Fedora Core 2 - Unable to initiate startx

[tpaman1975 0]

I'm gonna reference this by saying I am Linux newbie but I've been working in IT for over 10 years and know my way around a machine.

 

I have been tinkering with Fedora Core 2 since work has us going through a class right now for it. I got it working without a problem on a Dell laptop

 

Long story short.....I grabbed a Dell Optiplex SX270 desktop and loaded Fedora Core 2. After setup finished and reboot it went to launch a startx session for the first time and errored out. All the information you should need to know is listed below. My goal here is to get this thing working with at the very least a 800x600 (greater than 256 color) configuration in gnome. IDEALLY I would like to see it working at 1024x768 with more than 256 colors.

 

I was logged on as root for all of this in case you need that information.

 

MACHINE INFORMATION

 

Processor Information: Intel Pentium 4 - 3 GHz processor

Memory: 512 Mb, 400 MHz DDR SDRAM

Video: Intel 865G embedded graphics

 

ERROR INFORMATION

 

(==) Using config file: "etc/X11/xorg.conf"

(EE) I810(0): No video BIOS modes for chosen depth.

(EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

 

Fatal server error:

no screens found

 

XIO: fatal IO error 104 (connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"

 

In the xorg.0.log file it lists several modes, the one I want is listed as Mode: 54 (1024x768) but I haven't the slightest idea how to specify this. I did play with some minor settings in xorg.conf and could get gnome working in a 640x480 configuration with 16 mil colors but it just isn't that functional that way. <Smile>

 

Anyones assistance is greatly appreciated. If you need more assistance please feel free to email me directly at clineto@yahoo.com

[Dapper Dan 0]

I had the same problem with a new Dell PC that had on board video with Mandrake 9.0.

I too could only get 640x480 resolution.

 

I decided rather than try to fight it, to go with a new Nvidia card with 128 memory. Not only would I get better graphics, but the card itself would help ease the machines resource use.

 

Now I don't know if that is even an option, because I know absolutely nothing about laptop hardware or even if there are Nvidia cards you can install into one. And I sure wouldn't know how to install the hardware either!

 

If that IS an option, I've installed Fedora Core 2 on two boxes with Nvidia cards and have had no trouble from either.

 

If you can't get the on board video running, and it's possible to do it, I'd snap in an Nvidia before spending too much time and frustration trying to get it working.

[tpaman1975 0]

Nope unfortunately an alternate video card isn't an option for me. This is an ultra small form factor machine.......meaning simply there are no expansion slots at all.

 

Thanks for the post though

 

Todd

[martouf 0]

I think the I810 screen driver loaded OK, and the key error message

is "No video BIOS modes for chosen depth."

 

Meaning: too many colors, not enough video RAM for requested config

 

Be sure to read the documentation on the X screen driver in case

you need to add a line in the config so the driver carves out

some system RAM to use as video RAM. The Intel 865G does not

have any RAM set aside for it's exclusive use and is given a

memory region instead.

 

run this: "X :1 -probeonly"

 

and then cut-and-paste the file it creates "/var/log/XFree86.n.log"

(where 'n' is the number reported when you run the hardware probe)

so we can have a look..

 

[martouf 0]

ah ha! Found the documentation here.

 

The 865G chipset is absolutely supported, so the problem must be

a matter of not knowing exactly which video modes the BIOS reports

are available. Once you adjust your config to use one of the reported modes,

you should be fine.

 

[tpaman1975 0]

That's what I was trying to get. I know it supports it I just need to know what changes need to be made to xorg.conf to get it to run correctly.

 

I am also running Fedora Core 2, not FreeBSD which I assume is what you are running. The log and config files are a little different.

 

[martouf 0]

no, I used a XFree86 4.3.99 system to try out what I was asking you to do

and the underlying OS was SuSE 9.1.

 

Of course there are differences, every distro has a similar but different

idea on naming and where-in-the-filesystem-is-carmen-sandy-logfile. 8)

 

Your problem may be caused by your BIOS. There are a number of reports

online from people having the same problem with GX270 and SX270 systems.

 

A first try would be to make a BIOS setup change:

Enter the BIOS setup, go to 'Integrated Devices', then to

'Onboard video buffer'. Change it from the default 1Mb to 8Mb.

 

If you're comfortable flashing a new BIOS, also consider up[censored]

to the "A04" BIOS now available from Dell.

 

If you're not comfortable and the vidbuffer change works for you, then just skip it.

 

The GX/SX270 systems all at one point had BIOSes which did not properly report

the amount of video RAM, thus breaking the X i865G drivers.

 

Dell has subsequently fixed this and made newer BIOSes available.

 

 

[tpaman1975 0]

Your the man :-) I had already done the A04 update and that didn't change things but you also recommended:

 

"Enter the BIOS setup, go to 'Integrated Devices', then to

'Onboard video buffer'. Change it from the default 1Mb to 8Mb."

 

That worked like a charm, much thanks to you sir.

 

Todd

 

[tpaman1975 0]

For those of you that are having similiar problems, I had a friend load Fedora on the same kind of machine. The BIOS update is necessary, the video change by itself doesn't work.

 

Thought I would note that just incase.

 

Todd