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XFdrake can't configure tnt2 ultra in mdk-8.1


Guest ndeb
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I discovered this strange bug of XFdrake in mandrake-8.1 while trying to configure my tnt2 ultra 32MB.

 

lspci output shows:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Riva TnT2 Ultra [NV5] (rev 11)

which means the system detects it just fine.

 

XFdrake (I have XFree86-4.1.0-21mdk) also detects the card just fine but during X testing it tries to probe and then fails with the message "an error has occurred ...". It fails with resolutions as low as 640x480x8bpp !! It also reports only 4MB of video RAM. This is very ironic because if I keep the settings of failed X test and use the resultant XF86Config-4 file, X starts up fine and the X log shows 32MB of detected memory as well. Must be a bug in XFdrake itself and not in X.

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Guest Mandrake_Mouse

Does the card perform ok? Are you able to run GL apps and such? Just wondering, because I had the same problem with MDK 8.2, and had to install the new nvidia drivers to fix it. Works fine with 9.0 though.

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The card works fine on mdk-9.0 (both nv and nvidia). In fact, it works fine on mdk-8.1 (with the stock nv driver). As I said, the problem is only with XFdrake, not X itself. XFdrake reports an error during X-test, reports only 4MB video RAM but creates a XF86Config-4 file that allows X to start normally.

 

I looked at the file /var/log/XFree86.9.log (generated by XFdrake during X-test) and it ends with these lines:

(==) NV(0): Write-combining range (0xd4000000,0x2000000)

(**) NV(0): DPMS enabled

 

Fatal server error:

Caught signal 11.  Server aborting

The log file also reports:

(--) NV(0): VideoRAM: 32768 kBytes
So, it must be a communication gap between X and XFdrake libraries. In other words, a bug of XFdrake.

 

Just as a clarification, ur problem is different from mine since mine has nothing to do with the nvidia binary drivers.

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I remember 8.1 being buggy. In fact, it was the worst Mandrake that I can remember. The joke was how buggy 8 was, and then 8.1 seemed worse, not better!

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I still use LM8.1 as my workhorse. I didn't bother with 8.2 because of the missing RPM fiasco. LM9.0 is also still marked experimental on my system (at least until I get everything I use under 8.1 running on it).

 

Anyway, your best bet for 8.1 is to install the nvidia binaries by hand. If you use XFDrake you will have to edit the XF86Config-4 file by hand and get rid of the illegal 32bit screen modes it puts in there.

 

Glitz.

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If you use XFDrake you will have to edit the XF86Config-4 file by hand and get rid of the illegal 32bit screen modes it puts in there.

Thats another XFdrake bug that was there for a long time. I just ran XFdrake on a PCI video card. It created a config file with no illegal 32 depth section which means this bug has been removed.

 

But in the device section there is the line:

Option "AGPMode" "true"

Its impossible for a PCI video card to utilize AGP. This bug was there in mdk-8.2 as well. Who knows when this bug will be fixed ?

 

Its very easy to distinguish between AGP and PCI devices. The XFree86 utility scanpci scans the PCI+AGP buses and the BUS_ID is reported (in /var/log/XFree86.n.log, where n is a number) in a:b:c format, where a,b,c are numbers. For PCI, a=0 and for AGP, a=1.

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What is the chipset of your motherboard??? I had a system (still do it's in the attic) which had an ALi 1541 chipset and it had problems with the TNT2 chipset. The nVidia drivers would not work for me except re-builds that I made from the Source RPMs. It would also flake out on me during AGP usage,...

 

You need to check out the documentation in the nVidia drivers for conflicts like this. Often that is the problem. I would suggest trying to rebuild drivers from earlier source RPMs for your particular verson of MDK Linux.

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What is the chipset of your motherboard??? I had a system (still do it's in the attic) which had an ALi 1541 chipset and it had problems with the TNT2 chipset. The nVidia drivers would not work for me except re-builds that I made from the Source RPMs.

Is the question is for me ? If yes, I was using stock nv driver. As I have said, its about bugs in XFdrake, not bugs in the X server or X driver. In the examples I gave, the X server and X drivers are working fine. Its XFdrake that does stupid things.

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