Xvesa only finds 1MB of video memory

Forum: X and Fluxbox
Topic: Xvesa only finds 1MB of video memory
started by: jgombos

Posted by jgombos on Nov. 03 2006,04:10

Windows 2000 correctly detects that an intel 810 video card integrated on the motherboard of an < HP Pavilion XE783 > has 4MB of video memory, and proves it to me when it runs with 1280x1024 and 24 bit color.

When I boot this same hardware with DSL, Xvesa only finds 1MB of video memory:

Code Sample

$ Xvesa -listmodes

VBE version 3.0 (Intel(R) 8xx Chipset Video BIOS)
DAC is fixed, controller is VGA compatible, RAMDAC causes snow
Total memory: 1024 kilobytes
0x0006: 640x200x1 (monochrome) Planar (1 planes)
0x000D: 320x200x4 Planar (4 planes) (no linear framebuffer)
0x000E: 640x200x4 Planar (4 planes) (no linear framebuffer)
0x0010: 640x350x4 Planar (4 planes) (no linear framebuffer)
0x0011: 640x480x1 (monochrome) Planar (1 planes)
0x0012: 640x480x4 Planar (4 planes) (no linear framebuffer)
0x0013: 320x200x8 PseudoColor
0x011D: 320x200x8 PseudoColor (no linear framebuffer)
0x010E: 320x200x16 TrueColor [5:6:5:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0100: 640x400x8 PseudoColor (no linear framebuffer)
0x0127: 640x400x16 TrueColor [5:6:5:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0128: 640x400x24 TrueColor [8:8:8:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0101: 640x480x8 PseudoColor (no linear framebuffer)
0x0110: 640x480x15 TrueColor [5:5:5:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0111: 640x480x16 TrueColor [5:6:5:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0112: 640x480x24 TrueColor [8:8:8:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0102: 800x600x4 Planar (4 planes) (no linear framebuffer)
0x0103: 800x600x8 PseudoColor (no linear framebuffer)
0x0113: 800x600x15 TrueColor [5:5:5:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0114: 800x600x16 TrueColor [5:6:5:0] (no linear framebuffer)
0x0105: 1024x768x8 PseudoColor (no linear framebuffer)

The DSL X server configuration tool (xserver.sh) allowed me to select 1280x1024x24, but then shows flawed colors when I restart Xvesa to make the changes effective. All the colors are dull, and the penguin backdrop is sprinked with cyan dots, which I believe is a typical artifact when an image has a color pallet that exceeds that of the desktop. The highest resolution I can achieve in DSL with truecolor is 800x600.

Is there a way to correct this?

I have tried forcing the 1280x1024x24 mode using this .xserverrc file:

Code Sample

exec /usr/bin/X11/Xvesa -mouse /dev/psaux,5 -force -screen 1280x1024x24 -shadow -nolisten tcp -I

And still I end up with reduced color.

What else is interesting is that the < video specs > show the card has 11MB of shared memory, and then it only itemizes modes that are possible with 1MB of memory. However, Win2k has shown me modes that require 4MB of video memory to achieve, and the driver detects 4MB. It also appears that Knoppix 4 can achieve higher resolutions at truecolor as well.

Posted by skaos on Nov. 03 2006,13:47

I think the Xvesa X server only supports vesa 2.0 modes built into the hardware, which is listed in your command listing. Blame Intel for not supporting higher vesa 2.0 resolutions and colour depths. To fix it I think you have to install and configure the myDSL XFree package.