Guest sairam9 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Hi, I am trying to install Mandrake 10.1 on my system (the specs for which are listed below). The problem is that the GUI of linux looks really munted, however the text based linux (when running in failsafe mode) works okay. I also have Windows XP and have got a 10GB partition for the linux installation. I need linux running on my comp really urgently! I appreciate any help regarding this problem. I think the problem may be my onboard Intel Extreme Graphics. HELP! My system (I used Lavalys Everest to extract the following): Dell Dimension 4600i Video Adapter Properties Device Description: Intel® 82865G Graphics Controller Adapter String: Intel® 82865G Graphics Controller BIOS String: Intel Video BIOS Chip Type: Intel® 82865G Graphics Controller DAC Type: Internal Installed Drivers: ialmrnt5 (6.14.10.4020) Memory Size: 96 MB Monitor Properties Monitor Name: Dell E773s Monitor Type: CRT Max. Visible Display Size: 32 cm x 24 cm (15.7") Picture Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Horizontal Frequency: 30 - 70 kHz Vertical Frequency: 50 - 160 Hz Maximum Resolution: 1280 x 1024 Gamma: 2.20 Supported Video Modes 640 x 480 135 Hz 800 x 600 110 Hz 1024 x 768 85 Hz 1152 x 864 75 Hz 1280 x 1024 65 Hz Thank you heaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Can you explain a bit more what you mean by how the screen looks? For 10.1, I suggest you download the Intel drivers for your card from Intel's website. They will probably be called something like dri-I915....... whatever the last part is I can't remember now, usually version number and date format. When you've downloaded, you need to do the following things: 1. Add this section to /etc/X11/xorg.conf Section "DRI" Mode 0666 EndSection 2. Make sure you have installed "mesa". If you're in the gui, you can just go into System/Configuration/Packaging/Install Software. Then select all option, and browse through and find Mesa. It will install some dependencies. If the screen is too bad to do this, then from a CLI, type su and supply root password. Then type urpmi mesa (if this doesn't work, it will list the mesa package(s), and you can then type more text to complete it fully - eg: mesa-1.5mdk) 3. Make sure you have your kernel source installed. As you're running 10.1 your kernel should be 2.6.8.1-12. To double check this, from a CLI prompt type uname -r (space between uname and the -r). If this is the case, then you can install your kernel source, by using the Install Software in the gui, and finding kernel-source-2.6.8.1-12. Or if it's bad, use urpmi kernel-source-2.6.8.1-12 (if the text isn't correct, just do urpmi kernel-source and it will list the available, and you can match accordingly to your kernel version). 4. You will also need to install one more package, called ed. This can be done in Install Software, or urpmi ed. Now you're ready. If you're in the GUI (X), from the CLI su and root password, then type init 3. This will change the runlevel so that X isn't running. Now, login to the system, then su and supply root password again. Switch to the directory that you downloaded the dri-I915..... file from Intel's website. Type the following command: rpm -Uvh dri-I915..... (completing the rest of the filename) It should then install. It will say that your kernel couldn't be unloaded, and that you need to reboot. So, type reboot and then see if your screen is working any better. Hope that helps, and post back if any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sairam9 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Can you explain a bit more what you mean by how the screen looks? Okay, I can see the mandrake blue, and everything seems to be displayed multiple number of times like a "smudge" on the screen going towards the right. I think there is a tux near the bottom but this is shown as about 10 overlapping tuxes "smudged"/"dragged" to the right. Also, when I type something, I do see something being entered in a textfield (like password dots, but I'm not sure as its hard to see them with the "smudge"). Basically the GUI is absolutely NOT usable. For 10.1, I suggest you download the Intel drivers for your card from Intel's website. They will probably be called something like dri-I915....... whatever the last part is I can't remember now, usually version number and date format. The biggest problem is that what I download through Windows only sits in my windows partition. I don't know how I can download something from windows (since there is no way I can use a web browser through the distorted GUI of linux currently), and store it in some place so that when I go into linux I can actually navigate to that location. I was thinking of using my USB stick to do this but linux doesn't seem to recognise the usb when its in. How can I actually get the driver in a place that I can actually get to when I'm in linux? If I can just get the driver in the right place then I'll try out the steps you mentioned. They sound like they will surely work! Thank you very much ianw1974! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 You can download the file in Windows, and then copy it to your Linux partition. This is how. First off, download the dri-I915.... in Windows, save it somewhere easy, say perhaps c:\downloads Then, boot Linux, but choose the failsafe option. Since this works fine, you only have probs with gui, we can use this for all the options we need to complete. After you've logged in, you'll be dropped at: /home/username (where username is what you set your login as eg: ian). from now no, I'll assume it's ian. OK, so we're at /home/ian (you can check this typing pwd - and it'll tell you where you are). Now, if you type cd /mnt and press enter and then type ls and enter, you'll see a directory called windows. You can cd into here too, and then into downloads, and you should be able to see the dri-I915.... file. I suggest copying this over, so type the following command whilst in the downloads directory: cp dri-I915....... /home/ian if you then type cd /home/ian and then type ls it will list the file here. Now you have this, complete the urpmi commands above in my previous post, and then you can run the download install after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sairam9 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 1. Add this section to /etc/X11/xorg.conf Section "DRI" Mode 0666 EndSection okay I have managed the copying of the dri...into linux, now in the first step of your instructions, since I don't have a gui in linux yet how can I add the abovementioned section into xorg.conf? (Also, will it do any damage if I make a backup copy of xorg.conf in say /home/ ? I tried using cat xorg.conf but that just showed me the contents of the file. I am thinking of copying this xorg.conf into a windows directory from linux and then editing this file with windows. But what I'm worried about is the newline character(s) being different in windows and it might give linux some problems if there are "unexpected characters" in the xorg.conf file! I do have Emacs on windows and I think it will probably workout the newline characters correctly, but I'm not sure. What do you advise ianw1974? Thanks heaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 You can use vi. All you do, is from CLI vi filename (filename would be xorg.conf or whatever). You will need to su and supply root password to edit anything under /etc, otherwise you can't save it. Once in vi, press the i key, and you can insert stuff. When finished press ESC, and then to write the file :w (colon and w). To quit after :q (colon q) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sairam9 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Before I could read your previous post I already went into linux and edited /etc/X11/xorg.conf with emacs. I typed in Section "DRI"Mode 0666 EndSection at the END of the file and then pressed enter to put a newline at the end of the file and then did Ctrl+X,S to save the file. I exited by doing Ctrl+Z and then checked the contents of the xorg.conf file with cat and I saw my addition at the end of the file. Then I did the steps you gave and everything seemed to go fine (it asked me to put in the installation cds to install the packages), but then when I went rpm -Uvh dri... it gave me the following error message. ERROR: AGPGART module did not compileERROR: AGPGART module did not compile - AGP module turned off in kernel?? ERROR: Kernel modules did not compile The DRI drivers cannot be installed without the latest kernel modules. Installation will be aborted. See the dri.log file for information on what went wrong. Package is installed, but not configured. You'll need to use rpm -e to remove this package before re-installing. I tried going into the linux gui again after this and its still the same distorted screen as before. What can I do?! Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Can you check that in /usr/src there is a file called linux. Type ls -l at the prompt and it should have something that looks like follows: [ian@ianlinux src]$ ls -l total 4 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Jun 2 14:52 linux -> linux-2.6.8.1-24mdk/ drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4096 Jun 2 14:51 linux-2.6.8.1-24mdk/ drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 17 Jun 1 12:16 RPM/ [ian@ianlinux src]$ The linux -> is a sym link to the kernel source. Make sure you have this. If you don't, then within this directory type: ln -s linux-2.6.8.1-24mdk linux substitute my version numbers with your version numbers. Afterwards, can you type the following command (make sure you su and supply root password first): lsmod | grep agpgart It should point to something. This is a sample of mine: [root@ianlinux src]# lsmod | grep agpgart agpgart 27752 4 intel-agp [root@ianlinux src]# intel-agp is my module for the driver on my laptop, which is an Intel Extreme 82852/82855. You can check this, by going to /etc and typing the following (sample of mine): [root@ianlinux etc]# cat modprobe.preload # /etc/modprobe.preload: kernel modules to load at boot time. # # This file should contain the names of kernel modules that are # to be loaded at boot time, one per line. Comments begin with # a `#', and everything on the line after them are ignored. # this file is for module-init-tools (kernel 2.5 and above) ONLY # for old kernel use /etc/modules intel-agp [root@ianlinux etc]# You will need to run the rpm -e dri-I915..... before you can reinstall it. Hope this helps. Post back your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helmut Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 (edited) May sound stupid, but are you sure you've entered the correct graphics card and monitor during install? You can check easily by looking up in the MCC. It is found under "configure the computer" . Cheers, Helmut Edited June 17, 2005 by Helmut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sairam9 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Just tried what you said and yes I've got the sym link file thing called "linux" and lsmod | grep agpgart gives me a similar output except the filesize is different and instead of the "4" mine's says 1. And in /etc the file "modprobe.preload" has the same things as your modprobe.preload file. What else can I do? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 OK, let's double check your card is configured correctly. su to root, and then type mcc. Go into the display, and check the resolution is configured fine. Mine is configured to Intel 85x, try the same and see how you get on. You will probably need to use a combination of arrow keys and the tab key to navigate your way around. After you've done this, reboot into X and see if the display is any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sairam9 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 OK, let's double check your card is configured correctly. su to root, and then type mcc. Go into the display, and check the resolution is configured fine. Mine is configured to Intel 85x, try the same and see how you get on. You will probably need to use a combination of arrow keys and the tab key to navigate your way around. After you've done this, reboot into X and see if the display is any better. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi ianw1974, Just before I try out the above, can you reassure me that my windows xp display will not be affected by the above? Thanks heaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 You'll be doing it in Linux, and not changing in XP, so it'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sairam9 Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Sorry I went to sleep I'll try some combinations with mcc > Display now. By the way when you select "Test" in mcc > Display, is it the same as rebooting into X? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 The test option allows you to check and test that you have the correct display settings, and if it doesn't look right, you can change and test it again. Make sure your monitor is also set correctly. If the model isn't listed within the list of monitors, then use a generic one (stay at 60hz for now and increase until the display stops working, then go back one). Or, if you have a flatscreen, choose Flat Panel and set the resolution accordingly and check and test to make sure all is OK. It could be a combination of both, or either the display driver, or monitor settings which are causing your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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