Installer does not detect video card (not an X issue)

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Phony Account

2005-02-03 01:46:16 UTC

Hi,

I am installing Fedora Core 3 on a Dell Precision 330.
Video card is a Diamond Fire GL2 with a rather old BIOS.

(The PC was rebooted with the distribution CD, and I was prompted for
the type of installation. However, no partitioning yet, language
selection, ...)

So, just before the actual installation, I see a message that the video
card was not detected (the monitor, kbd and mouse are) and that the
installation is going ``headless''. It then proceeds without incident
to partition, install packages.

When the system reboots for the first time (this is when I'll set up the
users, etc), I briefly see a Fedora splash screen, then the usual kernel
boot messages, and _then_ the screen goes wild: on a blue background
reddish diagonal stripes march across the screen.

I am not in X at that point. X has not been configured yet. I can
ctrl-alt-del to reboot. But ctrl-alt-backspace, ctrl-alt-F2 don't work.

I tried booting to run-level three to go to a text mode only by
specifying init 3 at the end of the boot kernel command. The os loader
is GRUB. But the same thing happened again.

Not knowing a thing about hardware, (and just slightly more about Linux)
I am wondering if the video card bios is too old and cannot respond to
the probing by the installer.

Also, according to the same conspiracy theory, during the boot process,
the video card gets wierd signals because its bios is out of date and
throws garbage to the monitor.

And it is not a monitor issue. I have tried two.

But I seriously hope that it will not come to installing a new bios,
because I currently don't have a usable system, and using the rescue
mode from the install media to reach across the network to grab the
drivers which I downloaded to a windows machine seems like a great
project for my retirement. Right now, I need a working machine.

Thanks for any suggestion,

Mirko

E. Charters

2005-02-03 05:11:19 UTC

Permalink

What I would do is use a rescue disk to reconfigure X with the command
xf86config instead of using RH's Xconfigurator. Now I don't know if
RH even has that tool, or the handy-dandy XF86Setup anymore --
a TCl/TK program available from http://www.slackware.com which will do
it graphically using the always usable VGA-16 driver.

RH is supposed to have both XF86Setup and xf86config. Try the latter
first and answer the questions. It is a command line tool. Late tune
the card with XF86Steup, which is graphical but will run from the
command line, setting up its own display. Really Xconfigurator should
work from the command line too, so go ahead and try that.

You could use a rescue disk with at least a text editor on it. But even
without you can still run xf86config. You have to get root status and be
in a read write mode to run it, which is sometimes tricky. You might
want to try booting from a floppy made for that system with the boot
option -ro. There finding the video modes that are appropriate and the
drivers can be done "by hand". It is not that hard.

The diamond fire GL 2 is not listed in the card database. Its driver is
unkown. IT could be the same as other diamond fire models, or you may
have to try the generic SVGA driver and possibly generic VGA.

This is the great weakness of the RH system which presumes that it can
auto install everything and detect everything. It cannot, and there are
not always solutions if it fails.

There are other lilo boot options. "rescue" allows you to fix things in
RH usually. "single" might work too. You could play with the "vga=80x25
" option as well after entering "linux" at boot time, to change video modes.

EC<:-}

Post by Phony Account
Hi,
I am installing Fedora Core 3 on a Dell Precision 330.
Video card is a Diamond Fire GL2 with a rather old BIOS.
(The PC was rebooted with the distribution CD, and I was prompted for
the type of installation. However, no partitioning yet, language
selection, ...)
So, just before the actual installation, I see a message that the video
card was not detected (the monitor, kbd and mouse are) and that the
installation is going ``headless''. It then proceeds without incident
to partition, install packages.
When the system reboots for the first time (this is when I'll set up the
users, etc), I briefly see a Fedora splash screen, then the usual kernel
boot messages, and _then_ the screen goes wild: on a blue background
reddish diagonal stripes march across the screen.
I am not in X at that point. X has not been configured yet. I can
ctrl-alt-del to reboot. But ctrl-alt-backspace, ctrl-alt-F2 don't work.
I tried booting to run-level three to go to a text mode only by
specifying init 3 at the end of the boot kernel command. The os loader
is GRUB. But the same thing happened again.
Not knowing a thing about hardware, (and just slightly more about Linux)
I am wondering if the video card bios is too old and cannot respond to
the probing by the installer.
Also, according to the same conspiracy theory, during the boot process,
the video card gets wierd signals because its bios is out of date and
throws garbage to the monitor.
And it is not a monitor issue. I have tried two.
But I seriously hope that it will not come to installing a new bios,
because I currently don't have a usable system, and using the rescue
mode from the install media to reach across the network to grab the
drivers which I downloaded to a windows machine seems like a great
project for my retirement. Right now, I need a working machine.
Thanks for any suggestion,
Mirko
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installer does not detect video card (not an X issue)
Thu, 03 Feb 2005 00:52:39 GMT
Hi,
I am installing Fedora Core 3 on a Dell Precision 330.
Video card is a Diamond Fire GL2 with a rather old BIOS.
(The PC was rebooted with the distribution CD, and I was prompted for
the type of installation. However, no partitioning yet, language
selection, ...)
So, just before the actual installation, I see a message that the video
card was not detected (the monitor, kbd and mouse are) and that the
installation is going ``headless''. It then proceeds without incident
to partition, install packages.
When the system reboots for the first time (this is when I'll set up the
users, etc), I briefly see a Fedora splash screen, then the usual kernel
boot messages, and _then_ the screen goes wild: on a blue background
reddish diagonal stripes march across the screen.
I am not in X at that point. X has not been configured yet. I can
ctrl-alt-del to reboot. But ctrl-alt-backspace, ctrl-alt-F2 don't work.
I tried booting to run-level three to go to a text mode only by
specifying init 3 at the end of the boot kernel command. The os loader
is GRUB. But the same thing happened again.
Not knowing a thing about hardware, (and just slightly more about Linux)
I am wondering if the video card bios is too old and cannot respond to
the probing by the installer.
Also, according to the same conspiracy theory, during the boot process,
the video card gets wierd signals because its bios is out of date and
throws garbage to the monitor.
And it is not a monitor issue. I have tried two.
But I seriously hope that it will not come to installing a new bios,
because I currently don't have a usable system, and using the rescue
mode from the install media to reach across the network to grab the
drivers which I downloaded to a windows machine seems like a great
project for my retirement. Right now, I need a working machine.
Thanks for any suggestion,
Mirko

Phony Account

2005-02-03 12:17:11 UTC

Permalink

Post by E. Charters
What I would do is use a rescue disk to reconfigure X with the command
xf86config instead of using RH's Xconfigurator. Now I don't know if
RH even has that tool, or the handy-dandy XF86Setup anymore --
a TCl/TK program available from http://www.slackware.com which will do
it graphically using the always usable VGA-16 driver.
RH is supposed to have both XF86Setup and xf86config. Try the latter
first and answer the questions. It is a command line tool. Late tune
the card with XF86Steup, which is graphical but will run from the
command line, setting up its own display. Really Xconfigurator should
work from the command line too, so go ahead and try that.
You could use a rescue disk with at least a text editor on it. But even
without you can still run xf86config. You have to get root status and be
in a read write mode to run it, which is sometimes tricky. You might
want to try booting from a floppy made for that system with the boot
option -ro. There finding the video modes that are appropriate and the
drivers can be done "by hand". It is not that hard.
The diamond fire GL 2 is not listed in the card database. Its driver is
unkown. IT could be the same as other diamond fire models, or you may
have to try the generic SVGA driver and possibly generic VGA.
This is the great weakness of the RH system which presumes that it can
auto install everything and detect everything. It cannot, and there are
not always solutions if it fails.
There are other lilo boot options. "rescue" allows you to fix things in
RH usually. "single" might work too. You could play with the "vga=80x25
" option as well after entering "linux" at boot time, to change video modes.
EC<:-}

Post by Phony Account
Hi,
I am installing Fedora Core 3 on a Dell Precision 330.
Video card is a Diamond Fire GL2 with a rather old BIOS.
(The PC was rebooted with the distribution CD, and I was prompted for
the type of installation. However, no partitioning yet, language
selection, ...)
So, just before the actual installation, I see a message that the
video card was not detected (the monitor, kbd and mouse are) and that
the installation is going ``headless''. It then proceeds without
incident to partition, install packages.
When the system reboots for the first time (this is when I'll set up
the users, etc), I briefly see a Fedora splash screen, then the usual
kernel boot messages, and _then_ the screen goes wild: on a blue
background reddish diagonal stripes march across the screen.
I am not in X at that point. X has not been configured yet. I can
ctrl-alt-del to reboot. But ctrl-alt-backspace, ctrl-alt-F2 don't work.
I tried booting to run-level three to go to a text mode only by
specifying init 3 at the end of the boot kernel command. The os
loader is GRUB. But the same thing happened again.
Not knowing a thing about hardware, (and just slightly more about
Linux) I am wondering if the video card bios is too old and cannot
respond to the probing by the installer.
Also, according to the same conspiracy theory, during the boot
process, the video card gets wierd signals because its bios is out of
date and throws garbage to the monitor.
And it is not a monitor issue. I have tried two.
But I seriously hope that it will not come to installing a new bios,
because I currently don't have a usable system, and using the rescue
mode from the install media to reach across the network to grab the
drivers which I downloaded to a windows machine seems like a great
project for my retirement. Right now, I need a working machine.
Thanks for any suggestion,
Mirko
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installer does not detect video card (not an X issue)
Thu, 03 Feb 2005 00:52:39 GMT
Hi,
I am installing Fedora Core 3 on a Dell Precision 330.
Video card is a Diamond Fire GL2 with a rather old BIOS.
(The PC was rebooted with the distribution CD, and I was prompted for
the type of installation. However, no partitioning yet, language
selection, ...)
So, just before the actual installation, I see a message that the
video card was not detected (the monitor, kbd and mouse are) and that
the installation is going ``headless''. It then proceeds without
incident to partition, install packages.
When the system reboots for the first time (this is when I'll set up
the users, etc), I briefly see a Fedora splash screen, then the usual
kernel boot messages, and _then_ the screen goes wild: on a blue
background reddish diagonal stripes march across the screen.
I am not in X at that point. X has not been configured yet. I can
ctrl-alt-del to reboot. But ctrl-alt-backspace, ctrl-alt-F2 don't work.
I tried booting to run-level three to go to a text mode only by
specifying init 3 at the end of the boot kernel command. The os
loader is GRUB. But the same thing happened again.
Not knowing a thing about hardware, (and just slightly more about
Linux) I am wondering if the video card bios is too old and cannot
respond to the probing by the installer.
Also, according to the same conspiracy theory, during the boot
process, the video card gets wierd signals because its bios is out of
date and throws garbage to the monitor.
And it is not a monitor issue. I have tried two.
But I seriously hope that it will not come to installing a new bios,
because I currently don't have a usable system, and using the rescue
mode from the install media to reach across the network to grab the
drivers which I downloaded to a windows machine seems like a great
project for my retirement. Right now, I need a working machine.
Thanks for any suggestion,
Mirko

EC,

As I said, I am not in X at that point yet. X has not been configured.
(I could be missing sommething).

But you are right about the card not being in the (at least red-hats)
database. However, I did download a linux driver from the
manufacturer's web site and was hoping to install it once the machine boots.

I was looking yesterday for a database of graphics cards for linux.
Where could I find it?

Someone else (I cross-posted to comp.os.linux) suggested kernel ...
vga=normal. I will try your and his suggestions.

Thanks for the reply,

Mirko

E. Charters

2005-02-03 19:49:49 UTC

Permalink

Post by Phony Account
As I said, I am not in X at that point yet. X has not been configured.
(I could be missing sommething).

# yes, I think your RH system is trying to boot into a GUI, which RH
has a habit of doing. No GUI, not booty. Try to go into rescue mode
at the boot prompt. You did set it up to wait for the boot prompt didn't
you? go "linux rescue" Maybe linux -rescue if that does not work,
look in the manual til you find out how to boot into a textterminal
only. I had though "linux single" would do that. Also runlevel one.
I had thot that even runlevel 3 should do that, but you said you tried
that.

Post by Phony Account

Post by Phony Account
But you are right about the card not being in the (at least red-hats)

database. However, I did download a linux driver from the
manufacturer's web site and was hoping to install it once the machine boots.

# yes, you will have fun doing that. Is this a linux X driver? hmmmm....
howfo to use in X is noffo in dey manual. I believe that you may have to
select the generic SVGA driver from xf86config, or the generic VGA
driver even. It may be VESA LB, so that may be a solution as well.

Post by Phony Account
I was looking yesterday for a database of graphics cards for linux.
Where could I find it?

# If you run xf86config at one point the options allow you to scroll
through that. I don't know where on the net it shows the card database.

# One thorn bush you don't realize you are tangled in is the driver
problem. If your card does NOT have a shipped X driver, then where did
you get the driver you intend to use and how do you intend to patch it
into X? Don't answer that, see above.

Post by Phony Account
Someone else (I cross-posted to comp.os.linux) suggested kernel ...
vga=normal. I will try your and his suggestions.

# yes that sounds goodish. Try that. With my suggestions, as always, Jim
there is no guarantee. If you should decide to embark on this mission
our prayers go with you. This tape will self destruct in 15 seconds.

Try this how-to

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/ref-guide/s1-x-additional-resources.html

You might also want to take a look at this.

http://www.tldp.org/LDP/gs/node7.html

This has been an interposted reply. This is not what Keller, Kremers, or
Dan C want either. That is a shame. A damned shame. Too bad they did not
answer the question and show me how to do it. I am only a struggling
apprentice and in awe of their mastery. Someday I hope to be as good as
they think they are.

EC<:-}

Post by Phony Account
Thanks for the reply,
Mirko

Phony Account

2005-02-04 02:48:02 UTC

Permalink

Post by E. Charters

Post by Phony Account
As I said, I am not in X at that point yet. X has not been
configured. (I could be missing sommething).

Post by Phony Account

Post by Phony Account
But you are right about the card not being in the (at least

red-hats) database. However, I did download a linux driver from the
manufacturer's web site and was hoping to install it once the machine boots.

Post by Phony Account
I was looking yesterday for a database of graphics cards for linux.
Where could I find it?

# If you run xf86config at one point the options allow you to scroll
through that. I don't know where on the net it shows the card database.
# One thorn bush you don't realize you are tangled in is the driver
problem. If your card does NOT have a shipped X driver, then where did
you get the driver you intend to use and how do you intend to patch it
into X? Don't answer that, see above.

Post by Phony Account
Someone else (I cross-posted to comp.os.linux) suggested kernel ...
vga=normal. I will try your and his suggestions.

# yes that sounds goodish. Try that. With my suggestions, as always, Jim
there is no guarantee. If you should decide to embark on this mission
our prayers go with you. This tape will self destruct in 15 seconds.
Try this how-to
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.2-Manual/ref-guide/s1-x-additional-resources.html
You might also want to take a look at this.
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/gs/node7.html
This has been an interposted reply. This is not what Keller, Kremers, or
Dan C want either. That is a shame. A damned shame. Too bad they did not
answer the question and show me how to do it. I am only a struggling
apprentice and in awe of their mastery. Someday I hope to be as good as
they think they are.
EC<:-}

Post by Phony Account
Thanks for the reply,
Mirko

Today I switch to a different card (an ATI, I believe, as the pc is at
work, and I'm writing this from home), and everything went without a
hitch. The install detected the card, and was able to proceed in
graphics mode.

A colleague of mine was so impressed with the whole procedure and the
packages offered, he is thinking of installing it at home :-)

So, problem solved.

Thanks for your time.

Mirko

Phony Account

2005-02-04 02:50:10 UTC

Permalink

Post by Phony Account
I tried booting to run-level three to go to a text mode only by
specifying init 3 at the end of the boot kernel command. The os
loader is GRUB. But the same thing happened again.

Try adding "vga=normal" or "vga=ask" to the kernel boot parameters.
FC probably defaults to framebuffer consoles, which require VESA or
whatever drivers. Adding vga=normal will use 80x25 text-mode for the
console.

Post by Phony Account
Not knowing a thing about hardware, (and just slightly more about
Linux) I am wondering if the video card bios is too old and cannot
respond to the probing by the installer.

A laptop I had mis-reported its capabilities, so Linux tried to run with
vga=790 (1024x768) on an 800x600 screen. The result was black display
until X started.

Will try it Trent.
Thanks,
Mirko

vga=normal did not do the trick. Switching to a different card did.
Everything went super-smoothly.

Thanks

Mirko