Upgrading X stack on Debian stable

jrdioko · 06-06-2011, 12:40 AM

I've been setting up a Lenovo Thinkpad T420i and have gotten most of the kinks worked out, except for the fact that the display has some annoying artifacts as you navigate around, I guess due to bad video support. A post (http://www.tomsick.net/misc/lenovo-t...20-review.html) on the same machine said that upgrading all X packages to sid (unstable) fixed these problems, but those packages aren't available in stable.

I read another post (can't find the link now) that said Debian wasn't planning on backporting all the X packages, only related libraries and modules. And I don't know which ones specifically would fix the issues I'm having.

So I thought I'd ask what my options are. I could update all those to unstable, but that doesn't seem optimal (and in the future I don't want unstable bugs bringing down my whole X session). Is there a way to find out what I need and backport some myself. Or do I just need to wait until the appropriate packages filter down to stable (or at least backports)?

the trooper · 06-06-2011, 02:02 AM

Quote:

I just need to wait until the appropriate packages filter down to stable (or at least backports)?

You won't get newer package versions added to Stable.Only bug fixes and security updates to existing packages.
The only options I can see are wait and see if the packages are added to the Backports repo,or add a source line
for Unstable in your sources.list and create your own backport of the packages you need.

Alternatively,you could post the full details of your problem here and someone may have an answer for you.

jrdioko · 06-09-2011, 10:42 PM

The problem is just general display artifacts, tearing, etc. Is there any way to narrow the problem down to a few packages to backport, or will I need to backport the whole X stack?

the trooper · 06-10-2011, 07:12 AM

I do a minimal install of Debian,here's what I have for X packages installed with the addition of the Nvidia driver:

Code:

ade@Pc1:~$ dpkg -l | grep xorg
ii  xserver-xorg                                1:7.6+6                        the X.Org X server
ii  xserver-xorg-core                           2:1.10.1-2                     Xorg X server - core server
ii  xserver-xorg-input-evdev                    1:2.6.0-2+b1                   X.Org X server -- evdev input driver
ii  xserver-xorg-video-vesa                     1:2.3.0-5+b1                   X.Org X server -- VESA display driver

There will of course be additional dependencies,that you may need.
Good luck!.

Or alternatively run Testing or Sid.