[SOLVED] Primer on X?

littlebigman · 08-12-2010, 01:38 PM

Hello

As I try to understand why an Xubuntu 9.10-based liveCD I'm using won't 1) use a higher definition than 800x600, and 2) while logged on locally, let me change the keyboard layout from US to FR... I figure I should read a bit about how X works and the different issues, eg. I vaguely remember that some video chipsets (Nvidia?) require some proprietay driver to be installed.

Does someone know of a good primer to get the big picture?

Thank you.

PS: I suspect both issues are related. For those interested, here's some information:

Code:

# ps aux | grep X | grep -v grep
root      2477  0.1  1.7  23552 17056 tty7     Ss+  16:37   0:06
/usr/bin/X11/X -nolisten tcp -auth /var/run/slim.auth vt07

# export DISPLAY=":0.0"

# xhost +localhost
No protocol specified
xhost:  unable to open display ":0.0"

pljvaldez · 08-12-2010, 02:28 PM

You can try reconfiguring X with sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. You can select a generic driver, VESA, or nv/nvidia/ati/radeon. Or you can install the proprietary drivers for nVidia or ATI.

Also, what is the output of lspci (which will help us know what driver you really need)?

littlebigman · 08-12-2010, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pljvaldez

You can try reconfiguring X with sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. You can select a generic driver, VESA, or nv/nvidia/ati/radeon.

Thanks for the tip, but nothing happens when I type this. Logging off/on still displays in 800x600.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pljvaldez

Or you can install the proprietary drivers for nVidia or ATI.

I suspect the Xubuntu that was used for this liveCD doesn't include Nvidia, but have no idea how to integrate it without rebuilding the whole thing myself (I don't have the skills).

Quote:

Originally Posted by pljvaldez

Also, what is the output of lspci (which will help us know what driver you really need)?

The Acer Aspire L100 includes an on-board NVIDIA nForce 430 + NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 graphics.

Here's what "lspci" says:

Code:

root@bitdefender:~# lspci
00:00.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a2)
00:00.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 1 (rev a2)
00:00.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 5 (rev a2)
00:00.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 4 (rev a2)
00:00.5 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:00.6 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 3 (rev a2)
00:00.7 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation C51 Memory Controller 2 (rev a2)
00:02.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a1)
00:05.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation C51 [GeForce 6150 LE]
(rev a2)
00:09.0 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Host Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 LPC Bridge (rev a3)
00:0a.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation MCP51 SMBus (rev a3)
00:0a.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Memory Controller 0 (rev a3)
00:0b.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation MCP51 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:0d.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP51 IDE (rev a1)
00:0e.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev
a1)
00:0f.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Serial ATA Controller (rev
a1)
00:10.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:10.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP51 High Definition Audio (rev
a2)
00:14.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron]
HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron]
Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM
Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron]
Miscellaneous Control
04:06.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6306 Fire II IEEE
1394 OHCI Link Layer Controller (rev 80)

Thank you.

pljvaldez · 08-12-2010, 08:01 PM

Try some of the boot cheat codes. Looks like you should be able to select your keymap, language, and video stuff at Live CD boot.

littlebigman · 08-13-2010, 04:54 AM

Thanks for the tip, but changing the "vga" setting made no difference, it still boots in 800x600, probably because the nVidia drivers are not included.

Likewise, adding "bootkbd=fr" doesn't run the FR keyboard, and I still have to run "setxkbmap" as non-root.

Incidently, if you know of a good place to ask about how to customize an ISO image to include new drivers/applications, I'm interested

Thank you.

pljvaldez · 08-13-2010, 11:00 AM

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCDCustomization

http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/index.html

littlebigman · 08-14-2010, 03:08 AM

Thanks for the links. I'll try to compile a new Linux kernel with Nouveau or nVidia, replace the files in the liveCD ISO, burn a new CD, and see how it goes.

johnsfine · 08-14-2010, 05:08 AM

If you want the nvidia driver (probably best for Xubuntu 9.10) you should not recompile the kernel to get it. Recompiling the kernel is not helpful for installing the nvidia driver.

I don't have a link handy for instructions for installing the nvidia driver in Xubuntu 9.10, but I expect those instructions are easy to find.

I don't know whether the Nouveau driver in Xubuntu 9.10 is missing entirely or merely obsolete. Either way, I expect a Linux expert could get the desired driver into Xubuntu 9.10 and I think that would involve recompiling the kernel. But I think it would also involve some steps beyond my intermediate level of expertise in Linux. Not a good idea for an apparent beginner.

If you want to use the Nouveau driver in Xubuntu, get a newer version of Xubuntu. In Kubuntu 10.04 and Ubuntu 10.04 the Nouveau driver includes significant recent enhancements and now does a much better job of recognizing various hardware and getting resolutions and refresh rates and other features correct. I assume the same would be true in Xubuntu 10.04, but I haven't checked.

knudfl · 08-14-2010, 06:41 AM

If you want to use a live Linux cd with xfce (like Xubuntu)
that also has the propitiatory drivers for nvidia + ati / radeon included,
this is it :

pclinuxos-phoenix-xfce-2010.07
http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dis...h=all&year=all

The French keyboard can easily be selected shortly after boot.
.....

Other lightweight wm : pclinuxos-lxde-2010.07.
And 'Sabayon Linux' with both : lxde, xfce ..
http://distrowatch.com/index.php?dis...h=all&year=all
Sabayon usually includes the nvidia etc. too, for maximum resolution.
.....

littlebigman · 08-14-2010, 12:29 PM

Thanks for the tip. I might move on to 10.04 provided I can run the apps I need from the liveCD.

I'll also check PCLinuxOS.

For those having the same issue (Ubuntu 9.10 with an Nvidia chip with X displayed in 800x600), here's the gist of it:

1. Uninstall nv: apt-get --purge remove xserver-xorg-video-nv

2. Install nouveau (haven't tried the Nvidia driver):
# apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) linux-libc-dev kernel-package
# apt-get install python-software-properties
# add-apt-repository ppa:bjfs/ppa
# apt-get update
# apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
# depmod

3. Try to start X (eg. /etc/init.d/slim start). If it doesn't start with the settings you want, exit X and run "Xorg -configure to create an xorg.conf file that you can customize
Caution: The Modeline returned by "gtf" includes a trailing ".00" which crashed X when starting it. Removing this ".00" solved the problem.

Thank you.

littlebigman · 08-16-2010, 09:05 AM

For those interested in knowing more about X:

"X Power Tools" by Chris Tyler
http://www.amazon.com/X-Power-Tools-.../dp/0596101953