Support for Intel 845G (Brookdale) graphics
Hi,
I recently got a computer with Intel D845GRG
mainboard.
It has onboard video, sound, and ethernet support.
I needed to do a few things to make Debian
stable/Woody
work with it:
Apparently, the ethernet controller needs to have a
2.4.19 kernel. After replacing a boot floppy kernel
with the 2.4.19 one, then the eepro100 module
loaded, and I could continue the network install.
But, the video support has been more of a problem.
According to this web site, the Intel 845 series of
graphics chips will not be supported until XFree86
version 4.3.0 is released:
http://www.xfree86.org/~dawes/845driver.html
Some people suggested using the VESA driver. But,
when I did that, X would display its screen ONCE.
If I tried to CRTL-ALT-F1 to switch to a virtual
console, then CTRL-ALT-F7 to switch back to X,
then X would no longer display. Also, X would not
display anything if I reset it. In other words:
1. Reboot system
2. startx (X starts up)
3. CTRL-ALT-Backspace (X shuts down)
4. startx (X starts up BUT fails to display
anything.)
So, the VESA driver was not much use. I had more
success with the fbdev driver. I needed to build
the kernel with all the framebuffer support (as
described in the Framebuffer Howto) then I chose
vga=0317 in LILO to start the system with a 1024x768
with 16 bpp. With this, X was more stable (I could
switch to a virtual console, then back to X safely.)
But, this seems to lack the hardware OpenGL support
that the 845G can provide.
I loaded both Red Hat 8.0 and Mandrake 9.0 and
notice that they both seem to support the 845G
graphics natively with the i810 XFree86 module.
Both RH and Mandrake are using XFree86 4.2.x.
I am wondering if they backported the 845G driver
support to their versions of XFree86?
I would love to learn if their is any way to get the
native 845G driver (i810) to run in a Debian package
of XFree86.
Failing that, I guess I could just get the latest
XFree86 from CVS (it contains 845G support in the
i810 driver) and build it, but I am unsure which
Debian X packages will be influenced by it.
Thanks,
Doug
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