>From time to time, I find myself having to use the xf86-video-vesa driver when my xf86-video-r128 driver fails after an upgrade (I'll make a separate post about that).
When I use the vesa driver, I have a problem with my X11 screen going into what I call dim-mode, where the graphic screen is very dim and hard to read. The dim-mode problem does not effect the tty screen. Once X11 goes into dim-mode the only way I found to fix it is to, shut down the Xserver (thus killing my desktop) and restart the Xserver. I am old school, I log into my session in text mode, then I use startx to start my desktop. I first noticed the problem about a year ago, but when I changed to a working xf86-video-r128 driver, I no longer had to deal with the issue. I have only tried the vesa driver with one computer that has a mo-bo video adapter. Dim-mode can be triggered on one of two ways. One way is to ctrl-alt-function to a tty screen, then ctrl-alt-function back to the X11 screen. This causes the Xserver to go into dim-mode. Games that uses SDK will cause X11 to go into dim mode instantly. Also mplayer will cause dim-mode after a few seconds of play. No matter how the Xserver gets into dim-mode, the only way to get out of it is to restart Xserver, switching back and forth to ttys does not fix the problem. Looking at Xorg.0.log, I can see that no additional info is added to the log file at the time the Xserver goes into dim-mode. As a test I started :0 and it went dim when I went to a tty then back to :0. I then started :1 and it was fine. I switched from :1 to :0 to find that :0 was still dim. I then switched back to :1 and it too was then dim. I am wondering if the problem is due to a bug in the xf86-video-vesa driver, or is there is a setting a can use to avoid this problem. Excerpt from /var/log/Xorg.0.log X.Org X Server 1.14.3 Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation" compiled for 1.14.3, module version = 2.3.3 Module class: X.Org Video Driver ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 14.1 /var/log/Xorg.0.log -> http://pastebin.com/DHHxVCbv ____________________________________________________________ FREE 3D MARINE AQUARIUM SCREENSAVER - Watch dolphins, sharks & orcas on your desktop! Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/marineaquarium _______________________________________________ xorg@lists.x.org: X.Org support Archives: http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg Info: http://lists.x.org/mailman/listinfo/xorg Your subscription address: %(user_address)s