Hi


Firstly I would like to say I am completely new to linux and am running ManDrake 9.2. With that said its time to get down to the problem; After running startx i get a "fatal IO error 104 (connection reset by peer)". I would post the whole log but don't know how to access the log and post it to the net (I know I suck). I belive the problem lies with my ATI 9600XT video card, I have tried xf86config and have set everything to the lowest specs possible but still no luck. I keep getting the same error... very unplesent.

Maybe I need an upgrade of xf86? or install some ATI linux drivers?

Yes, you do need some ATI binary drivers (they are available from the ATI website), but first you need to get a working X configuration.

To do that, you must use "vesa" as your videocard driver to get an initial 2D display. Just choose that for the driver, and set your monitor etc. correctly, and it will work-- you simply will not have 3D hardware acceleration. Once you have managed to boot in and gotten past the initial setup, come back to these forums and see my entry in the HCL (the LinuxQuestions.org Hardware Compatibility List) for my video card, the Hercules AIW 9800 SE. Aside from the fact that I have (non-working under Linux) TV-in and you don't, the procedure for setting up the cards is the same, and the entry contains a lot of links to how-tos that will help you set the card up with 3D hardware acceleration.

I have set my intial driver to vesa and still can not startx. The error I get is

(ww) Radeon: No matching device section for instance (BusID PCI:1:0:1) found
(ee) no devices found


fatal server error
no screen found

is xf86 is not using the reconfigured config file? I have ran xf86 multiple times but still get the same error.

This very much implies that no, XFree86 has either not reconfigured the file, or the startx command is using a different file than the one that was configured.

This is quite possible if xf86 configures the XF86Config file-- because Mandrake uses XF86Config-4 by default, and only XF86Config if the other does not exist (which it does). Rather than using xf86, you might want to use the Mandrake tool, XFdrake, instead. This will presumably reconfigure the correct file.

You can also edit the file yourself from the command line. Even if you can't start X, Mandrake will drop you to a command line login prompt. Log in as root and use nano or pico (don't remember atm which one Mandrake installs), or, failing that, you can use vi (which I know you have, but vi is much more difficult to use if you're not already familiar with it) to open up /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.

The command would be "name_of_text_editor /etc/X11/XF86Config-4" (without the quotes). You can then look at the settings for Screen0, and directly change "radeon" or "ati" or "fglrx" or whatever it is to "vesa". Save and reboot and see if it works.

If this makes you nervous, or you don't know how to use vi, as long as your Internet connection works properly, you can switch to a second console using CTRL-Alt-F2 (or F3, or F4, anything but F7, actually), and open up lynx to either post here, or get some vi instructions. Lynx is actually a great browser, just a little confusing maneuvering around a page using the arrow keys rather than the mouse, but you get used to it and it's otherwise very easy to use.

The command would be then "lynx http://www.linuxquestions.org", or (to get some vi help, if you find you don't have either nano or pico) "lynx http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/Tutor/vi.html".

Use CTRL-Alt-F7 to get back to the first console-- you can switch back and forth as much as you like.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the great link on the vi editor.

When i ran vi /etc/x11/xf86config-4, xf86config-4 was shown as a [new file]. The pico and nano commands did not work for me, neither did xfdrake. Maybe I am not typing in the correct commands? I was also told to try fglrxconfig but this did not work either. Maybe I should do a reinstall?

You may not be typing in the correct command. Linux is case sensitive, and "vi /etc/X11/XFConfig-4" is not the same as "vi /etc/x11/xf86config-4" The capitals are important, also with XFdrake (not xfdrake). If XF86Config-4 still comes up as a new file, try XF86Config (which is the standard across most Linux distros, but my Mandrake has always used XF86Config-4).

As for nano and pico, too bad, thought that one of them came with the Express install, but apparently not. You'll have to manage with vi (unless XFdrake works out).

What do you mean, fglrxconfig did not work? Did it not run? Or did you reconfigure the driver and there was not change? If it did not run, what message did it give?

fglrxconfig did not run at all, the message I got was that it was not found but.... On to the good news I finally got Mandrake to boot up and finally I see its nice desktop . Thanks motub for all your help any suggestions on what I should do first in MDK 9.2?

1. The very first thing one should always do when installing Mandrake is to add external software sources to your Software Media Manager, so that you can easily download and install additional programs for Mandrake.

The very easiest and best way to add additional external sources to the SMM is to go to the Easy URPMI website at http://urpmi.org/easyurpmi/index.php. Follow the instructions there to add as many sources as you want to your SMM. When you get to the part where it gives you the lines to "type in the console as root". you should: open a terminal, type 'su' (without the quotes), then type the root password, and hit Enter. Your prompt should change from a "$" sign, which indicates a user, to a "#" sign, which indicates root access. Then copy each individual line from the result on the webpage (from "urpmi.addmedia" to "hdlist2.cz"), paste that line after the prompt in the terminal with CTRL-Shift-V, then hit Enter. You will see the repository being added, then will be returned to the prompt. Repeat for each repository you have listed in Easy URPMI (or of course, you could type every line by hand, if you want).

2. Go to the main menu=>Amusements (or Games, I forget)=> Arcade and play some Frozen Bubble. Don't forget to turn your mixer applet up; the music is one of the best things about the game, and it's a nice reward for having gotten the system running.

3. If you want to install the binary ATI drivers for 3D hardware acceleration (for some reason I thought you had them installed already, but clearly not if fglrxconfig isn't found), then what you should do is go to http://www.gmpf.de/english/ and http://www.rage3d.com/content/articles/atilinuxhowto/ and read the instructions on how to install the ATI drivers. I used the ones at http://www.gmpf.de/english (I didn't know about the other site yet), and found they worked quite well for installing the drivers under Mandrake. You need to install the kernel-sources (which you can do from RPMDrake (Install Software) in the Mandrake Control Center--just make sure you download and install the version which matches your running kernel (most likely 2.4.22-10, but check with a 'uname -r' in a terminal), and of course you need to download the drivers from either http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html (if you want to install the current 3.7.0 drivers) or http://www.schneider-digital.de/html/download_ati.html (if for some reason you'd rather install the older 3.2.8 drivers, which are reported to work slightly better with Wine/WineX, if that's important to you).

That ought to be enough to get you started. Have fun!

Thanks for all your help motub! So far i love MDK. I have allways wanted to run linux now I am!

One last question under RPMdrake the only kernal-source I see is for 2.4.22-28mdk, I am running 2.4.22-10mdk. Does this mean i have the kernal-source already installed or must I go else where to download it?