I solved my SavageIX problems with DRI and blank screens by adding some options under xorg.conf "devices" but whenever I logout from KDE the screen goes dead and ctrl-alt-f2 does nothing at that point however I can log out by ctrl-alt-f2 then ctrl-alt-f1 then ctrl-x-c to shutdown the X-term.
It's not a big deal but is this a KDE/slack 12 bug or am I missing something?

Do you usually run in init level 4 or level 3?

runlevel is 3

Are you trying to enable 3D acceleration with that savage card? If so, that may be contributing to the problem. I have found that when I'm running compiz and ctrl+alt+F* to another tty, and go back to number 7 it's all black and won't clear. And that is with the Nvidia driver installed. Just as an experiment, try using just the fbdev driver for X and see if you still have the problem. And disable all the DRI and all the other 3D stuff.

I have the same problem.
One workaround is.. If instead of closing xwindows normally I ctl-alt-F1 back to the term I ran startx from , then just ctl-C it kills off xwindows and I can still use the pc locally, and if I want, I can running startx to get back into xwindows again.
however, it is a bit of a clumsy workaround, It should be possible to just shutdown xwindows normally. If anyone finds a configuration fix, that would be great. I had no problems with stack ll and xwindows with a custom 2.6 kernel on the same hardware.
update.

a tidier workaround is to comment the Load "dri" line in xorg.conf. that fixes the logout freeze up - but disables dri so glx is half the speed. It still is quick enough for movies, but I'll keep hunting for a way to get dri and no logout lockup with the s3 graphics

Would you please link or elaborate about your Savage problems? I'm experiencing some troubles with my Savage video chip under Slack 12. Thanks!

I am having the same problem. My T23 laptop with 3D enabled Savage graphics will not let me jump out of the X windows system. Only black screen remains

I can use Ctrl+alt+Del or disable 3D acceleration but these aren't an elegant solution ......

I've had this problem on my NEC Lxi laptop too ever since replacing slackware 11 with Debian 4 on it.
I think this has to do with the new xorg and kernel modules for dri.
I couldn't boot into init 4, only 3.
If I booted into init 4 then the laptop would lockup and I had to reset it.
I'll try and see if I can go between X and console without crashing with my current configs and will report back here.

yep!I installed slk 12 few days ago.lots of problems happened and lots were fixed.and now I am more familiar with my laptop now.thanks Pat.

But then,a serious problem came up and I have spent days greps the Internet trying to fix it!I have the exact problem of logging out the kde,when dri enabled!If dri is disable,everything is fine except that 3D acceleration is lost.Beacuse my T20 laptop has just a PIII 700 and savage IX of APG2x and 8M ram,I can not loss 3D function or I will feel I am robbed!

Now comes my result:

1.when DRI module is loaded and use by X,when logging out KDE,the screen is black ,whit some radom dots on it.I think it is the screen problem,some guy in this forum says his screen shows "signal out of range",and he fix his problem by setting the vga=788 in lilo.conf. So,i think it is a problem of reseting the screen mode when kde logout.but I don't konw howto do it,anyont help me...

2.I use to think it is my bios problem ,but when i tweaked all the display related options in bios setup,problem just exists.

3,I change vga=normal in lilo.conf ,still not working.

4,I use XFace wm,problem show up when logout!

------------------------
now I only have backup solutions as you guys have,but all of them are not elegant enought,so I am still hunting the final solution,anyone who's good in X system plz help us!

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/OTF"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "xtrap"
Load "glx"
Load "extmod"
Load "dbe"
Load "GLcore"
Load "dri"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "thinkpadintl"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
### Comment all HorizSync and VertRefresh values to use DDC:
HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
VertRefresh 50.0 - 70.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
### [arg]: arg optional
#Option "NoAccel" # [<bool>]
#Option "AccelMethod" # <str>
#Option "HWCursor" # [<bool>]
Option "SWCursor" "True" # [<bool>]
#Option "ShadowFB" "True" # [<bool>]
#Option "Rotate" # [<str>]
#Option "UseBIOS" "False" # [<bool>]
#Option "LCDClock" # <freq>
Option "ShadowStatus" "True" # [<bool>]
#Option "CrtOnly" # [<bool>]
#Option "TvOn" # [<bool>]
#Option "PAL" # [<bool>]
#Option "ForceInit" "True" # [<bool>]
#Option "Overlay" # [<str>]
#Option "TransparencyKey" # [<str>]
#Option "DisableXVMC" # [<bool>]
#Option "DisableTile" # [<bool>]
#Option "DisableCOB" # [<bool>]
#Option "BCIforXv" # [<bool>]
#Option "DVI" # [<bool>]
Option "BusType" "AGP" # [<str>]
#Option "DmaType" # [<str>]
Option "DmaMode" "None" # [<str>]
Option "AGPMode" "2" # <i>
#Option "AGPSize" "32" # <i>
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "savage"
VendorName "S3 Inc."
BoardName "86C270-294 Savage/IX-MV"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Thought you all might be interested in my solution for this.

When I put Slack 12.0 on my T23 laptop I couldn't get DRI to work. Kept getting a message when starting X "error: drmMap of framebuffer failed (Invalid argument)". I solved this by upgrading to kernel 2.6.22.5 which was the latest at the time I did it.

This left me with the problem of freezing with a black screen when I logged out of KDE. I've just solved this by upgrading xf86-video-savage to version 2.1.3. I downloaded the source from an xorg mirror and compiled it myself then replaced /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/savage_drv.so and savage_drv.la with the new versions.

Works great for me. If anyone needs any help or more information just let me know.

Same problem.. It doesnt happen every time but its quite often. When i logout from KDE the screen stays blank/black with some random lines and it just stays that way. Tried with CTRL + ALT + BACKSPACE to shutdown X, but the keyboard is also death.

It happens mostly after playing games alot or after demanding alot of resources from the graphic card, mostly with 3D progrmas or games.

Also a Laptop, but with intel graphic card

All of you are unable to shutdown with ctrl+alt+bcksp ??

btw, ATI(AMD) just released the specs to their cards, so you can expect much much better support for their cards pretty soon.

Your solution via compiling the driver works for me thanks !