[ale] Nvidia Geforce 2 on Dell Inspirion 8100 "Good News"

John R. Allgood john at turbocorp.com
Fri Mar 26 12:34:34 EST 2004


My thoughts exactly. The weird thing is that when I would use xdpyinfo 
to get information about the X server. I would say that I was running 
@1600x1200 at bpp 24. In which I was clearly not.  I ever tried running 
startx -- -bpp 24 and still wouldn't work. Didn't even give me no errors.


Dow Hurst wrote:

> Whoa there!  A BIOS update fixed this?  Why would this matter?  Are 
> the newer kernels and XFree86 using BIOS info by default to get video 
> card info now? Could it be that disabling ACPI on boot would have 
> fixed this without the BIOS update? Why wouldn't XFree query the video 
> card directly?  This is something bothering me alot now since it seems 
> that the support of older hardware is getting spotty.  My old Dell 
> Latitude was best supported for video and sound under SuSE 7.1 and not 
> SuSE 8.x-9.0.  Isn't that a step backwards?  Sorry to sound hotheaded 
> but this issue is beginning to bug me since we preach that all you 
> need is some old hardware to run Linux.  Or, that the old hardware 
> will be useable longer, but actually that isn't the case like you'd 
> think.
> Dow
>
>
> John Allgood wrote:
>
>> Hello Ale Folk
>>         All my attempts to edit the config file were in vain. Last 
>> resort BIOS Update. Guess what that fixed my problem. 1600x1200 @ 
>> 24bpp looks great. Thats for all the input.
>>
>> John Allgood - ESC
>> Systems Administrator
>>
>>
>> Mike Murphy wrote:
>>
>>> Disclaimer: usually all of my attempts at editing XF86config end 
>>> with me beating my head on my desk until I bleed, but....
>>>
>>> SubSection "Display"
>>>     Depth     24
>>>     Modes    "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" 
>>> "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
>>> EndSubSection
>>>
>>> Looks like to me the biggest resolution that's defined in your 
>>> config file is 1400x1050
>>>
>>> Also:
>>>
>>> Section "Monitor"
>>>     Identifier   "Monitor0"
>>>     ModelName    "Dell 1400x1050 Laptop Display Panel"
>>>     HorizSync    31.5 - 90.0
>>>     VertRefresh  59.0 - 75.0
>>>     Option        "dpms"
>>> EndSection
>>>
>>> Did it detect the right monitor. Some of what you describe may be 
>>> because the HorizSync and VertRefresh values might be wrong. Don't 
>>> tinker with those though (although, on an LCD I doubt you can 
>>> actually damage anything that way). They should be listed in the 
>>> technical specifications for your laptop somewhere.
>>>
>>> Kudzu or whatever made that config seems to think that your display 
>>> is 1500x1050 "native". Is it? Does it run ok at that? Also, 
>>> generally when I update or install a new release, I try to make sure 
>>> I save a copy of this file, just in case (but see the first 
>>> paragraph above). I don't suppose you still have your old one, do you?
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> John Allgood wrote:
>>>
>>>> When the laptop was running Redhat 7.3 I could achive anything up 
>>>> to 1600x1200 running at 24bit color. Now I am running at 1280x1024 
>>>> @ 8bit. Eventhough my XFree86 Config says otherwise. If I use the 
>>>> default "nv" driver I get the full resolution but not a full 
>>>> screen. I also did a quick install of Suse and downloaded the 
>>>> nvidia driver from their site still the same issue. I think the 
>>>> video card is too old for the newer versions of XFree86 and Linux. 
>>>> This notebook is nearly three years old. And in computer terms 
>>>> thats a lifetime. Here is a copy of my XFree86 file.
>>>>
>>>> Dow Hurst wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> What did the card achieve with the older drivers?  It is probably 
>>>>> a XF86Config syntax problem.  You want to post your file?
>>>>>
>>>>> John Allgood wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello Ale
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     I have been working all day trying to get the NVIDIA drivers 
>>>>>> to work correctly on Fedora Core I. I have downloaded from the 
>>>>>> NVIDIA site and installed the drivers not a single problem. I 
>>>>>> then configured my XF86Config file to use the nvidia module. The 
>>>>>> problem is that I can't get any color depth or resolution greater 
>>>>>> than 1280x1024. I have tried to install older versions of the 
>>>>>> driver same result. This driver worked great under Redhat 7.3. I 
>>>>>> even tried to go back and install the drivers before NVIDIA came 
>>>>>> out with the unified driver. I may drop back to Redhat 9.0 and 
>>>>>> see if I get the same results. Anyone got any ideas.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>
>>>>>> John Allgood - ESC
>>>>>> Systems Administrator
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>>>> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> # XFree86 4 configuration created by redhat-config-xfree86
>>>>
>>>> Section "ServerLayout"
>>>>     Identifier     "Default Layout"
>>>>     Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
>>>>     InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
>>>>     InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
>>>>     InputDevice    "DevInputMice" "AlwaysCore"
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "Files"
>>>>
>>>> # RgbPath is the location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the 
>>>> name of the # file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  
>>>> There is normally
>>>> # no need to change the default.
>>>> # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated 
>>>> together)
>>>> # By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server 
>>>> independent of
>>>> # the X server to render fonts.
>>>>     RgbPath      "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
>>>>     FontPath     "unix/:7100"
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "Module"
>>>>     Load  "dbe"
>>>>     Load  "extmod"
>>>>     Load  "fbdevhw"
>>>>     Load  "glx"
>>>>     Load  "record"
>>>>     Load  "freetype"
>>>>     Load  "type1"
>>>> #    Load  "dri"
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "InputDevice"
>>>>
>>>> # Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with 
>>>> xset(1))
>>>> #    Option    "Xleds"        "1 2 3"
>>>> # To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
>>>> #    Option    "XkbDisable"
>>>> # To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
>>>> # lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.
>>>> # keyboard, you will probably want to use:
>>>> #    Option    "XkbModel"    "pc102"
>>>> # If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
>>>> #    Option    "XkbModel"    "microsoft"
>>>> #
>>>> # Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
>>>> # For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
>>>> #    Option    "XkbLayout"    "de"
>>>> # or:
>>>> #    Option    "XkbLayout"    "de"
>>>> #    Option    "XkbVariant"    "nodeadkeys"
>>>> #
>>>> # If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
>>>> # control keys, use:
>>>> #    Option    "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:swapcaps"
>>>> # Or if you just want both to be control, use:
>>>> #    Option    "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:nocaps"
>>>> #
>>>>     Identifier  "Keyboard0"
>>>>     Driver      "keyboard"
>>>>     Option        "XkbRules" "xfree86"
>>>>     Option        "XkbModel" "pc105"
>>>>     Option        "XkbLayout" "us"
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "InputDevice"
>>>>     Identifier  "Mouse0"
>>>>     Driver      "mouse"
>>>>     Option        "Protocol" "PS/2"
>>>>     Option        "Device" "/dev/psaux"
>>>>     Option        "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
>>>>     Option        "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "InputDevice"
>>>>
>>>> # If the normal CorePointer mouse is not a USB mouse then
>>>> # this input device can be used in AlwaysCore mode to let you
>>>> # also use USB mice at the same time.
>>>>     Identifier  "DevInputMice"
>>>>     Driver      "mouse"
>>>>     Option        "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
>>>>     Option        "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
>>>>     Option        "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
>>>>     Option        "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "Monitor"
>>>>     Identifier   "Monitor0"
>>>>     VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
>>>>     ModelName    "Dell 1400x1050 Laptop Display Panel"
>>>>     HorizSync    31.5 - 90.0
>>>>     VertRefresh  59.0 - 75.0
>>>>     Option        "dpms"
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "Device"
>>>>     Identifier  "Videocard0"
>>>>     Driver      "nvidia"
>>>>     VendorName  "Videocard vendor"
>>>>     BoardName   "nVidia GeForce 2 Go"
>>>>     VideoRam    32768
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "Screen"
>>>>     Identifier "Screen0"
>>>>     Device     "Videocard0"
>>>>     Monitor    "Monitor0"
>>>>     DefaultDepth     24
>>>>     SubSection "Display"
>>>>         Depth     24
>>>>         Modes    "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" 
>>>> "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
>>>>     EndSubSection
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>> Section "DRI"
>>>>     Group        0
>>>>     Mode         0666
>>>> EndSection
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Ale mailing list
>>>> Ale at ale.org
>>>> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>> Ale at ale.org
>>> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>
>>
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>>
>




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