Older Thinpad 765D Problems
Forum: Laptops
Topic: Older Thinpad 765D Problems
started by: Siiig
Posted by Siiig on Nov. 25 2005,03:57
Hello, hows everyone doing?Leme start by saying im still very new to linux, and this will be my second attempt to install any version of linux. It also happens to be the second version of linux iv tryed to run on this system, the first being Ubuntu.
System Info:
IBM Thinkpad 765D
Pentium MMX 145MHz Proc
49Mb RAM (Yeah, odd number)
3.0GB HDD
3COM Airconnect Wireless Card.
Alright, Well here's how my attempt generaly go's:
-Start computer, load SBM then boot DSL CD
-DSL Main Screen (boot:)<-Left the command line blank
-"You passed an undefined mode number.
press <RETURN> to see video modes avalible, press <SPACE> or wait 30 second to continue" -Wait 30 seconds
The install continues without asking me anything else, but after abit it hits a screen that looks green, aqua and blue. Kinda like a varyation of to-high a resolution i see on older monitors and a desktop.
Any help? Maybe somthing i should try? Im going to try changing the resolution (clicking enter, as opposed to waiting 30 seconds)
Leme just add in at the end here that the computer will run Windows 98SE in 800x600/1024x768
Any help will be greatly appriciated.
Thanks in advance.
Posted by roberts on Nov. 25 2005,16:19
Boot like this:dsl vga=normal
Then during the xsetup questions try various resolutions like 800x600 and lower color depth.
If that does not help try booting like this:
fb800x600
Notice no dsl in the above.
Also press f2 and also f3 at first boot prompt to see other boot options relating to video.
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Nov. 25 2005,19:12
It's a well-known problem with NeoMagic video chipsets.Use dsl vga=788 and Xfbdev from the live CD. Slow, but it's the best you can do without Xfree.
Install Xfree86 after you do a hdinstall (or whatever) and use the neomagic driver. Make sure you read the info file whrn you install.
-J.P.
Posted by Siiig on Nov. 26 2005,03:47
Thanks for the replys guys!Alright, i tryed what J.P. said and i got this message (after it asked me about the keyboard).
Loading /usr/share/keymaps/i836/qwerty/us.kmap.gz
xauth: creating new authority file /home/dsl/.Xauthority
xauth: creating new authority file /home/dsl/.Xauthority
modprobe: modprobe: Cant locate module fb0
XI0: Fatal IO error 104 (connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
after 0 requests (o known processed) with 0 events remaining.
dsl@ttyl[dsl]$ _ <--Command line
So any idea's?
Also, this laptop uses a little nub thing as the mouse, what should i enter as the mouse? Or is that somthing to guess/check after i get the GUI working?
Posted by meldra on Nov. 26 2005,04:37
Greetings,The nub thing will be ps2... which is the second mouse question in xsetup.
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Nov. 26 2005,04:56
| Quote (Siiig @ Nov. 25 2005,21:47) |
| modprobe: modprobe: Cant locate module fb0 |
This is caused when no framebuffer is started at boot time.
Are you sure you typed
| Code Sample |
| dsl vga=788 |
The vga=xxx cheatcode is what starts a framebuffer.
-J.P.
Posted by Siiig on Nov. 26 2005,05:11
Well im pretty sure i typed it, but ill try it again, make sure its not my crappy typing skills 
.Ill edit this post with the results.
Nope, same error! Should i try installing to the hard drive? If so, how would i go about doing what you suggested?
Posted by meldra on Nov. 26 2005,05:53
Greetings,If you cannot get it to boot in the laptop, try to get your mitts on a 2.5 > 3.5 IDE cable converter and access to a machine with a working cd drive you can shut down and easily unplug the cables from the hdd.
Just boot it up on the other machine, install it on there, and then take the hdd out after it is fully installed, and return it to the laptop. Boot again and run xsetup.sh. If you get stuck in a funky unusable X, ctrl+alt+del out and run the xsetup.
Posted by Siiig on Nov. 26 2005,06:07
Aye, meldra i would indeed do that, the only problem is the hard drive is not a standered 2.5 drive, it is quite old, i happen to have a 2.5 - usb converter and as i said, it wouldnt work anyways.
Posted by faroutscience on Nov. 26 2005,17:05
The connector for IBM laptop hard drives is proprietary. There used to be a guy in Miami that sold adapted after market adapters but haven't heard from him in years. 
Jeff
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 26 2005,19:24
Do you can an error like "Frame buffer mode not supported, press space to continue" or something like that at boot time?If so, then you have tried an unsupported framebuffer mode and you will get the fb0 error later on in the boot process.
Try something like:
dsl vga=769
and see if it works.
Here is the rest of the list:
< http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Vga%3Dxxx >
Posted by Siiig on Nov. 27 2005,20:16
Alright well i never thought much of it but i guess ill add it here.When i put in any code (any) i get this
les say i used this:
boot: dsl vga=769
loading linux 24.........................................
loading minirt24.gx.....................................
Ready.
You passed an unidentified mode number.
press <RETURN> to see video modes available, <SPACE> to continue or wait 30 seconds.
Iv alaways press space at this point. Is this affecting my problem?
Posted by Siiig on Nov. 28 2005,04:06
Well i suppose it doesent really matter either way now, because the floppy drive i was loading SBM off of now will not read the disks and ends up corupting them!
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 28 2005,17:53
Your floppy drive heads are probably misaligned.You may be able to get it to work if you format the disk using the bad drive itself to do the formatting.
Yes, this error message is your problem. You cannot use the framebuffer xserver called Xfbdev unless you are using a valid framebuffer setting.
I would try all of the available choices for graphics modes (769 788 etc) and see if one works.
Otherwise, you will have problems using xwindows and will need to either use text mode only, or will need to upgrade your video card, or will need to somehow install XFree86.dsl from the command line (not a fun task, but possible).
If you want to run from the command line, you can boot with:
dsl 2 vga=normal
or maybe even:
lowram 2 vga=normal