Re: [Linux-fbdev-devel] bugs in G450 framebuffer console under linux 2.4.17

[Carl W. S. <ch...@re...>]

> > And after I looked into your dmesg - are you sure that
> > it does not die due to atyfb? 
> 	yeah, that's a possibility. I'll build a new kernel without that.
	
	the ATI framebuffer support seems to have been the issue. without
that; everything works reasonably fine.
	this of course leads to the question; why does the addition of an
ati framebuffer cause these problems?


> > Fix your /etc/fbset.modes. Secondary head (as documented) cannot do 8bpp,
> > it can do only 16bpp and 32bpp.
> 	hmm, looks like I don't have an /etc/fbset.modes. will look into
> that.
	I think you meant /etc/fb.modes. yes, I do have that.
	giving the -depth 16 option in fbset makes it set the display
properly. it would be nice to give a more helpful error message in
situations like this; but I expect this is a problem that's not entirely
trivial to generalize; since it depends on the graphics card's limitations.

I did notice one more bug:
if one has a framebuffer for the G450's second head, and uses fbset to
operate upon it before starting X; the image displayed on that screen once X
is started, will be offset to the right by about an inch. if one doesn't use
fbset before starting X (this is just plain MGA X, not fbdev); then the
image appears in the proper place.
	is this an issue with X, or the framebuffer? I'm going to suspect X,
since it ought to reset things properly before starting; but I know that
G450 support in X is pretty shaky in places (DRI is buggy), and
unfortunately there isn't an active maintainer that I've seen. :(

thanks much for the help!

Carl Soderstrom
-- 
Network Engineer
Real-Time Enterprises
(952) 943-8700