How to - Resolve Xvesa issue

[tclfan]

Pardon me my question, which may not be on the level of expected expertise here...
When I boot TCL 2.1 LiveCD on my older laptops (Thinkpad T23 with native screen resolution of 1024x768) desktop GUI is not started. I get a command prompt after messages telling me about Xvesa server error and that screen mode is not found.  I tried vga=792, 791 and 790 boot codes, with the same effect. I believe 791 is default.
If I do tinycore Xsetup on boot, it gives me resolution menu to chose from. I select 1024x768x24, or 1024x768x16 (the same as TCL default), then select mouse, after which desktop starts properly. How do I find the (vga) bootcode which will make TCL start desktop? I understand this is not TCl but Xvesa issue I am dealing with...

[Juanito]

I'm not at a tc machine right now, but I think the default is 1024x768x32 - you can check this by looking in ~/.xsession - which might not be supported by your older machines?

[tclfan]

Hi Juanito,

I understand the default is vga=791, which is 1024x768x16. I think 1024x768x24 is vga 792,  but in any case neither of these vga codes get me to the desktop. No matter which one I use I get command prompt rather than TCL desktop. However if I go through Xsetup, and manually select one of these resolutions, TCL starts desktop properly. Is it possible that something else, such as mouse prevents TCL from booting to desktop?

[Juanito]

What I mean is:

Code: [Select]

$ cat ~/.xsession
Xvesa -br -screen 1024x768x32 -shadow -mouse /dev/input/mice,5 -nolisten tcp -I 2>&1 > /dev/null &
...
If you use the boot code "text" you boot to console mode and then you will be able to edit this to read 1024x768x24 and then "startx"

[tclfan]

Hi Juanito,

First, I greatly appreciate your patience to help. I trust the process you posted will work, however it sounds like I will need to do it each time I boot..., which is even more time consuming and cumbersome than booting with Xsetup and select the resolution...
However, would you say if I can somehow achieve this with TCL boot parameters, such as vga=, plus something else, so I can re-master to make TCL boot to desktop, instead of console, without all this manual procedure?
This Xvesa problem is unfortunate, as the Thinkpad is perfect for TCL, with just right native resolution too (1024x768), while the new laptops I have (1280x800) display TCL desktop stretched and therefore fuzzy, as Xvesa picks 1024x768 and stretches to match the screen...

[Jason W]

Setting the right screen resolution and then placing .xsession in your backup should prevent having to do anything upon further boots to set up the display.

[tclfan]

Jason,

Thank you. I forgot the Xvesa parameters will carry to future sessions through backup...
Would you have some suggestions for fixing resolution for new laptops (1280x800)?

[Jason W]

I don't have a laptop or newer monitor for that matter, so I would not know what resolutions would be supported.

The command "Xvesa -listmodes" issued on those machines would tell of the resolutions that could safely be used. 

915resolution.tce may also help.

[Juanito]

On my laptop this works (using the 915resolution extension):

Code: [Select]

$ sudo 915resolution 50 1280 800
You can then edit .xsession to 1280x800x32 and startx

[tclfan]

Juanito,

Thanks much. Great tip. Will it also be carried over to the future sessions via standard backup, i.e. mydata.gz?

[samedirection]

"will it be carried over...?" 

Not without the additional step of adding the correct command to your autoruns.sh script.  See the 915resolution .info file for instructions.

On my vostro 1500 (also 1250x800), I have an intel chipset that is not supported by the stock 915resolution extension.  There is, however,  a patch for it on the Puppy forums.  It might be worth applying since it's also the chipset used by the Acer Aspire One, a decent, inexpensive netbook.  The link for the patch and resulting discussion: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=31298). 

[tclfan]

It looks hopeless for me to get the correct resolution. On my main laptop I have nVidia 8400 and on the other it is ATI. 915resolution does not support either one...
Considering these are probably the most common video chips for newer laptops, looks to me Xvesa is no longer maintained? If it is so, then it is regrettable, because it appears to be light in hardware requirements and still quite sufficient, short of 3d...
Is there any chance someone could continue Xvesa maintenance?

[tclfan]

Juanito,

By the way, you are absolutely right on default resolution (Of course!). When I looked at xsession, it is now indeed 1024x768x32, not 1024x768x24.
I think at some point it must have been updated.
I still do not understand how it is that Xvesa is not working with Thinkpad T23, which is perfectly capable of supporting all these resolutions and if you go through manual xsetup picking the same resolution then it works...Looks to me that understanding of this phenomenon would help lots of people, not just me...

[Juanito]

As per google, several people have had issues with the S3 graphics in a Thinkpad T23.

If you only want to use one resolution - 1024x768x24 - then modifying .xsession and adding it to your backup would seems to be the way to go.

If you want to use more than one resolution, then maybe using the Xorg extension would be better?

[samedirection]

915resolution does not support either one...

915resolution is a hack for intel chips only, because they don't _report_ the correct resolutions.  This is not the problem with the other chipsets, AFAIK. 

By the way are your nVidia 8400 and ATI chipsets powering widescreen monitors or 4:3?  It seems that half the problem with the "simple X window" setup (Xvesa and its helpers) is that Xvesa doesn't have adequate support for wide screen resolutions (in otherwords, it's not the chipset per se, but the fact that you want to run it at 16:9 or 16:10 or whatever).   I know that it supports some widescreen setups (the eee for example), but not others.  Or?

Puppy Linux also uses Xvesa, which is good for us, since they're actively working to solve these problems as well, and it seems they have both some decent smarts among them, and a wide user (and therefore hardware) base.  You might find some joy searching their forums (it's where I found the patch for 915resolution for my chipset).