[kde-linux] Non-functional KDE 4.6 in openSUSE 11.4

[Felix Miata]

On 2011/11/27 16:37 (GMT-0800) FrankK composed:

> 12.1 was a big disappointment! Both kde4.7 and lxde
> were buggy for me. I'm back to 11.4 with kde 4.6.0.

Exactly what were the bug manifestations you observed?

> With 11.4 with kde 4.6.0, I have a display after
> using "nomodeset" as a kernal parameter. Also I added
> the 70- file to xorg.conf.d.

Nomodeset will disable use of the Intel driver. That you don't want. The 
generic driver is slow, and IIRC does not support 1280x1024 if that's what 
you want or need to use.

> There is a problem with this kde display, but I think
> it's the result of the graphics driver which is more
> of an openSuse matter than kde. I would like to get
> some help here with my kde 4.6 display problem if
> it's appropriate for this list.

> Since my last post, I switched to a beefier machine
> than the Compaq. I'm hoping that Felix has had some
> experience with this Emachine box that has the kde
> 4.6 display problem.

> root[501] lspci | grep VGA
> 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation
> 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics
> Device (rev 03)

Both mine are (rev 01), which might make a difference.

Who made your motherboard? What model is it? (answer necessary only if the 
following fails)

> root[502] hwinfo --gfxcard
> 11: PCI 02.0: 0300 VGA compatible controller (VGA)
>    [Created at pci.318]
>    Unique ID: _Znp.DBsAKLI2lO9
>    SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0
>    SysFS BusID: 0000:00:02.0
>    Hardware Class: graphics card
>    Model: "Intel i845"
>    Vendor: pci 0x8086 "Intel Corporation"
>    Device: pci 0x2562 "i845"
>    SubVendor: pci 0x109f "Trigem Computer Inc."
>    SubDevice: pci 0x3186
>    Revision: 0x03
>    Memory Range: 0xf0000000-0xf7ffffff
> (ro,non-prefetchable)
>    Memory Range: 0xe8000000-0xe807ffff
> (rw,non-prefetchable)
>    IRQ: 16 (no events)
>    I/O Ports: 0x3c0-0x3df (rw)
>    Module Alias:
> "pci:v00008086d00002562sv0000109Fsd00003186bc03sc00i00"
>    Driver Info #0:
>      XFree86 v4 Server Module: intel
>    Driver Info #1:
>      XFree86 v4 Server Module: intel
>      3D Support: yes
>      Extensions: dri
>    Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no,
> active=unknown

> Primary display adapter: #11

> The main problem with the kde4.6 display is the
> single modeline that the display is forced to use:
> 1024x768 at 76Hz and 8 colors!

Where did this modeline come from?

> Most likely you all can picture what an 8 color
> display looks like in a modern graphical environment!
> I think this Emachine box has all the HW capabilities
> I need to run kde4.6 if I can get the beans out of
> the can!

> Can I get help fixing this particular display problem
> here?

Save 
http://fm.no-ip.com/Tmp/Linux/Xorg/xorg.conf-i845G-gx260-1280x1024x096x24BPP-oS114.27 
as /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and boot without nomodeset on Grub's kernel cmdline. 
After booting, run 'cat /proc/cmdline' from a shell prompt to ensure that 
nomodeset was not applied during boot.

Note that it contains 0 modelines. It allows Xorg to calculate appropriate 
lines from specified HorizSync and VertRefresh if those found in EDID are 
inappropriate or bad or there is no EDID.

Pay no attention to the _many_ commented lines in this file. Once you have 
yours working, any or all the commented lines can be deleted, but if it 
doesn't work right, we may need to try uncommenting one or more of them to 
isolate your problem.

I have two openSUSE 11.4 machines with i845G video. One motherboard was made 
by Intel. The one I used to make and test this file was made by Foxconn, but 
as an OEM component in a Dell Optiplex GX260. It produces working KDE 4.6.0 
@1280x1024 on both a Dell 1280x1024 LCD and a NEC CRT supporting up to 
2048x1536. If this file fails for you, either you must have some kind of 
hardware problem that needs to be isolated and worked around, or the out of 
the box 11.4 needs to have some updates applied. I have no way to know which 
if any applied updates may or may not have enabled this to work properly on 
my GX260.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

  Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/