On Thu, 2003-06-12 at 08:09, Hutton Daniel wrote: > Hello, > I'm installing Mandrake for an association that I'm part of and I'm > having trouble getting x configured on a dual boot pc with a newly > installed Madrake 9.1. I got all the graphics card info from windows > which tells me that the graphic card is; > S3 Grphics ProSavage DDR with 32Mb memory and a "S3 P4M266" chip set.
S3 video chipsets have become a sore subject for me with Mandrake Linux. I have a little less trouble in RedHat, so it's not just a Mandrake-related problem in my mind. If you do a search through the archives (I'm guessing...mmm...maybe April/May) for "S3 Savage 2000", you'll find my previous posts on my own problem. > I didn't open the box to check it and the documentation doesn't say > what the card actually is. >From the position of the video port it > looks like the grafics card might be inetgrated into the motherboard. You are going to have to open the box and take a look. If it's integrated, you'll find that a search of the larger square chips on your motherboard will reveal the exact make and model. If you don't see anything specifically stenciled, it's probably that one with the heat-sink on it. Don't try to remove, that of course. Instead, boot into Windows and see what's listed in Display | Settings or Device Manager. In most cases, the description Windows gives is enough. > X just won't start. I've tried all the savage drivers but none of them > pass the test during installation. I skipped the X set up during > installation and then went and tried again with XFdrake but still no > luck. I've tried both the versions of XFree86 offered to me during > installation. Using XFdrake I checked that the monitor is set up ok > and it has used values which exactly match the values in the manual > so I'm pretty sure the autodetect has worked well for the monitor. You never mentioned what Desktop environment you are booting into or start with 'startx' from the console's shell prompt. Would I be right in guessing KDE? You mentioned no relief in using either XFree86 server. That may not be totally correct. KDE 3.1.0 won't work with the S3 Savage series chipsets regardless of which of the two Xservers you choose. This is not necessarily true of the Gnome Desktop environment or other Windows Managers (WM). Try this: 1) Go into XFdrake and allow the applet to designate the driver. However, you must use the 3.3.6 Xserver. If you are already assigned to the the driver that was originally chosen, XFdrake will not give you a choice, defaulting to whatever you chose last. I found the only way I could change the Xserver was to purposely pick ANY other driver, right or wrong, save and then enter back into XFdrake to pick the correct one. At that point, choosing a new driver responds with a choice of Xservers. Make sure to pick 3.3.6 for this test. Save and exit. 2) Type in 'Xtart', without the single quotes, and press <ENTER>. See if a menu comes up. If not, use 'urpmi' to retrieve and install Civileme's applet from your 9.1 distro CD's (don't know off hand which one it's on, but doesn't matter...'urpmi' will tell you.) # urpmi Xtart 3) Assuming that you chose some or all of the available WM's when you installed 9.1, starting the app at the shell prompt should bring up other choices than just KDE and/or Gnome. Pick any of the WM's. I would suggest IceWM this first time around as that is pretty much like Windows and an easy try. If you find X starting up, your video card is supported. If you still can't... Consider buying a new video card that is better supported, but only after checking to see if the BIOS allows you to turn off/disable the on-board video. > Sorry if this is a tough one but I'm really stuck. Many thanks in > advance to anyone who can help. Tough one? <sigh> For those of us who have to deal with the problem...yeah. Unfixable? No. Depends on whether you want to run KDE and if your wallet is feeling generous. :0] Feel free to contact me off-list, as well. Don't know if I can be of any more help, but I wouldn't mind sharing my notes. HTH T
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