Tiny Core Linux
Tiny Core Base => TCB Q&A Forum => Topic started by: Synergy on November 06, 2013, 06:54:58 AM
-
Hi again!
I have searched these forums, and kinda found half my answer, but I am not competent enough (yet) to resolve this myself. Would appreciate any pointers here.
Ok.. So I've got 15 HP T5700 Thin Clients that I got cheap on eBay. Little did I know that the Windows drivers do not support widescreen... Ah... Sshhhhii.... So I moved to Linux!
Fortunately TinyCore saved my ass. I now have completely configured the OS how I like except for one issue.. The resolution. Knowing that in Windows the driver is unable support widescreen I tested several lightweight linux distro's, and found that the graphics card/monitor combo can happily support it. Currently Xvesa lists a small array of 4:3 resolutions but not my Native 1366x768 (@60 Hz). I tested using TC, DSL & PuppyLinux and I managed to get this resolution. I would now like that in TinyCore so I can sign off these computers as production worthy.
I'm assuming I need to switch from Xvesa to XOrg? Is this right? How do I do that? I have it installed (pre-req. for Citrix) but ctrl+alt+backspace > startx will re-load xvesa. Do I need a startup switch or to edit a config stating the video type to load??
I should maybe note that I need this all in a minimal install as I only have 250Mb total storage on these thin clients as I'm trying to avoid USB sticks in the back.
Thanks in advanced!
-
If you have intel graphics you might be able to use 915resolution to get the resolution you need.
If not, you need to load the Xorg-7.7 extension and, with luck, it should have your native resolution confless.
-
Err.. I may have broken it a little. Now I can't get a GUI, I just get Use a recommended mode displayed on the screen when running startx.
Doesn't look like I have installed XOrg (properly?) either as there is no /etc/X11 folder. I did install from Apps (which I can no longer open)..
Is there like a reset to defaults for xorg I can type to put me back in default.
By the way the graphics are ATI Rage XC
-
You can download and load Xorg-7.7 from the console with "tce-load -iw Xorg-7.7"
The ati graphics driver is xf86-video-ati, but the default xf86-video-vesa, which is a dep of Xorg-7.7 will probably work.
-
That chip is too old for ati, it needs the mach64 driver.
tce-load -wi xf86-video-mach64
-
except that nobody compiled that driver yet :P
-
Well, it's available now for 4.x ;)
-
Brilliant.. I have my gui back.
I have run lspci -v
ATI Technologies Inc Rage XL (Rev 27) is the result on the graphics chip.
-
Sorry to ask, but how do I get it from 4.x?
Also, Is the X11 folder supposed to be in /etc/X11??
-
$ wget -c http://tinycorelinux.net/4.x/x86/tcz/xf86-video-mach64.tcz..but it's not certain to work with Xorg-7.7
If you need to use an xorg.conf you can create it in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
-
Ok. So I have that file (xf86-video-mach64) here;
/mnt/sda1/tce/optional
I dropped back to console and ran ;
tce-load -i xf86-video-mach64
/etc/sysconfig/tcedir/optional/xf86-video-mach64.tcz: OK
So now I want to change the driver so it uses this one as there is no automatic selection of this driver on boot. I'm assuming I need to configure Xorg.
When running sudo Xorg -configure I get this;
Number of created screens does not match number of detected devices.
Configuration failes.
(EE) Server terminated with error (2). Closing log file.
/var/log/Xorg.0.log contains nothing obvious... to me anyway.
The file xorg.conf contains multiple monitor entries. I can remove the 'unwanted' lines, edit in the resolution I wantand and test with;
Xorg -config xorg.conf.new -retroWorks.. Not in widescreen though..??
and save it at /etc/X11/xorg.conf. I add that to the backup and reboot.
Though no fix and my mach64 gets unloaded again on reboot.
Any ideas how I can configure org past this error and get my widescreen back?? Also how can I keep mach64 loaded persistently?
-
If the xf86-video-mach64 driver is compatible with Xorg-7.7, then it should be automatically chosen in preference to the xf86-video-vesa driver without the need for any configuring or configuration file.
Did you try "startx" and then looking at /var/log/Xorg.0.log to see which video driver was chosen?
-
Ah ok.. Well LuPu (Puppy) definately used this mach64 driver successfully. I'm not sure which version of Xorg that was though.
mach64 is now in onboot list.
Result of startx in /var/log/xorg.0.log is;
http://pastebin.com/rqp8ptEA
line 91 +:
[ 83.928] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[ 83.933] (II) Loading /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[ 83.935] (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 83.936] compiled for 1.14.2, module version = 2.3.2
[ 83.936] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[ 83.936] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 14.1
[ 83.936] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
[ 83.937] (--) using VT number 2
-
I just remembered that tc-4.x/Xorg-7.6 looks for the input/video drivers in a different location to tc-5.x/Xorg-7.7
You could try: $ sudo cp /tmp/tcloop/xf86-video-mach64/usr/local/lib/X11/modules/drivers/mach64_drv.so /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers..and then (re)startx
I'll try and compile the latest version of xf86-video-mach64 for Xorg-7.7 in the next day or two.
-
Thanks Juanito.
I tried that. No luck however. :-(
-
xf86-video-mach64 extension for tc-5.x/Xorg-7.7 posted - let us know if it works
-
I'm not entirely sure I've done this right..
I first attempted to clean it up with
tce-remove xf86-video-mach64
and deleted the 4.x version from /tce/optional
rebooted, then;
tce-load -iw xf86-video-mach64
startx.
Still no widescreen.
-
does /var/log/Xorg.0.log show that the mach64 driver is being loaded?
-
No. Only references to mach is in reference to the hardware. Driver still mentions Vesa.
http://pastebin.com/sRD8Ftty
in fact it seems to be looking for the ati driver, then falling back to vesa.
[ 372.195] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 7.0
[ 372.195] (==) AIGLX enabled
[ 372.195] Loading extension GLX
[ 372.196] (==) Matched ati as autoconfigured driver 0
[ 372.196] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 1
[ 372.196] (==) Matched modesetting as autoconfigured driver 2
[ 372.196] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 3
[ 372.196] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
[ 372.196] (II) LoadModule: "ati"
[ 372.198] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module ati
[ 372.198] (II) UnloadModule: "ati"
[ 372.198] (II) Unloading ati
[ 372.198] (EE) Failed to load module "ati" (module does not exist, 0)
[ 372.198] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[ 372.199] (II) Loading /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[ 372.199] (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 372.199] compiled for 1.14.2, module version = 2.3.2
[ 372.199] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[ 372.199] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 14.1
[ 372.199] (II) LoadModule: "modesetting"
[ 372.201] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module modesetting
[ 372.201] (II) UnloadModule: "modesetting"
[ 372.201] (II) Unloading modesetting
[ 372.201] (EE) Failed to load module "modesetting" (module does not exist, 0)
[ 372.201] (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
[ 372.202] (II) Loading /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
[ 372.203] (II) Module fbdev: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 372.203] compiled for 1.14.2, module version = 0.4.3
[ 372.203] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[ 372.203] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 14.1
[ 372.203] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
[ 372.204] (II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev
[ 372.204] (--) using VT number 2
-
You could try the xf86-video-ati extension and see what happens, perhaps your hardware needs both drivers to be present?
I see your mode is found: [ 372.470] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1366x768"x0.0 85.50 1366 1436 1579 1792 768 771 774 798 +hsync +vsync (47.7 kHz eP)
-
I should've thought of that myself really. It worked. Thanks a lot for your help dude. I love the project and have so many ideas. Need to brush up on my linux skills a lil.
-
..does the log show your hardware used both drivers?
-
Xorg.0.log
http://pastebin.com/0td1wuy0
It appears to load ati, mach64, vesa... but settle using mach64.
However, now whenever I start an Citrix ICA connection it'll crash.. If I start firefox, it'll also crash. I'm just looking for a log that'll give me something to work from. that log above is posted after finding out that Citrix Receiver/FF crash.
So close... yet...
-
What do you mean by "crash" - do you get any error messages?
-
Nothing. It starts to load then drops directly back to the console. No messages
-
How much ram do you have?
You could try starting firefox from a terminal window to see if you get any error messages.
-
Thanks. Executing firefox from console drops this message.
(process:5739): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_slice_set_config: assertion 'sys+page_size = 0' failed
Error: no display specified
There are a few bug reports around based on this error and firefox.
The client has 256Mb RAM. I'm going to put in something bigger (if I can find any lying around) and see if that resolves it. I'm also going to build another from scratch. Considering it's quite a basic install to this point. I may have reconfigured something I shouldn't have.
-
So fresh install..
TinyCorePlus without extra WM.
Installed Xorg-7.7 xf86-video-ati, xf86-video-mach64
Installed Firefox
Run firefox.. Crashes out with the g_slice_set_config error.
I have no spare DDR RAM lying about.
-
maybe you could try opera9 instead of firefox and see what happens?
-
Hi,
Yeah, opera is working. Citrix still crashes out though.
-
Hi Synergy
If the problem is insufficient RAM, you could try adding a small swap partition and using the nozswap boot code.
-
It's ok.. On hold till Monday. I have got some DDR Ram at home so will bring it in to try out.
I tried with a USB stick in the back and partitioning the whole stick (1Gb) with fdisk to a linux swap. I have done this and run mkswap /dev/sdb1. Still crashes out.. I'm not sure if that's an activated swap, but I'll look again Monday morning.
Thanks!
-
Hi Synergy
When Tinycore boots, it automatically allocates 25% of your RAM as a compressed swap drive. In your case that
amounts to 64Mbytes. The nozswap boot code will prevent that so you will have more RAM to run in. If you have
a swap partition, Tinycore will find and use it automatically when it boots.
-
Ah I see.. Valuable info. Thanks. I will let you know how I get on. ;-)
-
Hi,
No luck on the RAM/Nozswap options.
I first upped the RAM to a spare 512Mb DDR stick I have. This made no change. X still crashes back to terminal when initiating the connection.
So, I edited /mnt/sda1/tce/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf and added nozswap. It still crashes back to terminal.
Would it be worth creating a custom xorg config file? I have just tried an Xorg -configure and I get the message "Number of created screens does not match number of detected devices"
This causes the configuration to crash. When doing this it'll recreate a /root/xorg.conf.new file. I have tried to create an xorg.conf file at /etc/X11 but this seems to get ignored. Any ideas?
Should I try another 'older' version of Xorg?
-
you could try this:
$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AutoAddDevices" "false"
EndSection
..but you would need to add the xf86-input-keyboard and xf86-input-mouse extensions first
-
Hi Synergy
When Tinycore boots, it automatically allocates 25% of your RAM as a compressed swap drive. In your case that
amounts to 64Mbytes. The nozswap boot code will prevent that so you will have more RAM to run in. If you have
a swap partition, Tinycore will find and use it automatically when it boots.
I can't follow this statement.
From whatever I have read, I was under the impression that zram swap would be particularly of advantage for machines low in memory.
Am I perhaps missing something?
-
Real swap on a real disk frees up the RAM that zram would have used.
-
Hmm, if you put it that way, then I can see a point in it.