Old pavilion desktopsForum: Other Help Topics Topic: Old pavilion desktops started by: hillside Posted by hillside on July 13 2007,01:30
I've had a couple old HP Pavilion desktops dropped in my lap recently. One is an XE744 and the other is a 510c. Neither currently has a functioning operating system. Both have faster processors than my current ancient machine, so I thought I would load DSL and "upgrade".The problem is that both machines pass a bad video code and eventually boot into an unreadable screen. I've tried "vga=" cheat codes and none of them seem to do the trick. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Posted by lucky13 on July 13 2007,03:48
edited/removed - Oops, I didn't read that correctly. The other advice from curaga and skaos should be adequate to get you to a prompt.
Posted by curaga on July 13 2007,08:18
vga=normal works always, it is a text mode
Posted by skaos on July 13 2007,10:40
You could try "dsl 2" at the boot prompt to boot into command line. Then you can use "Xvesa -listmodes" to see which resolutions and colour depths your graphics cards support. Also try "lspci" to list what cards you have.
Posted by hillside on July 15 2007,02:05
Thanks for the replies, but I have only bad news.vga=normal didn't work. dsl 2 got me into a command line, which would be great if I wanted to run a server of some kind. Xvesa -listmodes tells me 1024x768x8 is on the list. The other modes listed are all four color or monochrome. lspci tells me the card is an 82810 CGC (i810) The error I keep getting is: You passed an undefined mode number press return to see video modes available When I press return, it gives me a list of column and row possibilities. I think I've tried them all with no success. Usually when it starts X, the screen blinks a bunch of times as if it's making a number of attempts (probably trying different settings) and finally goes to a screen of very colorful snow. It's rather attractive, but not very useful. Once, but only once, it said no suitable xserver found for your card and dropped me back to the command line. I'm thinking this old hardware is just not compatible with X. Dang. Now I'll have to pay to get two free computers recycled. The garbage police around here are very strict about electronics in the trash. Posted by curaga on July 15 2007,07:11
I think I know the problem as I too have Intel graphics:those use main ram. And bios usually allocates way too little. You need a full X to tell it to grab more ram, thus more video modes become available. Did you see the boot messages with vga=normal? 'cause that was the purpose. Boot "dsl 2" and give the whole line of Xvesa -listmodes for 1024x768x8 (all the numbers on that line too) After that start booting with "dsl noicons xsetup" and select Xfbdev. Noicons is because icons cannot be displayed in 8-bit mode.. Posted by lucky13 on July 15 2007,10:10
There are many useful CLI apps and utilities beyond servers. I haven't started X on my main DSL box in over a week. It's streaming audio through the house right now.
That card is supported in X. The aforementioned computer has i810 onboard and it works quite well.
Have you tried hitting the spacebar to skip those and then use xsetup.sh to set your resolution instead? I've been able to do that with a couple computers and it's worked fine. Posted by roberts on July 15 2007,22:34
Have you tried framebufer device?At the first boot prompt type: boot: fb800x600 or boot: fb1024x768 Don't use dsl with these boot labels, i.e., do not type boot: dsl fb800x600 Also, there is a newer tiny X server just for i810. If you can boot to dsl 2 and have net access then at the prompt # mydsl-load Xi810 testing Should download it and you can try it. Posted by hillside on July 16 2007,02:18
Thanks for the info. I'm going back on double shifts for a while, but I'll get back at this in a few days.
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