I just upgraded from Slackware 13.1 to 14.1.
Now when I change windows in fvwm2
the screen turns gray before the 2nd window appears.
The system isnt overloaded - there's only 2 windows & I checked 'top'.

Also when there's no windows and a window is created -
at first it is gray for an annoying split second
(this didnt happen in sw13.1).

I'm using fvwm2.4 (from slackware 13.1)
instead of fvwm2.6 (from slackware 14.1)
because fvwm2.6 required 5 more extra packages that I didnt want:
librsvg,
libgdx,
libffi,
libcroco,
libxml2.
Please, please dont just tell me to use number 2.6.

Fvwm2.6 starts up using 'dbus-launch'
so i made fvwm2.4 do the same
(thru /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc and /usr/bin/startfvwm2).
(Probably a red herring?)

I'm still using the stock huge-smp kernel.
Could it be the framebuffer or double-buffering?
I dont even know how to check/enable those.

I'm using an old computer:
Pentium 4
512 MB RAM
nVidia GeForce FX5200 GPU
I'm not using the "nouveau" driver (but the package is installed).
I'm using the "nv" driver.
The "nouveau-blacklist" package is also installed (to get kbd & mouse to work).

Attached are /etc/X11/xorg.conf & /var/log/Xorg.0.log.
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ is empty.

Much thanks for all your time.

Attached Files

	xorg.conf.txt (3.2 KB, 19 views)
	Xorg.0.log (34.8 KB, 20 views)

Are you using the actual package from 13.1 or did you rebuild it ? If you are using the package I would suggest you rebuild from source.
The above is all I could suggest, I have been using 2.6 and 2.5 before that for many years so I do not have any other suggestions for 2.4

John

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I was hoping some one out there must have seen these annoying intermediate grey screens.

I thought you were asking about a fvwm2 specific issue. What happens under other window managers ? twm or fluxbox ?

I wonder if nvidia is the issue. What happens with nouveau ? Are you using the correct driver ? Seems there are 5 different drivers, see:
nvidia. I need to use version 304.125

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I uninstalled fvwm 2.4, and installed 2.6 with the nescecary library packages.
Still the grey screens.

I guess I'll try fluxbox next.

I tried the "nvidia" driver but it says I need to recompile my kernel for a module.
I've done that, but for me it takes a few days.

I also tried the "fbdev" and "vesa" X drivers, but they had the same problem.
That seems important.
If the grey screens persisted with them, then I suppose its not an X driver problem,
and the "nvidia" route is a dead end.

Does anyone know any "xorg.conf" options that could be missing?

How did you install it ? I have never received that message using stock slackware kernels (in various releases). Are you using the stock slackware kernel ?
nivida asks you if you want to generate a xorg.conf, I have said yes and it seems to work form me. Somewhere in here LQ Slackware there is a thread about xorg.conf and nvidia

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I'm using the stock kernel "huge-smp-3.10.17".
Its headers and source packages are installed too.
I wont go with the "generic" kernels as I dont like initrd's, but I will recompile soon.

The actual error message I get from the nvidia driver installer is:
"Unable to determine the NVIDIA kernel module filename."
How can it be on my system if its not compiled yet?

sh-4.2$ find / -iname '*nvidia*'
/lib/modules/3.10.17-smp/kernel/drivers/char/agp/nvidia-agp.ko
/lib/modules/3.10.17-smp/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidiafb.ko
/usr/src/linux-3.10.17/drivers/char/agp/nvidia-agp.c
/usr/src/linux-3.10.17/drivers/video/nvidia/nvidia.c
/usr/src/linux-3.10.17/include/config/fb/nvidia
/usr/src/linux-3.10.17/include/config/fb/nvidia.h
/usr/src/linux-3.10.17/include/config/agp/nvidia.h
/usr/src/linux-3.10.17/include/config/net/vendor/nvidia.h

The following is taken from the driver's README:
A kernel module,
(/lib/modules/`uname -r`/video/nvidia.o or
/lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia.o),
provides low-level access to your NVIDIA hardware.
It is generally loaded into the kernel when the X server is started, and is used by the X driver and OpenGL.
nvidia.o consists of two pieces: the binary-only core, and a kernel interface that must be compiled specifically for your kernel version.
Note that the Linux kernel does not have a consistent binary interface like the X server,
so it is important that this kernel interface be matched with the version of the kernel that you are using.
This can either be accomplished by compiling yourself,
or using precompiled binaries provided for the kernels shipped with some of the more common Linux distributions.

Slackware 14.1 (with the 13.10.17 kernel) was released 2013-11-07. (slackware.com/index.html)
Nvidia driver 173.14.39 was released 2013-12-07. (devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/655258)
Maybe Nvidia didnt have time to build-in precompiled compatability into their legacy driver package?

Everything I see points it should work. The only other suggestion I have is to try
maybe that would help out, that is installed for me when I installed the 304 driver.

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