X11 issues, garbage, keyboard, mouse, console switching
 

hello everyone,

<STORY>
now i'm slacking!
after my introduction you now my story behind slackware.

short summary:
for testing purposes until "the final machine" arrives, i installed slackware on a siemens PC the scenic series maybe someone knows.

all fine in console, fiddled around with a new kernel compilation, boot options, etc and get it working some more specific to this machine. kernel is much smaller and booting is fast.
</STORY>

now issues i have with X:

machine is: a celeron 333 cpu, matrox G100 productiva AGP on board (mga), 256MB ram, 18 GB SCSI HDD with tekram controller. kernels 2.6.33-4 from the slack 13.1 orig.distr. and a self compiled 2.6.35.6.

i now have tried hours to get any x-server working on this machine. no or only partial success.
if i startx (my fave is xfce) i got scrambled gfx. i tried the usual hints of setting HorizSync, VertRefresh, no helpful.

have a look at the screenshots with Driver "mga".

next i also tried in Section "Device" the option Driver "vesa" which gave me a clean display. but with Driver"mga" was booting much faster!! so i want to get this running!

the last picture shows the console scrambled after shutting down vesa xserver.

so it's not working neither vesa (slow), nor mga (scrambled), and always "destroys" the console.


side effect: my keyboard and mouse aren't working anymore if i started x under my new kernel. i read about some .fdi and policies, but much much stuff... maybe someone could help me out with some short facts and answers.


thx in advance!
regards

marquisor


PS: if logs are needed i can edit this post (maybe?) and paste them from/with lynx from the original box.
PPS: to make it clear, issues are exactly the same on distribution original kernel and my own selfcompiled! i spend two nights of setting it up and running, forgot some essentials to include in the kernel... and every one new option means a complete recompile ;)

I would like to see the contents of /var/log/Xorg.0.log when X is started without a /etc/X11/xorg.conf after the system has been booted with the distribution 2.6.33.4 kernel. (Posted in code tags please!)
Also, what are your monitor specs? (manufacturer, model, type, refresh frequencies). This does look a mismatch between the video output from the card and the capabilities of the monitor.

You could try getting your console display to return to normal by typing 'reset' after returning from starting X.

ok, what are code tags? line numbering?

i deleted xorg.conf* in /etc/X11/ and gave it a clean run under 2.6.33.4.
the reset command doesn't work if mga driver used. vesa not yet tested.
what about the keyboard/mouse issue?

for the log, well i try:

Xorg.0.log:
Monitor specs:

Philips Brilliance 201B - 21" CRT
30-107 kHz horiz.,, 48-160Hz vert. max. Resolution 1800x1350

Should be definately sufficient ;) I also have the very similar weird scrambles with booting some other live cds (Fedora) starting x. the debian graphical installer worked flawlessly though.

Thanks for the info and I am glad you found the code tags!
According to p.42 of this http://www.matrox.com/graphics/media...als/en_mms.pdf then you need 4MB of memory to get 1280x1024 resolution at depth 24. Your card does not have enough memory to do high resolutions at the default of depth 24. This is the reason for the '(insufficient memory for mode)' messages.

Try adding a screen section to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf to limit the depth to 16.
Your log shows that a keyboard and USB mouse are being detected.
If you are having problems with your custom kernel, then look at options that you have turned off in your custom config.

@marquisor: I suggest you to not use the framebuffer console (vesafb or matroxfb) because it will create problems to X.org's MGA driver. Use only the "normal VGA console" in /etc/lilo.conf.

Also, having a very old video card with only 2MB RAM, try not to use resolutions that are too great. In the best case, 1024x768@16K will be a success.

thx for help so far.
actually i got a PS/2 keyboard and a USB mouse connected.
all fine in console, even with GPM. under my new kernel. but in X they're switched off... something like Allow.... was standing in a actual new Xorg.0.log.

but now back to the garbage issue. setting defaultdepth to 16bit was something i tried before. doesn't help. exactly the same problem.

maybe it has something to do with the overall screen area/size? virtual size or smthng. like that?!

unfortunately i cannot swap the vga card, cause it's onboard and AGP. i got 2 PCI slots, but they can't be used because of SCSI controller and ethernet controller. no chance... :(

why does vesa work and mga not?
btw. thanks for the user guide, but i'm not using a multimonitor G100. nevertheless the statement of the video memory is correct, 2048kB

btw: win2k runs very well with this vga-card on 1280x720x16bit depth.

--

UPDATE for Xorg.0.log after deleting /etc/X11/xorg.conf, running xorgsetup, edited DefaultDepth to 16 and startx:

the keyboard/mouse issue with my new kernel is here (i guess):

where do i set AllowEmptyInput off? and why is it set on on my new kernel?!?!

@marquisor: DO NOT USE THE CONSOLE VESA FRAMEBUFFER!

Then, here you have "video=vesa:640x400@70" in kernel command-line. Look like you use vesa-ng and that's bad, because it can conflict with the Xorg driver.

You should use the stock kernel and NORMAL VGA CONSOLE. This is "vga=5" on kernel command-line.

Believe it or not, this is progress!
Now that you are using an xorg.conf, your device names have changed.
Change the screen section to reflect the new names
It is odd that AllowEmptyInput is defaulting to on, but this can be set with a serverflags section in xorg.conf
Have you made changes to any .fdi files?

@Darth

ok removed the vesa stuff, was just experimental, vga is set to VGA = ext now. as i have a big monitor i wanna use 80x50.
as the scrambles and return to console from x was the same with VGA = 5 or normal, i think it doesn't affect much.


@allend

nope, nothing changed to .fdi files yet.
yes really odd, because in kernel 2.6.33-4 it works, and in 2.6.35.6 it sets the option to ON, ok that is a "feature" of the newer kernel? just recently built in? then not my fault i guess ;)

mouse and keyboard are working now, very good (at least as far as i can see that on the garbage :)). xserver still not working.

Because you have a very old system, I don't think that a new kernel offer enhanced drivers. You don't need a new kernel.

Just had another look at the log in post #6
Perhaps you should also add a monitor section to specify the refresh frequencies.

well, because it IS very old, i want a small kernel, so i have to compile one for myself. took the latest stable from kernel.org. and it works so far with everything but X.

@allend:

yep, tried that also before... also with some outcommented DRI etc. settings, no luck.
i guess it's not a sync/refresh rate issue, because then the monitor would say "No Sync". there's always a display shown...

hmm, well, where could i get another mga driver for X?
because what i can see "blind" in the garbage it is very fast and usable for xfce and f.e. firefox.

How about to try this?

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/dev/2993

They use the matroxfb and the fbdev Xorg driver instead ...

Have you tried the monitor section with the serverflags and updated screen sections in xorg.conf?

I think the problem is not in the driver, but rather in throttling the X server so that video modes that your card can support are used. Try using a default depth of 8, that should definitely achieve a stable display, then you can work up from there.

ok, after trying endlessly ... and also getting some newer versions of the driver with autogen.sh stuff which doesn't work (needs xorg-macros 1.8, installed is 1.7.0 which i cannot change/update via slackpkg), the only way seems to be the "vesa" driver for xorg.conf.

BUT! the vesa driver also messes up the console height, i.e. if switching from X to console via Ctrl-Alt-F1 f.e. the font is ok, but if i come to the bottom, there are hidden lines i can't see. seems the console got more lines than it displays actually. i would like to get that fixed. same after X shutdown. that's a no go, i always have to reboot then. executing the reset command doesn't help, only clears the screen.

Have you looked at /usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/matroxfb,txt?

As to your X issues, I would like to see the output in Xorg.0.log when you boot using the distribution kernel with an xorg.conf containing just the serverflags, screen and monitor sections that I suggested.
The distribution kernel is a stable base on which to test. Trying new drivers on older hardware can be problematic.

yes, read that matroxfb stuff. but that's mainly for console stuff?! don't know yet what to do with it. kernel parameters ok... i'm not sure if a matrox module is loaded in my kernel bootups.
sry for delay, allend! i had to setup another workstation with linux ;) first tested debian, then fedora, and now i'm with slackware again...

well nvm..

alright, i rm'ed the /etc/X11/xorg.conf*, ran xorgsetup, modified the xorg.conf now like you suggested, booting the original distr. kernel and startx'ed.


Xorg.0.log
...continued in next post, because of 30.000 characters limit.

maybe the bootlog is interesting, too?

regards
marquisor

continued Xorg.0.log of Post #17
maybe this is the key:
??

i recognize the screen is first switched to monitors maximum resolution, that is ~1800x1350, way too high for 2048kB VRAM at 16bit depth. but it also failed at 8bit depth as i tried.
maybe there's a setting, NOT to go into monitor's max. res. and then switching to 1024x768.

Try adding a display subsection to the screen section in xorg.conf.

i already did that long before, even with other depths and modes "640x480" "800x600" etc. no luck, still same error.

OK- Now try clamping the monitor refresh frequencies.

the garbage shifts if i play around with refresh rates, but still is there.

Xorg.0.log

it would at least be helpful what command can set the resolution/display type in the console!
like vga = ext, vga = normal, vga = 5 etc. in kernel parameters.
as i have vga = 5 in bootup, if vesa driver in x used and back to console, then the resolution is 640x400, not vga = 5 (which was 640x480) and some lines are disappearing at the bottom.

There is still the problem of not having enough video memory available.
Perhaps disabling the double buffer extension will help.

and thus still...

Can you get a stable display if you try for 800x600 resolution?

As an aside, I did find this https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ga/+bug/319363 where a user with the same card but 8MB of memory also had problems.

I will have to leave this with you for the moment as I have to go AFK.

crawled through your link... seems it can be a monitor or detection timeout problem. as i don't have a /etc/gdm folder where the dudes set a timeout, what could i do? but... is it really the monitor?

now i tried 800x600 8bit and it is same garbage...
but:
now i have to disable DRI i guess? like disabled DBE before?
EDIT: with Disable "dri" the whole system hangs. that's not it...

EDIT2:
i turn options off in xorg.conf file and the damn X turns it on again...

maybe it has something to do with the monitor timings as they reported in your link, because of:
maybe that's the crux?

EDIT3:

I think this is the video mode to aim for
Try changing the monitor and screen sections of xorg.conf to these

changed as you said.

no errors, BUT! same garbage.

there's a kernel feature for some strange videoadapters in the kernelconfig for new kernels. it means something like "little-endian" "big-endian" etc. maybe this could be the fault?

afaik 99% of the adapters use little-endianess?

Try at 75Hz

Allend,
Email notices from this thread that you are trying to send to member marquisor are coming to me. Who can fix this.

@mpagnan
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...clicks-827374/