Tecra/Protege stops booting at Xvesa and Xorg (SOLVED)

Please post any bugs you have found
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JacquiG
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#121 Post by JacquiG »

Happyness!

Ok, I got this far...do I type this at the command prompt or or type in into the file rc.local using mp?
Code:
echo 'swapon /initrd/mnt/dev_ro2/pupswap.swp' >>/etc/rc.d/rc.local

I'm sooo exciting - I hope this works :D I am so sick of my XP b/c I have at least one freeze a day and have not been able to resolve it even with multiple rebuilds, I'm tired of it.... :evil:

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JacquiG
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#122 Post by JacquiG »

Ok, maybe I spoke too soon... :wink:

I have the same problems when I choose Xorg or Xvesa :cry:

I've got a swap file now though :)

muggins
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#123 Post by muggins »

JacquiG,

if you enter free, does it show the swap, as well as your original RAM? If you tried xorgwizard, did it allow trying different resolutions?

If both answers are yes, then unless someone has another solution, I'd try dsl.

Edit: Plus I thought I'd mention that Icpug mentioned he was surprised you're running XP with 96M of ram. Do you have any idea what's causing your windows seizing up? Have you thought of trying xplite?

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JacquiG
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#124 Post by JacquiG »

Typing free does show swap and original RAM. Happy dance! :P

I am running WinXP on my laptop with 96meg of ram, it is slow and I do want to blow XP off. I had pretty much just installed XP when I saw the hog that it was and immediately started looking at Linux. I can only imagine how slow/bad it would be if I actually tried to do anything with it :roll:

I also have XP in my desktop (the one that crashes/freezes at least once/day - twice already today :evil: ) and am moving towards blowing it off too. I have to have something to replace it with first though. I guess a broken XP is better than no computer at all. I've flattened and rebuilt my desktop at least twice within the last 12 months and getting really tired of it.

I hate to bag Puppy but I guess I'll take look at dsl like you suggest. Maybe I'll just go buy a Mac.

muggins
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#125 Post by muggins »

I just did a search, (for 3025), on dsl forums, and there's at least 2 people that have posted & were using portege 3025's. Luckily neither was posting about graphics probs. Have you tried running the puppy CD on the desktop?

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JacquiG
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#126 Post by JacquiG »

Hi Muggins,

What's the Puppy CD on the desktop? I can get to the desktop with Xvesa but I can't make anything out.

muggins
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#127 Post by muggins »

I also have XP in my desktop (the one that crashes/freezes at least once/day )
I was just wondering whether you've tried booting the puppy CD on your desktop, and whether it runs OK?

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JacquiG
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#128 Post by JacquiG »

Oh :oops: my desktop computer? No, I haven't done that yet. I thought I'd play with my laptop first and I'd rather not muck with my desktop until I have some confidence in what I'm doing. :shock: It's messed up enough as it is without me adding to the problem :?

BTW, I think I'm already on crash 6 for today :evil:

muggins
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#129 Post by muggins »

Try just booting the CD, configure keyboard & graphics. If you don't won't to mess with anything on your hard disk, when you shutdown, it will ask you do you want to create a save file. You can either choose no, or plug in a usbkey & save it to that. Either way, your hard disk is untouched.

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JacquiG
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#130 Post by JacquiG »

Thanks guys for all your help and suggestions.

I have to admit my head is spinning and I'm completely at a loss of where to go from here. The suggestions of looking at DSL have just confused the issue more.

I hate to admit it but all the reasons I had previously stayed away from Linux appear to be true. As great as Linux sounds, and I commend you all for being able to figure it out and make it work, I just don't know if I can make my way through the muddled waters.

Unless there are any other suggestions, I'll extend my 'thanks', take my leave and maybe pick it up again at a later date (or go buy myself a Mac). It's disappointing after 20 years of being a loyal Windows user that moving away from it is becoming such an ordeal.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate the time you've taken to help me.
Jacqui

muggins
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#131 Post by muggins »

JacquiG,

sorry that pup didn't work with your graphics, but I hope you realise the fault lies squarely with the manufacturer of your graphics, for only releasing windows drivers, not with puppy.

I don't understand how my suggestion of trying dsl has thrown you into confusion. I thought it might work with your graphics. All you had to do was burn a DSL CD, boot & try it. If it didn't work, either try posting to dsl forum, or toss in bin.

Similarly I don't understand how you're experiencing XP problems with your laptop, and your desktop but, AFAIK, haven't experimented with trying booting the puppy CD on your desktop.

As I mentioned above, if you boot from the CD, it doesn't touch your hard disk unless you agree.

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JacquiG
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#132 Post by JacquiG »

I apologize if I was misunderstood - I was not laying fault with anything or anyone.

Unfortunately I cannot book from CD and it's all this mucking about (in addition to the instability) that has me wanting to move away from Windows. As I said, maybe sometime in the future when I have the inclination to 'experiment' with hardware/software and the time to 'muck about' I'll look at Linux again.

I'm sorry if you are unable to appreciate the confusion that can be/is caused by the many and varied distributions and the many installation methods of those distributions. You are fortunate in that you have a grasp of it and are 'comfortable' playing with your environment; maybe I'll be there one day. :D

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rerwin
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More to try

#133 Post by rerwin »

JacquiG,
Sorry to have tuned out for a while. Dougal has prodded me to review your posts, giving me another idea. I hope you can try it.

I printed your screen capture, which confirms that you probably have 8-bit color depth at 640x480. And that is what your ddcprobe output specifies. This does show that the adapter works in Puppy, just not sufficiently.

Noting your second ddcprobe posting, I see that your adapter is not one of those that are looked for. But Puppy 4.00 should prompt you to press ctrl-c, which you have not confirmed. So this is a new issue that the fix does not handle as well as I intended.

Anyway, let's force Puppy to treat it like the problematic ones it expects, which will require you to choose the resolution and color depth. Boot up into the awful xvesa desktop, then edit /etc/xorgoverrides to append the following line, copied from your ddcprobe output (or /tmp/ddcprobe.txt if present), to be sure it is exact:

Code: Select all

oem: MagicGraph 128XD 42K SVGA BIOS
Save it and reboot, creating a small pup_save file on the hard drive where the frugal install is.

The reboot should stop with an xorgwizard dialog window offering a choice of resolutions; use only the appropriate one (800x600?). A second list should appear for color depth; stick with 16-bit/64K.

Thanks. If this works, I will ask Barry to add the oem line to the official puppy, to avoid giving others the same problem and frustration.
Richard
Last edited by rerwin on Mon 14 Jul 2008, 16:46, edited 1 time in total.

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JacquiG
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#134 Post by JacquiG »

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your reply...I'm at work right now but will try your suggestion when I get home this evening and let you know how it turns out ;-) (Here's to hoping... )

Thanks again...
Jacqui

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JacquiG
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#135 Post by JacquiG »

Richard,

When I boot to Xvesa desktop I can't read anything. How do I...
edit /etc/xorgoverrides

Can I do it from the command prompt?

Thanks
Jacqui

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richard.a
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#136 Post by richard.a »

muggins wrote:Have you thought of trying xplite?
Bonjour JacquiG

I can vouch for 98lite and 2klite. Never tried XPlite.

The fellow is brilliant, he's an Australian (an Adelaidean like me), and I first came across him some years ago when he was working in the States. On his return he went to work in Melbourne.

His experience with fixing the bloat and the integration badness in MS OS's is quite amazing.

Well worth doing what muggins suggested - http://www.litepc.com



Another Richard
in another part of Australia :)
[i]Have you noticed editing is always needed for the inevitable typos that weren't there when you hit the "post" button?[/i]

[img]http://micro-hard.dreamhosters.com/416434.png[/img]

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JacquiG
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#137 Post by JacquiG »

Hi rerwin,

I edited the files you suggested and don't see any additional prompts or any changes when I boot up. Is it possible I've missed something.

Richard,
I'll look at XPlite but would really rather not spend the money and do have it in my mind I want away from Windows.

I'm willing to bang on Linux a little longer to try and figure this out.

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richard.a
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#138 Post by richard.a »

JacquiG wrote:Richard,
I'll look at XPlite but would really rather not spend the money and do have it in my mind I want away from Windows.

I'm willing to bang on Linux a little longer to try and figure this out.
FREE TRIAL - a free, feature rich, no-nags edition that works with both Windows XP and Windows 2000. Trial, or use for life.

2. USAGE
The XPlite and 2000lite Free Trial is freely licensed for non-exclusive use by a single individual for personal use only. You are required to purchase a full PROFESSIONAL license if you are using XPlite and 2000lite in a multi-user setting, or want to install the XPlite and 2000lite on computers belonging to a third party.
So he's doing the right thing even though its closed-source.

He is actually one of the white-hat fellows, not a black hat :)

Anyway leave you to it :D

Richard
[i]Have you noticed editing is always needed for the inevitable typos that weren't there when you hit the "post" button?[/i]

[img]http://micro-hard.dreamhosters.com/416434.png[/img]

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JacquiG
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#139 Post by JacquiG »

Thanks richard.a, I'll look a little closer - I am really hoping to get Linux up though ;-)

Jacqui

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rerwin
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#140 Post by rerwin »

JacquiG,
Sorry to hear the change did not work. Before we give up, would you verify that all is set correctly?

1. Please boot 4.00 with pfix=ram,nox.

2. At the prompt, try this, to modify xorgoverrides enter:

Code: Select all

ddcprobe > /tmp/ddcprobe.txt
grep 'oem:'  /tmp/ddcprobe.txt >> /etc/xorgoverrides
3. List the file you just updated by"

Code: Select all

cat /etc/xorgoverrides
and verify that the result is:
oem: MagicGraph 256 AV 44K PRELIMINARY
oem: Copyright 1997 TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS INC.
oem: Trident CYBER 9540
oem: Trident CYBER 8620
oem: Trident CYBER 8820
oem: MagicGraph 128XD 42K SVGA BIOS
#
4. If that is OK, then verify that it results in the detection of your adapter's ID by entering:

Code: Select all

grep -f /etc/xorgoverrides /tmp/ddcprobe.txt
That should result in:
oem: MagicGraph 128XD 42K SVGA BIOS
#
If you get only the # prompt, then there is a typo somewhere, either in your command or the update. For good measure, be sure there is a carriage return (actually a newline) after the appended line (although it should make no difference).

5. Verify the swap file is in use by the "free" command. The total ram+swap should be at least 128000 (1K blocks).

6. Then enter:

Code: Select all

xorgwizard
and it should show a dialog box with buttons for "xorg" and "command prompt" (or equivalent).

If you still get only a blank screen, then the problem may be beyond what I can solve. It might be a hardware problem or fundamental incompatibility with linux. (Didn't you say you do not have it working under any linux?)

Please try these things, so we can rule out any typo errors. Thanks.
Richard E.
Last edited by rerwin on Wed 16 Jul 2008, 20:44, edited 2 times in total.

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