TuxMobil: X11 under Linux on the COMPAQ Presario 1600XL155 Laptop

This document is a courtesy for TuxMobil by Hans (J&K Kleppe) <106656.3267_at_compuserve.com>. It describes the X installation under Novell/SuSE 7.0 on a COMPAQ Presario with Trident CyberBlade i1 graphics adapter.

I have a COMPAQ Presario with a Trident CyberBlade i1 graphics card. The installation with the generic trident driver failed. So I tried the XF86_FBDev server which supports all graphics cards which are able to follow VESA-2.0 standard. The Trident CyberBlade i1 is new enough to do so.

This driver does not access a special hardware but uses service requests of Vesa-2.0! This standard can be used as a universal server.

The following sections offer a guideline for using this server (it is slower than an accelerated server but it works on all graphics cards that support VESA-2.0 standard.

At first. My settings:

COMPAQ Presario 1600-XL155
Graphics adapter Trident CyberBlade i1 (VESA-2.0 standard)
Modem Conexant / Rockwell HSF (at present not supported shit!)
Operating System: SuSE Linux 7.0

Installation of XF86_FBDev

On SuSE-Linux 7.0 this server is already installed on the system during the normal setup. To check this it is only necessary enter the following command: ls -la /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86* If this server is already in the list then everything is o.k. Otherwise this server has to be added. So load it from the installation CD to the directory mentioned above.

Next step is to update LILO.CONF with an editor that you like: This can be vi, joe, etc.

Add or change the line video vga = normal to vga = ask
If this line is missing then add it after the line image =

Save these changes and quit the editor. After this activate the service by typing the following command: lilo -v -v At boot the user now will be asked for a vga-value.This value should be taken from the table below. It depends on the resolution of the graphics card.

Table For Boot Process When Linux Asks
Color Depth / Resolution	640 * 480	800 * 600	1024 * 768	1280 * 1024	1600 * 1200
256 (8 Bit)	0301	0303	0305	0307	031C
32768 (15 Bit)	0310	0313	0316	0319	031D
65536 (16 Bit)	0311	0314	0317	031A	031E
16,8M (24 Bit)	0312	0315	0318	031B	031F

For example, if a resolution of 1024 * 768 pixels is wanted (and the display is able to realize this resolution as my laptop) then enter 0318 (see table above). If this mode can be realized Linux will start with this resolution. Otherwise select another one from the table above.

As soon as a valid mode is found edit lilo.conf again and change line vga=ask to vga=value, where value must be taken from the next table (now decimal).

Table of VALUES for `/etc/lilo.conf`
Color Depth / Resolution	640 * 480	800 * 600	1024 * 768	1280 * 1024	1600 * 1200
256 (8 Bit)	769	771	773	775	796
32768 (15 Bit)	784	787	790	793	797
65536 (16 Bit)	785	788	791	794	798
16,8M (24 Bit)	786	789	792	795	799

Save these changes and quit the editor. After this activate the service by typing the following command: lilo -v -v Note: Ensure that your graphics card works with the selected mode, otherwise it might be necessary to reinstall LINUX or to boot only with a boot disk!

Configuration of XFree86

Now start the configuration of the X-server by typing the following command: xf86config. Skip at the menu point graphics card the selection of a specific server and select SVGA-server. It is only important to select the correct mouse and keyboard device. After this execute the following command: ln -sf /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_FBDev /etc/X11/X

From now on I can give only untested hints for a non SuSE-Linux distribution. I myself have started and tested the rest under SuSE Linux 7.0.

Then, for SuSE-Linux it is only necessary to start yast and accept all. The display will appear in the requested resolution.

For other Linux-distributions the following hints from the German magazine GO!LINUX 1/2000 are added but not tested!

Edit the file "/etc/X11/XF86Config" and search for the first line with the occurrence of "Monitor section" and delete all following lines.

Note: Lines beginning with'#' are comment lines and are not to be regarded as valid results.

Add now the following lines:

Section "Monitor"
     Identifier      "My Monitor"
     VendorName      "Unknown"
EndSection

Section "Device"
      Identifier     "My Graphiccard"
      VendorName     "Unknown"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
      Driver         "FBDev"
      Device         "My Graphiccard"
      Monitor        "My Monitor"

      Subsection "Display"
                         Depth   xx
                         Modes  "default"
      EndSubsection

Endsection

Note: The value of DEPTH in XF86Config has to fit with the number entered in file "/etc/lilo.conf"!

Example: If there is selected 1024 * 768 pixels with 24 bit colour (vga=792 in lilo.conf) then the value of DEPTH must be 24

Now start the X-server with the command startx and all should work as assumed. If not then try a lower depth. In most cases this helps.

Installation of XF86_FBDev

Configuration of XFree86

Other Resources