how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

scg · 2007-01-04 19:42:39

Hi there,

I got an Siemens lifebook, with a S3 video chip and I'm stuck with getting X to run.

What did I do ?

I pacmanned :-) xorg and kde and tried to act like described in WIKI:

hwd -xa

After the line "Generating and installing X" gther follow these lines:

****glibc detected ***** lshwd: double free or corruption

in the backtrace :
/lib/libc.so.6

Do you have an idea how to carry on, or do you have similar experiences ? What can I do ?

Greez

scg

arooaroo · 2007-01-04 19:48:49

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xorg gives 'xorgconfig' or 'xorg -configure'.

It's strange about hwd not working though.

scg · 2007-01-04 20:19:56

Hm, I used xorgconfig now, it generated a xorg.conf.

When I "startx", I get the message:

Failed to load module "savage" (module does not exist, 0)
No drivers available

Fatal server error:
No screens found

Why savage ? Well, I thought I use "lspci", its an onboard graphic on a Siemens Lifebook, and I get:

VGA compatible controller: S3 Inc. VT8375 [ProSavage8 KM266/KL266]

What do you think, where shall I continue ? (sorry for my dumb question)

Millzee · 2007-01-04 20:28:47

I don't think the Savage drivers are included when one downloads xorg with pacman. Have you used: pacman -S xf86-video-savage yet?

EDIT: To explain, if your card is being detected as an S3 Savage card, you'll need those drivers rather than xf86-video-s3 drivers.

arooaroo · 2007-01-04 22:06:31

Ah yes, the joys of the modular xorg build. It means you have to install the specific drivers package for your card. Nice that you don't download and install irrelevant resources, but a pain for getting xorg to run out-of-the-box with no effort.

bones · 2007-01-04 23:24:47

VGA compatible controller: S3 Inc. VT8375 [ProSavage8 KM266/KL266]
Exactly the same as mine, xf86-video-savage is the one that works for me,

scg · 2007-01-06 08:34:09

OK, I installed the savage driver package and ran (as root)

X -configure

I took the resulting xorg,conf.new to /etc/X11 as xorg.conf.

When I startx as a user, the laptop screen stays black.

When I run

xdpyinfo

I get

unable to open display ""

When I enable "startkde" in ~/.xinitcr, the KDED configuration dialog comes up, but in a poor resolution.

In a way, X seems to work basically, but I suppose the resolution is at 640*480.

At /var/log/xorg.0.log I can't find any errors (EE), just 3D warnings, which shouldn't bother.
BUT..... it seems the X is taking mode 111 (640*480), but my 14" laptop would like 117 (1024*768).

Can you tell me, where and how I can switch the resolution in X ? I read about the "Displaysize" in the Monitor Section, but I couldn't figure that out. The funny thing is, I have a second laptop running, with 1024*768 (vesa driver), and there is no DisplaySize in its Monitor section, but this machine is running at the correct resolution. Strange.

SiD · 2007-01-06 08:41:30

you can set the resolution in the screen section.

This is the screen section of my xorg.conf with 1280x800 resolution

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Default Screen"
        Device     "ATI Technologies Inc RV350 [Mobility Radeon 9600 M10]"
        Monitor    "LCD-Display"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     4
                Modes    "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     4
                Modes    "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     8
                Modes    "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     15
                Modes    "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     16
                Modes    "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     24
                Modes    "1280x800"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

scg · 2007-01-06 09:02:21

OK, I completed the xorg.conf with

Modes   "1024x768"

, after a startx as user KDE comes up, the screen looks now as if 1024x768 is used. KDE starts with very big and ugly fonts, and the most important thing.... the mouse pointer can move only in the 640x480 area.
I cant' remember that setting up another arch box was such a big problem half a year ago. :cry:
Do you have experienced similar probs ? And the main question.... how can I get X running properly ? :shock:

BTW: xpdyinfo still shows

unable to open display ""

scg · 2007-01-06 10:17:04

the other ting is.... when I take a look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log, I find a line

(**) SAVAGE (0): DRI ist enabled
(--) SAVAGE (0): Chose mode 111 at 60 Hz.
(II) SAVAGE (0): virtualX:640, virtualY:480

I think that explains the "small" screen size that X uses, but...... how can I affect it ? There is mode 117 which should be the right one, but.... how to enable it ?

SiD · 2007-01-06 10:37:25

have you installed?

xf86-input-keyboard
xf86-input-mouse

for the font problem you could try this:
- start the Xserver with dpi=96
- set the dpi to 96 in KDE Control Center
- aktivate Anti-Aliasing in Control Center

to start the Xserver with 96dpi, add "-dpi 96" to the defaultserverargs varible in /usr/bin/startx

defaultserverargs="-dpi 96"

if you start KDE with KDM you can add "-dpi 96"
to the ServerCmd Line in /opt/kde/share/config/kdm/kdmrc

ServerCmd=/usr/bin/X -dpi 96

scg · 2007-01-06 13:07:25

Yes, I have installed the input drivers.

Is' a pity, hwd crashes at recognition and leaves an uncomplete xorg.conf.hwd. If I take it, I get a message

data incomplete in xorg.conf
At least one Device section ist required...

And indeed, the Device section is missing :cry:
It comes, because the lshwd -ox crashes at detection of the onboard multimedia audio controller:

lshwd -ox
...
00:11.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies Inc. IVT82C568B USB (uhci_hcd)
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies Inc. IL7VTA v1.0 Motherboard (KT400-8235) (snd_via82xx)
**** glibc detected **** lshwd: double free or corruption (!prev) 0x080541f0)
====== Backtrace: ======

Looks like a problem with a linked list, maybe a driver missing ? Hm.....

And when I use X -configure, the resulting xorg.conf.new lets the machine run only with 640x480 (or is it even less ? maybe 320x240)

What could I do, friends ? In a way I'm a little bit, let's say "stuck"

scg · 2007-01-06 13:38:30

:idea: :idea: :idea:

Gentlemen, I have X up and running. The fonts are a little bit blurry, but I can continue at that point and figure out, how to improve it.

What did I do at last ?

Well after checking whether th correct drivers are installed (input-keyboard and input-mouse), I found out, that I need a S3 savage driver for the card. Thanks at that point for the hint.

I used

lspci

Via pacman i could install the right driver.

After that I goofed around trying hwd and X -configure. Unfortunately none of the both could help completely. So I tried the "old" xorgconfig". And ..... this generated config works. I just have to improve the fonts.

At that point thank you for sharing your experience and for the friendly assistence. I learned a lot and that I really appreciate.

CU

Arch Linux

#1 2007-01-04 19:42:39

how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#2 2007-01-04 19:48:49

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#3 2007-01-04 20:19:56

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#4 2007-01-04 20:28:47

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#5 2007-01-04 22:06:31

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#6 2007-01-04 23:24:47

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#7 2007-01-06 08:34:09

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#8 2007-01-06 08:41:30

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#9 2007-01-06 09:02:21

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#10 2007-01-06 10:17:04

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#11 2007-01-06 10:37:25

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#12 2007-01-06 13:07:25

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

#13 2007-01-06 13:38:30

Re: how to start with X on a ordinary laptop

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