[Partially Solved] Problem with HP dc7900

[toothandnail]

Recently I picked up a second hand HP dc7900. Nice machine - 3.0 GHz core 2 duo, 8 GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive, all at a good price.

This morning I cleared Windows Vista and installed Salix. Install was fine, but when the machine was restarted, it began to boot (got the Lilo splash screen and the beginning of the kernel load. Then the screen went blank and I got 'no input signal' from the monitor. The machine sounds as though it continues booting, but no video.

I suspect its an Intel video problem (its got an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500), but I've not found any way to get the video to work.

Any suggestions as to how I can get round the problem? I can install a PCI-e video card, but I'm not entirely sure the problem is the video, and wouldn't know what card to install as a better option either.

Paul.

[Shador]

You can try adding "i915.modeset=0" to your kernel parameters. Be aware that this may introduce other problems with intel drivers as they require kms. (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel) Possibly building a more recent kernel yourself could make it work completely, if newer drivers have been integrated into the kernel.

[toothandnail]

You can try adding "i915.modeset=0" to your kernel parameters. Be aware that this may introduce other problems with intel drivers as they require kms. (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel) Possibly building a more recent kernel yourself could make it work completely, if newer drivers have been integrated into the kernel.

Thanks Shador. That gets me out of trouble, at least for the moment. It now boots without losing video and works well. Nice quick machine.

In the longer term, I may well try building a recent kernel - I do sometimes work in console, and would like to have it in native 1280x1024 rather than 640x480

Paul.