(SOLVED) Nouveau fb makes laptop screen a GIANT BARCODE.

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

Help.... !!
This is an older Compaq Tablet... TC1000 that I'm trying to get the kernel updated on (wiped the hard drive... (starting fresh!)

wcg · Guru Joined: 06 Jan 2009 Posts: 588

You can use a pastebin site to post the kernel .config, etc. This one
works: http://pastebin.ca/

I do not know what site(s) wgetpaste uses.

The fact that it works with an external monitor plugged in and
not with the laptop's built-in monitor is suspicous. I would suspect
a quirk rather than some blatant kernel misconfiguration.
What's different? Different EDID information maybe.

make menuconfig saves the configuration in /usr/src/linux/.config when
you exit, saving the old .config in .config.old. Each time you run
make menuconfig and save changes, though, it overwrites the
previous .config.old. So you only have the current .config and
the previous one unless you save your own copies somewhere
each time after you exit menuconfig. (I save two copies, one in
/boot/ tagged with the kernel version and date, and another in
the kernel source directory tagged with the date and usually
some abbreviated keywords to identify it to myself, like
"config.USB-wifi-no-raid_2012_03_16", for example, which
would differentiate it from a .config with raid support, one without
USB support, or one without wifi support for the same kernel version.
I do not need the kernel version in the filename for the copy in
the source tree for that kernel, the kernel version is in the directory
name where the file is found.)

(I have not used nouveau on old laptops with early nvidia chips,
so I have no idea about the quirk.)
_________________
TIA

chithanh · Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 4:57 am Post subject:

salahx · Guru Joined: 12 Mar 2005 Posts: 530

The video chip is very old (NV11) and only 16MB of video ram (one of my comptuers has the same chipset, but twice as much video ram, framebuffer works, X doesn't unless acceleration is disabled). I recommending adding "nouveau.noaccel=1" to the kernel command line and and see if that helps.

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

chithanh · Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:03 pm Post subject:

VGA-1 is the external monitor.
Internal panel is something with LVDS, see /sys/class/drm/card0/ and read http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/KernelModeSetting for details.

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

well... no joy yet... tried this grub.conf after reading the Mode setting doc... still have BARCODE screen

Gusar · Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:36 pm Post subject:

Ant P. · Watchman Joined: 18 Apr 2009 Posts: 6920

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

Well... hmmm.

I did file a bug ... although it didn't quite feel the right place as I haven't even emerged X on the machine yet.
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=63790

I've never gone backwards in kernel versions before... hmmmm. I've seen tutorials on upgrading kernels, but not downgrading... Looks like I need to do a bit more studying on what can be done w/ nvidia-drivers-96.43... Just looking for a stable X (Its never gonna be fast on this tablet, but I love the old guy.)
I've patched inner tubes for decades.. never a driver.. ( but getting nouveau running seems like a hole I can't handle alone)

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

I've done a bit more studying... Probably shouldn't downgrade my kernel (I'm using 3.7.10 and ext4 file system on root) I'm not sure how to downgrade the kernal any way... this is a new build, so if I have to go that route... would I mask >=gentoo-sources-3.7.10 and portage would bring in the next lower stable version? (3.4.34).... is ext4 file system stable in that kernel?

Anywaaayyyyyy.....
First I'd like to try to patch nvidia-drivers-96.43.23 to build with this current kernel ( 3.7.10
I think

this is the patch to get n'd'96.43.23 to build in my current kernel...
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nvidia-96xx/

or this?

https://447566.bugs.gentoo.org/attachment.cgi?id=339470

any kind wisdom here?

should I follow this example...?
http://devmanual.gentoo.org/ebuild-writing/functions/src_prepare/epatch/

or this... further down...
http://www.gentoo-wiki.info/HOWTO_Create_an_Updated_Ebuild

aka.bugle · n00b Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 57

I've solved this the long way.... I've got Nouveau and KMS running on Kernel 3.4.34 I have a Gnome Minimal install running also.
Thank you everyone for the advise and tips...
I think I may have a bigger hurdle getting the Touch screen going as developement of the fpit drivers are quite minimal. I may just have to use an old version of Ubuntu to get the stylus working.

I had EVERYTHING dialed in in gentoo 2.6 ... But it just seems there's no going back in Gentoo. (so much good hardware out here, no longer supported)

Touching the screen with the pen just shuts down The X server... 4 days of seraching, trying different things, but no luck yet... I have a great driver that worked in kernel 2.6 an X server 1.4... but the API has changed in X, and I don't know C. driver won't compile. The developer no longer is maintaining the package. STRUGGLE!

wcg · Guru Joined: 06 Jan 2009 Posts: 588

I have used nouveau without video problems with kernel 2.6.38 (vanilla),
3.2.12 (gentoo-sources), 3.3.8 (gentoo), 3.5.7 (gentoo), and 3.7.10 (gentoo),
but I did not have exotic hardware: geforce6150se, g86, and gt218 nvidia gpus.
I did not need nouveau.modeset kernel parameter, nor even a connector
specification in "video=", only resolution, bit depth, and refresh rate
for the nouveau framebuffer. A vga-capable monitor is hooked up
to the default vga connector, and nouveau simply checks there first and
finds it at boot.

The acpi message may mean that suspend, etc, is a no-go with that device,
without some device-specific workaround (that knows how that device has
to be powered down and back up at resume).

Many times kernel error messages do not reflect permanent failure,
the device driver reporting the error tries an alternate method to configure
the hardware, and that works.
_________________
TIA