I just performed a debian net install on an old pentium 1 based machine, and am trying to get an xerver working. I am actually less concerned with getting an xserver working with its monitor, but more so for logging in remotely with ssh -X.

I've installed the packages x-window-system and x-windows-system-core, and run dkpg-configure xserver-xfree86, but I can't seem to get the xserver working. The machine is using an old generic ISA video card, as well as an old philips 14" vga monitor. I'm unsure where to find what refresh rates an monitor settings are appropriate (I had just been using the 'simple' option in the configure program). Likewise, I'm not sure which driver to be using. I've tried vesa, fbdev, and vga. Fbdev seems to get the closest to working, but they all fail.

On top of all this, I'm not sure exactly what I need to do to simply get it to work with openssh. Like I said, if I can just get it to pass off x control to whoever is ssh'ing in, I will be happy. Currently, if I try that, I am told no display is found.

I am not intending to install any sort of desktop environment.

Suggestions for getting X working on old hardware?

1. Start X server at machine where you sit (and run ssh client).
2. Run ssh -X.
3. In ssh session run some X program.

By the way, you've got a good chance to get your X working with any kind of hardware using driver "vesa" and resolution 800x600 (experiment for bigger resolution..)