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

Please post any bugs you have found
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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]

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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]

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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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JacquiG
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#141 Post by JacquiG »

Thanks, I'll run through your steps when I get home this evening.

I'm not sure about this pup_save though? Is this something happening in the background or do I need to do/create/edit/etc something?

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rerwin
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#142 Post by rerwin »

JacquiG,
I assumed you would know what I was talking about. I also assumed you had saved the updates you tested with. A pup_save file is fundamental to a frugal installation, where all of your changes and data are preserved for next time. You apparently did not get that far (duh!)-- if you simply turn off the laptop, nothing gets saved -- but you had to, if it was hanging(!). I'll discuss pup_save later, since we can test without it.

First, note that the "grep" instruction I gave you should not have the "-q" part. To keep things simple, just run the test on a "pfix=ram,nox" bootup and verify it behaves as I described. Note also that I have changed the (now) first two steps to include modifying the overrides file without using the editor.



Now here is the pup_save stuff I wrote before focusing on the problem at hand. But it might be useful to you in saving your changes and will show that puppy can start the desktop display automatically:

When rebooting from your initial run on Puppy (enter: reboot), either from a CD or from a manual frugal install (and pfix=ram), you are prompted in a dialog box to choose "save to a file", (maybe) "save to <hda?>", or "do not save". Select "save to file" and make subsequent selections Puppy requests. For testing, you can use a small size (32M, 64M). It should go into the same partition as the frugal install (or where you plan to have a frugal installation.

On reboot, you will have all your previous settings and data. So, you should make the override change and the tests on your first (pfix=ram) bootup; they will take effect in the next bootup (no parameters) and that's when you'll know whether they work.

If still unsuccessful, reboot with "pfix=nox" and try "xorgwizard" at the eventual prompt.
Richard

cthisbear
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#143 Post by cthisbear »

Maybe you need to email flyingpup to see how he got his much older lappy working.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29614

http://209.167.114.38/ISG/pastproducts/ ... _spec.html

flyingpup :

" i have put pup 4 on 6 notebooks this (past) weekend, from new zippy notebooks to my baby tpad 701 (the butterfly). the only device that gives me problems are software modems and sound.
i get net access on all.

I am considering teaching my own pup to use a notebook with pup hehe. That would make a great promo card / viral ad.

The Toshiba Tecra 530CDT circa 1995 that never ever took a linux distro (even that ubuntu/wubi) took puppy.

I just love pup! "

Chris.

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JacquiG
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#144 Post by JacquiG »

Hi rerwin,

Making progress... :D

edited xorgoverrides - happy dance
cat... and grep... returned the right stuff - happy dance
free - happy dance

Ok, now here:
6. Then enter:
Code:
xorgwizard
and it should show a dialog box with buttons for "xorg" and "command prompt" (or equivalent).
I see xorg or the command prompt - which do I choose? And then what?

I haven't started through your next post addressing pup_save. I'm not sure I want to proceed without some advise so I don't undo (not save?) the changes I've just made.

Jacqui

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JacquiG
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#145 Post by JacquiG »

Ok, I made it through the prompts to save the pup_save.2fs file.

When I rebooted though I just ended back up at a prompt and my swap file is not active, my oem listing is not in xorgoverrides, etc? Did I reboot incorrectly an I need to manually make all these changes again? Do I need to edit my menu.lst again?

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rerwin
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#146 Post by rerwin »

JacquiG,
Which prompts did you work through? The pupsave stuff or modifying /etc/xorgoverrides? Did you try xorgwizard immediately after verfying that /etc/xorgoverrides looked right?

Maybe you need to list the steps you took and the results, so I have something to assess. I'm looking for anything I said wrong or you misinterpreted. Anyway, let's get your display working before worrying about the pup_save. If you get to the desktop and reboot, the save will happen.
Thanks.
Richard

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JacquiG
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#147 Post by JacquiG »

If I"m understanding correctly, everything looks good:

cat...xorgoverrides - shows 'oem: MagicGraph...' as last line in file
grep... - returns 'oem: MagicGraph...'
free - shows that swap file is in use
pup_save file created and saved

reboot looks good, I'm prompted for my pup_save (I ended up with 2 ;-) ) file and get to the xorgwizard with the options Xorg or Commandline
- there is a line in red that says Xvesa will hang my machine
- if I choose Xorg I momentarily see the prompt 'probing...' then my monitor goes black and nothing just like before.
- if I choose Commandline, I'm not sure what to do

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Dougal
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#148 Post by Dougal »

Jacqui, I have an idea: try booting and then, in the command prompt, type

Code: Select all

Xvesa -listmodes
If it hangs, we know you have the "normal" NeoMagic problem.
If not, we need to figure out why Xorg won't work.
What's the ugliest part of your body?
Some say your nose
Some say your toes
But I think it's your mind

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JacquiG
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#149 Post by JacquiG »

Ok, regular bootup using pup_save or with pfix=? in menu.lst?

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JacquiG
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#150 Post by JacquiG »

entering 'Xvesa -listmodes' returns a huge long list (more than 1 screen) with the likes of:

0x0010: 640x350x4 Planar (4 planes) (no linear framebuffer)
0x0103: 800x600x8 PseudoColor...
0x0112: 640x480x24 TrueColor [8:8:8:0]...
0x0114: 800x600x16 Truecolor [8:8:8:0]...
0x0117: 1024x768x16 Truecolor [5:6:5:0]...
0x0123: 400x300x16 TrueColor [5:6:5:0]...

Just randomly picked a few lines to quote here. Oh, I so want to get this working :lol:

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JacquiG
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Still hopefull....

#151 Post by JacquiG »

I had the final crash it looks like on my desktop last night - installing fedora and like what I see so far. Can't even safe boot into Windows. :evil:

I'm still hopeful that I can get Puppy onto my laptop. I found these 2 links and will proceed to try them and see what results I get :D

http://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.0/doc/neomagic.4.html
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=146452

I'll start with x.org since it explicately makes mention of my card (MagicGraph 128XD (NM2160)) and possible configuration considerations.

Here goes nothing! :shock:

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JacquiG
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#152 Post by JacquiG »

Well, I think I'm about ready to give up. I think I messed up following the instructions in the one thread, or the changes took place but absolutely nothing has changed.

Thought I might try some other distros/installations using a boot floppy but can't mount my floppy drive on my desktop to create a boot floppy, can't boot into Windows, blahblahblah....

II guess it's time to flatten both my laptop and desktop or throw them both out the window and go buy Macs.

muggins
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#153 Post by muggins »

Jacqui,

not sounding very promising! How did you try installing fedora on the desktop? Is the floppy completely ratso, or only under windows? Because if the desktop had a CDR drive, and the floppy drive could boot, then you could try sbootmanager floppy to coerce a CDR to boot puppy.

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JacquiG
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#154 Post by JacquiG »

Things on my desktop seem to be going ok :? Do I dare say it :shock:

I'm still running Puppy on my desktop. I thought I'd try Fedora using a DVD install but I've been mucking with my laptop all night :wink: I haven't been having much luck though :cry:

It ends up the floppy on my desktop was/is mounted even though the 'mount' dialog shows it's not and fails when I try to mount it. I found it was mounted only when I was exploring the file structure and saw it listed in the mnt directory. So I should be able to create a boot floppy. I was thinking it might be another way I could try to help install another distribution onto my laptop if I can't get Puppy working.

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JacquiG
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#155 Post by JacquiG »

I did some more research and found some floppy drivers for my cd drive on my laptop...wow, that was long winded ;-)

I'll try it tonight and hope it works and will expand the options available to me for experimenting and getting something installed.

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