Dell Inspiron 4000: Linux Install Fails
Dear User Group:
I have not been able to completely install Debian Linux
successfully on a Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop. The main
hindrance seems to be the video chip/card which is an
ATI RAGE MOBILITY M3 AGP 2X LF.
The installation was attempted with the Potato 2.2
CD set. Almost everything except the graphics terminal--
virtual terminal 7, which is detailed below, appears
functional. I had to use xserver-svga as the graphics
card driver and manually edit the attached version
of /etc/X11/XF86Config--created with xf86config--
to get a quasi-functional system. According
to the Linux free utility the system has about 256 Meg
of RAM and about 125 Meg is devoted to swap space and
about 86 Meg is free.
My main question is has anybody ever successfully
installed an Inspiron 4000 with a vanilla Potato
CD set. If not, can the problem be solved by
using an out of the box Woody or Sarge CD set ?
(i.e. References to relevant documents would be appreciated.)
The main problems with the installation are as follows:
1) Automatic reboot--with shutdown -R--doesn't work.
You need to start the machine manually.
1.1) If the machine is warm the power needs to be
cycled several times before it will boot.
2) The graphics terminal doesn't work.
When the machine is booted it comes up blank.
However all the other virtual terminals work.
The /var/log/xdm.log file indicates the X Server was
terminated because the ATI chipset is not recognized.
It thinks it is a Brooktree 476 or something like that.
3) "apt-get update" fails with the following diagnostic
when reading the package lists: "E: Dynamic Mmap ran out of room".
This happens even if the Cache-limit is set to 40000000 bytes !
As a consequence I can't conveniently update my OS version
with "apt-get dist-upgrade" and get different video
drivers. Note that sources.list has only the
"deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian stable main contrib non-free"
line enabled.
Best Regards,
Paul Romero
--
Paul Romero
RCOM Communications Software
Phone/Fax: (510)339-2628
E-Mail: paulr@rcom-software.com
# File generated by xf86config.
#
# Copyright (c) 1995 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
#
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
#
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the
# XFree86 Project.
#
# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the XF86Config(4/5) man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Files section. This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************
Section "Files"
# The location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)
#
# If you don't have a floating point coprocessor and emacs, Mosaic or other
# programs take long to start up, try moving the Type1 and Speedo directory
# to the end of this list (or comment them out).
#
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
# For OSs that support Dynamically loaded modules, ModulePath can be
# used to set a search path for the modules. This is currently supported
# for Linux ELF, FreeBSD 2.x and NetBSD 1.x. The default path is shown
# here.
# ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this is an optional section which is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load. Dynamically loadable
# modules are currently supported only for Linux ELF, FreeBSD 2.x
# and NetBSD 1.x. Currently, dynamically loadable modules are used
# only for some extended input (XInput) device drivers.
# **********************************************************************
#
# Section "Module"
#
# This loads the module for the Joystick driver
#
# Load "xf86Jstk.so"
#
# EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************
Section "ServerFlags"
# Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal is
# received. This may leave the console in an unusable state, but may
# provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in debugging
# NoTrapSignals
# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence
# This allows clients to receive this key event.
# DontZap
# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode switching
# sequences. This allows clients to receive these key events.
# DontZoom
# Uncomment this to disable tuning with the xvidtune client. With
# it the client can still run and fetch card and monitor attributes,
# but it will not be allowed to change them. If it tries it will
# receive a protocol error.
# DisableVidModeExtension
# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local xvidtune client.
# AllowNonLocalXvidtune
# Uncomment this to disable dynamically modifying the input device
# (mouse and keyboard) settings.
# DisableModInDev
# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local client to
# change the keyboard or mouse settings (currently only xset).
# AllowNonLocalModInDev
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Input devices
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Keyboard section
# **********************************************************************
Section "Keyboard"
Protocol "Standard"
# when using XQUEUE, comment out the above line, and uncomment the
# following line
# Protocol "Xqueue"
AutoRepeat 500 30
# Let the server do the NumLock processing. This should only be required
# when using pre-R6 clients
# ServerNumLock
# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
# Xleds 1 2 3
# To set the LeftAlt to Meta, RightAlt key to ModeShift,
# RightCtl key to Compose, and ScrollLock key to ModeLock:
# LeftAlt Meta
# RightAlt ModeShift
# RightCtl Compose
# ScrollLock ModeLock
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
# XkbDisable
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
# XkbModel "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
# XkbModel "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
# XkbLayout "de"
# or:
# XkbLayout "de"
# XkbVariant "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
# XkbOptions "ctrl:swapcaps"
# These are the default XKB settings for XFree86
# XkbRules "xfree86"
# XkbModel "pc101"
# XkbLayout "us"
# XkbVariant ""
# XkbOptions ""
Xkbkeycodes "xfree86"
XkbTypes "default"
XkbCompat "default"
XkbSymbols "en_US(pc104)"
XkbGeometry "pc"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Pointer section
# **********************************************************************
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/psaux"
# When using XQUEUE, comment out the above two lines, and uncomment
# the following line.
# Protocol "Xqueue"
# Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some Logitech mice
# or for the AceCad tablets which require 9600 baud
# BaudRate 9600
# SampleRate 150
# Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button Microsoft mice
# Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)
Emulate3Buttons
Emulate3Timeout 50
# ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice
# ChordMiddle
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Xinput section -- this is optional and is required only if you
# are using extended input devices. This is for example only. Refer
# to the XF86Config man page for a description of the options.
# **********************************************************************
#
# Section "Xinput"
# SubSection "WacomStylus"
# Port "/dev/ttyS1"
# DeviceName "Wacom"
# EndSubSection
# SubSection "WacomCursor"
# Port "/dev/ttyS1"
# EndSubSection
# SubSection "WacomEraser"
# Port "/dev/ttyS1"
# EndSubSection
#
# SubSection "Elographics"
# Port "/dev/ttyS1"
# DeviceName "Elo"
# MinimumXPosition 300
# MaximumXPosition 3500
# MinimumYPosition 300
# MaximumYPosition 3500
# Screen 0
# UntouchDelay 10
# ReportDelay 10
# EndSubSection
#
# SubSection "Joystick"
# Port "/dev/joy0"
# DeviceName "Joystick"
# TimeOut 10
# MinimumXPosition 100
# MaximumXPosition 1300
# MinimumYPosition 100
# MaximumYPosition 1100
# # CenterX 700
# # CenterY 600
# Delta 20
# EndSubSection
#
# The Mouse Subsection contains the same type of entries as the
# standard Pointer Section (see above), with the addition of the
# DeviceName entry.
#
# SubSection "Mouse"
# Port "/dev/mouse2"
# DeviceName "Second Mouse"
# Protocol "Logitech"
# EndSubSection
# EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of monitor sections may be present
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "My Monitor"
VendorName "ati"
ModelName "r128"
# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.
# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
HorizSync 21.5-90.0
# HorizSync 30-64 # multisync
# HorizSync 31.5, 35.2 # multiple fixed sync frequencies
# HorizSync 15-25, 30-50 # multiple ranges of sync frequencies
# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
VertRefresh 60
# Modes can be specified in two formats. A compact one-line format, or
# a multi-line format.
# These two are equivalent
# ModeLine "1024x768i" 45 1024 1048 1208 1264 768 776 784 817 Interlace
# Mode "1024x768i"
# DotClock 45
# HTimings 1024 1048 1208 1264
# VTimings 768 776 784 817
# Flags "Interlace"
# EndMode
# This is a set of standard mode timings. Modes that are out of monitor spec
# are automatically deleted by the server (provided the HorizSync and
# VertRefresh lines are correct), so there's no immediate need to
# delete mode timings (unless particular mode timings don't work on your
# monitor). With these modes, the best standard mode that your monitor
# and video card can support for a given resolution is automatically
# used.
# 31.5 - 90.0 Horizontal HZ X 60 Vertical HZ
Modeline "1400X1050" 108.00 1400 1448 1462 1688 1050 1050 1053 1066
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of graphics device sections may be present
# Standard VGA Device:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic VGA"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "Unknown"
Chipset "generic"
# VideoRam 256
# Clocks 25.2 28.3
EndSection
# Sample Device for accelerated server:
# Section "Device"
# Identifier "Actix GE32+ 2MB"
# VendorName "Actix"
# BoardName "GE32+"
# Ramdac "ATT20C490"
# Dacspeed 110
# Option "dac_8_bit"
# Clocks 25.0 28.0 40.0 0.0 50.0 77.0 36.0 45.0
# Clocks 130.0 120.0 80.0 31.0 110.0 65.0 75.0 94.0
# EndSection
# Sample Device for Hercules mono card:
# Section "Device"
# Identifier "Hercules mono"
# EndSection
# Device configured by xf86config:
Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Rage 128 (generic)"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "Unknown"
#VideoRam 8192
#Option "no_accel"
#Option "sw_cursor"
#Option "hw_cursor"
#Option "dac_8_bit"
#Option "dac_6_bit"
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************
# The Colour SVGA server
Section "Screen"
Driver "svga"
# Use Device "Generic VGA" for Standard VGA 320x200x256
#Device "Generic VGA"
Device "ATI Rage 128 (generic)"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
# Omit the Modes line for the "Generic VGA" device
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
# Use Virtual 320 200 for Generic VGA
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection
# The 16-color VGA server
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga16"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 800 600
EndSubsection
EndSection
# The Mono server
Section "Screen"
Driver "vga2"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
Virtual 800 600
EndSubsection
EndSection
# The accelerated servers (S3, Mach32, Mach8, 8514, P9000, AGX, W32, Mach64)
Section "Screen"
Driver "accel"
Device "ATI Rage 128 (generic)"
Monitor "My Monitor"
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1400X1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection
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