Using a monitor without X
 

Is it possible to have graphics without X?

Let me explain:
My version of Debian came with a bunch of extra packages. One of them was LinCity, apparently a port of SimCity. There was an X version and an SVGA version. I installed the SVGA version. When I tried to tun it, I get fast-moving blue and purple stripes.

I want to configure my monitor for graphics. I looked in /usr/doc/HOWTO but that was all very basic stuff (this is a hard drive...) or over my head. I want to circumvent X because 1) I want to see if my monitor works first and 2) I want to see if there's something else that suits my needs better.

I am using a GoldStar monitor from 1993 that I hope to replace soon. I believe the maximum resolution is 640x480. I can't for the life of me remember what video card I am using.

Wow, that's rough. As for your vid card, as long as your can get to a command line you can see what you've got:
/sbin/lspci -vv | less

Circumventing X is probably going to pose a problem if you want to really run anything graphically, but you can use things like framebuffer (which I don't completely understand) or svga (which I also don't understand). I toy with those 2 things with mplayer's output:
mplayer -vo fbdev filename.avi
And occasionally get a decent image, but really, it's no more than just playing with it, not something usable for me. If you just want to see if your monitor will work to support any gui, go ahead and install X, but use conservative settings in your XF86Config or xorg.conf file (depending on what you install). And if it works, then slowly increase the values to find the 'max' res you can get on the monitor.

Cool

OK, I'll try that. The previous owner of the monitor said he got it to work in 1024x768, but I couldn't when I ran Windows.

I will probably use that workstation for mostly web browsing and homework, and maybe basic games. I hope not to use any GUI. [I find them awkward.]

Is it possible for me to find an SVGAlib web browser and word processor and use those from the command line?

there are text based web browsers.. but obviously they don't display graphics. I like lynx.

'links' is a text browser, 'links2' has an svga graphics mode, as does 'elinks'. 'arachnophillia' [name?] also is a browser with svga capabilities.

i have seen a svga based terminal application as well, on freshmeat.

my personal experiments with svga and framebuffer were that they were interesting, but why bother. i just run x.org now.

xvesa is a lightweight implementation of x you may find interesting.

I prefer w3b for a nice middle ground between the 2.

Cool

Thank you for that.

But my original question was, where are the config files for the monitor and is there any documentation that will help?

To follow up:

I did find the SVGAlib config file at /etc/vga/libvga.config

Then I looked up my monitor (which is a GoldStar 1460) on Yahoo and put some of its specs in the file. It still doesn't work. (I get rapidly-moving purlpe, blue, and green stripes when I try to run Lincity for SVGA.)

I did notice the file is missing the "modeline" line for monior timing, as well as the chipset. I could not find timing on my monitor. My chipset is an ATI Rage 64k.

What can I do about it? Is something wrong with my setup, should I try X, or is it time for a new monitor?

I'd try X, and then 'play' with svga afterwards if it doesn't work.

Cool