DELL Graphics Info (I fixed my problem)
 

Just putting a post up to pass on my findings on my recent graphics problems on a Dell machine using an Intel 865 video.

It turns out that Dell only assigns 1mB of ram to the video buffer, this causes the monitor to only display at 640x480 no matter what you have the desktop resolution set to.

I tried various things such as editting the XF86Config-4 file etc, but nothing would fix it.

Today I changed the video buffer to 8mB in the bios settings and BINGO problem solved.

I think this problem also occurs on the Intel 845, Intel 855 and the Intel 865. So if you have a Dell and you monitor is locked at 640x480 check if you can change the video buffer in the BIOS


Hope this helps someone.

I tried setting the BIOS video buffer as you did, but still no help in getting deeper than 8 planes at 1024x768. Assassin, could you post your XF86Config?

I'm running on a Dell 4600i with BIOS A07 btw.

Yep, this is the exact problem I'm having (Dell 2400 w/Intel 845). Can you please tell me how you changed the video buffer settings (I'm a total Linux n00b)? (I'm using Mandrake 9.2)

Oops, never mind, I figured out how to do it. (I didn't realize you meant the F2 Bios.) I've got full resolution now. Thanks a bunch! You're the first person who's managed to help me what that problem.

When you say your problem is solved, what resolution do you have now? I'm looking for 1600x1200 with 32bit color. I know it it capable, because Windows XP runs with that config. The best I can get out of Linux so far is 1024x768 with 8-bit color.

1024x768 with 8-bit color. Unfortunately, that seem to be the best I can get out of Linux, even though my box supports 32-bit color.

Still, it's better than nothing, especially after being stuck with 680x480 for a few days. It's not too big a deal since I'll still use XP for playing games, but it still would be nice to get true color.

Ok...I still can not this thing to work. I canged my memory allocation to 8mb and I am still getting crap on the screen no mater what resalution I have. I am running the 845 driver. Any suggestions?

What about the 865G chipset?
 

okay, i think i muight have the same problem, i'm a n00b with a fresh install of slackware 9.1, and i can't get better than 1024x768 with less than true colour (sorry, i'll post exact details soon).

the thing i first noticed is a pile (big pile, huge pile) of insmod errors related to the 865 video drivers on startup. seems that the same irq problems i had under xp have found their way into my first attempt at linux. (xp fix = patch it 'til it works, linux fix = ask you guys)

besides that (and this may be a little off topic), the rest of the fun on-board stuff seems not to want to load properly, either. No sound, no nic, and for some reason, it's starting up the partition in read-only mode. Or something.

Like i said, i'm really new to all this, and the first thing i have to figure out is how to get the text i can see in linux into this here forum, i'm not quite sure about how to access my ntfs partitions, or for that matter, create a text file.

hopefully someone on here can help, maybe this belongs in about five other threads, i dunno.

hell, about now, i'd settle for a decent guide to configuring slackware from a fresh install. last thing i want to hear is that my current kernel (2.4.24?) needs to be upgraded to make this run on my system.

Any help would be greatly appreciated



PRABOB,




Bucky

Finally I did IT!!!
 

OK it took 3 days but I successfully installed RH 9 on my Dell Dimension 2400. I tried to install the Rh server and I put up a good fight but the system won. I could not get the i845GL video card to work and I could not get the refresh rate right either. I searched all the sights and none of the suggestions worked.

ROUND 2::: I sat and thought about it for a few hours and decided to jump back to the old Windows schooling. If a install does not work then install from the ground up. Well It worked!

This is what I did: :Pengy:

Step 1: Install Linux workstation with dev tools. This worked and I did not have issues with the video card or monitor. I am running at 1400x1050 res and 70 for my refresh rate after I went into the BIOS to give the video card 8mb of memory.

Step 2: Open the Start Here Icon and run Package installs one at a time until you have installed all the packages that you want.

Step 3: The on board NIC...I lost that battle and installed a Linksys 10/100 card. I could not get the rpm or the tar to install the Broardcom 4400 drivers. I tried numerous times and I kept getting the following error “*** Linux Kernel Source Tree Not Found”

I am currently installing my web pages on Apache and I am not having any issues so far.

Good luck,
Benzman1

@ Benzman1 -

Mmm, yes, that pesky BCM4400 nic. You're definitely not the first person who's had problems with it. Try finding the bcm4400-1.0.1 RPM, it worked on my Dell Dimension 2400. There're several different versions of it, I think only the 1.0.1 version worked for me. I had tried that RPM on Mandrake, but I got tons of compile errors. I switched to Red Hat 9 and it worked fine.

PS - I think you may need to have installed the kernel dev tools to install that bcm driver. If you're using KDE, you can go to Add/Remove Apps and check the box for "kernel".