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Slackware on a Dell XPS 1210: Display/Graphics

kernel configs

system drivers

system files

options

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7:22 pm on 15 Sep 2006

I was able to start X with KDE once the installation had completed. The resolution was at 1024*768 and could be changed to 800*600. Download the nVidia driver and run the installation by typing:

# ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-8756-pkg1.run Follow the steps of the install and let it generate your xorg.conf file. Start X back up again and customise settings via the KDE menu > System > NVidia X Server Settings.

NB. After recompiling a new kernel, I could not start X because the files in ‘ /lib/modules/$uname -r‘ have been overwritten by the process. Keep the install script for reinstallation when compiling new kernels.

To get the 1280*800 resolution working, modify your /etc/X11/xorg.conf so each display depth has the “1280*800″ mode listed in front of “1024*768″ like so:

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen[0]"
    Device         "Device[0]
    Monitor        "Monitor[0]"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes      "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes      "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       32
        Modes      "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Restart X and the resolution will be at 1280*800.

View full xorg.conf

Have huge fonts after installing the driver?

I had this problem and had to change the default dpi in X. To do this, follow the instructions in the post “HOWTO: Clean windows fonts in Slackware linux.” You may skip to the “Changing the DPI” section for the information and choose your own DPI. 75dpi is the linux default, another dpi for linux is 100dpi, windows fonts use 96dpi.

Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Touchpad0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/mouse" #psaux EndSection

Module Size Used by snd_seq_dummy 3716 0 snd_seq_oss 30592 0 snd_seq_midi_event 6912 1 snd_seq_oss snd_seq 48336 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq_device 7308 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq snd_pcm_oss 39200 0 snd_mixer_oss 16768 1 snd_pcm_oss ipv6 236448 12 pcmcia 31660 0 yenta_socket 24332 0 rsrc_nonstatic 11776 1 yenta_socket pcmcia_core 35604 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic ide_scsi 14724 0 sg 28188 0 intel_agp 20508 1 agpgart 29384 1 intel_agp b44 22156 0 sdhci 13824 0 mmc_core 19840 1 sdhci mii 5760 1 b44 serio_raw 6404 0 evdev 8960 0 shpchp 34976 0 i2c_i801 8716 0

Author

colin

Added

10 Nov, 2006, 7:42 pm

hi sorry i’m so new to this… But after i booted into slackware with the compiled kernel i installed nvidia the way it says to and it installs..during the boot process it shows the module loading and then i changed my xorg to the one supplied.. and then when i type X at the promt it frezzes with an X cursor in the middle of the screen.

Colin

10 Nov, 2006, 8:09 pm

Never mind…i used xinit and it worked fine…except for the fact that my touchpad doesnt work…do i need to install a synaptacs driver.

Lewis

10 Nov, 2006, 9:05 pm

You can install the synaptics driver if you want to. What I would do is edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf to change the mouse options:

Under ‘Section “InputDevice”‘ You need to change the mouse Option “Protocol” to “ExplorerPS/2″ or “auto”. Leave the “Identifier” and “Driver” lines as they are. For example, this is how mine looks:

See my own xorg.conf file to help you out. Back it up before editing though.

20 Nov, 2006, 2:37 pm

Hi i have another problem you may be able to help me with…i had everything goin, and i decided to do a clean install step by step with the kernel-2.6.18 and everything went fine..until i tried to install the nvidia it said their were no kernel sources…i tried pointing it to the direction of were i thought they were …but there were none…first i tried. /usr/src/linux then i tried /lib/modules/2.6.18/ + /linux/ include. but nothing worked…so i tried recompiling a kernel again and nothing seems to work…do you know how i can install the kernel sources..and have the proper links ..thanx

21 Nov, 2006, 1:58 am

There are a couple things you can do:

Make sure both symlinks /lib/modules/2.6.18/source and /usr/src/linux point to /usr/src/linux-2.6.18. Run the nVidia intaller with this option:# ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-****-pkg1.run --kernel-source-path=/usr/src/linux-2.6.18

Matt

22 Nov, 2006, 5:22 pm

Thankyou so much for your help! It worked right away, that is, until I ran into a new problem (as is often the case with linux). The mouse does not work! I even used the xorg.conf you supplied, but still, no dice. Is there any troubleshooting that you might know that I could try? I can’t for the life of me figure out what the problem is…
-Matt

24 Nov, 2006, 7:38 pm

Matt,
Try setting both mouse protocols to ‘auto’ and see if that resolves the problem. If not let me know.

25 Nov, 2006, 4:18 am

Still nothing. I tried several recompiles with different modules, drivers, etc. I know the mouse works, because I’m using it right now in Windows, and it worked with Fedora as well.

28 Nov, 2006, 4:36 pm

Matt,
I’ll need more info so here goes…
Was it working at all in your current distro? What distro are you using? Did you move from kernel 2.4 to 2.6? Did you use my kernel config file?
I suspect there is a problem with your kernel configuration.

29 Nov, 2006, 2:06 am

I started with kernel 2.4, but then i reinstalled with the 2.6 kernel, using your config file, as well as your xorg.conf, and still no dice. Is there anyting else that could be causing the problem?

29 Nov, 2006, 7:11 am

I’m using the same kernel and xorg configs right now so I think your modules are not loading correctly or your mouse device isn’t linked to /dev/mouse. On my system /dev/mouse is a symlink to /dev/input/mice. Are you using Slackware? Can you post the output for:
# lsmod
and
# ls -al /dev | grep mouse
and
# dsmeg | grep -i mouse
In the meantime you can also try run this command as root to help setup your mouse automatically.
# mouseconfig
It also might be worth it to try the psaux device in your xorg.conf:

Option   "Device"   "/dev/psaux"

29 Nov, 2006, 2:53 pm

Alrighty,
lsmod gives:

ls -al /dev | grep mouse gives:

lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root          5 2006-11-29 11:38 mouse -> psaux

dmesg | grep -i mouse gives:

mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice

This all leads me to believe that some module is missing.(?)

29 Nov, 2006, 11:48 pm

Yes you are missing the mouse module psmouse. In Slackware 11 it’s a blacklisted module by default as it causes trouble with the kernel defaults. Since we’ve compiled a 2.6+ kernel, then this no longer causes problems. Edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist to comment out “blacklist psmouse”. You can find it near the top after the detailed block of text about psmouse. Now this module will be free to load when rebooting/booting.

You can also check /etc/rc.d/rc.modules to make sure it has the proto=imps option for psmouse. It should look like this:

/sbin/modprobe psmouse proto=imps

Alternatively, you can add this to your lilo.conf and it will do the same as the above:

append="psmouse.proto=imps"

The “proto=imps” adds more compatibility with different types of mice. After doing all this, try my original xorg.conf again and it should work.

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Slackware on a Dell XPS 1210: Display/Graphics

kernel configs

system drivers

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Have huge fonts after installing the driver?

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