I have several laptops, but one of them is an old (2003) Samsung V25 P4 1GB mem with the dreaded Intel 82845G Brookdale graphics chip. I should have retired this machine a while ago, but it is special to me for a number of reasons. The Windows that was originally on it gave up the ghost a several months ago. Since then, I have been trying to install a STABLE distro that I could work with. I, of course, started with Ubuntu, then all of the BIG distros, All of them have same issue: they a,ppear to install fine, but then every third or fourth boot, it boots to a black screen.
So, I am now trying open Suse 11.3. Once again, it ran perfectly from the live CD, and installed fine. But, the same issue begins. On Suse, I also intermittently lose the wireless connection.
I also did a frugal install of Puppy 5.1 on the same installation of Suse. Puppy does not have these issues, even though the kernel is 2.6.33 (Suse is 2.6.34) and they both automatically load the i915 driver for this graphics chip. I like Puppy, but I am finding that I like OpenSuse very much being first time I have used it to any great extent.
I don’t expect a resolution to these problems with this chipset. Many, many others have posted the same issues on just about every other forum there is. Since I am just finding my way around OpenSuse, I cannot seem to find the log files to review what is happening to both the X crashes and the loss of wireless.
Can someone point me to the correct location to find these files in OpenSuse?
Well, thank you for that very helpful reply. But, my rule number one is reply only if you have a suggested resolution to a problem. If I had wanted to use Puppy, I don’t believe I would have posted in the OpenSuse forum.
With openSUSE 11.3 we are switching to KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) for Intel, ATI and NVIDIA graphics, which now is our default. If you encounter problems with the KMS driver support (intel, radeon, nouveau), disable KMS by adding nomodeset to the kernel boot command line. To set this permanently, add it to the kernel command line in /boot/grub/menu.lst. This option makes sure the appropriate kernel module (intel, radeon, nouveau) is loaded with modeset=0 in initrd, i.e. KMS is disabled.
In the rare cases when loading the DRM module from initrd is a general problem and unrelated to KMS, it is even possible to disable loading of the DRM module in initrd completely. For this set the NO_KMS_IN_INITRD sysconfig variable to yes via YAST, which then recreates initrd afterwards. Reboot your machine.
On Intel without KMS the Xserver falls back to the fbdev driver (the intel driver only supports KMS); alternatively, there is the “intellegacy” driver (xorg-x11-driver-video-intel-legacy package) which still supports UMS (User Mode Setting). To use it, edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf and change the driver entry to intellegacy.
On ATI for current GPUs it falls back to radeonhd. On NVIDIA without KMS the nv driver is used (the nouveau driver only supports KMS).
Additionally if you are having graphics/video driver or monitor issues, /var/log/Xorg.0.log is a useful one for X initialization and is rewritten at startup.
Thank you, that is helpful information. But I have tried many of these things, except for the legacy intel driver. I might give this a shot. But, as it turns out even Puppy with a newer kernel is crashing and having the same issues. I was told by someone on another forum that the 82845G Brookdale chip is just not going to work with the new Xorg and latest kernels. If I remover kernel mode setting, I can only achieve a 800X600 desktop, which is unusable. Also, I am having the issue of wireless
suddenly disconnecting and refusing to reconnect without a reboot. I believe that none of the newer distros are going to work. It is unfortunate because OpenSuse will sometimes boot to a desktop with no problems and run for several hours. But as soon as any strain at all is put on the system, it crashes. Shame. I was beginning to like OpenSuse. I was told on another forum that the newest distro that will still work with this graphics chip is Ubuntu 9.10. I suppose that is my last shot. There are still many people working with Pentium 4’s, but this one is looking pretty tired, as far as linux goes.
I also intermittently lose the wireless connection.
try this in the /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-??? Helps for me.
...the 'nl80211' driver used by default since openSUSE 11.3.
# When you notice problems with your hardware, please file a
# bug report and set e.g. WIRELESS_WPA_DRIVER='wext' (the old
# default driver) in the ifcfg file.
Thank you that is also helpful. As it turns out, there was an update tonight which dealt with exactly this issue. I will hope that it fixes at least the wireless issues. I hope I can repair the graphics issues as I am getting really like OpenSuse.
The big-three (Ubuntu 10.04, Fedora 13 and openSUSE 11.3) seem to be like a horse race with nobody in a discernible lead over the others. On my laptop (not sure the exact Intel graphic chip) Ubuntu wouldn’t boot, then Fedora did and openSUSE didn’t, then Ubuntu got better, … back-and-forth it seems to be going and at this point I have all 3 working on my laptop to varying degrees.
Don’t forget, Ubuntu 10.10 comes out next month and I Fedora 14 is afterwards either in October or November. Either one of them may release with some patch included plus I’ve heard something has been passed or accepted upstream, though it isn’t perfect.
Thanks dragonbite. I have also heard that a fix for this chip is brewing. I booted up tonight and got to the desktop alright, and have been working for about an hour. The wireless has kept its connection so far. It is a usable desktop if it doesn’t crash and all the apps I have tried are fairly snappy EXCEPT FIREFOX! It opens pages quickly enough, but scrolling is so slow that it is almost unusable. I cannot seem to find chromium in the repos, but I am sure it is available for OpenSUSE somewhere. I will try that if everything else goes OK.
I had Fedora 13 running on this laptop for about two months, but it recently updated to the 2.6.34 kernel and it would no longer boot to a desktop either. I just got frustrated and once again started a search for something usable.
Just an update…rebooted just to see if I was going to get any consistency and low and behold it booted to a black screen, but I noted that this was the very first line after quick boot:
3.552393] fb: conflicting fb hw usage inteldrmfb vs VESA VGA - removing generic driver
If anyone know if this is a critical message, I would appreciate a reply.
Assuming that is from boot.msg, it looks important (re: conflicting). fb is the “frame buffer”. Can you find any earlier messages mentioning “frame buffer” or “VESA VGA”?
Without a properly driven frame buffer device, I doubt you will have any graphics.
Thank you for the link. I have installed it and just as I thought is much faster. I did just now get a crash and lost connection again. I can see that this is going to be some work. I do not see any other mention of fb, but it looks like it is trying to load both VESA and the intel driver. I could boot other distros forcing VESA, but I am not sure how to do that with OpenSUSE. I will try that once I figure that out. nomodeset gets a stable desktop, but I can only get 800X600 resolution, which I cannot use.
Getting late here so I think I will give it a rest and try again tomorrow night.
I’m not sure it’s talking about those drivers, could be a lower level. It’s difficult without seeing more of the boot log, to position that message. Did you find /var/log/Xorg.0.log? That will show the whole process of Xorg startup, and attempted loading of the graphic chip drivers, resolution detection, and functions supported or not.
The most basic graphics driver with the worst performance is called “fbdev”, it just uses the frame buffer, no acceleration, 2D only, but works with most chipsets. The frame buffer is a direct but virtual interface to the hardware, abstracted to allow programs to use hardware features without having to understand the intricacies of different manufacturers’ h/w. I believe the kernel sets up the frame buffer, before any chipset driver gets to use it.
Sorry if you have already seen these guides for graphic chips, but they contain useful background about the graphic drivers available, by chipset make, their capabilities, and the different configuration possibilities. Here are the two links: openSUSE Graphic Card Practical Theory Guide for Users
Thank you for your reply. and yes I believe you are correct, that it is too early in the boot process to have anything to do with X. It is still acting up, freezing occassionally, booting to a black screen every third or fourth boot, and I still loose wireless after about an hour.
I believe that OpenSUSE is just too heavy duty for this 7 year old hardware. But, I like it and I will continue to try to solve this until I have no choice but to admit defeat and install something lighter or older.
I might try using the vesa driver with an xorg.conf file if nothing else works.
The problem has existed since XAA and EXA were dropped in favor of only maintaining the new UXA standard. Many bugs have been fixed but still one major one remains(the one you experience). XAA is the only stable driver I know of in the recent linux tree.
You need *-video-intel <= version 2.4. Be sure to set XAA in xorg.conf. This means you need Debian stable, Ubuntu 8.4(or 8.10 /w backport), or Mepis 8.0 to list some. Mepis 8.0 is highly recommended for it’s more recent, fairly stable, backports and kde3. Wireless might not work in those old kernels, it was nowhere where it is today.
Otherwise you will have to disable dri or use vesa which is not an option for most desktops with actual users.
