Re: X-Windows frustration

[turnbull@example.com (Stephen J. Turnbull)]

>>>>> "Totoro" == Totoro  <riley@example.com> writes:

    Totoro> This Aptiva (Japanese model) has an ATI Mach_64 card in
    Totoro> it, so I have the Mach_64 accelerated X server.

    >> Try telling the Slackware setup script to install the
    >> monochrome server or the minimum VGA server.  (Just login as
    >> root and type '/sbin/setup' to return to the Slackware setup
    >> script.)

    Totoro> One main problem here. Of course, without the proper info,
    Totoro> you couldn't know this, but the BIOS on this machine does

Once you're done booting, Linux doesn't care about BIOS.  If you can
see the console, this shouldn't matter.

Try some of the libsvga demos and see if they work.  If you can use
SVGA in libsvga ...

    Totoro> the clocks, so the video card has no control over that
    Totoro> area. Thus the non-accelerated servers won't work.

... you should be able to use it here.  "Won't work" (in theory) or
"don't work" (you've tried it)?

I can't imagine what you're talking about here when you say "the BIOS
does the clocks".  The clocks we're talking about here control how
fast the card squirts out data to the monitor, and are hardwired into
the video board's circuitry.  They're in the pipeline between the BIOS
(on the motherboard) and the monitor.  I'm not a hardware guy, so I
could easily have something screwed up.  But at least it's a strong
argument for trying a mono or VGA server if you haven't already.

    Totoro> The Mach_64 server seems to want something else. Maybe I
    Totoro> could play with the settings file to eliminate some of
    Totoro> these areas and see what happens.

Well, that "none of the configured devices were detected" message
sounds pretty dismal.  It sounds to me like you have been hosed by a
secret agreement between IBM and Microsoft.  They broke the BIOS to
ensure that no windowing software not produced by Microsoft can work.

That's not entirely a joke; my IBM StinkPad 330cs suffers from the
same problem.  The video hardware is capable of 640x480x256 SVGA (VGA
only goes to 16 colors); the BIOS only allows 16 colors.  The
256-color capability is available only when you run Windoze with a
separate (DOS-level).  I was unable to get a manual out of IBM; the
interface is "proprietary."

A couple more tries: How does Windoze driver access the Mach64?  Is it
in the BIOS or a Windoze-level driver?  Did you get the ATI utilities?
ATI's docs for their utilities are in English, at least on my
Minesweeper machine (a Japanese Gateway with Windoze 95).  Maybe you
can do something via the ATI utilities.

I just had a horrid thought: do you have a Mach64 *card*, or did IBM
use the Mach64 chipset in a proprietary implementation?  If the
latter, you could be permanently hosed.

    Totoro> The local guy who I bought it from called IBM-J and asked
    Totoro> for a real manual, and was told that "the end user has no
    Totoro> need for it." Nice attitude to take, eh? Sigh...

I will never buy IBM hardware in Japan again.  Not without a written
moneyback guarantee of *full* Linux compatibility.  IBM Japan
obviously is a Japanese company with Japanese ideas about service.

"Secrecy before service."

Steve

-- 
                           Stephen John Turnbull
University of Tsukuba                                        Yaseppochi-Gumi
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences  http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp/
Tennodai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305 JAPAN                 turnbull@example.com
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