Can dsl save this old laptop?Forum: HD Install Topic: Can dsl save this old laptop? started by: skim Posted by skim on Sep. 13 2005,21:34
After hd-installing DSL v1.5 to my HP Omnibook 800CT, the laptop's mouse would produce erratic results (I've tried all mouse options within xsetup.sh). As suggested by others here, installing XFree86.dsl took care of the mouse problem, but in doing so, all desktop icons are gone and right-mouse clicking only produces xterm, restart, & exit. Running xsetup.sh to "override" the installed XFree86 brings the icons back, but the mouse issue remains.DSL has been installed (poorman's) to a newly formatted ext2 partition and XFree86.dsl has been installed right afterwards. No other configurations have been made. In other words, nothing else has been set/changed that could have provoked or influenced these problems. I'd hoped that the latest DSL + the dsl package would have installed onto my laptop out of the box, void of any problems. I've tried hd-installs of SLAX and Puppy Linux and they both had their own set of challenges on this laptop so I'm hoping to keep DSL if these problems could be resolved. I'd spent about a week reading all the results from my searches here to no avail. All the icon related files in ~/.xtdesktop and the menu file in ~/.fluxbox are all intact. This laptop is a 166MHz, 32MB RAM, 800x600, and dsl's Xfbdev xserver worked better than its Xvesa xserver (latter produced a hazy, all-green desktop). If I can get either Xfbdev without the mouse problem -OR- XFree86 with all dsl's preconfigured desktop icons visible, I'd be all set. You guys are my last hope. Please help. Posted by ke4nt1 on Sep. 13 2005,21:45
Can you share with us the XF86Config-4 file you chose to use?Also, a copy of the .xserverrc file you added would be nice. Usually, that issue is a permissions, or bad .lnk issue. Let us know.. 73 ke4nt Posted by hawki on Sep. 13 2005,22:07
HiI had a similar problem with icons seeming to disappear. I wish I could remember the details but I believe I had emelfm running as root when I loaded a .dsl file. The short stories was that the permissions got screwed up on one of the config files for the desktop. User dsl did not have read access to it. I did a fresh frugal install and was careful not to run emelfm as root when installing the .dsl . That solved my problem. In short make sure user dsl has read access to the desktop config files. good luck Posted by skim on Sep. 13 2005,22:13
ke4nt,My xserverrc's contents: exec /usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86 -nolisten tcp ... and my XF86Config-4 (tweaked version of ~/XFree86_config_files/XF86Config-4_svga_FB from XFree86.dsl): Section "Files" RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi:unscaled" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/PEX" # Additional fonts: Locale, Gimp, TTF... FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic" # FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/75dpi" # FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/100dpi" # True type and type1 fonts are also handled via xftlib, see /etc/X11/XftConfig! FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ttf/western" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ttf/decoratives" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/openoffice" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-bitstream-vera" FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latex-ttf-fonts" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/defoma/CID" FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/defoma/TrueType" EndSection Section "ServerFlags" EndSection Section "Keyboard" Protocol "Standard" AutoRepeat 500 5 # LeftAlt Meta # RightAlt Meta # ScrollLock Compose # RightCtl Control # This is just the default keymap for X. # May be changed with the KDE international keyboard tool. # XkbModel "pc105" # XkbLayout "us" # XkbOptions "ctrl:swapcaps" # XkbKeycodes "xfree86" # XkbTypes "default" # XkbCompat "default" # XkbSymbols "us(pc101)" # XkbGeometry "pc" # XkbRules "xfree86" # XkbModel "pc101" # XkbLayout "us" EndSection Section "Pointer" Protocol "PS/2" Device "/dev/mouse" # Emulate3Buttons # Emulate3Timeout 70 EndSection # Auto-generated by mkxf86config Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "GWY" ModelName "GWY0040" # HorizSync 28.0 - 78.0 # Warning: This may fry very old Monitors HorizSync 31.5 - 50.0 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors VertRefresh 50.0 - 75.0 # Very conservative. May flicker. # VertRefresh 50.0 - 62.0 # Extreme conservative. Will flicker. TFT default. # These are the DDC-probed settings reported by your monitor. # 1024x768, 75.0Hz; hfreq=60.02, vfreq=75.03 ModeLine "1024x768" 78.75 1024 1040 1136 1312 768 769 772 800 +hsync +vsync # 800x600, 75.0Hz; hfreq=46.88, vfreq=75.00 ModeLine "800x600" 49.50 800 816 896 1056 600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync # 800x600, 72.0Hz; hfreq=48.08, vfreq=72.19 ModeLine "800x600" 50.00 800 856 976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync # 800x600, 60.0Hz; hfreq=37.88, vfreq=60.32 ModeLine "800x600" 40.00 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync # 640x480, 75.0Hz; hfreq=37.50, vfreq=75.00 ModeLine "640x480" 31.50 640 656 720 840 480 481 484 500 -hsync -vsync # 640x480, 60.0Hz; hfreq=31.47, vfreq=59.94 ModeLine "640x480" 25.17 640 648 744 784 480 482 484 509 -hsync -vsync # Extended modelines with GTF timings # 640x480 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 50.90 kHz; pclk: 43.16 MHz ModeLine "640x480" 43.16 640 680 744 848 480 481 484 509 -HSync +Vsync # 768x576 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 35.82 kHz; pclk: 34.96 MHz ModeLine "768x576" 34.96 768 792 872 976 576 577 580 597 -HSync +Vsync # 768x576 @ 72.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 43.27 kHz; pclk: 42.93 MHz ModeLine "768x576" 42.93 768 800 880 992 576 577 580 601 -HSync +Vsync # 768x576 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 45.15 kHz; pclk: 45.51 MHz ModeLine "768x576" 45.51 768 808 888 1008 576 577 580 602 -HSync +Vsync # 768x576 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 51.42 kHz; pclk: 51.84 MHz ModeLine "768x576" 51.84 768 808 888 1008 576 577 580 605 -HSync +Vsync # 768x576 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 61.10 kHz; pclk: 62.57 MHz ModeLine "768x576" 62.57 768 816 896 1024 576 577 580 611 -HSync +Vsync # 800x600 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 63.60 kHz; pclk: 68.18 MHz ModeLine "800x600" 68.18 800 848 936 1072 600 601 604 636 -HSync +Vsync # 1024x768 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 81.40 kHz; pclk: 113.31 MHz ModeLine "1024x768" 113.31 1024 1096 1208 1392 768 769 772 814 -HSync +Vsync # 1152x864 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 53.70 kHz; pclk: 81.62 MHz ModeLine "1152x864" 81.62 1152 1216 1336 1520 864 865 868 895 -HSync +Vsync # 1152x864 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 77.10 kHz; pclk: 119.65 MHz ModeLine "1152x864" 119.65 1152 1224 1352 1552 864 865 868 907 -HSync +Vsync # 1152x864 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 91.50 kHz; pclk: 143.47 MHz ModeLine "1152x864" 143.47 1152 1232 1360 1568 864 865 868 915 -HSync +Vsync # 1280x960 @ 72.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 72.07 kHz; pclk: 124.54 MHz ModeLine "1280x960" 124.54 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1001 -HSync +Vsync # 1280x960 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 75.15 kHz; pclk: 129.86 MHz ModeLine "1280x960" 129.86 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1002 -HSync +Vsync # 1280x960 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 101.70 kHz; pclk: 178.99 MHz ModeLine "1280x960" 178.99 1280 1376 1520 1760 960 961 964 1017 -HSync +Vsync # 1280x1024 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 108.50 kHz; pclk: 190.96 MHz ModeLine "1280x1024" 190.96 1280 1376 1520 1760 1024 1025 1028 1085 -HSync +Vsync # 1400x1050 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 65.22 kHz; pclk: 122.61 MHz ModeLine "1400x1050" 122.61 1400 1488 1640 1880 1050 1051 1054 1087 -HSync +Vsync # 1400x1050 @ 72.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 78.77 kHz; pclk: 149.34 MHz ModeLine "1400x1050" 149.34 1400 1496 1648 1896 1050 1051 1054 1094 -HSync +Vsync # 1400x1050 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 82.20 kHz; pclk: 155.85 MHz ModeLine "1400x1050" 155.85 1400 1496 1648 1896 1050 1051 1054 1096 -HSync +Vsync # 1400x1050 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 93.76 kHz; pclk: 179.26 MHz ModeLine "1400x1050" 179.26 1400 1504 1656 1912 1050 1051 1054 1103 -HSync +Vsync # 1400x1050 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 111.20 kHz; pclk: 214.39 MHz ModeLine "1400x1050" 214.39 1400 1512 1664 1928 1050 1051 1054 1112 -HSync +Vsync # 1600x1200 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 127.10 kHz; pclk: 280.64 MHz ModeLine "1600x1200" 280.64 1600 1728 1904 2208 1200 1201 1204 1271 -HSync +Vsync EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "VESA FB" Driver "fbdev" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen 1" Device "VESA FB" Monitor "Monitor0" SubSection "Display" Depth 16 EndSubSection EndSection ... I've verified that both these files are owned by user dsl. Posted by skim on Sep. 13 2005,22:27
Hi hawki,I'm hoping to avoid a complete reinstallation if someone can pinpoint exactly which files are disabling the icons. If no other suggestions are posted here in a few days, I'll reinstall everything again (making sure that the package is not intalled as root) and see if that helps. Thanks Posted by skim on Sep. 16 2005,21:00
As hawki had suggested, I'd reformatted my partition, hd-installed dsl, and installed XFree86.dsl as dsl user, but I'm still experiencing the same no-icons problem. Could someone please provide another suggestion I could try? I really prefer dsl over other distros. Please help.
Posted by AwPhuch on Sep. 16 2005,22:55
http://tuxmobil.org/hp800e.html< http://www.ambry.com/Hp/omnibook_800ct_parts.asp > < http://froogle.google.com/froogle....roogler > Other than that..I have no idea bud Brian AwPhuch Posted by skim on Sep. 17 2005,02:10
Brian,I don't know what your reasoning was for posting those links since my problems with dsl do not appear to be hardware related. Posted by ke4nt1 on Sep. 17 2005,03:43
While I do install the XFree86.dsl as user dsl, ( or autoload at boot, more likely )My /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file is owned by root.root , not user dsl. Your /home/dsl/.xserverrc looks fine, and it should be owned by dsl.staff .. I still feel the error is somewhere inside the ~/.xtdesk or ~/.fluxbox/menu. This is where I see the 3-item-menu occur most often.. Are you running your HDInstalled DSL as user dsl ? Did you select multiuser during the HDinstall? I may try to duplicate your error with my own install.. I have a compaq laptop, that has a synaptics mousepad built-in. I get a similar mouse issue with control only able to go left/right, and automatic right clicking on up/down. Installing XFree86 solved that issue, and the lappy is now quite useable. Before that , only a serial port mouse would work with Xfbdev. 73 ke4nt Posted by skim on Sep. 18 2005,17:49
ke4nt,That is exactly how my mouse was functioning before XFree86.dsl was installed. I've verified that XF86Config-4 is owned by root.root and .xserverrc by dsl.staff on my system. Yes, I am running my hd-installed DSL as user dsl and yes, multi-user was enabled. Also, I'd installed XFree86.dsl as user dsl using the "mydsl-load" command since I couldn't access anything within DSL's default x-server. Since xsetup.sh can restore the icons, I suspected whatever command or program is called upon to recognize the ~/.xtdesktop/ files, needed to be 'activated' for the XFree86 server. Or maybe something in XFree86 is conflicting/preventing the recognition of the icon files. Posted by ke4nt1 on Sep. 19 2005,02:50
In looking over your XF86Config-4 file,I'm not seeing any depth/modes lines in your screen section. Is it possible that your xfree is defaulting to 4 color? The icons won't show up in 4 color mode.. It's one of the last good reasons I can think of as to why your XVesa/Xfbdev work fine, and your XFree86 doesn't .. Are you using an X.Org XF86Config-4 file? I see those ending without depth/modes lines occasionally. Here is my current one as an example.. I'll dig my working XF86Config-4 out of my old compaq, ( with the wigged out mouse ) and post it here soon. 73 ke4nt Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Card0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultColorDepth 16 SubSection "Display" Depth 1 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 4 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 8 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 15 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 16 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 32 Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection EndSection Section "DRI" Mode 0666 EndSection Posted by skim on Sep. 19 2005,19:31
I'd previously tried xorg's version to no avail. Adding your sample lines above into my current file (currently dsl's supplied XF86Config-4) is still unable to produce the icons.
Posted by _cd on Sep. 22 2005,01:42
I've encountered the same problem before, but after a while I decided to revert to a frugal install. There seems to be a file missing when you do a HDinstall. Try to click on "enhanced desktop" from the menu if you have access to it, or try to find the shell script (I think something like "enhanced.sh"). Then look at the output, it will tell you what file is missing. I stopped there, but with the forum you might be able to find some more help.
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