I'd figure I'd branch this out into a general forum because as I've found out today, my particular issue isn't just Slackware specific! (I just tried booting Knoppix, same results )

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Yello,

I just built a sweet machine the other day, P4 2.4gHz 533 FSB, lots of ram, nice sb live, big HD and a geForce4 mx 420 (AGP).

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So anyway install ran fine, for LILO i selected the 1024x768 @ 64k framebuffer console. Upon reboot however, i get an "undefined mode selected" (paraphrase) message after the BIOS check and I can't get the nice framebuffer console I want/need.

I've tried many things and nothing really seems to work, recompiling the default kernel doesn't seem to do much, i've tried enabling/disabling the rivafb module that some sources say works or not works depending on what you do, compiling it directly into the kernel doesn't seem to work much either.

I've tried using other lilo options other than "vga=791." I may try using the hex values for a 1024x768 res but I can't find the table that listed them, and I don't know if that will fix the problem.

Some sources said something about the BIOS configuration had to do with the FB working or not but I didn't really understand or find what I had to do with it. (MOtherboard is a Soyo Dragon P4...400 btw)

Note also that I haven't compiled the nvidia-kernel and glx sources into the kernel yet. I haven't even attempted to set up X yet untill this problem is fixed.

Oh, and note that sometimes after I boot, get the undefined mode-whatever message and boot with a regular non-FB console, the system hangs at certian times occaisionally. That might or might not be related to my issue. who knows.
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Weird thing is other distros like Debian load the FB fine. I poped in a deb net-install cd-rw for the heck of it and a nice res framebuffer console loaded fine, complete with tux in the upper left hand corner.

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Still pretty much stuck. Help is appreciated!

OK. I seem to have unveiled a little more info on the problem.

When I say it works with Debian, it's becusae the debian installer defaults to what i believe is a 640x480 @ 256 display, which for some odd reason, seems to be the only video mode that works.

Hrm, c'mon, this is a geforce 4. it's gotta do better framebuffer resolutions than that!

Hi

I also have framebuffer troubles with my MSI GeForce4 ti4200 video card. rivafb will not load at all, but I can't use it anyway since I am using the proprietary Nvidia drivers for X, which work very well indeed. All attempts to boot using vesa framebuffer mode result in a black screen and blinking keyboard LED's. I have tried all the big distros and compiled my own 2.4.20 kernel from kernel.org, all with the same result. As a side note, when installing linux (redhat / mandrake) the card is not detected as a geforce4, and the installers set it up as a vesa frambuffer card, which obviously fails...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

I have a nVidia GeForce4 MX440. I wanted 1024x768 at the console and got the same message. However, if you choose the 800x600 mode in the setup, it actually goes to 1024x768 (at least I think so, it looks like I am used to in Slack 8 with an old ATI card). I can't get any more than 1024x768 in X though which is why I am looking here!

munkeh