Date: Sun, 6 May 2001 00:08:47 -0700 From: "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com> To: "Sue Blake" <sue@welearn.com.au>, "DAC" <usmc1@dslextreme.com> Cc: <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: RE: Configuring X Message-ID: <007a01c0d5fb$64debb40$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com> In-Reply-To: <20010506112319.C6584@welearn.com.au>
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>-----Original Message----- >From: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG >[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Sue Blake >Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2001 6:23 PM >To: DAC >Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG >Subject: Configuring X > > >On Fri, May 04, 2001 at 08:04:28PM -0800, DAC wrote: >> Is there a default video card selection , my video card is built into >> the motherboard (I dont know who makes the MB ) this is a Compaq >> Deskpro pentium 100 , if anyone knows where to go from here or where >> to look on the MB please let me know ,sorry to bug 'ya > >If you run the X configuration program and cannot identify your video >card (or whatever it is) in the list, you can't tell X how to speak >to it. When faced with that problem myself, if nobody else can >suggest anything, I've used the generic Super VGA settings (can't >remember what they're called). > It's the SVGA server. Actually, SVGA is very good about probing and identifying a lot of different video cards out there. Since most of the video servers are in SVGA, this is the best one to select when your not sure of the video chipset. In many cases you don't need to identify the video chipset or card. Generally, you don't use the speciallized video servers unless you really need a specific feature that is in them, or you have problems with SVGA. The trend in Xfree86 is to implement brand new video chipsets in separate servers then over time migrate them into SVGA. >Sorry, I'm not the person to ask, I've been installing FreeBSD for >years and always get stumped on X setups no matter what the brand >of Unix, because I always seem to get whacky hardware that nobody >knows about. The current machine for example runs only 640x480 8bpp >or text console mode because I have no manual for the no-name monitor. > If your lucky enough to have a fairly modern video card with a programmable dot clock that the X server knows how to program, then X setup is really easy. All you do is run the graphical setup utility and then at the monitor section select the lowest-end SVGA monitor. If this works then rerun the GUI and select the next-higher res SVGA. Repeat until you hit a monitor setting that makes the screen flake out then back off to the previous one. If you don't have a programmable dot clock then that is when stuff starts getting weird, because you will then have a fixed set of clock frequencies that the card will offer. If the monitor is a high end one with a range of frequencies, then you probably will be OK because the server will just pick an appropriate clock for your resolution and be done with it. But, if the monitor is defined as a fixed frequency monitor with a set of frequencies, well if the Mode line for the monitor doesen't happen to have a frequency that is available in the Clocks line, then you won't have a clock frequency that the server can use for a specified resolution, and the server won't give you that resolution. That is when you can attempt to modify the modeline for the monitor, some monitors will take an "adjustment" of the frequency fed to them and they will display, others are sticklers and won't tolerate any clock deviation, this is when the real black art of configuring X comes out. Generally, the two things you want to do if X is important to you is first, purchase a supported chipset, and second, try to get a monitor that is as close to 1280x1024x70Hz max resolution as you possibly can. >> i" >> (--) SVGA : PCI: Cirrus Logic GD5436 rev 0, Memory @ 0x0000000 >> (--) SVGA : clgd5436: Specifying a clocks line makes no sense >for this driver >> (--) SVGA : Chipset: clgd5436 >> (--) SVGA : videoram: 1024k >> (**) SVGA : clocks 25.23 28.32 41.16 36.08 31.50 39.99 45.08 >> (**) SVGA : Using 24 bpp, Depth 24, Color weight : 888 >> (--) SVGA : Maximum allowed dot-clock: 48.810 Mhz >> (--) SVGA : There is no mode definition named "640x480" >> >> >> >> Fatal server error: >> No valid modes found. >> >> X connection to:0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown). > >> I realize this is a videocard error, my card is not really a card, >> but a chip attatched to the motherboard Cirrus Logic GD5436 > >Try searching for relevant terms, such as 'Cirrus Logic' or 'GD5436', >in the freebsd-questions archive (if it's up) or on dejanews. Someone >might have had this problem before and solved it. > >Maybe some kind soul from freebsd-questions will step in and tell us >that I'm stupid and there is a simple answer :-) > Your not stupid, but there is a simple answer - go back through the GUI configuration and select SVGA then when it comes to the monitor selection, pick the highest resolution monitor in the list, then when it comes to the mode selections, pick 320x200, 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768. Then, be ready with the ALt+ key to quickly cycle through the different resolutions to determine which ones that your monitor supports. You probably will find one that the server will support. You may also find several that make your monitor weird out. Since it's not good for the monitor to be overdriven for too long, don't linger for too long on a selection that is making the monitor go nuts. Ted Mittelstaedt tedm@toybox.placo.com Author of: The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide Book website: http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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