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I did a brief search for this but seems like someone has to have addressed it already. Please excuse if I have overlooked something.
I have been compiling my own kernel and tweaking xorg.conf to get AGP and DRI working in X, but during my quest I had to modularize framebuffer support. Whenever I select 'Y' framebuffer support 'agpgart' goes from 'M' -> '---' (which is 'Y' ?) (hope that makes sense).
I tried making an initrd (mkinitrd -m i915:agpgart) and modifying the lilo kernel entry to include 'vga=791' hoping this would give me a nice resolution CLI and still retain the DRI enabled X.
Any pointers?
I am running Slack11 on dell Latitude d820, i945GM, WXGA.
not sure if this is helpful - it seems that agp is not a module now, but i915 is?
I'm not an expertise of graphic cards, so ...this is a random ordered list of stuff you should check.
Intel i915 chipset could be a PCI express based bus, so i would enable such module in your kernel first.
You need to enable your mobo specific agp-chipset (ie i810, Sis, Via, Ali or whatever), in doubt enable every agp specific module, this won't hurt your system.
In order you can see what modules are available on your system just type as root
modprobe -l
the output will show you the list of available modules (either loaded and not loaded). You could find a little more handy something like
modprobe -l | grep -i agp
If you can find the agpgart module and your chipset specific agp module on such list, I would try loading the modules manually, may be you're experiencing a sort of PnP problem.
If using a 2.6 kernel, make sure you've udev enabled, otherwise it is possible your /dev/agpgart node is not created.
it seems my kernel compile did not go as planned. I didn't think any of the sound modules from OSS should be there. Or maybe these reflect ALSA compatibility mode?
# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/sda
#message = /boot/boot_message.txt
bitmap = /boot/pix/liloslack.bmp
bmp-colors = 0,255,127,255,0,0
bmp-table = 120p,170p,1,15,17
bmp-timer = 255p,431p,255,0,0
prompt
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
#vga = 773
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/sda2
label = Windows
table = /dev/sda
# Windows bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda8
label = Linux
read-only
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.19.1 vga=791
initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
root = /dev/sda8
label = lnx2.6.19.1
read-only
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.19.1c
root = /dev/sda8
label = lnx2.6.19.1c
root = /dev/sda8
label = lnx2.6.19.1c
read-only
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda9
label = SmallSlack
read-only
append="resume=/dev/sda7"
# Linux bootable partition config ends
another thing about the kernel, for some reason it have a clock skew (currently 1.7e5 seconds in the future) and I always get the 'your build may be incomplete warnings'...
i notice that if I select intel framebuffer support in graphics support, the option for intel support under AGP becomes '---' and I can not modify it anymore. But I think it must use the same driver and so uses only the value shown in graphics support ('M') ?
I think my basic problem here is not understanding how to make the initrd correctly. Is my syntax correct:
# mkinitrd -m i915:agpgart
?
Or are there any other modules to load to enable a framebuffer?
So...
definitely you did not compile the agp driver as loadable module since it doesn't appear in "modprobe -l" output.
I don't know if you just forgot enabling agp support or if there something else wrong, but if correctly enabled you should see something like "agp aperture is 64 M @ bla bla.." and "agp Intel 945 bla bla" on dmesg output.
Lilo:
I suspect, your section
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.19.1 vga=791
initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
root = /dev/sda8
label = lnx2.6.19.1
read-only
is not valid
I'd try
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.19.1
initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
root = /dev/sda8
label = lnx2.6.19.1
append = "vga=791"
read-only
instead, or enabling vga=791 in the general section, so it will be available for other kernels. Please note you disabled ALL vga options in your general section.
As for the clock skew, I get that on occasion when my system time gets out of whack, either from a hung boot or whataver.
Before doing your compile, check that your system time (look at the date too ) is correct at boot, and do 'make clean' and 'make mrproper' before starting the compile.
If the system time has been (very) out of whack for a while, either ahead or back, you may have to fix the time, THEN freshly re-extract the kernel source again and then do the above steps to start fresh.
Make sure if you have a .config you want to keep, backup it before the MRPROPER.
By following the above method, I got rid of all my 'clock-skew' error messages.
SV
@GrapefruiTgirl - thanks! that fixed it.. What happened was I was writing some code in the windows on this machine and had inadvertently set the date way ahead (the program was supposed to do something q24hrs so I kept incrementing the time) then I switched over and started playing with my kernel. After make clean/make mrproper i get no more clock skew problems
@ urka58: thanks for the lilo.conf pointers, I have really not done much work in lilo.conf before. Guess I need to do some more reading
Quote:
Please note you disabled ALL vga options in your general section.
where/how did I do that?
I would prefer to keep the fb console a kernel specific option until I get it working with one kernel, then I'll make it available to all.
Again, many thanks - Slack forums are the best!
(edit- an update, after fixing the aforementioned kernel compile errors)
so I tried this:
Code:
# modified 2-5-07
# 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/sda # where boot sector is located
#message = /boot/boot_message.txt
bitmap = /boot/pix/liloslack.bmp
bmp-colors = 0,255,127,255,0,0
bmp-table = 120p,170p,1,15,17
bmp-timer = 255p,431p,255,0,0
prompt # require user to select option
timeout = 1200 # set autoload interval
compact # make adjacent block calls
lba32 # 32-bit Logical Block Addresses
# allows booting to > 1024 cylinder partition
append = "resume=/dev/sda7" # hibernate on swap partition
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
vga = normal # Normal VGA console
# End LILO global section
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/sda2
label = Windows
table = /dev/sda
# Windows bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.19.1a
initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
root = /dev/sda8
label = Current-lnx2.6.19.1a
addappend = "vga=791" # use 1024x768x64k fb
read-only
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.19.1c
root = /dev/sda8
label = Oldlnx2.6.19.1c
read-only
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda8
label = SlackHuge26.s
read-only
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda9
label = SmallSlackHuge26.s
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends
additional comments are from doing some reading (man lilo.conf) to clarify for me.
when I run:
Code:
root@bcslk:/boot# /sbin/lilo
Added Windows *
Fatal: APPEND or LITERAL may not contain "vga="
so I read more:
Code:
vga=<mode>
This specifies the VGA text mode that should be selected when
booting. It may be specified as a global option. The following
values are recognized (case is ignored):
normal: select normal 80x25 text mode.
extended (or ext): select 80x50 text mode.
ask: stop and ask for user input (at boot time).
<number>: use the corresponding text mode. A list of available
modes can be obtained by booting with vga=ask and pressing
[Enter].
If this variable is omitted, the VGA mode setting contained in
the kernel image is used. (And that is set at compile time using
the SVGA_MODE variable in the kernel Makefile, and can later be
changed with the rdev(8) program.)
it seems that vga may not be set as a local option, and so I am confused about how to proceed.
If i compile in the framebuffer (to set the kernel defualt), I will lose DRI, does the initrd get around this?
my continued gratitude.
<edit - another update>
So I modified lilo.conf in the globals to use vga=791, then i did:
ran /sbin/lilo and all seemed good. But when I tried to boot my kernel what used the ramdisk, my screen just went black. The HD light was on, but did not flicker (like usual) during a bootup.
So I went back to my old 2.6.19.1c and lo and behold with the global option for vga=791 I got a framebuffer console.
So I go into X and try glxgears, no good, DRM is having problems.
Code:
perry@bcslk:~$ glxgears
libGL error: open DRM failed (Operation not permitted)
libGL error: reverting to (slow) indirect rendering
1715 frames in 5.1 seconds = 336.335 FPS
XIO: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
after 5871 requests (41 known processed) with 0 events remaining.
perry@bcslk:~$ glxinfo | grep dir
libGL error: open DRM failed (Operation not permitted)
libGL error: reverting to (slow) indirect rendering
direct rendering: No
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
perry@bcslk:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
i915 18048 1
drm 67732 2 i915
snd_seq_oss 31488 0
snd_seq_midi_event 6400 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 48336 4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 6796 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 39584 0
snd_mixer_oss 15360 1 snd_pcm_oss
ipv6 218016 16
snd_hda_intel 16920 1
snd_hda_codec 161968 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm 64900 3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
i2c_i801 7180 0
serio_raw 5892 0
snd_timer 19972 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 45412 11 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer
tg3 100740 0
snd_page_alloc 7944 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
perry@bcslk:~$
I exit/restart X and DRI is now working??? Without the AGP module...
I believe there are some serious compatibility problems between the vga framebuffer and newer video cards and/or drivers. I would go with vga=normal for best results.
Maybe the newer X11R7 solved it ?
Last edited by H_TeXMeX_H; 02-05-2007 at 06:44 PM.
A lot of newer cards/drivers, mine included, will not work with DRI.
Also, agreed with the last poster that framebuffer support clashes with some cards and newer drivers, again mine included (nVidia GeForce4 MX440 AGP8X).
I am currently using vga=771 in my lilo.conf, which gives me a nice console during and after boot, because my new nVidia AGP driver will not install if there is framebuffer support built into the kernel. I do have the Linux AGPGART built into the kernel, but my card has a hardware one as well; the driver docs suggest using the Linux one, and if that fails, to resort to the built in one.
I compiled the kernel using the VGA-VESA console support, but NO framebuffer devices (Intel, vesafb, rivatnt etc..).
For a while there I thought all hope was lost as far as a 'high'-resolution console plus using the new nVidia driver.
Right now glxgears runs at about 1428 FPS @ 1600x1200x24bit and that's with dual screens going off the same card.
Another question, what was that graphics card again?? Built on, or plugged in? I ask because you *may* want to look in your BIOS and make sure it is set for AGP as opposed to PCI. Continuing good luck
SV
I do have the Linux AGPGART built into the kernel,
yes, thats originally what I'd had going to, where I built in the agp, but could not get it to work.
Quote:
I compiled the kernel using the VGA-VESA console support, but NO framebuffer devices (Intel, vesafb, rivatnt etc..).
^ maybe where I fumbled, I think before was compiling in the i915 agp support for FB.
Quote:
Another question, what was that graphics card again??
i945GM
Quote:
BIOS and make sure it is set for AGP as opposed to PCI.
haven't thought to check that yet, because I do get DRI, etc. working as long as I don't try to get DRI and a framebuffer, but I will look when I get a chance.
thanks for your insights and progress report of your own. I have since recompiled kernel and just left out FB support because I was trying to help another person out and wanted to assure myself of the settings that worked.
i'll retry this fb thing without selecting the i915 stuff and see how that goes.
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) is correct at boot, and do 'make clean' and 'make mrproper' before starting the compile.
