Bug#338766: linux-image-2.6.14-1-386: on console, i128t2r2 chipset, displays only upper half of the screen (12.5 lines in 80x25 mode)

[Miernik <miernik@ffii.org>]

Package: linux-image-2.6.14-1-386
Version: 2.6.14-2
Severity: important

I have got a PCI video card like this:

0000:00:0c.0 VGA compatible controller: Number 9 Computer Company Revolution 4 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: Number 9 Computer Company: Unknown device 0017
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 11
        Memory at e4000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
        Memory at e2000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
        Memory at df800000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        Memory at df000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
        I/O ports at b800 [size=256]
        Expansion ROM at 20010000 [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [80] AGP version 1.0
        Capabilities: [90] Power Management version 1


Its a card with LVDS output, and it drives a SGI 1600SW TFT monitor.

Up till I upgraded the kernel everything was ok, but when I upgraded the
kernel linux-image-2.6-386 2.6.12-10 -> 2.6.14-2, when in colsole mode,
I use 80x25 char mode, only the upper half of the screen displays, the
lower half is blank. Exactly half, upper 12 and a half lines are
displayed.

While blue GRUB window is displaed, full display is OK, but immidiately
after GRUB, when the kernel is booted, only half is displayed. I boot my
kernel with this line in GRUB:

kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.14-1-386 root=/dev/hdc1 ro

so there is nothing non-standard. It happens immidiately after kernel is
booted and the 13-th line of the boot sequence is displayed.

This is very strange, I have never seen something like this before.

-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: i386 (i586)
Shell:  /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.14-1-386
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)

Versions of packages linux-image-2.6.14-1-386 depends on:
ii  module-init-tools             3.2-pre9-4 tools for managing Linux kernel mo
ii  yaird [linux-initramfs-tool]  0.0.11-12  Yet Another mkInitRD

linux-image-2.6.14-1-386 recommends no packages.

-- no debconf information