Graphics-related problem

[marc]

Hello everyone. It's a great pleasure for me to post this message to fellow members of Salix OS, my favourite and well crafted Slackware-based distribution.
So far everything worked ok, but only on my workstation, not on my old Averated laptop which serves me as very comfortable typing machine.

Here's the problem:
Everything boots more or less OK [I can't see the screen after "Triggering udev" message. It goes totally blank until X pops out, BUT ... X displays with the screen split in half and mixed [left side with right and vice-versa], and it makes my box almost totally unusable .
Unfortunately, I had no option to make any screenshot.

However, here's the info I get through the other OS [installed on that laptop]:

lspci -v:

Code: Select all

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. Device 3204
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64
	Memory at c0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=512M]
	Capabilities: [80] AGP version 3.0
	Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
	Capabilities: [60] HyperTransport: Slave or Primary Interface
	Capabilities: [58] HyperTransport: Interrupt Discovery and Configuration
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-amd64
	Kernel modules: amd64-agp

00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800/K8T890 South]
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
	Memory behind bridge: b1000000-b1ffffff
	Prefetchable memory behind bridge: e0000000-e3ffffff
	Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
	Kernel modules: shpchp

00:09.0 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1410 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
	Subsystem: FIRST INTERNATIONAL Computer Inc Device 2750
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 17
	Memory at 28000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=05, sec-latency=176
	Memory window 0: 20000000-23fff000 (prefetchable)
	Memory window 1: 24000000-27fff000
	I/O window 0: 00001c00-00001cff
	I/O window 1: 00002000-000020ff
	16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001
	Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
	Kernel modules: yenta_socket

00:0b.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2500 802.11g Cardbus/mini-PCI (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 6833
	Flags: bus master, slow devsel, latency 64, IRQ 19
	Memory at b0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: rt2500pci
	Kernel modules: rt2500pci

00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
	I/O ports at 1800 [size=32]
	Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
	I/O ports at 1820 [size=32]
	Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
	I/O ports at 1840 [size=32]
	Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82) (prog-if 20)
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
	Memory at b0002000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
	Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
	Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
	Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 0
	Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
	Kernel modules: i2c-viapro, via-ircc

00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
	Subsystem: FIRST INTERNATIONAL Computer Inc Device 2890
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 23
	[virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=8]
	[virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1]
	[virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=8]
	[virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1]
	I/O ports at 1860 [size=16]
	Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: pata_via
	Kernel modules: pata_via

00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
	Subsystem: FIRST INTERNATIONAL Computer Inc Device 3540
	Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 22
	I/O ports at 1000 [size=256]
	Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: VIA 82xx Audio
	Kernel modules: snd-via82xx

00:11.6 Communication controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 80)
	Subsystem: FIRST INTERNATIONAL Computer Inc Device 2870
	Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 22
	I/O ports at 2400 [size=256]
	Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: VIA 82xx Modem
	Kernel modules: snd-via82xx-modem

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 74)
	Subsystem: FIRST INTERNATIONAL Computer Inc Device 2820
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 23
	I/O ports at 1400 [size=256]
	Memory at b0002400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
	Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
	Kernel driver in use: via-rhine
	Kernel modules: via-rhine

00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
	Flags: fast devsel
	Capabilities: [80] HyperTransport: Host or Secondary Interface

00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
	Flags: fast devsel

00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
	Flags: fast devsel
	Kernel driver in use: k8temp
	Kernel modules: k8temp

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800/K8N800/K8N800A [S3 UniChrome Pro] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: FIRST INTERNATIONAL Computer Inc Device 3930
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 16
	Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
	Memory at b1000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
	Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2
	Capabilities: [70] AGP version 2.0
	Kernel modules: viafb

xorg.conf:

Code: Select all

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
	FontPath     "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
	FontPath     "built-ins"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "record"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "dri2"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "dbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse0"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "auto"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "PrintVGARegs"       	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "PrintTVRegs"        	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "I2CScan"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "VBEModes"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoAccel"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "AccelMethod"        	# <str>
        #Option     "ExaNoComposite"     	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ExaScratchSize"     	# <i>
        #Option     "SWCursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShadowFB"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "RotationType"       	# [<str>]
        #Option     "Rotate"             	# [<str>]
        #Option     "VideoRAM"           	# <i>
        #Option     "ActiveDevice"       	# [<str>]
        #Option     "BusWidth"           	# [<str>]
        #Option     "Center"             	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "PanelSize"          	# [<str>]
        #Option     "ForcePanel"         	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "TVDotCrawl"         	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "TVDeflicker"        	# <i>
        #Option     "TVType"             	# [<str>]
        #Option     "TVOutput"           	# [<str>]
        #Option     "TVPort"             	# [<str>]
        #Option     "DisableVQ"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DisableIRQ"         	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "EnableAGPDMA"       	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoAGPFor2D"         	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoXVDMA"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "VbeSaveRestore"     	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DisableXvBWCheck"   	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ModeSwitchMethod"   	# [<str>]
        #Option     "MaxDRIMem"          	# <i>
        #Option     "AGPMem"             	# <i>
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "openchrome"
	VendorName  "VIA Technologies, Inc."
	BoardName   "K8M800/K8N800/K8N800A [S3 UniChrome Pro]"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     16
		Modes     "1024x768"
                Virtual 1024 768
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
		Modes     "1024x768"
                Virtual 1024 768
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Looks like some weird KMS problem, to me at least, but I'm rather a BSD-user, unfortunately I don't know modern linux that much.
I'd be really grateful for your time and help.

Regards,
marc

[gapan]

Via xorg drivers suck. Big time. Perhaps you would be a lot better off if you just went with vesa...

You could also try disabling KMS. A guide is shown in this wiki page: http://www.salixos.org/wiki/index.php/B ... Salix_13.1
Although that is written for intel video cards, the parts that refer to disabling KMS should be exactly the same.

[marc]

I know VIA drivers suck. However - it works ok on Debian, which is a linux distro too, so it should work on every distro, shouldn't it?

VESA doesn't work at all [black screen, nothing happens].

I disabled KMS, but X still gives me splitted screen like I was on a dual-head GPU ...

There has to be some other way. I raised on early versions of Slackware and I'd really prefer to use Slackware, not Debian, eh ...

[gapan]

I know VIA drivers suck. However - it works ok on Debian, which is a linux distro too, so it should work on every distro, shouldn't it?

As long as you use the exact same versions of the kernel, xorg and the xorg driver, yes. there should be no difference. But you probably don't.

VESA doesn't work at all [black screen, nothing happens].

I disabled KMS, but X still gives me splitted screen like I was on a dual-head GPU ...

There has to be some other way. I raised on early versions of Slackware and I'd really prefer to use Slackware, not Debian, eh ...

What happens if you remove the xorg.conf file completely?

[marc]

What happens if you remove the xorg.conf file completely?

It creates xorg.conf-vesa and gives me a splitted screen, just like in the openchrome driver case.

[gapan]

The xorg.conf-vesa doesn't get used. It's just a sample. Remove the xf86-video-openchrome package and try without a xorg.conf again.

[marc]

OK, I did as you suggested. I removed the package and killed X process, but the screen went black and no keyboard combination worked. Looks like a double problem - udevadm/KMS + openchrome drvs.

Any tips? I usually give up just to find myself on the track again. I'd really like it to work, d'oh!

PS I should mention that this problem exist in Slackware too.

[gapan]

Did you reboot?

[marc]

Eventually yes, but it doesn't help. I think there's no hope for me here well, too bad.

I wish I could have some other video card there, but it's an old, refurbished laptop, so I didn't had much choice.

Slackware is just probobly moving forward with kernel and technology, while kernel from Debian stays at the same config and that's why I can run it on that hardware [plus, as you've already said: it probobly has a right version of cf86-video-openchrome].

PS I should also mention I tried to run it with xf86-video-via from Slack 12.0 or earlier - no luck either.