Intel Graphics Drivers

English Hardware
#1

Hi All,

Bought a new Acer Aspire 5336 and im having some problems with the graphics card, It wont work (screen just goes off) unless i boot it using “nomodeset”

in yast hardware its showing


Display                                                                                                                               │  
  │ ├┬─Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset                                                                                                   │  
  │ │├──Bus: PCI                                                                                                                            │  
  │ │├──Class (spec): VGA-compatible controller                                                                                             │  
  │ │├──Class: Display controller                                                                                                           │  
  │ │├──Device Identifier (spec): 66698                                                                                                     │  
  │ │├──Device Identifier: 76354                                                                                                            │  
  │ │├──Device: Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset                                                                                          │  
  │ │├──Hwcfg Bus: pci                                                                                                                      │  
  │ │├──Model: Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset                                                                                           │  
  │ │├──Old Unique Key: 6yQN.LBJf8FUrAvC                                                                                                    ┴  
  │ │├+─Resources                                                                                                                           │  
  │ │├──Revision: 9                                                                                                                         │  
  │ │├──Slot ID: 2                                                                                                                          │  
  │ │├──Subvendor Identifier: 69669                                                                                                         │  
  │ │├──Subvendor: Acer Incorporated [ALI]                                                                                                  │  
  │ │├──Sysfs ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0                                                                                          │  
  │ │├──Sysfs ID: 0000:00:02.0                                                                                                              │  
  │ │├──Unique Key: _Znp.LBJf8FUrAvC                                                                                                        │  
  │ │├──Vendor Identifier: 98438                                                                                                            │  
  │ │├──Vendor: Intel Corporation                                                                                                           │  
  │ │├──modalias: pci:v00008086d00002A42sv00001025sd0000048Abc03sc00i00                                                                     │  
  │ │└+─x11       
┬─Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller                                                                               │  
  │  ├──Bus: PCI                                                                                                                            ┬  
  │  ├──Class (spec): Display controller                                                                                                    │  
  │  ├──Class: Display controller                                                                                                           │  
  │  ├──Device Identifier (spec): 66698                                                                                                     │  
  │  ├──Device Identifier: 76355                                                                                                            │  
  │  ├──Device: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller                                                                      │  
  │  ├──Hwcfg Bus: pci                                                                                                                      │  
  │  ├──Model: Intel Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller                                                                 │  
  │  ├──Old Unique Key: yofM.sdgH25nVSW2                                                                                                    │  
  │  ├+─Resources                                                                                                                           │  
  │  ├──Revision: 9                                                                                                                         │  
  │  ├──Slot ID: 2                                                                                                                          │  
  │  ├──Subvendor Identifier: 69669                                                                                                         │  
  │  ├──Subvendor: Acer Incorporated [ALI]                                                                                                  │  
  │  ├──Sysfs ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1                                                                                          │  
  │  ├──Sysfs ID: 0000:00:02.1                                                                                                              ┴  
  │  ├──Unique Key: ruGf.sdgH25nVSW2                                                                                                        │  
  │  ├──Vendor Identifier: 98438                                                                                                            │  
  │  ├──Vendor: Intel Corporation                                                                                                           │  
  │  ├──func_id: 1                                                                                                                          │  
  │  └──modalias: pci:v00008086d00002A43sv00001025sd0000048Abc03sc80i00

Anybody got any ideas how i can get it to actually work without having to use “nomodeset” as the graphics are pants in this mode

#2

Hmmm …

Silly question … what happens if you boot WITHOUT nomodeset, but instead in the grub boot menu, remove the entry “vga=0xYYY” ? There is a bug report where that is a solution for some Intel integrated graphic user on openSUSE-11.4, and I am curious if your hardware falls in that category.

#3

let me try

#4

Post #67 in this thread was the relevant post: OpenSuse 11.4 startup problems and it refers to this bug report: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=680384

#5

Afraid that didnt work still got the same problem :’(

#6

In that case, it appears the nominal “Intel” graphic driver is not working for you (assuming that your install is good). Along that lines (is this a good install ) ? did you run an md5sum of the downloaded .iso file and compare that to the md5sum on the download website ? Were they they the same? Assuming they were the same, did you burn the .iso file to a dvd/cd at the slowest speed your burner allows to a +R or -R (and NOT an RW) using high quality media and NOT some bargain basement special ? And did you run the media check option on the dvd/cd and have it pass?

Assuming you did all that appropriately, then we know Intel graphic driver is not working and FBDEV driver (which you get when you use the boot code ‘nomodeset’) is working.

You could try (1) vesa driver, or (2) intellegacy driver.

I recommend you (having done the above cd/dvd quality checks) install the application midnight commander (mc) if not already installed. You may need that to do edits of text files in a text mode and ‘mc’ is VERY user friendly. With ‘mc’ installed you can launch it by typing ‘mc’ (no quotes) and use the easy to follow Fx keys to navigate.

Then go ahead and edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf file (with root permissions) , so as to have it load the intellegacy video driver (which is in fact a very old version of the Intel graphic driver) and see if that works better. Assuming you have the rpm xorg-x11-driver-video-intel-legacy installed, then the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf file should look like (after your edits with root permissions):


Section "Device"
  Identifier "Default Device"

  #Driver "radeon"
  **Driver "intellegacy"**

  ## Required magic for radeon/radeonhd drivers; output name
  ## (here: "DVI-0") can be figured out via 'xrandr -q'
  #Option "monitor-DVI-0" "Default Monitor"

EndSection

Note the line I added.

Then reboot and test.

If “intellegacy” does not work, then try “vesa” instead of “intellegacy” in same file.

Note from command line one can restart the PC with:

shutdown -r now

and one can halt the PC with

shutdown -h now

in both cases with root permissions.

#7

A couple of more things that you may or may not know.

One can boot to a full screen text mode by pressing ‘3’ (no quotes) when the grub boot manager menu first appears, such that a ‘3’ (no quotes) appears in the options line with a space between it and any other entries. That will boot the PC to a full screen text mode with no gui. That can be useful at times.
http://thumbnails13.imagebam.com/12937/2364eb129367620.jpg](http://www.imagebam.com/image/2364eb129367620)
[click on image for larger view]

Also there is a FailSafe mode which will use the boot code ‘x11failsafe’ (no quotes) which will also force the loading of the ‘FBDEV’ graphic driver which can be useful at times when all else fails.

#8

Ive tried both


Section "Device"
  Identifier "Default Device"

  #Driver "radeon"
  Driver "intellegacy"

  ## Required magic for radeon/radeonhd drivers; output name
  ## (here: "DVI-0") can be figured out via 'xrandr -q'
  #Option "monitor-DVI-0" "Default Monitor"

EndSection


Section "Device"
  Identifier "Default Device"

  #Driver "radeon"
  Driver "vesa"

  ## Required magic for radeon/radeonhd drivers; output name
  ## (here: "DVI-0") can be figured out via 'xrandr -q'
  #Option "monitor-DVI-0" "Default Monitor"

EndSection

This hasnt resolved the problem it still goes blank, only thing i have noticed is when its saved as Intellegacy and run in nomodeset the graphics are alot better

#9

You could write a bug report on this.

As an aside, did you confirm the quality of your installation CD/DVD was good prior to installing ? ie run the md5sum against your downloaded .iso file and confirm that the downloaded .iso file has the same md5sum as that posted on the download web site? Also burn to a +R or -R CD/DVD (and not to an RW) at the slowest speed your burner allows to a high quality media (and not some bargain basement special) ? And finally did you perform the ‘mediacheck’ on the installation CD/DVD to confirm it passes ?

#10

I note openSUSE-11.4 comes with the 2.14 Intel driver. There is a 2.15 Intel driver available from Intel, but it has not been packaged yet for openSUSE. At some point in the future it may be packaged for tumbleweed, but its not there yet. I note from the openSUSE weekly news an openSUSE user has successfully installed the 2.15 driver, with a blog article here: Ladislav’s blog: Installing latest Intel graphics driver to openSUSE 11.4

That may or may not help. It may in fact make things worse forcing a re-install. … but then again, it may work. Its up to you to decide if it worth following. Note one needs a reasonable level of Linux knowledge to follow that blog.

Edit - note there is an rpm available in the unstable X11 repos:

http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/XOrg/openSUSE_11.4/
#11

Further to my note, I checked the change log for the xorg-x11-driver-video rpm in that repos (after downloading but not installing it):

 rpm -qp xorg-x11-driver-video-7.6-206.5.x86_64.rpm --changelog

and noted:


* Fri Apr 15 2011 sndirsch@novell.com
- disabled xf86-video-intel-copyfb.diff for now (bnc #687802)

* Thu Apr 14 2011 sndirsch@novell.com
- xf86-video-**intel 2.15.0**
- obsoletes xf86-video-intel-uxa-Undo-damage-translation-before-appending.patch
- adjusted xf86-video-intel-dell_backlight.diff,
  xf86-video-intel-copyfb.diff

So it does have the Intel 2.15.0 version.

Trying to install that rpm may pull in dependencies that cause problems. And it may not. I simply do not know.

#12

hmmmm the Intellegacy + nomodeset setup seems to be ok, is there anyway i can set it to boot into nomodeset everytime? at the moment i have to manually do it everytime i restart

#13

Yes there is. It requires a change to the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. Post here the content of that file and I can point out the edit.

I am curious thou, is it the FBDEV driver that is being loaded with this combination? Can you paste the contents of your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file to SUSE Paste and the post here the URL where that paste is located ?

#14

With “intellegacy” driver correctly specified in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf, you shouldn’t need “nomodeset” as the older “intellegacy” doesn’t do KMS.

@AndrewJBarratt, try it for yourself without “nomodeset”.

#15

it doesnt matter which driver i have specified in the .conf it still turns the screen off without “nomodeset”

i accidentally booted today without “nomodeset” and have discovered the screen isnt actually off, its just that dark that it appears that its off, i can faintly in the background see the desktop

#16

Heres my Xorg.o.log
SUSE Paste

#17

Interesting … I see many " (II) intellegacy(0) " entries, which says to me that even though the ‘nomodeset’ boot code is specified, as long as “intellegacy” is specified in the 50-device.conf file, then the intellegacy (old intel version) driver is loaded and not the FBDEV driver.

#18

i thought that aswell!

As i said previously when “intellegacy” is saved in the 50-device.conf file and i use “nomodeset” the graphics are quite smooth

If i remove “intellegacy” from the 50-device.conf and use “nomodeset” graphics are rough and it uses a rubbish resolution

#19

On 2011-04-26 19:06, AndrewjBarratt wrote:
> i accidentally booted today without “nomodeset” and have discovered the
> screen isnt actually off, its just that dark that it appears that its
> off, i can faintly in the background see the desktop

That is a very important detail, you know. It might just be that the
backlight is off.

My laptop also has a GM45 chipset and works fine without doing anything.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” at Telcontar)

#20

To be expected, since “nomodeset” doesn’t actually load a driver. The “intel” driver cannot load without KMS support, so “fbdev” loads by default. If you specify “intellegacy” (KMS not required) it will load whether or not you specify “nomodeset”.