RE: Xfree86 Problem
I don't know about "X-pert", but your problem sounds to me like a
misconfiguration of the /etc/X11/XF86Config file.
As kind of a "nut shell" explaination:
The X server looks in the file to figure out "what you want" and "what
it can give you". In your case, it is unable to find a "legal"
combination.
There are three sections that are relevent to your problem:
The "Monitor section", the "Graphics device section", and the "Screen
sections".
You can edit this file by hand. Just be sure that you first save a copy
(ie: As root do something like "cd /etc/X11/", then "cp XF86Config
XF86Config.orig"). Double and triple check any changes or entries that
you make -- this is the one file that WILL allow you to do physical
damage to your machine (depending upon your monitor)!!
There will be several entries in the "Screen sections" but only one of
them will match the xserver that you have installed (ie: The "Driver"
entry will be "svga" or whatever). The rest of that entry tells you
what else you need to check. Make a not of the "Device" and the
"Monitor" values given.
Look at the "Display" Subsection(s). There should be an entry for a
"Depth" of "8", "16", "24", and maybe "32". Lets worry about the "8"
first as once everything is working you can then deal with the higher
plan mode. The 'Subsection "Display"' for depth 8 should look something
like this:
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
# Omit the Modes line for the "Generic VGA" device
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
# Use Virtual 320 200 for Generic VGA
EndSubsection
The order for the mode entries is not important other than the fact that
the server will try to establish the modes from right to left.
Be sure that you have the "640x480" entry.
Now take a look at the Device section and look for an entry like this:
# Device configured by xf86config:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Q-Graphics 64"
VendorName "TriGem"
BoardName "QGraphic64"
#VideoRam 4096
Ramdac "att20c498"
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
# From X -probeonly >/root/xprobe 2>&1
Clocks 24.99 28.32 39.34 71.91 49.99 76.49 35.95 44.26
Clocks 127.51 118.07 78.70 31.16 108.61 63.74 73.65 93.49
EndSection
There will be one entry with the comment "Device configured by
xf86config".
The "Identifier" value (in my example "Q-Graphics 64" should match the
device in the screen section).
Unfortunately, this is a section that you DO NOT want to play around
with without doing a goodly amount of reading of the docs included in
the XF86 source. You entry may look quite a bit different than mine but
for now lets assume that xf86config "got it right" (a probable
assumption for now - except for the clocks). The comment above the
"Clocks" line(s) tells you how to probe for clocks but again, I have to
tell you that you need to look in the docs (including the X man pages)
because you do not want to probe for some types of video cards.
Now take a look at the monitor referenced in the screen section.
The critical lines are:
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
HorizSync 30-50
...
VertRefresh 50-100
The preceding two MUST NOT exceed the capability of your monitor.
There will be a "whole bunch" of "ModeLine" entries. Besure that there
is a mode line entry for "640x480".
You will need to check to see that there is one where the vertical and
horizontal frequencies fall within the range given for "HorizSync" and
"VertRefresh".
Basically, the error message that the xserver is giving you is that it
can not find a legal mode line. That is, when it looks at the monitor
mode lines that match modes given in the Screen section that is being
used, it can not find a mode line that is allowed. There are FOUR
things that the server is looking for: A Horizontal scan rate that is
legal for the monitor, a Vertical scan rate that is legal for the
monitor, a Video clock that is legal for the video adapter card, and a
mode line that matches one of the Screen mode lines.
One of the reasons for you to be sure that you are asking for "640x480",
Depth of 8 is that this request is sure to be supported by the card.
Higher resolutions and screen depths may fail for other reasons -- such
as insufficient video memory or exceed the capability of the card in
other ways.
best,
-bill
Dave Jones wrote:
> I got the Debian release on the cd-rom that came with the BOOT
> magazine this November. Everything runs great except my X server.
> have tried SVGA, VGA-16 and the accelerated servers for the W32
> chipset in the xfree86 packages. None of the servers will start. I
> even downloaded new ones...
> The setup works fine but when I run startx, it says "no screens
> available" or some such. It finishes with an error "111" I can't
> get any more info because the screen scrolls by when it is trying
> to start. I have tried 2 different cards with no luck.
> I have a REAL IBM with 16 mb RAM, 20 mb swap space on a 486 dx2/66
> Any X-perts out there with any ideas I can try? Thanks
>
> Dave Jones
> <warrior71@usa.net>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
debian-user-request@lists.debian.org .
Trouble? e-mail to templin@bucknell.edu .
Reply to: