jack kinnon wrote:
Perhaps try "modprobe agpgart", or running "modconf" and selecting agp support for your i810 chipset. I'm not real sure what agpgart does.Hi folks, I am able to run my desired settings by manually editing the XF86Config-4 file, selecting i810 controller, color depth of 24.The quality of the display has improved appreciably.I am selecting some warnings, error and information fr the log. Attaching the whole file would be wasting bandwidth. (WW) I810(0): Bad V_BIOS checksum (II) I810(0): Primary V_BIOS segment is: 0xc000 (WW) System lacks support for changing MTRRs (EE) GARTInit: Unable to open /dev/agpgart (No such device) (WW) I810(0): /dev/agpgart is either not available, or no memory is available for allocation. Using pre-allocated memory only.
(II) I810(0): Not using built-in mode "1920x1440" (width too large for virtual size) 1. How serious should the error and the warning be taken? Things are working OK.
If you're happy with X, they're not serious.
You don't mention in your email what your "desired settings" are. I assume by this question that you're not running at 1024x or higher currently, and that's the way you desire it.2. Fr the (II), does it mean I cannot select a res of 1024x768 or higher? What about the DRI being disabled. What purpose does DRI serve?
It sounds like the xserver is not finding sufficient memory for higher video modes, and may be using virtual display space (I hate that), where the image is too large for the monitor, and as you move your mouse to the edges of the monitor the image scoots over to reveal the part that was hanging outside your monitor's viewspace.
I asked someone on an earlier post to this effect a week or two if they were running on a Dell with an A03 BIOS, but didn't get a response. If that was your post, and you are running on such a beast, the BIOS on that machine is broken, and is misreporting the amount of video RAM (which will also affect the resolution settings on Windows 2003 Server, btw, although "consumer versions" of Windows compensate in their drivers). Downgrading to an earlier BIOS (A01) fixes the problem, but isn't possible on the newer batch of Dell GX270s, although it works on the earlier batch. Another solution is the beta (alpha?) next BIOS release from Dell, although it isn't generally available to the public. I also think there may be some X-related settings to get around the problem, like "Option" "NoBIOS" or "IgnoreBIOS" or something similar.
Concerning DRI, it's Direct Rendering Infrastructure, and my understanding is that it's basically a way for the X system to write directly to video memory, bypassing the "normal" route, which speeds up the video subsystem substantially. Compare running TuxRacer with and without DRI enabled, and you'll be amazed. (Or get a frame-rate by running glxgears with and without DRI.)
It looks like the X system wants to use DRI, but doesn't find enough video RAM; perhaps you can set your BIOS to offer more video RAM to the system? Or perhaps you have a broken BIOS as discussed above? Or perhaps something else; after all, much of this is Black Magic, and I have very little skill/knowledge in this area.
-- Kent