SVGA Xserver won't load
Forum: X and Fluxbox
Topic: SVGA Xserver won't load
started by: markm
Posted by markm on Mar. 02 2006,22:42
I've installed DSL on a Compaq 486 laptop and I can't get xserver-svga to load. DSL insists on running the xvesa server (which only gives me 16 colors). If anyone knows how to get the svga drivers to load using xfree86 version 4 let me know. Or if anyone knows how to roll back xfree86 version 4 to version 3 in DSL let me know how that's done.
I have sucessfully installed Debian/Woody on this laptop running xfree86 version 3 and xserver-svga (with 256 colors). But it is using up most of my 340 MB hard drive. DSL would be perfect for this machine, if only the svga driver would load.
I originally posted this problem in the Laptop section, but it is probably more appropriate for the "X" section.
Thanks in advance, MarkM
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 04 2006,22:59
What video chipset is your Compaq laptop? I've got a Compaq Concerto with the cpq_avga chip and so far can't get X to work at all in dsl. What driver did debian use for your laptop?
Posted by markm on Mar. 05 2006,15:48
I have a Compaq Elite LTE 4/40 CX. Debian runs pretty good using the Western Digital Paradise WD90C24A driver in xserver-svga (NOTE: I installed just the base Woody system and then apt-get installed x-server-common-v3, xserver-svga, xbase-clients, x-window-system-core, xfonts-base, xfonts-75dpi and icewm.)Standard VGA 640x480@60Hz 8bit color.
vertical sync rate="31.5"
horizontal sync rate="50-70"
1mb memory
"s3 GenDAC" clockchip
I think that I remember seeing the avga driver in xserver-vga. I'm guessing that dsl will not run anything but xvesa xserver and cannot easily be configured to run svga drivers. I'm hoping that someone will prove me wrong.
Also, check the Hewlett Packard website, they own Compaq now and still have some info on old Compaq hardware.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 05 2006,19:31
Well, what I've done is to do the "use apt" from the menu so that I could apt-get install xserver-svga and that is the v3, and it also installed xserver-common-v3. Then you have to run the deb2dsl on that XF86_SVGA that you'll find in /usr/bin/x11/ and then mydsl-load XF86_SVGA.dsl But so far mine still doesn't configure quite right, it keeps complaing about not having a dot-clock line even tho I put it in there. I've tried using the XF86Config that I kept from the redhat I had installed previously -- sort of wish I hadn't trashed that 8-(.
Although I think dsl will be better (faster) in the long run. If I can ever get X to work.
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 06 2006,02:57
If you ever get an XF86_SVGA.dsl extension up and running, please submit it to the MyDSL repository along with instructions on how to set it up.Thanks.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 06 2006,17:20
Well, I've made some progress. I've now got the XF86_SVGA loading, and I get a grey (this is a mono lcd) screen with a cursor, and I can move the cursor around with the mouse. The last message says "Couldn't load XKB keymap, falling back to pre-XKB keymap"So why isn't X loading the rest of the things?
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 06 2006,17:49
Perhaps you are not starting up the other stuff (such as the window manager) that is defined in your xinitrc file.Try this. Press CTRL-ALT-F3
Type:
/home/dsl/.xinitrc
Press CTRL-ALT-F2 (you may need to try other function keys like CTRL-ALT-F6 or CTRL-ALT-F7) to return to graphical mode.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 06 2006,18:44
When I do the /home/dsl/.initrc it just says "permission denied"But so far I've only got it to load XF86_SVGA by doing it manually as root, when I log in as dsl it still trys to start the old X. And so far I haven't figured out how to change that. I edited the .xserverrc in the home dir, to start the svga server but it still starts the other on login.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 07 2006,14:24
| Quote (cbagger01 @ Mar. 05 2006,21:57) |
| If you ever get an XF86_SVGA.dsl extension up and running, please submit it to the MyDSL repository along with instructions on how to set it up. Thanks. |
Okay, I've finally got XF86_SVGA working all the way. The final key to the puzzle was found here:
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....;t=3760 >
I can post the .dsl to the repository, I'm not sure if it will work if you don't have the right XF86Config, and I had mine from my old redhat install.
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 07 2006,18:35
Even if it requires a little work by the user to get it up and running, it's still nice to have it available in the repository.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 07 2006,18:37
| Quote (cbagger01 @ Mar. 07 2006,13:35) |
| Even if it requires a little work by the user to get it up and running, it's still nice to have it available in the repository. |
So how do I do that?
Posted by cbagger01 on Mar. 07 2006,18:48
I think if you e-mail it to extensions[at]damnsmallinux[dot]org it will be added to the testing area.
Posted by markm on Mar. 08 2006,01:12
hseaver, please elaborate on "run the deb2dsl on that XF86_SVGA that you'll find in /usr/bin/x11/ and then mydsl-load XF86_SVGA.dsl " It sounds like your pretty close to having SVGA running. I had installed dsl on my compaq laptop and apt-get installed xserver-common-v3 and xserver-svga but couldn't find the right config files to get SVGA to load. If I get some time this weekend I may try dsl again. Debian/Woody runs so good on this machine, and it was such a b*ch to install, I hate to wipe it out.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 08 2006,02:29
| Quote (markm @ Mar. 07 2006,20:12) |
| hseaver, please elaborate on "run the deb2dsl on that XF86_SVGA that you'll find in /usr/bin/x11/ and then mydsl-load XF86_SVGA.dsl " It sounds like your pretty close to having SVGA running. I had installed dsl on my compaq laptop and apt-get installed xserver-common-v3 and xserver-svga but couldn't find the right config files to get SVGA to load. If I get some time this weekend I may try dsl again. Debian/Woody runs so good on this machine, and it was such a b*ch to install, I hate to wipe it out. |
Look on the dsl server for the pdf files (which are the only real documentation I could find) and one of them is how to turn .deb files into .dsl files. Essentially you just need to run "deb2dsl /usr/bin/X11/XF86_SVGA" Of course, you have to have done "apt-get install xserver-svga first (and that will automatically install the xserver-common and other stuff) and you should be able to do this from the CD. During that process it will do a configuration for you. Then look at the message from the laptop forum I posted in the last post and follow that.
I *think* you should be able to get it running from the CD, but I'm not sure. Or you could stick a small cheap used drive into your other machine temporarily and install dsl on that. Thats what I had to do anyway for my laptop since it has no cd.
Posted by markm on Mar. 08 2006,03:07
I went ahead and installed dsl to my 340 MB hd. (I did the standard, not the enhanced install). I enabled apt-get. I will have to figure out how to "Look on the dsl server for the pdf files" I guess that would be the web site where I dowloaded dsl? Currently I am apt-get installing xserver-svga.Then I will run as root "deb2dsl /usr/bin/X11/XF86_SVGA" I'm not sure how that works, but what the heck! And finally I'll read the last post in the forum that you listed above and try to apply that knowledge. I'll post my results here. Thanks for the direction, I was previously rudderless in a sea of confusion.
Posted by markm on Mar. 08 2006,23:40
I have done everything I can think of. I'm kind of stuck where you were stuck.I've got the XF86_SVGA loading, and I get a grey screen with a cursor, when I move the mouse around the cursor goes spastic and sticks to the top of the screen. The last message says "Couldn't load XKB keymap, falling back to pre-XKB keymap. Warning: /dev/mouse unable to get status of mouse fd (Inappropriate ioctl for device)."
When I do the /home/dsl/.initrc it just says "permission denied"
But so far I've only got it to load XF86_SVGA by doing it manually as root (or as user), when I type "startx" it still trys to start the old X. I edited the .xserverrc in the home dir, to start the svga server but it still starts the other on login. I'm using a known good /etc/X11/XF86Config file.
Any suggestions?
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 09 2006,02:37
Sounds like you didn't follow that last part of my directions where I said to look at this other guys message and follow his thing. Also sounds like you did config the mouse right (maybe it needs /dev/psaux instead of /dev/mouse)< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....;t=3760 >
Posted by markm on Mar. 10 2006,13:13
Actually I did follow your instructions, but I must have messed up somewhere. My mouse is pointing to /dev/psaux. I'll try changing it to /dev/mouse.I did the following commands from the link you posted:
sudo chown root XF86_SVGA
sudo chgrp root XF86_SVGA
sudo chmod +s XF86_SVGA
I didn't do the Edit your ~/.xserverrc
because my DEL and Backspace keys worked fine.
I couldn't really tell if my /etc/X11/XF86Config file was in a DOS format so I went ahead and did the:
cat /etc/X11/XF86Config | dos2unix > ~/tmp
sudo mv ~/tmp /etc/X11/XF86Config
I didn't do any of the stuff below (maybe that is where I went wrong):
dpkg --extract xserver*.deb temp/
cd temp
set the suid bit on usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86
make dirlist.txt file like:
Code Sample
usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86
usr/X11R6/bin/gtf
usr/X11R6/bin/ioport
usr/X11R6/bin/mmapr
...
usr/X11R6/lib/modules/linux/libfbdevhw.a
usr/X11R6/lib/modules/linux/libint10.a
thats all in usr/X11R6/
then use < clivesay's repack >
create a suitable XF86Config copy it or make a link to it in /etc/X11
change /home/dsl/.xserverrc to
Code Sample
exec /usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86 -nolisten tcp
If you can tell where I messed up, let me know.
thanks, MarkM
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 11 2006,18:21
Sorry, I don't know -- I didn't have to really do anything to my XF86Config because it was a working one with svga from my old redhat install on the same machine. Have you tried running xf86config?
Posted by markm on Mar. 12 2006,14:52
The XF86Config that I am using is a proven good file, I had it up and running in Woody. In fact, since I installed gpm (in dsl), and got the mouse working, I can type XF86_SVGA and X will start. I wrote a little script file called startsvga and edited my /home/dsl/.xinitrc so that fluxbox will start, and now I can get X and fluxbox running at the proper resolution. But the system is a flaky and tends to do something different everytime that I startsvga. Is there any way you could post a short synopsis of the steps that you took to install svga, hseaver? I think that I'm missing something. If not, I'll just wait until the DSL folks release the XFree86.dsl.
Thanks,
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 14 2006,23:11
yeah!!!! because I'm like...TOTALLY confused now!! 
can you put the instructions on a website or something? so I don't have to sort thru 3 different threads to try to find the actual instructions!?
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 15 2006,14:40
Okay, I'll try to remember exactly how I did it.First, you have to enable apt-get and apt-get install xserver-svga
That will also install with it xserver-common-v3. Then you run the deb2dsl utility on /usr/bin/XF86_SVGA. It you don't know how to do this there is a pdf file in the documentation directory where you downloaded dsl.
Anyway, then after you have made the XF86_SVGA.dsl, you run mydsl-load XF86_SVGA.dsl
You also then probably need to run /usr/bin/XF86_SVGA --xf86config as root or else get the xf86config.dsl and run that -- this part I can't help you with as I already had a known good working /etc/X11/XF86Config that I saved from a old redhat install on this same laptop.
So then I had a XF86_SVGA that would run but all it had was a grey screen with a cursor that I could move around. So then I found that other guys post about this subject, and he says:
remember to...
sudo chown root XF86_SVGA
sudo chgrp root XF86_SVGA
sudo chmod +s XF86_SVGA
Im still using the XF86Config.neomagic I got with the XBF tar file. XBF/XFcom expected the XF86Config file in /etc but XF86_SVGA expects it in /etc/X11
2) Edit your ~/.xserverrc
comment out everything thats there and add...
exec /usr/bin/X11/XF86_SVGA -bpp 16 -nolisten tcp &> /dev/null
3) Edit your ~/.xinitrc
add the following before starting fluxbox or your window manager... (you dont have to do this if your DEL & BackSpace keys work properly without it)
xmodmap -e "keycode 22 = BackSpace"
xmodmap -e "keycode 107 = Delete"
So I did all that and then ran startx as the dsl user and it worked.
Sorry I can't be of more help. Getting the XF86Config right is just trial and error for me, and I had the old one that I knew worked so didn't mess with it. I did try the xf86config earlier but couldn't get anything that worked right with my video chip because my chip wasn't in the card database in that program. Yours might be.
And I tried uploading my XF86_SVGA.dsl to the DSL extensions thing but it wouldn't go -- but it's pretty easy to make your own.
Posted by markm on Mar. 16 2006,23:23
hseaver, thanks again for the input, but it still doesn't work. Here is what I did.OK, here we go:
I did a fresh install of DSL (standard), rebooted, configured the network, add a user, enabled apt,
apt-get install xserver-svga (also xserver-common-v3)
$ deb2dsl /usr/bin/XF86_SVGA
$ mydsl-load XF86_SVGA.dsl
installed my proven good XF86Config file in /etc/X11
from /usr/bin/X11:
sudo chown root XF86_SVGA
sudo chgrp root XF86_SVGA
sudo chmod root XF86SVGA
Edited my ~/.xserverrc
When I startx as user, X won't load and complains about my keymap.
When I startx as root, X loads with the old crappy xvesa server with 16 colors. Sometimes I have some applications when right clicking on the desktop, sometimes I don't. I never get any desktop icons.
When I type XF86_SVGA as user (or as root), X loads with a grey screen and a spastic mouse (no fluxbox)
When I read your previous posts (page 2) you fixed the problem of X loading with a blank grey screen by doing stuff found on the linked web site, I'm assuming it was the "sudo chown root XF86_SVGA" commands. They didn't do any good for me.
I think that I'm giving it up DSL. It needs a little more work, or some better instructins if you need SVGA support.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 17 2006,04:13
| Quote (markm @ Mar. 16 2006,18:23) |
| When I startx as user, X won't load and complains about my keymap. When I startx as root, X loads with the old crappy xvesa server with 16 colors. Sometimes I have some applications when right clicking on the desktop, sometimes I don't. I never get any desktop icons. When I type XF86_SVGA as user (or as root), X loads with a grey screen and a spastic mouse (no fluxbox) When I read your previous posts (page 2) you fixed the problem of X loading with a blank grey screen by doing stuff found on the linked web site, I'm assuming it was the "sudo chown root XF86_SVGA" commands. They didn't do any good for me. |
Yeah, that's weird. I was getting that same complaint about keymap, but it was the chown, chmod, etc that fixed that for me.
But that reminds me -- it still isn't right, because I don't get the icons, but I can only configure it at 8 bit color, anything else and it can't start, so maybe it needs more colors to run the icons? I can get at everything anyway, with the mouse opening menus, but some other stuff is weird too -- the xshells, for instance, the menu offers light, dark, and transparent. The light and dark are backwards -- if I choose light, I get a black xterm window with white type, and visa versa. And some apps, like Ted, I can't open a new document, clicking on New in the menu does nothing and ^n doesn't work either -- both work in the cd version on my desktop box. So I'm not sure what's with that, maybe I need to look for a different keymap or play with my XF86Config some more.
Posted by bubazoo on Mar. 18 2006,18:37
I'm sorry, I'm still confused.where exactally do I get
/usr/bin/X11/XF86_SVGA
/etc/X11/XF86Config
from an ftp site somewhere?
and how do I get apt-get? if it doesn't come with the .iso, I don't know where to get it.
Posted by hseaver on Mar. 18 2006,18:55
Look in the menus, you'll see a "enable apt" and click on that, then you can run apt-get from a xterm window. On my laptop, since X wasn't running at all, what I had to do was to boot the dsl iso on another machine, do all that stuff to get the svga, make the XF86_SVGA.dsl on that machine, then save it and then move it to my laptop.