Re: ati video problem


Subject: Re: ati video problem
From: Keary Suska (hierophant@pcisys.net)
Date: Wed Nov 14 2001 - 00:27:19 MST


Note: G3 is a "new world" mac--you probably should not be using bootx, but
yaboot/ytbin instead.

You can get video without a video driver, but if X tries to use the driver,
it may fail miserably (which seems to be the case). This article in the FAQ
might be useful: http://lppcfom.sourceforge.net/fom-serve/cache/1043.html
Also, xfree86.org has a list of known supported drivers and configuration
information.

In yaboot, you specify kernel arguments as:
    append="list-of-arguments"
In my case, I pass:
    append="video:aty128fb:vmode:20"
(This could work for you, but you would get 1280x1024 at 8 bit color)

Getting the correct vmode/cmode arguments can be a real pain, but if you get
video on linux boot you are probably in the clear. It may take some trial
and error to get the right combo.

I have seen articles dealing with ATI/AGP issues while searching for a
solution to my video problem. www.google.com can be a good resource for
finding such information, and they have a linux-specific search engine.

Keary Suska
Esoteritech, Inc.
"Leveraging Open Source for a better Internet"

> From: Michael Tucker <mtucker@eecs.harvard.edu>
> Reply-To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
> Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 00:31:19 -0500 (EST)
> To: Yellow Dog Linux <yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com>
> Subject: Re: ati video problem
>
> Hi Keary,
>
> I have tried both Xconfigurator and Xautoconfig4, but neither have
> worked. As for passing in the correct video driver to the kernel at boot,
> I am using BootX, but I haven't specified any kernel arguments at
> all! They don't appear to be needed on my 8600, does anyone have a
> recommendation for what would be an appropriate argument for this card? I
> just assumed that since I didn't need one to get video working on the
> 8600, I wouldn't need one here. Is that not the case?
>
> Thanks!
> Mike
>
> PS I will take a look at /proc/pci when I reboot into linux and see if it
> matches up with the XF86config-4 file.
>
>
> On Tue, 13 Nov 2001, Keary Suska wrote:
>
>>> From what I can tell, it means your XF86config-4 is misconfigured. The
>> default screen section (the first in the list unless specified on command
>> line) may be referencing a device that isn't defined, or the device defined
>> does not match your card device. cat /proc/pci for the device spec. In the
>> config file, you specify the device as "PCI:bus:device:function". Make sure
>> your default screen references the identifier for this device section. Also
>> make sure you are passing the correct video driver to the kernel at boot
>> (yaboot/ybin)
>>
>> Have you tried running Xautoconfig4? It might be able to create the correct
>> config file, but I have little faith in that from my experience. Video
>> handling on PPC linux is terrible, and it may be pure luck if you ca get it
>> to work. But if it worked once, it may work again. Just not the way you
>> might want or need it to :-\
>>
>> The Xfree86 project has excellent documentation on the configuration file:
>> http://www.xfree86.org/
>>
>> Keep in mind that Xautoconfig will overwrite XF86config-4 with every
>> invocation, and I am not sure how to tell it to force certain configuration
>> options. If you are not using it, that's probably not a problem.
>>
>> Keary Suska
>> Esoteritech, Inc.
>> "Leveraging Open Source for a better Internet"
>>
>>> From: Michael Tucker <mtucker@eecs.harvard.edu>
>>> Reply-To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
>>> Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 20:42:12 -0500 (EST)
>>> To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
>>> Subject: ati video problem
>>>
>>> Hey,
>>>
>>> I am still having difficulty getting a 16MB ATI card to work on a beige
>>> G3 minitower. I am using the same card, and now the same XF86config-4
>>> file to no avail. I get the following when I "startx":
>>>
>>> scrolling text, blank screen, beep, followed by:
>>>
>>> (II) ATI: ATI driver (version 6.2.3) for chipsets: ati
>>> (II) R128: Driver for ATI Rage 128 chipsets: ATI Rage 128 RE (PCI),
>>> ATI Rage 128 RF (AGP), ATI Rage 128 RG (AGP), ATI Rage 128 RK
>>> (PCI),
>>> ATI Rage 128 RL (AGP), ATI Rage 128 Pro PF (AGP), ATI Rage 128 PR,
>>> ATI Rage 128 Mobility LE (PCI), ATI Rage 128 Mobility LF (AGP),
>>> ATI Rage 128 Mobility MF (AGP), ATI Rage 128 Mobility ML (AGP)
>>> (II) RADEON: Driver for ATI Radeon chipsets: ATI Radeon QD (AGP),
>>> ATI Radeon QE (AGP), ATI Radeon QF (AGP), ATI Radeon QG (AGP)
>>> (WW) R128: No matching Device section for instance (BusID
>>> PCI:0:18:0) found
>>> (--) Chipset ATI Rage 128 RE (PCI) found
>>> (WW) ****INVALID IO ALLOCATION**** b: 0x400 e: 0x4ff correcting
>>> (II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/libvgahw.a
>>> (II) Module vgahw: vendor="The XFree86 Project"
>>> compiled for 4.0.2, module version = 0.1.0
>>> (II) R128(0): PCI bus 0 card 14 func 0
>>> (II) Unloading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/libvgahw.a
>>> (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
>>>
>>> Fatal server error:
>>> no screens found
>>>
>>> When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send
>>> the full server output, not just the last messages.
>>> This can be found in the log file "/var/log/XFree86.0.log".
>>> Please report problems to xfree86@xfree86.org.
>>>
>>> X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).
>>>
>>>
>>> Any ideas? I can send along the full log file, or check individual lines
>>> if needed.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>



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