Re: MSI N210 graphics card causes boot failure
Sven and Camaleón:
Thankyou for the replies and suggestions. I have made some
progress. See below.
On Sat, Dec 31, 2011 at 04:41:11PM +0100, Sven Joachim wrote:
> On 2011-12-31 16:31 +0100, Camaleón wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 31 Dec 2011 07:30:30 -0700, Dean Allen Provins, P. Geoph. wrote:
> >
> >> My nVidia GeForce 6600 GT card started to act up, so I purchased an
> >> inexpensive MSI N210 card (which uses the 210 nVidia chipset). The
> >> salesman said I'd be happier with it!
> >>
> >> Sadly, after the the initial boot sequence lines of text (in regular VGA
> >> font) appear, the screen goes blank, and the disc stops working. It
> >> appears that the "fine print" boot messages are lost at that time. Is it
> >> possible the card does not support alternative VGA text formats?
>
> Hardly, I dare say.
>
> >> Does anyone know why this happens, or what if any incompatibilities
> >> there are between the current Debian release and this card? Any
> >> suggestions for an alternative card would also be welcome (high "gaming"
> >> performance is not needed).
> >
> > Before anything, I would try these steps:
> >
> > 1/ Rename any current "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" file (if any) and let Xorg to
> > auto-configure the card.
>
> This will not help, since there is a problem with the kernel module.
>
> > 2/ Boot with KMS disabled (append "nouveau.modeset=0" at boot's kernel
> > line).
>
> That should work around the problem. If possible, use a second machine
> to log in via ssh and run "rmmod nouveau; modprobe nouveau modeset=1"
> then.
Apending "nouveau.modeset=0" at boot time allowed the boot to proceed
normally. "gdm" popped up a graphical screen as expected, BUT, the
resolution was 800X600.
As "root", I then executed "rmmod nouveau; modprobe nouveau modeset=1"
which caused a loss of X (screen went black) and a loss of the mouse.
The keyboard continued to function allowing me to "halt" the system.
I was unable to bring up one of the 6 text screens, and had to work
blindly.
I examined the /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old (new MSI card) and compared it to
the /var/log/Xorg.0.log (old 6600 card). It appears that the "nouveau"
module may not have been used. The "VESA" module seems to be the module
of choice and all the higher resolutions were disabled.
> Sven
It seems that the "nouveau" modeset=1 does not function as expected.
To your knowledge, are there alternative settings that one might use;
or do you recommend the binary nVidia driver?
Thanks,
Dean
--
Dean Provins, P. Geoph.
dprovins@alumni.ucalgary.ca
http://www.telusplanet.net/~provinsd
KeyID at at pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371: 0x9643AE65
Fingerprint: 9B79 75FB 5C2B 22D0 6C8C 5A87 D579 9BE5 9643 AE65
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