Compaq Armada 7360DMT, MDK 9.1, Video/Xserver probs
 

Compaq Armada 7360DMT
Pentium MMX 200mhz, 32meg RAM, 4 gig
Aurora64V+ 2meg video
Mandrake 9.1

I have acquired this laptop b/c I was told it was “useless”…HA! My plans for this laptop are simply:

1)Serve webpages (apache) w/ ftp upload capability
2)Run icewm (since KDE will kill 32meg RAM)
3)Surf web / chat on Gaim
4)Play mp3s

I currently dual boot on my other PC, so I have a medium amount of linux experience. Anyway…on to the problem. The text installation goes flawlessly until I get to the X settings where you have to choose: monitor, video card, and resolution. The video card is automatically selected correctly (Aurora64V+). For the monitor, MDK automatically chooses Flat Screen 1074x786….and same for resolution. Then, when I go to test the configuration, the screen flashes a whole bunch and eventually the CD stops reading. Then, I hit CTRL+ALT+F1 and the installation screen comes back w/ something like “Error, try to change parameters” with an “OK” button. I have tried to change EVERYTHING…640x480 8bpp…etc. Nothing is working! Command line-wise, linux works perfect…I just can’t get X to configure properly. Does anyone have any clue how to get this girl running??? Any help is appreciated!

Troy

"I have tried to change EVERYTHING…640x480 8bpp…etc. Nothing is working!"

Have you tried to change the frequency?


___________________________________
Be prepared. Create a LifeBoat CD.
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Steve Stites

Do you mean the different monitor settings? I have tried a few of the different Hz settings....but do those even mean anything w/ an LCD display? If I remember correctly, I tried the common 60Hz and it didn't work. Is this what you mean? If so, what do you recommend I try? Thanks!

Troy

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you

"If so, what do you recommend I try?"

If you have tried all of the reasonable combinations of monitor settings then next I suggest that you play with the video card settings. You can sometimes have monitor problems because the video card memory is specified wrong or some such.

___________________________________
Be prepared. Create a LifeBoat CD.
http://users.rcn.com/srstites/LifeBo...home.page.html

Steve Stites

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately that didn't work either. I tried the basics like SVGA, XGA, trident, generic ISA bus, and vesa....all didn't work. The Aurora64V+ video card is a 2 meg card as found in the "bios" (or Compaq's version of the bios..haha.) I'm stumped! Do you think that if I tried a different distro, I may have better luck than w/ MDK 9.1? Anyone think Slackware may pick up the settings better? Thanks in advance!

Troy
:scratch:

"Do you think that if I tried a different distro, I may have better luck than w/ MDK 9.1?"

Quite possibly. Which one works best configuring your video card and monitor is strictly a matter of trial and error.




___________________________________
Be prepared. Create a LifeBoat CD.
http://users.rcn.com/srstites/LifeBo...home.page.html

Steve Stites

Well, I recently downloaded Knoppix as a carry-along linux. I decided to try it in the old laptop to see what happens. I knew I wouldn't get very far given the 32meg ram, but I was curious. Before Knoppix RAMmed out, it picked up the video perfectly! Now the plan is to just install Knoppix to that harddrive. Thanks for all of your help!

Troy