While working on the issue of updating to luci255, I discovered that the fix for the black screen on the problematic Intel 82845/i915 graphics controller is not staying in effect long enough, causing the problem to return after a successful bootup.
The cause is the "sundown" factor I included, to ensure the fix did not remain if the graphics card were removed. It expired after 30 seconds, on the assumption that is was needed only for initialization of the controller at bootup. But it appears to also be needed when X is restarted.
The included package changes the sundown technique so the the fix remains throughout each puppy session. Please include it in Luci before releasing 5.2.1. Otherwise, Luci can still be a problem for the affected users, only more randomly than with no fix for the problem.
EDIT: When I boot from the 257 CD, I do not see a problem with the black screen, even after the fix (an options statement for i915) is removed for the session. But it does occur consistently when I test the modem-modprobe package. So, something seems to trigger reloading of the i915 module during X-server restart, in that environment. Therefore, while it does not appear to be a problem in 257, it appears that it is possible that the module has to be reloaded, so needs the fix in place all the time -- I just can't see it in 257.
With that stated, I will understand if you choose to not include this corrected fix, at this late point in the release cycle. I can include it in the modem-modprobe package, if necessary, where it seems to be essential.
Another thing I have observed in my testing are error messages in /tmp/xerr.log related to the i915 DRI files:
The messages also occur with the original 257. Should those files be present? It would seem to defeat the purpose of including i915, if pieces are missing.(EE) AIGLX error: dlopen of /usr/lib/dri/i915_dri.so failed (/usr/lib/dri/i915_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory)
(EE) AIGLX: reverting to software rendering
(EE) AIGLX error: dlopen of /usr/lib/dri/swrast_dri.so failed (/usr/lib/dri/swrast_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory)
(EE) GLX: could not load software renderer
Thanks for all your effort with Luci.
Richard