Please help with X

[Juanito]

It’s normal for xorg to look for its preferred driver for your hardware, but in your case the siliconmotion driver is a separate package that would need to be compiled.

You could try the modesetting driver, which is included, like this:

Code: [Select]

tce-load -i graphics-KERNEL Xorg-7.7-3d flwm aterm wbar
startx ..but Xorg-7.7-3d might not work with a pentium II.

The resolution can be changed via an Xorg.conf snippet - if you search the forum you should find an example.

[Juanito]

xf86-video-siliconmotion added to the tc-15.x x86 repo.

So:

Code: [Select]

tce-load -i xf86-video-siliconmotion Xorg-7.7 flwm aterm wbar
startx

[t18]

Unfortunately that driver doesn't work: the screen stays blank and no Xorg.log is created.

I know that many people have had problems with it in the past decades (this is dated 2010-12: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=45634), so I'd look for alternative configurations (unless to find a way for it to work properly).

Do you think it would be possible?

[Juanito]

The silicon motion driver looks to be from 2023.

Did you try the modesetting driver (graphics-KERNEL + Xorg-7.7-3d)?

Why not use Xorg-7.7 on its own with a conf snippet to change the resolution?

[t18]

The silicon motion driver looks to be from 2023.

Yes, it's the latest version but on other distros gives errors like the previous ones.

Did you try the modesetting driver (graphics-KERNEL + Xorg-7.7-3d)?

It seems certain things haven't changed since 2014:

"xf86-video-modesetting definitely won't work, it requires a KMS driver, and there's no such driver for siliconmotion. "
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=187477

Why not use Xorg-7.7 on its own with a conf snippet to change the resolution?

I'll try that and report it to you asap.

[Rich]

Hi t18
You can have Xorg create an xorg.conf file for you.
Click the  Exit  icon
Select  Exit to Prompt
Then:

Code: [Select]

sudo su
Xorg -configure
mv /root/xorg.conf.new /home/tc/
chmod 666 /home/tc/xorg.conf.new
chown tc:staff /home/tc/xorg.conf.new
exit
cp -a /home/tc/xorg.conf.new /home/tc/xorg.conf
startx
editor xorg.confThe screen resolution is usually set somewhere near the
end of the file. Try changing it to 1024x768 and save the file.
Then:
Click the  Exit  icon
Select  Exit to Prompt

Code: [Select]

sudo mkdir /etc/X11
sudo cp xorg.conf /etc/X11
startx

[t18]

Hi Rich and all,

first I want to point out that using the default Xorg (that works at 800x600), when I "exit to prompt" probably the system does that but the screen remains blank and I don't see the prompt.
I have to reboot via ctrl+alt+canc.

Then tried the "Xorg -configure" but it gives errors, please see the attached log.

Finally I tried "X -config ./xorg.conf" using my conf file put together from previous attempts on other distros, please see it attached.
It doesn't load nor creates any log file.

[Juanito]

Here's a conf snippet I've used to change the resolution on my laptop - it is placed in /usr/local/share/X11/xorg.conf.d and you can call it 50-resolution or similar:

Code: [Select]

Section "Device"
        Identifier     "Intel HD4400"
        Driver         "intel"
        Option         "monitor-eDP1" "eDP1"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier     "eDP1"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier     "Default Screen"
        Device         "Intel HD4400"
        Monitor        "eDP1"
        DefaultDepth   24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth         24
                Modes         "1024x768" "1366x768" "640x384"
        EndSubSection
EndSection
You would need to substitute the correct driver and monitor from those you see used in your Xorg.0.log

[t18]

Thank you Juanito, unfortunately that file gets ignored unless I put 8 or 16 depth.

I'd be tempted to switch back to Xvesa if I can run Abiword and Gimp on it.

[t18]

Either on Xvesa and Xorg I get some "trap invalid opcode" errors when starting Gimp or Vlc or Cmus.

Any way to fix them?

[curaga]

That means your cpu is too old to run them. Sometimes the package requires a higher processor, sometimes it's just a flag adjustment when compiling.

[Rich]

Hi t18

... I get some "trap invalid opcode" errors ...

That's like saying:
Some warning light lit on my dashboard. Why doesn't my car work?

The purpose of an error message is to help pinpoint the source of
the error. By generalizing instead of reporting the exact error
message you defeat its purpose.

"invalid opcode" means your CPU encountered an instruction it
does not support. The rest of the error message includes where
the instruction originated from. It could be from vlc or one of its
dependencies. It's probably from qt-5, but without the complete
message we can't be sure.

You can try capturing the complete message into a file like this:

Code: [Select]

vlc > vlc.txt 2>&1 Then copy the file to another machine so you can copy/paste
the contents to your next post.

Also, be aware your machine might not have the horsepower or
enough RAM to run some of those programs.

You can also try running the ncurses or command line versions
of vlc:

Code: [Select]

nvlcor

Code: [Select]

cvlc

[t18]

That means your cpu is too old to run them. Sometimes the package requires a higher processor, sometimes it's just a flag adjustment when compiling.

I think is a bit old, definitely. I wonder if rebuilding from scratch may be a solution.

Hi t18

... I get some "trap invalid opcode" errors ...

That's like saying:
Some warning light lit on my dashboard. Why doesn't my car work?

The purpose of an error message is to help pinpoint the source of
the error. By generalizing instead of reporting the exact error
message you defeat its purpose.

"invalid opcode" means your CPU encountered an instruction it
does not support. The rest of the error message includes where
the instruction originated from. It could be from vlc or one of its
dependencies. It's probably from qt-5, but without the complete
message we can't be sure.

You can try capturing the complete message into a file like this:

Code: [Select]

vlc > vlc.txt 2>&1 Then copy the file to another machine so you can copy/paste
the contents to your next post.

Also, be aware your machine might not have the horsepower or
enough RAM to run some of those programs.

You can also try running the ncurses or command line versions
of vlc:

Code: [Select]

nvlcor

Code: [Select]

cvlc

The "2>&1" command only gives "Illegal option".
The dmesg output is below:


traps: cmus[3149] trap invalid opcode ip:806cae7 sp:bf91d110 error:0 in cmus[8052000+23000]

traps: gimp[7793] trap invalid opcode ip:b75c43fd sp:bfbb5f50 error:0 in libbabl-0.1.so.0.181.1[b75b1000+21000]
ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000002180-0x0000000000002188 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000002186-0x0000000000002186 (\SM06) (20230628/utaddress-204)
ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000002180-0x0000000000002188 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000002185-0x0000000000002185 (\SM05) (20230628/utaddress-204)
ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000002180-0x0000000000002188 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000002184-0x0000000000002184 (\SM04) (20230628/utaddress-204)
ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000002180-0x0000000000002188 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000002183-0x0000000000002183 (\SM03) (20230628/utaddress-204)
ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000002180-0x0000000000002188 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000002182-0x0000000000002182 (\SM02) (20230628/utaddress-204)
ACPI Warning: SystemIO range 0x0000000000002180-0x0000000000002188 conflicts with OpRegion 0x0000000000002180-0x0000000000002180 (\SM00) (20230628/utaddress-204)
ACPI: OSL: Resource conflict; ACPI support missing from driver?

traps: vlc-cache-gen[10625] trap invalid opcode ip:b2fbcdc3 sp:bf9ff900 error:0 in libQt5Core.so.5.15.10[b2f87000+1d2000]

[Juanito]

I think is a bit old, definitely. I wonder if rebuilding from scratch may be a solution.

Babl, gimp and qt-5.x were all built with march=i486.

[gadget42]

this thread reminded of a recent read of an ancient install:

http://www.infekt.com/ilsa/onesandzeros/amity.html

also it would be nice to know OP machine specs(make/model/version/etc) and any aftermarket modifications/parts/etc.

keywords:
libretto
neomagic

20240605-1426pm-cdt-usa-modified: added some keywords