From: andrewm@runx.oz.au (Andrew McLaren)
Subject: Trident, X and Linux problem
Keywords: X, Trident 
Organization: RUNX Un*x Timeshare.  Sydney, Australia.
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 03:24:09 GMT

Okay, maybe I'm a bit thick - many people have said so - but I'd greatly 
appreciate any comments on this problem.

I've installed XFree86 1.1 under Linux .98pl6 (SLS). When I try to run 
it, I get a *very* distorted graphic screen, after a couple of seconds 
the text screen is returned with the following message:

*------------------------ message -----------------------------
Cannot open mouse: No such file or directory
no SIOCGIFCONF
XFree86 Version 1.1 / X Window System
(protocol Version 11, revision 0, vendor release 5000)
Configured drivers:
  VGA2 (monochrome VGA):
      et4000, et3000, pvga1, gvga, tvga8900, generic
Trident chipset version: 0x13
VGA2: tvga8900 (mem: 1024k (using 64k) numclocks: 8)
VGA2:   clocks: 25 28 45 36 57 65 50 40

Fatal server error:
failed to initialize core devices

giving up.
xinit:  Interrupted system call (errno 4):  unable to connect to X server
xinit:  No such process (errno 3):  Server error.
*---------------------- end of message ----------------------------

The key problem seems to be that the graphics display is not correct. I 
have played extensively with Xconfig, studied Bob Crosson's notes and 
Chin Fang's tutorial (both excellent!), read the FAQ and messages in 
comp.os.linux re similar problems, all to no avail.

(The mouse problem is easy, but I've left it in because the system hangs 
 at the graphics screen otherwise.)

The video card is a VP77 VGA with Trident 8900 and 1Mb memory (ie an 
anonymous clone, but it works okay with MS-Windows, OS/2 etc), set to 
60Hz vertical refresh and non-interlaced. The monitor is a Phillips 
3CM9809 VGA (*not* a SVGA monitor, but I'm only trying to get 640x480 
resolution), horiz sync rate of 31.5KHz and raster range 48-75Hz. The PC 
is a bog-standard clone with 386-40MHz and 8Mb RAM. The problem occurs 
for both X386 and X386mono. My current Xconfig (ie revision no. 753) is:

# 
------------------------Xconfig----------------------------------------- 
RGBPath     "/usr/X386/lib/X11/rgb" FontPath    
"/usr/X386/lib/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/X386/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo,/usr/X386/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"

Keyboard
  AutoRepeat 500 5
  ServerNumLock
Microsoft   "/dev/ttyxx"

vga256
  Clocks	25 28 45 36 57 65 50 40
#  chipset 	"tvga8900"
#  Virtual       640 480
#  ViewPort      0 0
  Modes         "640x480"

vga2
  Clocks	25 28 45 36 57 65 50 40
  Virtual       640 480
  ViewPort      0 0
  Modes         "640x480"

ModeDB
# name        clock   horizontal timing     vertical timing      flags
"640x480"     25      640  672  768  800    480  483  485  504
#              45      640  664  760  800    480  491  493  525
#              65      640  664  760  800    480  491  493  525
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Any ideas? Do I need a SVGA monitor, even for 640x480? Should I use 
different numbers in Xconfig? A new video card? Give up computers and 
sell insurance? All and any comments will be gratefully received. Send
by email and I will post a summary.

Andrew McLaren
andrewm@runx.oz.au        Sydney Australia         vox: +61-2-51-2978
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux