LinuxQuestions.org - how do i install video drivers correctly in slackware?

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how do i install video drivers correctly in slackware?

i just downloaded the latest drivers from intellinux.org,but im not sure how to install them,the last time i tried i had to reinstall my system.
what i have is an acer laptop running the intel x3100 graphics media accelerator,the 965g chipset,the download consists of this;2D driver: xf86-video-intel master branch,3D driver: mesa master branch,DRM: drm master branch,AGPGART: agpgart shipped in the latest Linux kernel,
IntelGfx-20080725.tgz including all of the above components plus agpgart backport patch against kernel 2.6.24 and 2.6.25.thats what i have to work with,but theres something about the xserver1.5 being incompatible with mesa 7.0?how do i tell wich xserver i have?and wich version of mesa?but the bottom line is i dont want to crash my system again,so i could use a little help.any kind of input is welcome.thanks
Rick

support for x3100 is fully there. it's already in the linux kernel, and xf86-video-intel is already installed (i'm guessing you used slackware). my guess is that the modules that slackware comes with has the i915 and intel_agp modules - the ones that you need. if not then you need to compile them into the kernel, or separately into modules. the latest build (that I have) is 1.4.2. Is there a specific reason why you need xserver 1.5? as far as I know it hasn't officially been released, only release candidates (http://lists.freedesktop.org/archive...ne/000601.html). So if all you have to do is get support for your video card, then you are doing too much work already. if what you are looking for is the bleeding edge version of xserver, then that is something completely different. I'm a little confused about which way you are going with it since the thread title is a little more simplistic than compiling the nightly x.org releases. Let me know what you are looking for. :)

no i dont want to upgrade xserver iwas just asking,what i want is newer drivers the only drivers compiled into my kerenel 2.6.24.5-smp are the i 810 drivers,im using slackware 12.1,i would like the i915 drivers i just dont know how to install them correctly. am new to slackware,i had some problems at first,like my sound card,i had to compile new alsa drivers,and that went well.i know how to configure xorg,but after the last time i just blindly installed an x86 intel pkg,with installpkg,and i had no video after,so im asking for help with correctly installing the drivers.
Rick

If you don't have the needed modules, then they are easy to make. (note you need root access to edit) cd to /usr/src/linux-2.6.25.4, run make menuconfig. make sure these are set up appropriately
Go to

Code:

Device Drivers-->

            Graphics Support -->

                <M> /dev/agpgart (AGP Support) -->

                              <M> Intel 440LX/BX/GX, I8xx, and E7x05 chipset support



                <M> Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support) -->

                              <M> Intel 830M, 845G, 852GM, 855GM, 865G

                              < > i830 driver (don't need this)

                              <M> i915 driver

you can also build them straight into a new kernel, but since I'm guessing you prefer not having to config a new kernel, we'll do it module-style. exit the menuconfig, be sure and save the settings when asked.
Then run

Code:

make modules; make modules_install

It should run depmod automatically in the last command once finished. load up the modules (this should be taken care of automatically at boot)

Code:

modprobe i915

Since X.org comes with its intel support by default, just make sure under the "Device" section of your xorg.conf, you have Driver "intel". There you have it, your kernel support, and device support for the X3100. If you need compiz to work, you have some more requirements set up in xorg.conf

ok i did everything you said,but i cant tell if it worked.i cant get into xorg.conf,it comes up with nothing in it?i used nano /etc/x11/xorg.conf.
ive been reading slackware linux essentials,trying to bone up on slackware.
and the info i get here helps tremendously!but i find it odd that the xorg.conf is empty?any ideas?
Rick

oops!it was a typo on my part,capitalX.any way it didnt work,i still have the i810.i did everything that was posted.maybe ill have to build a kernel afterall!
Rick

Wrong path for xorg.conf, notice the x uppercase in X11 directory
/etc/X11/xorg.conf is right

[edit]
Ok you saw it, the kernel compilation won't update the xorg.conf for you, you have to edit it yourself

Just to be sure, check /lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/build/drivers/video directory to see if there are not i915 and intel_agp modules (if not, time for kernel compilation :))

yeah i think ill try another kernel compilation.the last one didnt go so well,i didnt save the original kernel correctly.what a mess that made,i had a kernel panic on top of it all,and had to boot from a usb stick!thanks for your help,i learned a little more about slack!im learning more every day,though im compiling alot of dependancies correctly,the programs im trying to compile keep giving me errors?(xarax,inkscape)so im still a newb
anyway thanks again.
Rick