Arrgghh! Problems running Puppy in a Clevo L295U (Solved!)

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battleshooter
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Arrgghh! Problems running Puppy in a Clevo L295U (Solved!)

#1 Post by battleshooter »

I can't figure out if I'm asking for help or if I'm just venting. To make sure though, I figured Misc. would be the better place to post.

I've spent the whole of yesterday and some of today trying to get one of those "all-in-one" computers going. It's a Clevo L295U, and I think it hates Puppy.

It used to have XP Pro on it, but I deleted it to repartition it so grub would load properly.

The main problem I'm having with it is the graphics. Not DRI or anything fancy like that, most of the time Xorg won't even start. Xorg doesn't start in Pup 4, or 5 unless it's Xvesa and even then, depending on which version I'm using, Xvesa sometimes hangs. I tried updating the drivers with Patriot's latest offerings It's a Intel 945GM and the controller is Intel 82865G Graphics.

Eventually I gave up on the later series and went back to 3xx. Incidentally, Wnop v2 gives fine resolution and even DRI, but I'm not keen on the 3 series because it'll take loads of effort to make it work and look like Puppy 4. (I need it like 4 because the computer is for my Mum and she uses 4)

BUT...

Then something happened to make my life that much worse. :x :cry: And I'm not sure what it is, but I think it might be the graphical grub. Now everything (every puplet I try, even the command line) appears pixelated. What have I done to deserve this!? :roll:

I need some ideas on what to do next. Right now, I'm trying SlaxerPup to see if it can pick up anything, and the I plan to have a look at Ttuuxxx's 2 series to see if it can imitate 4 more easily.

My little sister has been watching me for pretty much all that time and she's suggested: "Maybe it doesn't want to be Linux?" Arrgh! Can't all computers be Linux? Or more importantly Puppy?

This is a frazzled, illogical Battleshooter signing out. :cry: :x :roll: :?
Last edited by battleshooter on Sat 21 Nov 2009, 08:02, edited 1 time in total.

bugman

#2 Post by bugman »

not sure if this is any help, but...

graphical grub has never ever worked for me, it screws all up

and i always have to use the generic driver option in xorg

have you tried the generic driver?

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#3 Post by Pizzasgood »

So you mean you can't even boot from livecd properly anymore? Or do you only mean that any Puppy booted from Grub is garbled?

Is it garbled during the BIOS? During Grub? Or only after control passes to the OS?

Can you get into the BIOS and monkey around with it?

What kind of pixilation? A photo would be helpful. Do the pixels change for no reason (neglecting pixels that appear to be related to the cursor and what-not)?

I don't actually have any real ideas how to help you. When I'm faced with solving a problem that I don't already know how to solve, I like to poke it in as many ways as I can think of to see how it responds.
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#4 Post by battleshooter »

Pizzasgood wrote: When I'm faced with solving a problem that I don't already know how to solve, I like to poke it in as many ways as I can think of to see how it responds.
Which is probably why I'm frazzled :) I've tried so many different ways, I don't know which one to keep at.

It's actually a new computer for my Mum we got yesterday. This is the initial stages of "puppifying" it.

I tried taking a picture but the pixelation doesn't really show up on the camera. When I say ""pixelated" I mean that you can still see the screen, but it's very clear the screen is made up of lots of pixels. The pixels look square? I can't quite describe it, and I have a feeling a screenshot might not either.

I can get into BIOS, but I couldn't find anything that looked remotely helpful. If it is graphical grub, I can just ditch it, hopeful the family won't mind. I did try the generic driver as well Bugman, but X wouldn't even try.

Thanks for the interest Pizzasgood and Bugman, your sympathies and suggestions are greatly appreciated. :)

Battleshooter
[url=http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=94580]LMMS 1.0.2[/url], [url=http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=94593]Ardour 3.5.389[/url], [url=http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=94629]Kdenlive 0.9.8[/url]

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#5 Post by battleshooter »

So, it seems the curse of the ugly screen is universal, or at least across OSes on this computer. Windows was also looking ugly, until I booted in then it seem to right itself. I have a feeling it might be a resolution thing. I notice when OSes bot up, the logo is off center. Like wNop in the screenshot.
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#6 Post by sikpuppy »

battleshooter wrote:So, it seems the curse of the ugly screen is universal, or at least across OSes on this computer. Windows was also looking ugly, until I booted in then it seem to right itself. I have a feeling it might be a resolution thing. I notice when OSes bot up, the logo is off center. Like wNop in the screenshot.
Should be a function on the LCD to auto-centre the screen when it has an analogue input.
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#7 Post by alienjeff »

battleshooter wrote:Which is probably why I'm frazzled :) I've tried so many different ways, I don't know which one to keep at.
A suggestion: Grab a notebook ... the old "analog" type with paper. If you don't have one, buy one. Then grab a pencil, pen, or crayon. When trying things out, methodically document every step you've taken.

Though a PITA, such recordkeeping will pay HUGE dividends when troubleshooting or backtracking.
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#8 Post by Pizzasgood »

battleshooter wrote:I tried taking a picture but the pixelation doesn't really show up on the camera. When I say ""pixelated" I mean that you can still see the screen, but it's very clear the screen is made up of lots of pixels. The pixels look square? I can't quite describe it, and I have a feeling a screenshot might not either.
I get it. Literal pixelation. When I read it, I thought you meant something more like this.

It may be that Grub is putting you into a weird video mode. Take a look at the menu.lst file and make sure it seems normal.

You didn't answer my questions about which stages were goofed up (everything after Grub I gather?) and whether you get the same behavior when booting from CD.

If booting from CD is also goofed up, then it might be the BIOS or the monitor (or the monitor's BIOS).
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#9 Post by alienjeff »

@ Pizzasgood:
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
Attribution please?
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#10 Post by Pizzasgood »

Gehm and Clarke. Left them out for the sake of brevity, but I suppose I should put them in. Probably isn't a famous enough quote for people to realize I didn't author it.

battleshooter, you mentioned that the commandline is pixelated too. What about the dimensions? Is it still the normal 80x24 characters wide and tall?
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#11 Post by battleshooter »

Woohooo! I return having conquered the giant! :D

All you guys's suggestions jogged my brain, to the rather obvious conclusion, it is graphical grub. Guess it just doesn't get along with this computer, but I'll likely enough try and get it going another time, being a sucker for pain :)

Having the fact it's "gg" problem, I quickly tested the other Puppies I've used today and yesterday. Conclusion?

Puppy 4.3.1: Freezes on a black screen getting into Xorg, but Xvesa's fine. No pixelation. All seems well here :)
Puppy 4.2.1: Xorg doesn't work, Xvesa all messed up too, with pixelation despite having removed gg.
Puppy 4.2.0 retro: Freezes on a black screen getting into Xorg. Xvesa's fine with no pixelation, but no network or sound.
wNop v2: Back to normal. Xorg works, no pixelation.

Thanks for all the interest, and thanks for changing the title PG. (At least I assume it's you). I appreciate all you guys willingness to jump in and give hand, I didn't expect anything that quick. :D

A very happy, non frazzled, Battleshooter :D :D :D
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#12 Post by Pizzasgood »

Wasn't me. Flash perhaps.

Regarding Xorg, you might be able to take a look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log to find out what went wrong. Probably just needs a little tweaking in /etc/X11/xorg.conf, like changing the driver it's set to use.
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#13 Post by alienjeff »

Make backups of the working configuration that you have FIRST, before embarking on tweaks!
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