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superpat
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 10:54 am    Post subject: Stopping X gracefully? Reply with quote

Hi,

I have just installed Gentoo 2.6.3 on an AMD64 3000 system, with SATA drive.

It boots OK (after a hassle, fixed by using initrd) and now runs well!

I have just installed xf86-4.3.0. This works OK, but I need to adjust the Xconfig, the monitor and screen settings are running at 1600, too small for my old eyes!

However when I stop X, to edit the xconfig, the console terminal display is corrupted, displaying flashing blocks of colour. I have to press the reset button and reboot the system to get out out this state.

My video card is a Nvidia geoforce 5600 ultra.

What do I have to do to be able to return from X to a console text display that works OK.

The console uses FB support fine, (until I try to get out of X!)

I did a search on the forum but did not find any posts on this, maybe I did not know the right search key!

All help most gratefully received

Patrick
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gareth
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How about not using FB for the console. As you have a nVidia card, I assume you're using the nVidia driver, and therefore there is no need for the FB console.

I did see http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org/msg52869.html mentions it. It's by Alan Cox himself, so we can't argue with that can we :wink:
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superpat
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 12:23 pm    Post subject: nvidia console Reply with quote

Hi Gareth

Thanks for your reply, yes the comment by Alan Cox is pretty definitive!

So there is no mechanism in Linux to hold the state of the console when X starts, and pass the parameters back to the console when X stops. Bummer!

So moving on to your suggestion. You Said:-

"How about not using FB for the console. As you have a nVidia card, I assume you're using the nVidia driver, and therefore there is no need for the FB console."

How do I control the console font, size etc using the nvidia driver if I don't use framebuffer? Please can you expand on that.

Yes, I am loading the driver nvidia at boot time

regards

Patrick
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gareth
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 12:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was assuming that you don't use the console other than when you boot i.e. you load XFree after booting. This is how I use it, and therefore I'm not that concerned about the font that's used while booting.
It is possible though, to change the number of coloumns and rows on the console using the 'vga=' boot option. If you enter 'vga=ask' after the kernel name at the lilo prompt (assuming you're using lilo) then it will give you a list of possible video modes.
Once you have chosen a suitable mode, then enter this number into your '/etc/lilo.conf' under the global settings e.g.'vga=3' (Don't forget to run 'lilo' after).
I'm pretty certain that it's possible to change the font as well, as I seem to remember changing them on a really old Slackware system I had (before Framebuffers). As I just use the default mode and font and the jump straight into KDE then the console mode is irelevant to me to be honest.
If you get stuck, then I shall try to lever something out from between the cobwebs holding my brain cells together for you.
Good Luck....
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slackerman
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2004 3:17 am    Post subject: Try CTRL-ALT-<Func F1/F2/F3/etc.>. Reply with quote

Why not just try running another "virtual" console? I would be surprised/disappointed if that gave you problems, as well!

Cheers,

- Slackerman
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lightvhawk0
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2004 5:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got an Fx 5200 and I use frame buffer no problems. I use the vesa drive though
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sheila
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2004 6:17 am    Post subject: Re: Stopping X gracefully? Reply with quote

superpat wrote:
I have just installed xf86-4.3.0. This works OK, but I need to adjust the Xconfig, the monitor and screen settings are running at 1600, too small for my old eyes!

However when I stop X, to edit the xconfig, the console terminal display is corrupted, displaying flashing blocks of colour. I have to press the reset button and reboot the system to get out out this state.

My video card is a Nvidia geoforce 5600 ultra.

What do I have to do to be able to return from X to a console text display that works OK.

How are you "stopping" X?

I am a newbie to Linux, but I did a search on google the other day and found advice on O'Reilley's site (from their book about Debian Linux) to stop X by typing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. It has been working well for me?
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superpat
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:36 am    Post subject: Conclusion! Reply with quote

Hi,

I stop X with cntl alt backspace.

I have "worked around" the problem by removing the agressive VGA setting (vga=792) from my Grub.conf.

Now I can stop X and return to my original console, albeit at a much lower resolution!

thanks for all the advice

Now if anyone knows how to stop gnome-font-properties seg faulting

(see my newest post in this forum)


regards

Patrick
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secondshadow
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 29, 2004 2:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............ALT-CTRL-BKSP is for a last-resort-only sort of situation....
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CodeHacker84
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 29, 2004 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As far as Mr. Cox's comment is concerned, did we not just witness a request? Now, I'm not suggesting that this is a big issue that needs to be corrected immediately, but there are several things cropping up in these systems that I'd like to take a look at...I wonder if I can self-teach Linux programming?
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CodeHacker84
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh, I've run into display corruption just using a frame buffered console. My solution is usually to use fbset. If I use the fbset command with a -g argument yielding the current resolution, usually the display resets and the corruption disappears. I think this may have something to do with how fbset handles frame buffer initialization. In my experience, I'd suggest trying that.
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