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Re: X server will not start

 
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Capt J S McKenzie
Frequent Advisor

X server will not start

I have just created a new 5.1 system on an Alpha1000A but
I cannot get Xserver to start so I am defaulting to command line operation. I would really like a gui as I had it up until now running the Alpha Debian Linux port. The card is an old S3 Virge but I have followed the instructions in Xserver.conf putting in a low resolution of 800x600 after the -pn.

Additional info is that X tries to start three times before aborting. The screen turns to grey with many vertical columns of dashes.
The extra setting I put in Xserver.conf is:-

args <
-pn -bs -su
-screen0 800x600
-depth0 8
-vsync0 75
>

Changing the monitor from a 17" View Sonic to a 19" very modern flat screen Neoview makes no difference.

Changing the Xserver.conf extra definition from 800x600 to 640x480 which should be native for the card also makes no difference.

I cannot revert to the embedded Cirrus card as you need the ECU diskette to tell the system you want to use on-board VGA as well as move the board jumper, but I don't have the ECU floppy - and in any event I reckon the Cirrus is less capable than the S3 PCI card.

Any chance of help from an X man or the HP specialist video man giving me some pointers please?
stuart mckenzie
49 REPLIES 49
Michael Schulte zur Sur
Honored Contributor

Re: X server will not start

Hi,

there is a log file for the Xserver. Have a look into that. I would try with 1280X1024 and 60 Hertz. My monitor won't accept anything else.

greetings,

Michael
Capt J S McKenzie
Frequent Advisor

Re: X server will not start

Hi Michael
I tried your suggestion and in fact several others and noted the results in the Xerrors file which lives in /var/cluster/members/member0/dt
All the configurations other than the native 640x480 gave illegal messages and then kill. Only the following gave no illegal messages but the error message itself repeated 4 times - presumably for each time it tried to start as

X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).

This is with:
-pn -bs -su
-screen0 640x480
-depth0 4
-vsynch0 60

regards
stuart mckenzie
Steven Schweda
Honored Contributor

Re: X server will not start

This is still with the odd-ball unsupported
graphics card, right? Which driver is being
selected? On my AlpSta 200 4/233 with the
ELSA GLoria Synergy-8 (ViVo), I see messages
like these at start-up:

Apr 9 18:42:27 urt vmunix: comet0: Card type 'Elsa GLoria' with 8MB framebuffer memory.
Apr 9 18:42:27 urt vmunix: comet0 at pci0 slot 13
Apr 9 18:42:27 urt vmunix: kernel console: comet0

What do you get that's comparable?

If the device is not of a known type, it
may be operated in some basic
VGA-compatible mode, which may not accept all
the setting values you've specified.

> many vertical columns of dashes

As in a scrambled display caused by bad
synchronization, aor an orderly display of a
lot of "-" characters?
Capt J S McKenzie
Frequent Advisor

Re: X server will not start

Hi Steven
kern.log has following entries:

vmunix: cirrus probe failed
vmunix: cirrus: attempting to use generic vga support
vmunix: cirrus0 at eisa0
vmunix: 640x480 VGA, 16 colours

(bearing in mind that on-board VGA is disabled by jumper)

about ten entries later...
vmunix: vga0 at pci1 slot 1
vmunix: 640x480 VGA, 16 colours
vmunix: vga0: generic VGA driver

five entries later
vmunix: kernel console: cirrus0

That seems to be all in kern.log that is relevant. I don't see how the console could be using the cirrus chip when a) it is disabled by jumper and b) the monitor is plugged into the PCI card and not the vga slot.


The vertical dashes on a grey background are ordered i.e like columns of vertical - (there is no key on the keyboard which gives a short vertical dash only a | and these dashes are half that size).

regards
stuart mckenzie
Steven Schweda
Honored Contributor

Re: X server will not start

Bearing in mind that I don't actually know
anything...

> on-board VGA is disabled by jumper

I believe that this is done to prevent the
SRM console from becoming confused when the
system contains multiple graphics cards, all
of which can do the basic VGA stuff. I'd
expect the Xserver to be indifferent to this
setting.

Note, for example, that the only apparent
difference (beyond the labels) between a
plain ELSA GLoria Synergy-8 card and an
official PBXGK-BB ELSA GLoria
Synergy-8-Compaq card is the installation of
the "VGA disable" switch. I assume that PC
BIOS stuff deals with this problem
differently from the way SRM does it.

Have you tried hooking a display to the
built-in display connector when X is
(supposed to be) running? Perhaps with more
default-like "args"? Perhaps (first) with
the PCI graphics card pulled?

I have no experience with multiple graphics
cards in one system with Tru64, but I'd
expect the X server to be able to cope to
some extent. (On VMS, it's common for the
DECwindows X software to demand that multiple
graphics cards all be the same type. I also
have no experience with multiple graphics
cards in one system with VMS, but I've read a
little more there.)

If only the built-in card gets mentioned
during start-up, it's possible that no one is
making a serious attempt to use the PCI card.

"man Xserver" does discuss "Multiscreen
configurations". In particular, it does
offer this hope-inspiring line:

Multiscreen configurations may contain any configuration display devices.

> X man or the HP specialist video man

Don't give up hope. One may yet appear.
Rick Retterer
Respected Contributor

Re: X server will not start

Xman here.

Your Elsa ViVo card will not work in the 1000a. There are no drivers outside of the standard VGA driver to support it.

To install a Graphics Card upgrade, you will need to disable the on-board Graphics card by moving the VGA jumper on the mother board to the OFF position. (Check your hardware manual for the pin location)

Then you will need to run the EISA Config utility to disable the on-board graphics option within the bios.

Only after doing this will you be able to get another graphics card to be recognized by the system.

Note: you will need to install a HP "Supported" graphics card for this system. This would be the Compaq S3 Trio64 graphics card. (PB2GA-JD)

Note, with the PB2GA-JD, you MUST have the boot_reset environment variable set to OFF.

IF you attempt to use any non-HP/Compaq qualified card, the correct driver for the system will not be found by the generic kernel when you boot it, and thus you will still be using the 640x480 graphics resolution that you had with the Cirrus on-board graphics option.

Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news, but that's just the way this system is.


Here is a little more information that may help you...


Disabling the Cirrus Chip:
--------------------------

NOTE:
If you want to use a different graphics card, you
must disable the Cirrus GD5422 graphics chip prior to
adding the new graphics card to the system.

The following steps describe how to disable the
built-in graphics chip in the saved system
configuration:

1. Make sure the EISA Configuration Utility diskette
is loaded. From the SRM console, enter the
"runecu" command to invoke the EISA Configuration Utility.

A message is displayed indicating that you have
invoked the EISA Configuration Utility.

2. Press the Enter key to continue.

3. Use the arrow keys to select Step 3, View or edit
details, and press the Enter key.

4. Use the arrow keys to highlight the VGA Graphic
Controller option. Press the Enter key to edit
the function.

5. Disable the VGA Graphic Controller by using the
arrow keys and pressing the F10 key.

6. Press the F10 key to exit from Step 3, View or
edit details.

7. Use the arrow keys to go to Step 5, Save and exit,
and press the Enter key.

8. Verify that the Save the configuration and restart
the computer line is highlighted, and press the
Enter key.
The configuration is now saved.

9. Press the Enter key to exit from the EISA
Configuration Utility.

10.When the Boot menu is displayed, turn off the
system.

While the system is off, add the new graphics option
card.

Also disable the built-in Cirrus GD5422 graphics
hardware while the system is turned off. Refer to
the hardware documentation that came with your system
for instructions on adding option cards and disabling
the Cirrus GD5422 graphics hardware.

This involves moving the VGA Jumper from the ENABLE
position to the DISABLE position on the AlphaServer 1000
Mother board. The Jumper is located along the top edge
of the System Mother board near the rear of the system.
The System Mother board is positioned vertically near the center
of the system enclosure and the jumper faces the left side as
viewed from the front.

Once the built-in graphics chip is disabled and the
optional graphics card added, turn on the system



- Rick Retterer



Capt J S McKenzie
Frequent Advisor

Re: X server will not start

Hi Xman
Thank you for your advice.
Could I first say that the Cirrus chip was disabled a long time ago and I have been using the Alpha with the S3 Virge card on Debian Linux Alpha port quite successfully.
I would point out that the monitor is plugged in to the card and not the VGA port so some driver must be working!

Browsing for details on graphics cards and Alphas resulted in posts saying that most S3 cards would work under Tru64 albeit at low resoultion but as you see from my previous posts I have resorted to native 640x480 depth 4 i.e 16 colours.

Are you saying that the driver and the card are not making contact? If so then how am I getting anything on a monitor plugged into the card??

Puzzled.....
stuart mckenzie
Steven Schweda
Honored Contributor

Re: X server will not start

> Cirrus chip was disabled a long time ago

Being disabled as a VGA console device may
differ from being disabled completely. Have
you performed the ECU ritual yet?

Every PC-oriented graphics card has a generic
VGA mode in addition to its fancy individual
mode(s). This allows any such card to be
used (in VGA mode) in any PC without needing
a proprietary device driver. (Of course, if
you want the full feature set, you need the
real driver.) Similarly, the SRM console can
probably deal with any (one) such card in its
VGA mode. Q: If multiple such cards (or
built-in interfaces) exist, which one should
the SRM console use? A: Not the one(s) whose
VGA mode has been disabled. But disabling
the VGA mode may not completely disable the
card. (Am I repeating myself enough yet?)

> S3 Virge card on Debian Linux Alpha port
> quite successfully

Tru64 may differ from Debian Linux in its
graphics device support.

> so some driver must be working!

You can tell this because the display looked
so good? Have you checked the output from
the built-in graphics port?

For a good time, I swapped the ELSA GLoria
Synergy-8 ViVo card in my AlpSta 200 4/233
for an old (circa 1996) Number Nine card with
an S3 Trio64 chip. The SRM console "show
config" included:

Bus 00 Slot 13: Digital S3 TRIO 64 Graphics Controller

Making no changes to any X configuration
files, I first simply rebooted. Console
output (as recorded in /var/adm/messages)
included:

Apr 11 15:56:03 urt vmunix: vga0 at pci0 slot 13
Apr 11 15:56:03 urt vmunix: 640x480 VGA, 16 colors
Apr 11 15:56:03 urt vmunix: vga0: generic VGA driver
Apr 11 15:56:03 urt vmunix: kernel console: vga0

and X started with a resolution so low that
it could easily have been 640x480. (Not all
of the HP Tru64 UNIX logo fit on the
display, for example.)

Next, I shut down, and then booted the
generic kernel ("boot -file genvmunix").
This time, the console output included:

Apr 11 16:10:32 urt vmunix: s3trio0: S3 Trio64 (SVGA) Plug-N-Play, 2.0 Mb
Apr 11 16:10:32 urt vmunix: s3trio0 at pci0 slot 13
Apr 11 16:10:32 urt vmunix: kernel console: s3trio0

("2.0 Mb" is why I replaced the card when I
got the system. The previous owner was
running some Linux or other, probably Red
Hat, but no bets. I think that even VMS
supported (or, at least, tolerated) this
card, too.)

This time, X started at a higher resolution.
Output from "xdpyinfo" included:

screen #0:
dimensions: 1024x768 pixels (280x235 millimeters)
resolution: 93x83 dots per inch
depths (2): 1, 8

A "doconfig" created a non-generic kernel,
and it seemed to work as expected (again, X
started with 1024x768 resolution.)

My test display for all this was a Sony
Multiscan 15sf (CRT). (Nothing fancy.)

I'd suggest _really_ disabling the on-board
graphics chip (if it's not already been
done), then booting the generic kernel to see
if it can puzzle out the device better.


> Your Elsa ViVo card will not work in the
> 1000a. There are no drivers outside of the
> standard VGA driver to support it.

Does the SRM console need more than standard
VGA? Clearly, Tru64 can deal with the card.

> you will need to install a HP "Supported"
> graphics card

Note that nothing on my #9 S3 Trio64 card
suggests any connection to DEC, Compaq, or
HP. Of course, an S3 Virge probably differs
from an S3 Trio64 in more than just the name,
so there's no particular reason to expect it
to work with Tru64.
Steven Schweda
Honored Contributor

Re: X server will not start

One clarification: I make no use of the
ViVo-specific features on the ViVo card
(with either Tru64 or VMS). I treat it as an
ordinary card which happens to have a bunch
of extra parts installed. Both the Tru64 and
VMS graphics drivers like it well enough.

Note that the VGA disable switch is not among
the extra parts on a ViVo. Also, I have
never tried to connect anything to the
additional ViVo inputs or outputs, so I have
no idea what, if anything, is happening there.

Of course, the fellow with the problem doesn't
have one of these cards. I offer it merely as
an example of a working graphics card.