Quoting Robert G. Scofield ([EMAIL PROTECTED]): > This Debian Net Install is requiring a lot of work. I'm trying to set > up X, and I keep reading warnings that one can burn out a monitor or > video card if one screws up. That's why I'm asking this question. > > I ran the xf86config program and was asked how much RAM my video card > has. I've got onboard video, and I didn't know the answer. I > couldn't find it on the web, or in my motherboard manual. So I picked > 4096.
Suggestion: Before configuring XFree86, install some of the optional hardware-recognition packages, some of which make XFree86 setup "smarter". Here's my standard list[1] of such packages: Hardware-recognition (and related) packages: discover Hardware identification system (thank you, Progeny Systems, Inc.), for various PCI, PCMCIA, and USB devices. Will improve XFree86 hardware probing. kudzu, kudzu-vesa Hardware-probing tool (thank you, Red Hat Software, Inc.) intended to be run at boot time. Requires hwdata package. kudzu-vesa is the VBE/DDC stuff for autodetecting monitor characteristics. mdetect Mouse device autodetection tool. If present, it will be used to aid XFree86 configuration tools. read-edid Hardware information-gathering tool for VESA PnP monitors. If present, it will be used to aid XFree86 configuration tools. sndconfig Sound configuration (thank you, Red Hat Software, Inc.), using isapnp detection. Requires kernel with OSS sound modules. Uses kudzu, aumix, and sox. hotplug USB/PCI device hotplugging support, and network autoconfig. nictools-nopci Diagnostic and setup tools for many non-PCI ethernet cards nictools-pci Diagnostic and setup tools for many PCI ethernet cards. mii-diag "A little tool to manipulate network cards" (examines and sets the MII registers of network cards). printtool Autodetection of printers and PPD support, via an enhanced version of Red Hat Software's Tk-based printtool. Requires the pconf-detect command-line utility for detecting parallel-port, USB, and network-connected printers (which can be installed separately as package pconf-detect). The list is getting a little moldy with age (e.g., odds are long that you won't need nictools-nopci), but at minimum mdetect and read-edid would be helpful.[2] Although "XFree86 -configure" will do a decent job on any *ix, on Debian specifically you might consider "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86", instead (_after_ installing those hardware-autorecognition packages). > #VideoRAM 4096 > So it looks to me like my 4096 selection is commented out, right? Don't sweat that. It's there in case XFree86 attempts some stupid guess at your video memory amount that you _know_ to be wrong, in case you therefore wish to un-comment that line, to hit XFree86 with the Cluebat of Enlightenment. [1] "Hardware Detection" on http://linuxmafia.com/kb/Debian. [2] I'm unsure about why such packages are omitted by default. One speculation is that some hardware may tend to hang if autoprobed. _______________________________________________ vox-tech mailing list vox-tech@lists.lugod.org http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox-tech