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

[FrankK]

Felix wrote:

>------- Original Message -------
>From    : Felix Miata[mailto:mrmazda at earthlink.net]
>Sent    : 11/27/2011 5:32:39 PM
>To      : kde-linux at kde.org; frankk at oregoncoast.com
>Cc      : 
>Subject : RE: Re: [kde-linux] Non-functional KDE 4.6
in openSUSE 11.4
>
 >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.

My Response starts here:

Thanks so much Felix for the xorg.conf file!

Af first when I followed your suggestions everything
worked fine at 1280x1024 at 60Hz. I tried using the
kde4.6 monitor tool to change to a 1024x768 at 75Hz. 

That worked except the right end of the tastbar is
off the screen. I tried some cursory attempts to
shorten the taskbar and the display lost sync. I
don't think I changed anything. I think the HW got
hot and failed.

Letting the CRT monitor cool off doesn't change
anything, so I'm expecting the display HW is going
unstable after working for a time. I'm back in
failsafe now. To get failsafe to work, I had to
rename xorg.conf.

What you gave me is very close to working. I think
1024x768 at 70Hz would work, if I knew the proper
modelines to uncommnet or to modify.

Before I get into the openSuse 12.1 install, I want
to mention that I ran the memory test on the DVD for
about 4 hours without any errors. Also, I ran the
verify media test on the DVD which also passed.

I can't tell you "exactly" went wrong with the 12.1
install. In both the kde4.7 and lxde, the display was
kind of speckled and the fonts looked like chinese
characters. In failsafe mode, I got a better font
display, but 3bit graphics.

The kde problems showed up when I tried to exit with
the Leave>Shutdown. Then about 6 small windows popped
up like playing cards being shuffled. They were each
some kind of bug report that wanted online access. I
wasn't connected so I had to cancel them one by one.
I did notice some segmentation fault(s) mentioned.

After a couple kde reboots with nomodeset, a display
came up with a sound error and kde stopped loading.
After that graphics were unresponsive to the mouse. I
thought rather than reload 12.1 with kde again, I
would reload 12.1 with lxde.

One of the things I couldn't get to work in lxde was
the openbox configuration. It was just unresponsive
to the mouse. These 12.1 behaviors reminded me of the
openSuse 11.0 days! 11.4 is a really nice OS. It will
serve me in good stead until 12.2 comes out!

The "modeline" I referred to is probably a misnomer.
In the kde configure desktop > Display and Monitor
the only option available was 1024x768x76Hz. Looking
at HWinfo showed only 3bit color was abailable.

The comments in your xorg.conf file don't bother me.
I think I need a slower combination for a default. In
failsafe the HW is stable.

I would love to know what motherboard this Emachine
box has. Close inspection has revealed nothing!
There's a possibility the Emblem is under the cpu
fan. This cpu is a Celeron. I can see a Rev B
sticking out from under the heat sink. Can you tell
me where abouts the MB labels are on your Intel and
Foxcon boards?

Two other options I may have is to ask Gateway who
apparently has absorbed Emachines. Intel also has
something advertised on their website where they
detect what driver is needed. My XP partition might
give me access to that option.

Just for grins is there anything to the Intel Linux
drivers? I have kernel headers, RPM env, and C++
installed now. Rolling my own is probably over my
head, but I have built modem drivers, etc in the
past. Frank K