I almost forgot, maybe you can use vga_switcheroo.

I append the draft of an how-to.

jostber: I tried removing the intel driver, but startx still wouldn't work. I looked around for the older version of the intel driver listed, but I haven't found it yet. (slackpkg search only displays the most recent version)

Didier: Switcheroo looks promising, though when I mounted the debug file system, I didn't get a /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo directory. It won't let me create a directory there. I did see messages about detecting the switching method and vga_switcheroo being enabled when I ran grep switcheroo /var/log/messages.

You have a list of drivers you can check out here

http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/dri...6-video-intel/

Thanks jostber. I had been looking around pkgs.org but wasn't having any luck. I tried downloading the older version of the xf86-video-intel package that the link specified, but I couldn't get it to compile properly. I was getting a bunch of warnings about things being deprecated, and a few errors.

In any event, I've finally got my system working like it was when I started. Removing the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file made by running xorgsetup got startx working properly again and removing nomodeset from my /etc/lilo.conf[/I] file has returned my higher resolution. I'm pretty happy to just have things back to the way they were at the beginning, which is almost working without a hitch. So long as I set lilo to run on every boot, I think I'll be fine. I realise it's not an elegant solution, but it'll do for me for now.

Unless I am not understanding the problem, I think the solution is to tell lilo to use "vga = normal" (no vesa mode), comment out the bitmap stuff, and also use the standard menu, message = ... like:


# Boot BMP Image.
# Bitmap in BMP format: 640x480x8
# bitmap = /boot/slack.bmp
# Menu colors (foreground, background, shadow, highlighted
# foreground, highlighted background, highlighted shadow):
# bmp-colors = 255,0,255,0,255,0
# Location of the option table: location x, location y, number of
# columns, lines per column (max 15), "spill" (this is how many
# entries must be in the first column before the next begins to
# be used. We don't specify it here, as there's just one column.
# bmp-table = 60,6,1,16
# Timer location x, timer location y, foreground color,
# background color, shadow color.
# bmp-timer = 65,27,0,255

# Standard menu.
# Or, you can comment out the bitmap menu above and
# use a boot message with the standard menu:
message = /boot/boot_message.txt

# Wait until the timeout to boot (if commented out, boot the
# first entry immediately):
prompt
# Timeout before the first entry boots.
# This is given in tenths of a second, so 600 for every minute:
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# 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
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
#


not so fancy, but can work.

WhiteHotLoveTiger,
The post by Didier Spaier shows the core issue. Based on your Xorg.0.log, you have 2 graphics drivers fighting each other. There is no way "automagical" configuration is going to work. Kernel parameters are pointless in this case. This is also why your framebuffer goes blank duing boot. The kernel is selecting the wrong output instead of the laptop's LVDS/LCD. I bet if you were to stick a second monitor to the VGA laptop port you will see that one fire up during boot!

You need to

1. set up a full xorg.conf to route each driver to a separate screen linked to a separate monitor.
2. disable one of them in the BIOS
3. find a hardware/software switch you can select either before boot or before startx
4. struggle with Optimus which sucks...

If I were you, since the intel driver is a bit weak, I wouyld disable it in BIOS to force just nouveau (or use the nvidia blob). That way, you don't have to do any weird workarounds or load any odd software. You'll loose a bit of battery life, but so what?

Have fun.

From my BIOS:Why didn't I look at the BIOS sooner? I think it was mentioned earlier as part of Didier's post...

I tested multiple boots with both the discrete and the integrated modes selected, and it works just like it should! Finally.

Thanks everyone for helping me with this, and thank you kingbeowulf for really spelling it out for me.

I am happy it works. And I hope that this thread can help other people in a similar situation - bearing in mind though that the remedy must be tailored to the disease ;)