console shifts down when X starts

[fossatig]

Hi,
I have just tried to install 4919 drivers on a Debian 3.0r1 installation, made from scratch on
a DELL i8100, with Geforce 2 Go.
Lots of problems with the XF86 configuration, including the impossibility of running at 1600x1200.
The oddest thing, is that once X starts the text consoles are "shifted down" by a couple of lines,
leaving a blank space at the top, and throwing the prompt below the limits of the screen...
It still works.... but it does not bode very well for the health of the installation.

I have read a few threads, but I did not really find
anybody posting exactly for this problem.
It seems to be related with this "framebuffer"-thing, but I really don't have a clue as to what
the framebuffer really is, and if it can really be the culprit.
Btw, when it boots, there is the penguin logo at the top left corner... and I understand that is a sign that I am using some fb capabilties, isn't it?
After booting, in text mode, it's fine, as I said,
until I fire up X.... then the shift.

Thank you very much for any clue/help/fix.
Take care
-g

[Andy Mecham]

Are you disabling the SoftEDID option at all? Have you tried using the Moblie option (which would require disabling SoftEDIDs)?

These are described in (app-k) APPENDIX K: CONFIGURING A LAPTOP in the README.

--andy

[bwkaz]

Have you tried the new 4349?

If so, and if you still see the problem, then look at the contents of /proc/fb. If that says anything other than "VESA VGA", then you're using the wrong driver for your framebuffer.

Yes, seeing a penguin logo on boot means you are using a framebuffer.

[fossatig]

No, did not try 4349.
I was actually rather thinking to try an older release because I've seen quite a few complaints about the most recent ones.

I don't have anything on the softEDID or Mobile options in the XF86Config.
I've read that in the README, but then decided that
it may have been risky to force -so to speak- the computer not to use whatever the "native" setting might be.
However, apparently the BIOS is not doing a good job, because the display has a 1600x1200 mode (UXGA) and that is not "picked up" at boot.

Is it safe to set softEDID to "ignore" what the BIOS is saying the use the Mobile kernel option?

As to the framebuffer...I don't have the laptop here with me, I will check /proc/fb.
If it says "VESA VGA", then it's fine, correct?

If it returns a different value... how can I set the right framebuffer?
I mean in terms of config files/modules... etc...
(I am utterly ignorant on this framebuffer-thing.)

Thanks a lot.
-G

[bwkaz]

Originally posted by fossatig
If it returns a different value... how can I set the right framebuffer? I mean in terms of config files/modules... etc... Try the EDID stuff first, I think. Since you are using a laptop, I have a feeling that stuff will have a better chance of working.

But if you want to look at the framebuffer, I doubt it'll say anything different, but on the off chance it does, the only way I know of for sure to make it work right is to recompile the kernel. Enable CONFIG_FB (it probably already is), CONFIG_VESA, CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT, and I've got CONFIG_DUMMY_CONSOLE on too. I don't know for sure what that last one is, though. Disable all the other framebuffer console drivers (don't even make them modules), especially rivafb.