xfree86 (HD Install)

Forum: X and Fluxbox
Topic: xfree86 (HD Install)
started by: MistaED

Posted by MistaED on Sep. 12 2004,05:08

Hello, I am trying to install DSL on my Dell Latitude XPi P133ST, and because it has a NeoMagic video chip, Xvesa looks like utter poo, and Xfbdev in 800x600 with 256 colours is TERRIBLE, as the palette is very random.

So I took some advice and enabled apt and downloaded the x-window-server. So far so good, reboot the machine and an X login screen appears, I login and it does some screen flashing and then goes back to that same login screen! So I disabled xdm or whatever so I could login from a command line, so then fluxbox boots with xfbdev.

Sorry, but I am very confused by all this X as I'm still new to linux. How can I get normal xfree86 to be the default X server and run XF86config-4? As XF86 4.x supports this NeoMagic (with a bit of Xaa tweaking) and can set the res to 800x570 and run 16-bit colour.

Thanks!
-MistaED

Posted by MistaED on Sep. 12 2004,07:55

Ok, I have figured it out and that xfree86 does execute when xdm is run, but xdm won't let me login. So i take off xdm so i can log into DSL at the console, it logs me in fine but another script executes which runs xfbdev. How can I get rid of this script which runs straight after logging in?

Posted by cbagger01 on Sep. 12 2004,16:16

Try booting with boot command:

dsl 2

It will start the system up in runlevel 2 and it will not execute the xwindows startup script.

Or you could rename your $HOME/.xserverrc file to .xserverrc.old

Posted by Thanks on Sep. 14 2004,06:23

Thanks for that, but with a hdd install the boot doesn't appear so I can't put those details in. What I'm really asking is how can I make DSL bypass xvesa/xfbdev altogether and just boot with normal xfree86 (without xdm). When xdm boots it reads off my XF86Config-4.conf but xdm sucks

I can easily disable xdm but so far that's the only way normal xXF86 boots. How can I make startx run normal XF86 like xdm does?

Thanks!

Posted by jerome5 on Sep. 14 2004,17:59

This might help

apt-get install xdm

then

apt-get remove xdm

cause apt-get wont know that the xdm package has been installed by default with dsl (because it isnt fully installed afaik ;) )

I hope you have a network connection in linux cause you would have to download xdm and the dependencies by hand from debian.org

Posted by MistaED on Sep. 15 2004,02:35

Hey, thanks for the help guys, but my understanding of X is a bit dodgy, I've been thinking that xdm is just a login startup, but it seems to be the thing which starts X with full xfree86. So I guess my question now is why does it sign in, load a bit, then put be back on the login screen? Maybe I need to link the X window system to fluxbox? Thanks people for the help

-MistaED

Posted by MistaED on Sep. 17 2004,01:55

Ok! I finally figured all this stuff up! This is my method on putting full X on a hard drive install.

Once DSL is installed and logged in as root:

1) dpkg-restore
2) apt-get update
3) apt-get install x-window-system, then setup XF86Config-4 any way you please
4) edit /etc/init.d/xdm and put exit 0 on the first line
5) edit $HOME/.xserverrc and modify the exec command to:
exec /usr/bin/X11/X -auth $HOME/.Xauthority
and do the same for any other logins (like dsl)
/home/dsl/.xserverrc
6) remove startx
rm /usr/bin/X11/startx
and what I did, was replace it with my linux server's startx (slackware 10), so just google around for one and place it in!

7) optional: If you have some privelage problems with some /tmp X file, delete the file/dir, then type:
chmod 1777 /tmp
chown root.root /tmp

And I hope this works for people like me who had a nightmare putting full X in DSL!

Posted by Ghost_runner on Sep. 19 2004,03:41

Mista ed, great advise, got XFree86 up and running (still working on getting enlightenment up)
I put a copy of my startx on my website, just do a file, save as startx

< http://www.geocities.com/ghost_runner2003/startx.txt > ought to get you there. Thanx again mista ed!

Posted by Ghost_runner on Sep. 20 2004,13:48

quick add, goto /etc/rc5.d/S99xdm and add

exit 0

to the first line to keep the xdm login from annoying the heck out of you

I got enlightenment up and working, awsome!!! I just got to do some tweaks to other programs that use sound to shutdown then restart the esd, but that is a simple job of making scripts

Posted by Shaft on Sep. 24 2004,06:15

Holy cow!

I've been trying to find this very solution (for the EXACT same notebook model) for about 6 months now, and was about to the point of throwing in the towel.

I'm running through the steps this very minute... Verdict coming shortly.

Posted by Shaft on Sep. 24 2004,07:07

Very quick and very painless, with one minor exception: I still can't seem to get 800x600 mode. Everything I've read says that the NM2070 IS capable of 800x600x16-bit, but I can't get it going.

Help?

Posted by Ghost_runner on Sep. 25 2004,02:33

Check your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file, maybe it's just needing a tweak there.

Posted by nibznik on Oct. 11 2004,19:11

k i installed xfree86 and i did everything but now whenever i go to startx at bootup i get a permission denied sign (even in root) also the same thing with xf86config, and xf86config-4, this may help but i used ghosts startx maybe thats it?

Posted by Ghost_runner on Oct. 17 2004,03:41

you may want to chown root.root or nibznik.users to the startx file, also chmod -x ugo to reset it's executable flag (trouble you get saving to a server that uses winblows!)

Posted by somerville32@hotmail.com on Oct. 17 2004,23:31

No luck for me! I tried everything you guys have talked about here and I have a big problem. I think I configured it wrong, how do I reconfigure it?

Posted by nibznik on Oct. 18 2004,02:02

k i did a full hd install
all i did was apt-get install x-windows system because all i really need are the libs that come with xfree86. everything works fine now but my desktop is in 640X8xx
(i dont really know) but what i really want it to be is 1024X768 any suggestions on what to do?

Posted by somerville32@hotmail.com on Oct. 18 2004,02:30

Why does it work for everyone else? Lol...

*poouts*

~Tacitus

Posted by Ghost_runner on Oct. 18 2004,17:19

nibznik, edit your /etc/X11/XFree86Config file, as root, there are some lines concerning video display modes there. should just be a matter of uncommenting some lines and commenting out others

Posted by nibznik on Oct. 18 2004,20:09

i checked and it says that it is at 1024X768
same with xf86config-4

Posted by Ghost_runner on Oct. 19 2004,21:21

just for grins try this, ctrl, alt, <numberkeypad +> see if that ups the display

Posted by ravngundersen on Oct. 26 2004,19:20

Hi!

I have a EPIA-M1000 (as sold here on dsl shop).
I trie to get the via graphics driver to work with a full install of X, but I cant get it to work. I guess its a kernel version problem or something. It worked good with Mandrake on the same mainboard.

Has anyone had a sucsess with this, or have any ideas?

Posted by Les on Oct. 27 2004,00:49

Quote (MistaED @ Sep. 16 2004,21:55)

MistaEds X instructions:

Ok! I finally figured all this stuff up! This is my method on putting full X on a hard drive install.

Once DSL is installed and logged in as root:

1) dpkg-restore
2) apt-get update
3) apt-get install x-window-system, then setup XF86Config-4 any way you please
4) edit /etc/init.d/xdm and put exit 0 on the first line
5) edit $HOME/.xserverrc and modify the exec command to:
exec /usr/bin/X11/X -auth $HOME/.Xauthority
and do the same for any other logins (like dsl)
/home/dsl/.xserverrc
6) remove startx
rm /usr/bin/X11/startx
and what I did, was replace it with my linux server's startx (slackware 10), so just google around for one and place it in!

Oh that's embarassing... all it needed was a reboot. So used to Linux not needing boots....
(never mind....)

Hi,

got XFree86 working with MistaEd's instructions (Thanks! Worked!). I had to fix the permissions on /tmp and delete the invisible X directory under /tmp/; also had to edit the session.menufile line in my ~/.fluxbox/init to read ~/.fluxbox/menu in order to get my fluxbox menus back.

Now I would like to get my 'full enhanced desktop' back - looks like the menu items runs 'enhance &>/dev/null'. I have no idea what the 'enhance' command actually does.... any assistance?

Thanks,
Les

Posted by MistaED on Oct. 29 2004,09:02

I'm glad people liked my help, it's always nice

Also Shaft, if you want 16-bit in 800x600 you can't because of the limitation of vram, but you can run in 800x570 with 16-bit colour ;) Once I fix up a problem I got with the laptop right now, I'll send you my exact XF86Config-4 file. Sorry Les, I'm not sure on that are you logging in as dsl or root?

Posted by Les on Oct. 31 2004,04:16

Hey Mista Ed
It's all working... I wasn't very clear in my last note; I asked for some help and then realized it just needed a reboot. And I'm logging in as DSL then using su when I'm configuring stuff.

(This note sent from Dillo on DSL 0.8.2, AMD Duron 600@900)

Les

Posted by flatloop on Nov. 10 2004,21:06

I'd love to try the info in this thread, but my X is unreadable using Xvesa, is there a command line for enabling apt-get? If I can enable apt, I just might be able to fix the rest of it with this thread.

Thanks MistaEd and all the rest.

Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 11 2004,03:16

Try:

sudo dpkg-restore

Posted by flatloop on Nov. 11 2004,14:56

AHHHHH, that is it! Thank you, I can now move foward to getting this beastie on an X that I can see.

I'm going to install the 'x-window-system' metapackage from dselect, any objections or caveats I should know about?

Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 11 2004,17:37

Just to search the forums for any x-window-system help before you begin.

Posted by flatloop on Nov. 11 2004,20:35

I've almost got it THANKS a BUNCH everybody. I have a really simple question... Where do I put the ifup eth0 command so that it will do it on the boot up?

Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 12 2004,03:19

You can put it in your /opt/bootlocal.sh file.

Just make sure that bootlocal.sh file is backed up as part of your Backup / Restore process. IE: The filename is mentioned inside your /home/dsl/filetool.lst file.

Posted by flatloop on Nov. 12 2004,21:08

Quote (Guest @ Oct. 29 2004,05:02)

I'm glad people liked my help, it's always nice

Did anyone ever get that config file???

Is it just as simple as changing the config to say 800x570 rather than 800x600?

Thanks, with this info I'll have the thing licked. This stuff is soooo cool.

Posted by MistaED on Nov. 19 2004,09:54

I am extremely sorry I didn't post sooner!

But here is the xfree86 config file:

Code Sample

# for XFree86-4.1.0
# Configuration "Dell Latitude P-133ST"
# Driver "neomagic"
# Chipset "NM2070"
# "MagicGraph NM2070"
# VendorName "NeoMagic"
# BoardName ""
# Monitor "LCD 800x600 8color"
# Date "09th Sep, 2001"

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/extra/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/PEX/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/tt/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/unicode/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
SubSection "extmod"
#Option "omit xfree86-dga"
EndSubSection
Load "type1"
#Load "freetype"
Load "xtt"
Load "bitmap"
Load "speedo"
Load "pex5"
Load "GLcore"
Load "glx"
Load "dri"
Load "record"
Load "xie"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "jp106"
Option "XkbLayout" "jp"
Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
#MouseName "Generic - 2 Button Mouse (PS/2)"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
HorizSync 31.5-40
VertRefresh 55-90
#VendorName "Dell"
#ModelName "S-133ST LCD 800x600 8-color"
Modeline "800x570" 35 800 816 944 968 570 572 574 599
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "neomagic"
VendorName "NeoMagic"
BoardName "MagicGraph NM2070"
# Chipset "NM2070"
# ChipId 0x4742
# ChipRev 0x5c
BusID "PCI:0:7:0"
# IOBase 0xfea00000
# MemBase 0xfd000000
# VideoRam 2048
# DacSpeed 90
# Option "linear"
# Option "nolinear"
# Option "sw_cursor"
# Option "hw_cursor"
Option "no_accel"
Option "intern_disp"
Option "extern_disp"
Option "mmio"
# Option "no_mmio"
Option "lcd_center"
Option "no_stretch"
Option "override_validate_mode"
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "800x570"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "800x570"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "800x570"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "800x570"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
EndSection

# End of XF86Config.
# Configured by xconfig
# Configured date:

Posted by flatloop on Nov. 19 2004,15:38

Awesome! Thank you MistaEd! It lookse so purty now.

Just one thing... I have a strange anomoly in my screen. There is a column on the right hand side of the screen about 20 pixels (estimate) that my mouse pointer "warps through" The screen is drawn correctly, and windows show up in that column, but when I go to put my mouse in that area, it sorta 'pops out' and misses the area completely, almost as if it's passing 'under' that section of screen.

Wierd eh? It's not a big issue right now, cuz I just so happy the screen looks 'normal'.

Thanks again.

Posted by KnightOfNi on Nov. 25 2004,17:27

Sorry if this is dregging up a dead topic, but I'd like to thank everyone for the information and ask if a solution to the jumping mouse problem has been found, my latitude Xpi with a p100 is doing the same thing, and I'm seeing what might work.

Posted by MistaED on Nov. 26 2004,12:32

Yes I had this problem too, I figured out you need to set lilo to have vga=791 (I think, search the forums for a listing to double-check) in it for 800x600x8bit and everything's peachy.