Hi,
note: this is not specific to exprimo !! also encountered on Slacko and others.
here on pentium IV + video chip description:
- 2.0 VGA compatible controller
Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE
Chipset Integrated Graphics Device (rev 01)
oem: Intel(r)845G/845GL/845GE/845GV Graphics Chip Accelerated VGA BIOS
product: Intel(r)845G/845GL/845GE/845GV Graphics Controller Hardware Version 0.0
what happens:
- on all exprimos (first tested was 5X14 with k2.6.39.4) (but also on slacko ans wary ...this is not specific to exprimo) black screen upon X server restart (this is common using that very Brookdale video chip)
details:
- when booting for 1st time (pfix=ram), X desktop displays OK; when setups are done (keyboard, locale, time) the user is asked to restart X; here begins the "story". The behaviour of X looks to be unpredictable, sometimes it starts OK; some other times only a few icons together with the tray bar are displayed on a black background; some other times there is only a black screen with only the mouse cursor (moving according to mouse displacements).
- I get a X desktop OK when booting on a squeezesave file (even if that file has been created after getting a "black desktop" upon pristine boot - as when doing Ctrl-Alt-BackSpace, it is asked to make a save file).
- running on a squeezesave file and doing an X restart often returns a black desktop; doing Ctrl-Alt-BackSpace and once in console mode, (only !) xwin (not xorgwizard to avoid xorg.conf rewriting ...!), sometimes works and returns the X desktop again, sometimes not,...Then the only solution is to return to console mode ( doing Ctrl-Alt-BackSpace ) and once in console mode, do reboot ...
This was already the case during forum member 01micko's Slacko development - a long story...- He has to edit the xorgwizards script including some lines specific to the Brookdale video chip hardware.
extract from /usr/sbin/xorgwizard Slacko 5.3.1, line nr. 1497 and following
Code: Select all
...
# MHHP 110910, If Brookdale, run /usr/sbin/BROOKDALE with whatever fixes needed #added 110918 01micko
BROOKYRUS="`lspci|grep -iE "vga"|grep -iE "Brookdale"`" #adjusted test 110924
if [ "$BROOKYRUS" ];then
#Added dialog choice #cowboy 111002 replace "systwm" w "configuration"
CHOICE="It seems you have an Intel Brookdale graphics adapter. \nThere are known issues with these. You should ensure \nthat Video Memory is set to 8 M in your computer's BIOS. \nAfter setting up X it is a good idea to install \n\"mesa\" from the Puppy Package Manager. If you choose \n\"Yes\" then a modification to your configuration will \nbe made to try to improve things. If you are not sure \nchoose \"Yes\". \nPlease Choose, you can always run \"xorgwizard\" \nlater if you have problems."
dialog --title "Brookdale enhancement" --yes-label "Yes" --no-label "No" --yesno "$CHOICE" 0 0
case $? in
0)[ -f /usr/sbin/BROOKDALE ] && . /usr/sbin/BROOKDALE ;;
*)echo ;;
esac
fi
...
This is like a "stone in the boot": it does not avoid to use exprimo (or others), I can live with it ...
Thanks considering this.
Cheers, Charlie