about $38M USD. There is still a lot of funded research that will be going on at the lab, such as the neutrino beam, etc. Even the possible govt. shutdown (now not happening) would not have shut down the lab as they had ample reserves to weather that situation. Anyway, if the lab were to be totally shut down, SL work would have moved more to CERN and other labs that rely upon it. There are a lot of international research agreements involved here - not just a relatively small number of people doing the SL work at Fermi Lab.

[meton_magis]

AH, good to know. Thanks Rubberman.