Dear All,
I have installed opensuse 11.1 RC1 on a Sony Vaio FW140E
the maximum resolution im having on VESA is 800x600. this laptop supports 1600x900. how can I adjust my resolution.
the graphics card is Intel GMA 4500 MHD
Thanks
any tips ?
Start by opening a console, su to root, then run these commands:
hwinfo --gfxcard
cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
State your desktop environment (Gnome, KDE4 etc) as well. That should provide some useful info for someone to assist further.
There is a very long thread in the Install sub-forum about this. It’s here Toshiba Portégé M800-10C doesn’t seem to like linux. Even though the title ref’s Toshiba (that was what the original thread was started for) you will see most of the discussion is about the Vaio and your graphics device. Deep in the thread is a link to the freedesktop.org (X server) bug report about the Intel driver for this new device. It appears there have been problems with the driver, some of which have been fixed, and possibly a problem specifically with how the display is managed by the hardware (an unnecessary off/on when the server starts). Beyond that link, in the last posts you’ll see us recompiling the driver against the latest sources, etc. Btw, this problem has shown up on all the major distro forums.
dear mingus,
are there any updates about this driver ? the other thread stopped updating.
If you compile the driver from source (as mentioned in the thread) you can have a working system. I’ll post back on that thread if the older version works better (hopefully later today).
Don’t expect a supported update for the driver soon. This fix is a rather dirty patch, not the solution to the root problem. It works for us, but might cause issues for those without our problem. They are working on solving the issue, but it will take some time. For the time being, follow the directions in the other thread to compile the driver. You will need to use the opensuse SRPM (search on build service), or grab the latest release from Intel Linux Graphics. The latest git now requires drm 2.4.2 which isn’t in suse 11.1.
@igknighted, thanks a bunch! 
Hi, i have the same laptop (Sony Vaio VGA-FW140E) but i can’t boot normaly. I got a white screen and i wait for about 2 minutes and it become black. The only way i can get in(Graphical) is in safe mode i read the toshiba thread but i don’t get it well, because there’s to many answers saying that they get working but later don’t or yes, sorry, i got lost. Can anyone explain me what i have to do exactly? i will apreciate a lot i have tryed with openSUSE 11.1
I’ll be honest… I haven’t gotten it working fully yet. Compiling from source, using the Ubuntu driver… all of these get the full graphical environment and proper resolution and 3d, but they just freeze abruptly when using OpenGL apps or 3d desktops like compiz or kwin. Older releases (like Ubuntu 8.10 or Mandriva 2009) work flawlessly with the latest updates as a fix was backported, but something in the driver stack (I don’t know if it’s the DRM modules, Mesa, Xorg or what) in newer releases (Opensuse 11.1 and Fedora 10) just doesn’t play nice.
You could compile the whole shebang from source, or try to rollback the whole stack (more work than I was willing to do), or just switch distro’s until a more permanent fix is found. I have found some other quirks with Mandriva on this hardware, so have settled in with Kubuntu 8.10 for the time being.
So do the graphics work properly in failsafe mode? If so, the problem is not the graphics driver, but rather that you will need one of the failsafe parameters to be added to the regular boot selection on the menu. This is not uncommon, and does not create a problem. You just need to figure out which one (could be more than one) that you need. Do this: Boot into openSUSE failsafe, open the boot menu file as root (Alt-F2 and type “kdesu kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst” w/o quotes), and look for the failsafe section. You will see the parameters on the kernel line, they look like “acpi=off”, “nolapic”, etc. Print or write that down. Reboot, at the menu select the default boot, and in the Boot Options line below on the menu type in the first parameter in your list, then boot. If the system works like it did when you booted failsafe, that means you found the parameter you need. If not, repeat the process until you find which one works. After you have found it (or them; in particular, sometimes “noapic” and “nolapic” need to be used together), go back to the menu.lst file and using the text editor add it to the end of the kernel line, which will make the change permanent (you won’t have to type it in Boot Options again).
Hi mingus thanks for the answer, but i can boot on failsafe graphical, but with a poor resolution (i can’t set the 1600x900 that my laptop have). i will try that at home, i will let you know what happend ^_^U
That resolution may just be a configuration issue. We can probably help you with that.
I think i found a solution to the freezing issue. There was a bug in the drm modules that seems to be the culprit, which is fixed in the latest drm packages (there’s a patch available for the earlier ones too).
Grabbing the latest drm package from software.opensuse.org should work (4.4.1), or use the patch from here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/305979
Hi me again, sorry for the delay. When i open the menu.lst in kwrite i don’t see any of those commands, acpi or nolapic in there, this is what i get:
Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Thu Feb 5 20:11:50 UTC 2009
default 0
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.7-9-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-VBOX_HARDDISK_VBd1cb5dd9-ef09b4c1-part2 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-VBOX_HARDDISK_VBd1cb5dd9-ef09b4c1-part1 splash=silent showopts vga=0x31b
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.7-9-default###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe – openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.7-9-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-VBOX_HARDDISK_VBd1cb5dd9-ef09b4c1-part2 showopts ide=nodma apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 x11failsafe vga=0x314
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.7-9-default###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Floppy
rootnoverify (fd0)
chainloader +1
i notice that the only way that is booting is using vga it don’t have to be intel or mesa ? i can’t put the full resolution of my laptop 1600x900. Thanks for the help
Are you running openSUSE in a VirtualBox virtual machine??? 
Now i do that, because i can’t work properly and i have to do something that can’t delay.
do you think that’s why i can’t get the info that you was saying?
You need to treat the two installations (that is, a native install on the machine vs an install in the VBox virtual machine) as two entirely different things. Mixing symptoms and problems between the two will only confuse things (and everyone). A virtual machine “abstracts” the hardware, therefore the OS in the virtual machine sees the hardware as it is presented to it by VBox which has its own bios, rather than the real bios. VBox (and VMware) provide their own video device drivers - these are included in the “guest additions”, and are what enable the virtual machine to support a wide range of resolutions. And finally, yes, it is possible that an OS can work better in a virtual machine, than that OS can run natively on the machine.
So, you need to sort of get us back to square one, and keep the problem plus anything you are doing installing linux native clearly separate from problems/what you are doing in a virtual machine.
Looking back on this thread, your first post was #8, and it was running openSUSE on the machine natively? And the failsafe boot got you into a gui? But the gui was not the right resolution? If that is all correct, the first thing to do is what I suggested in my post #10 - isolate which failsafe parameter gets you into the gui. The resolution may not be right yet, but it will be easier working on the problem with a gui. So work with a process of elimination trying each of the following in Boot options, one at a time, with the default boot selection on the menu until you find which works to get you the gui. I would try them in this order:
vga=0x317 vga=0x314 edd=off acpi=off apm=off highres=off x11failsafe
If your original post was in ref to openSUSE running in VBox, then you need to start a new thread. If you’re looking for help running openSUSE both natively and in VBox, then you need to make that clear and keep the two separate in your posts, or you need to start a different thread for each one.
Wow, that’s a explication answer, thanks! sorry for my mistake, i will install the 11.1 natively on my laptop, i will try what you say me before on your post #10 with those commands, then i will report my result here, thanks for the fast answer and great help.
hi hi, me again, i just installed opensuse 11.1 natively in my laptop. I try all those commands in your post no. 10, i can only get a gui booting adding the** “x11failsafe” **and need to get the resolution to 1600x900 with the real colours
this is my /boot/grub/menu.lst info:
Modified by YaST2. Last modification on mié feb 11 02:10:23 UTC 2009
default 0
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,6)/boot/message
##YaST - activate
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
root (hd0,6)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.7-9-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHY2250BH_K41LT862H7D2-part7 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHY2250BH_K41LT862H7D2-part6 splash=silent showopts vga=0x317 x11failsafe
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.7-9-pae
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe – openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
root (hd0,6)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.7-9-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHY2250BH_K41LT862H7D2-part7 showopts ide=nodma apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 x11failsafe vga=0x317
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.7-9-pae
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
###Don’t change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Disquete
rootnoverify (fd0)
chainloader +1
So what i have to do next please? and by the way, thanks
Using the same method as you did to post menu.lst, please post back here the contents of /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Also, post back output from following three commands (requires root):
hwinfo --gfxcard
hwinfo --framebuffer
lspci