1. Re: Suggestions and Stuff (& Linux)
I remember there was some related mails on that subject, (march,12) but
maybe this will help:
first, don't trust the X-configurator for successfully configuring
everything. I must say
it's buggy. (I also have an ati card). Xconfigurator is a program that
simply edits the
ascii configuration file "XF86Config". on red hat's system it's in
/usr/X11/lib/X11/ .
The best help I found is the man page: " man XF86Config" gives you all
options you
can write in the file.
what happened to me is that xconfigurator writes some sections but doesn't
uncomment them!
stupid behavior.
so you will have to edit the file (with vi? if you want some help for vi
just ask; I don't use emacs)
in the section "Monitor" just write the true values from your monitor's
documentation, for HorizSync
and VertRefresh, and keep the modes you want to use.
in the section "Device" just see if something you answered was commented out
(line begins with # )
...that was the case of my VideoRam .
And at last the "Screen" section:
driver: I think it was "accel" for accelerated graphic drivers
device: it should have choosen the right one: probably mach64, like mine.
monitor: the name (identifier) of the monitor section that you defined.
subsection "Display" : IMPORTANT:
you put there all the resolutions you want to keep (The X-server
automatically removes those that don't match
to the defined monitor. so you can leave incorrect one present). but it
always tries to start in 256 colors
(depth 8), so that it fails if you defined only 64K- or 16M colors depth.
If you want to work with more than 256 colors, (to use Gimp, for example)
you must add the statement
DefaultColorDepth 24 (or 16) before.
You can switch between resolutions (in the same color depth) with the keys
<Ctrl>-<Alt>-<Numeric+> and
<numeric-> . If you happen to completely lock your X-server, you can kill
him with <Ctrl>-<Alt>-<Backsp.>
I just re-installed everything on my new disk, red hat 5.2 and Xfree 3.3.3
and all works fine. If you
have some trouble, see to get the last Xfree release, they continuously add
new drivers. I can now
use my monitor in the best resolution, 1152x864. great.
hope this helps, and have fun!
Riwal Raude
rauder at thmulti.com
----------
From: Ralf Nieuwenhuijsen
To: EUPHORIA at LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: Suggestions and Stuff (& Linux)
Date: Thursday 1 April 1999 11:58
<snip>
[Linux]
Ok, I've been able to install Linux, without loosing my normal data.
(borrowed Partition Magic 4) and it resides on a different
partition, lilo-bootmanager, etc. Now to the problem, I can't seem to get
X-Windows up and running. And I kind of dislike the
bash-shell. I can get around a little, but this is not what I had in mind.
I've installed XFree86, because it seems to be more a
standard than the Metro-X Server, however each time I start X, it goes blank
and a few seconds later I'm looking at the
linux-login again. Xconfigurator, sets up my Ati-card right (it seems), but
the real issue, I think is my monitor. Whenever a
resolution is changed, it goes blank. This is most likely due to bad H/V -
Syncs, setup. But my range: 50 - 120 is not any of
the default ranges, and the Xconfigurator says, I can _either_ choose any of
these industry standards or choose a _custom_
range. But how do I choose a custom rate ?
I suspect I need to be editing the configuration file myself, but where is
it ? And are there any better text-mode editors in
(red-hat, Hurricane release) Linux than edlin ?
Thanks for any help, I now some of you have installed Linux successfully, so
if you could help me, please do.
Also, does any one know some good beginner references, all I've learned from
the bash shell is from its help and info commands,
and just trying out. I've noticed I have multiple consoles available to
login, this is normal ? (chosen with Alt+F1/F2/F3
depending on how many consoles are already open)
Ralf
