I am interested in installing Slackware on a new Dell with a flat screen monitor. I tried other distros and noted problems with X dealing with the monitor. I am, however, able to run Slax live CD with good results. Is this a reasonable test of the computer's ability to run a GUI in Slackware? I don't know how compatible Slax is with Slackware in that regard.

you might want to tell us what problems you were having with the monitor.

Most are related to video card, Xorg, or Grub/Lilo.

This will be somewhat distro specific on install, but if it works on one it should work on all, with some tweaking.

soule

Slax uses a 2.6.x kernel as boot, and Slackware still has a 2.4.x kernel, so there could be a lot of differences on this test.

Why the legendary fear to install Slackware? It isn't that difficult! Come on! Bring those CD's and install it at once

Actually, I've installed Slackware on a few other older computers; this is the first Linux/Unix installation I've done with a flat screen, though, and having previously fried monitors with other Linux distros (not Slackware), I'm growing more cautious in my old age (plus its the wife's computer this time.)

I tried a few live CD distros (Feather, Puppy 1.0.6, FreeSBIE, MEPIS and Slax) on the Dell. I think the problem is how Xfree handles the monitor vs Xorg. The versions of Feather, Puppy and MEPIS that I tried all use Xfree. Feather and FreeSBIE had distorted miscolored images, Puppy was the same till I brought the resolution down to 640x480@16 bits, and MEPIS defaulted to 640x480. Slax, on the other hand, was able to provide much better resolution. After checking Distrowatch and comparing the X versions, I think that I should be OK with Slackware 10.2, since its the same X version as Slax.

Windows XP is able to handle 1024x768, 32 bit @ 60 mhz.

I agree that there seems to be this odd fear of installing Slackware. If you can do without the fancy graphics, its actually much easier and more configurable than many other distros out there.

Hi,


What problems did you have with X on the other distros?


[QUOTE]I am, however, able to run Slax live CD with good results. Is this a reasonable test of the computer's ability to run a GUI in Slackware?[/QUOTE

If you are using a flat screen lcd, you should use the xorg.conf-fbdev by saving the original xorg.conf then cp xorg.conf-fbdev xorg.conf.

Then set the HorizSync and VertRefresh in /etc/X11/xorg.conf to your monitor specifications.


My monitor settings for a ICPower CM2019 LCD are;

HorizSync 31.47 - 80.
VertRefresh 60.0 - 75.0

Yours should be set to your LCD specifications. You could google for the specs if you don't have the manual.

As for Slax compatible to Slackware, Slax was derived from Slackware. The current kernel for slax is 2.6. You can select 2.4 or 2.6 kernels for slackware at the insall. Slax is a live-cd and it has minimal install. You could use it with a hard disk install to get familiar with linux. I prefer Slackware for my needs. I've used slax to recover several systems. Just to experiment! You can use the Slackware cd1 to do the same. Slax has some utilies built in so that would be an advantage to boot the live-cd.

As for the X system, Slax does some hardware detection and uses some vanilla setups. PV used xorg and supplied a general X setup with xorg.conf-vesa, xorg.conf-fbdev and stock xorg.conf configuration files. The user must decide or use the ones provided. You will still have to edit the xorg.conf file to setup your local need when you use slackware.

HTH!

Or just... install Slax?