http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~chak/linux/

found that site. there are 2 "hack patches" that im interested in. supposidly, the bios, like many others said, only sees 8 MB (even though its 64MB), and linux only sees 1MB. theres the "agpgart-i830.patch" one im interested in, and the "i830_driver-1mb-stolen-hack.patch", which is what i need. what do i do once i get the stolen hack patch? i have been using linux for about 3 years now, but i still very much considder myself a newbie.


http://www.jongans.com/gateway1450.html
this website has all the information, but only for redhat 7 and mandrake 9. i guess, from what it says, i need a kernel. suse 9 does not ship with a kernel (pro does). so what do i need to do to get it working?


---===EDIT===---
oh, and i forgot. i think someone gave this website to me (cursed bad memory).
http://www.mail-archive.com/devel@xf.../msg02247.html
it tells me to get this OTHER patch, different from the other two i think, and it supposidly fixed it so i can get 1024x768 16bit. if i do get this one, how do i "install" it?

I'd go with the 855 patch from http://www.chzsoft.com.ar/855patch.html
The patches on the first of your links are a year old and the gateway thing is for a 2.4.18 kernel.
That chzsoft thing looks easy enough to install and you don't need to patch around on the kernel because it is a standalone app.

so how would i patch it? with the chzsoft thing i mean.

It's all on the page of the link.Seems like you just unpack it and copy it to /usr/bin bo into textmode and run the 'patch' with the amount of video memory as argument and then start xfree.
It's not really a patch in the sense of the word because it doesn't get patched into anything.

i did that. didnt work. got the RPM, ran "855patch 65536" and it worked ok. but whenever i start XF86, i see no change.

ive re-installed Mandrake 9.0 because 9.1 is buggy, SuSE 9 is too easy. too easy is a bad thing. there's no kernel with it, and all 5 kernel's i've tried wont compile on SuSE.
in the words of Captain Scott (star trek) "the more you overdo the plumbing, the easier it is to clog up the drain."
for this, i went back to mandrake 9.0, and im planning on re-compiling a kernel with the intel i810 "patch" to see if that will help. also, mdk 9 boots 3 times faster than suse 9...only 30 seconds.

anyways, i went to 3 different websites for that 855patch program, and read them all from cover to cover 4 times each, and i understand what to do, but it's not working. after i re-compile my kernel, ill report back.

also, the mdk 9 distro doesnt have very good 3d support. tuxracer is slow, as it was when i didnt have 3d support on my old laptop.

ive noticed that when using the i810/855GM drivers, when i run blender, the mouse leaves a trail of gray blocks behind on the screen. must be an OpenGL/3d thing, because when i use VESA, i dont see it. i dont know how to describe the trail, just a trail following the mouse, and its gray empty blocky space.

well, i just went back to suse 9. i compiled the new (and awsome) 2.6 kernel, and what i can see is that it's i810 (855GM) drivers are greatly improved, but still no 1024x768. BUT, it didnt compile right, so im gonna try again.

any ideas, this is still bugging me. i did the 855patch thing (typed "855patch 65536") and it said it was ok and working fine, 3d support, but sitll no 1024x768, even at 8bit color.

an news about this? i've tried every patch i can find still with no luck.

im fixing to go back to windows, and await the longhorn release. linux has been good, but this video problem is very frusturating. i do EVERYTHING in linux. you name something in windows, i do it in linux. its beginning to be a pain though in 800x600. windows gives me 1024x768, and im getting a little pissed off. word processing is harder than it should be in linux because of my resolution, 3d modeling is impossible, and image editing, dont get me started there. and the video editing i have to do! not with 800x600.

pleeeeeeaaaase help me somebody. ive gone back to suse 9, since its too hard to get any program in RPM format (maya, winex3,) to work in slackware. if i cant get any help by this weekend, i might just removed linux from my computer, it serves no purpose until i get 1024x768. im sorry, but its just what i gotta do.

maybe (open)BeOS will have help for me.

i did EVERYTHING the 855patch thing said. i did "make", made a binary file. then i copied it to /usr/bin. added "855patch 65536" to /etc/rc.d/boot.local so it runs at every boot, and i can see it say "BIOS video memory successfully set to 65535", but when X starts, no changes at all. my XF86 config file is all in order, and everything should work fine, accorging to http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...message.id=234

im tired of configuring linux, and im tired of trying to get this to work, and im about ready to quit. can someone help me?

There are a couple of buggy BIOS's out there.I did read a lot about dell having that problem but think somewhere gateway was also mentioned.You might want to try to check in that direction as a last ditch effort.
I basically gave up on my intel chipset - it works with 1024x768 but it still sucks.Going to be laptop bying time soon.

ok, there was a BIOS update out a week after i posted this post. and, i got some good news and some bad news.

good news: i updated the BIOS, and everything in windows and linux, but i dont notice anything new

bad news: I DONT NOTICE ANYTHING NEW !!! not even 1024x768.


ive done everything i can. BIOS updates, kernel re-compiles, XF86 patches. im about givin' up.

crashmeister: thanks for all the help. at least you get 1024x768, be grateful, lol.

Well - the general idea of most people about the Dell Bios was to downgrade it - dunno about Gateway,really.Just read in passing on some mailing list that it has some Bios issues.
Want a cheap laptop that runs 1024x768?I sell you mine in a heartbeat - Intel graphics suck at any resolution.

lol. this one's brand new, i dont think i would want another one. i havent even paid this one off yet. just wondering..how much would you seel it for?

i tried vmware in windows to run linux, and it is terrible. ill just stick with dual booting with 800x600. maybe a year from now there will be better support.

i think that the developers of X and the kernel should focus on things like this. thing like all cheap hardware is supported, like the hardware that ships with the compaq computers, dell computers, and gateway computers, and cheap modems and graphics cards. because most likely, these "cheap hardware" computers are a majority of the PC market out there. so there hardware should be supported.

Mine's a toshiba but I wouldn't give that thing to anybody running Linux anyway - that thing is better off with people that lean to the dark side (M$ that is).Not because of toshiba - it's real nice for cheapass.Next time around (in about three weeks) I'll just spring for something with a nvidia chip and dedicated video Ram.
It's working and everything but still not my cup of tea.

yeah, my last laptop was a toshiba 1805, worked perfectly in linux, except for the winmodem. then it "broke". battery completely died, i replaced that, hard drive died, had to replace that, which all this was $350 total, then the cd-rom died, and i wasnt going to spend $150 on another part to replace. so i just paid $700 and got that gateway m305. im happy with it. just 800x600 kinda sux.

i emailed gateway, and they pointed me to a BIOS update, the one i already got. then they said they dont support any OS but windows, because this isnt an OS issue, its a BIOS bug issue. but their tech support is good and fast, i like gateway (this is my first gateway product, an dnot my last).