[SOLVED] Squeeze with a Voodoo3 2000 PCI card - Grub garbled.

mpyusko · 05-20-2011, 12:26 PM

Found it!

This is the documentation that comes on the original CD. Essentially the only difference in the models is clock/ram speed and bus type.

Detailed specs and review

The system is:
Dell Optiplex GX1 Midsize
Pentium 3@500MHz
768MB SDRAM
Intel 440BX PCI/AGP Chipset
120GB IDE Hard Drive (Linux OS)
Creative 52x CD-ROM drive (not worth a burner)
2x 1TB SATA Hard Drives - RAID mirrored
3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo 3 2000 PCI(rev 01)
ATI Technologies Inc 3D Rage Pro AGP 1X/2X (rev 5c) 4MB (disabled)
Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
RAID bus controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3114 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller (rev 02)
USB 2.0 PCI card
Viewsonic Optiquest Q51 monitor.
Dell Keyboard & Mouse

(Linux handles software RAID.)

alan_ri · 05-20-2011, 01:44 PM

Post the output of;

Code:

lspci -v -s `lspci | awk '/VGA/{print $1}'`

mpyusko · 05-20-2011, 02:04 PM

I doesn't like that command. Try a different syntax?

mpyusko · 05-20-2011, 02:09 PM

I'm pretty sure this is what you are searching for....

Code:

root@abacus:~# lspci -v -s 00:0e.0
00:0e.0 VGA compatible controller: 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo 3 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo3 2000 PCI
        Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 11
        Memory at f6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32M]
        Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
        I/O ports at c800 [size=256]
        Expansion ROM at 80000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 1
        Kernel driver in use: voodoo3_smbus

root@abacus:~#

widget · 05-20-2011, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caravel

It's actually a load of "branding", i.e. the spacefun theme. It will effect more than just grub but can be reinstalled as with any debian package. It's just an easier way of checking if the framebuffer is the culprit...

Won't hurt a thing, as said, easy to reinstall.

Much easier than wading through /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme to get rid of the background. Will probably give you a solid background on the login screen and the same on your desktop if you haven't changed the default wallpaper (if you have it will make no difference on the desktop).

It may well work, if so it is not too tough to get rid of the image for grub with out changing the 05_debian_theme file either.

For that matter you could just rename /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png to desktop-grub.png.bak. This may not get rid of the grub background if the script has an alternate path but I do not think so. I changed mine some time back so I do not remember.

cynwulf · 05-20-2011, 03:19 PM

Yes, purging desktop-base gives you text mode grub menu, done it myself many times - always works.

alan_ri · 05-21-2011, 08:46 AM

Yeah, at the moment I suggest that too. Also check /var/log/Xorg.0.log for some valuable info.

On second thought, you might want to install LILO.

cynwulf · 05-22-2011, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alan_ri

On second thought, you might want to install LILO.

Or grub-legacy

alan_ri · 05-22-2011, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caravel

Or grub-legacy

Yeah, but GRUB is GRUB... with LILO, it'll be a little different...

mpyusko · 05-24-2011, 07:42 AM

Code:

root@abacus:~# aptitude purge desktop-base
The following packages will be REMOVED:  
  desktop-base{p} 
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B of archives. After unpacking 8,970 kB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
(Reading database ... 117974 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing desktop-base ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/spacefun-wallpaper-widescreen.svg to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-background (desktop-background) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/moreblue-orbit-wallpaper-widescreen.svg to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-background (desktop-background) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/nightly-wallpaper.png to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-background (desktop-background) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/debian-blueish-wallpaper.svg to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-background (desktop-background) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/moreblue-orbit-splash.png to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-splash (desktop-splash) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/gnome-splash-curves.png to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-splash (desktop-splash) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/spacefun-grub-widescreen.png to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png (desktop-grub) in auto mode.
update-alternatives: using /usr/share/images/desktop-base/moreblue-orbit-grub.png to provide /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png (desktop-grub) in auto mode.
Purging configuration files for desktop-base ...
Processing triggers for gconf2 ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme ...
root@abacus:~# update-grub 
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... Generating /boot/grub/default file and setting the default boot entry to 0
grub-set-default (GNU GRUB 0.97)
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... 


Generating /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-686
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

root@abacus:~# reboot

Still scrambled. Next I guess I'll try Grub Legacy. Though I'd prefer not to since support for it is ending.

mpyusko · 05-24-2011, 07:50 AM

No change with Grub Legacy.

cynwulf · 05-24-2011, 08:38 AM

Have a look here: http://wiki.debian.org/GrubTransition

Purge grub legacy and reinstall grub2, try setting the resolution to 640x480 - if that still doesn't help then give LILO a try.

mpyusko · 05-24-2011, 08:46 AM

I started with Grub2, then I switched it to a few different resolutions. Then i removed desktop base, then I tried Grub Legacy. Nothing solved the problem. Are you sure my Debian box won't burst into flame if I put Lilo on it?

cynwulf · 05-24-2011, 10:13 AM

Are you sure you ran update-grub after changing resolutions?

As to LILO, it won't blow up, but I'm not sure it will make any difference - worth a go though I would say.

mpyusko · 08-05-2011, 04:14 PM

Thought you would like to know.

I just built a new server an slapped the Voodoo3 2000 PCI card in it (because it's a heck of a lot better than the stock ATI Rage XL) and booted it up with the orginal installation. I can see the grub menu now. Must've been an issue with the old GX1.