Question

Setting up X with FreeBSD on a Thinkpad T60.

Asked by: JimJum

Hi.

I'm having trouble setting up X with FreeBSD 7.1 on my Thinkpad T60. Is there anyone that could help me set it up right?

The problem:
When running my xorg.conf.new file, the screen goes black. I can't kill the xserver using ctrl+alt+backspace, and it just freezes. I'm able to SSH in to the laptop, and kill the xserver, but then my screen turns into this: http://folk.ntnu.no/sigurdhj/laptop_fail.jpg

The only way I've managed to get back to a normal screen is by rebooting.

My Thinkpad T60 specs:
I've got the Thinkpad T60 1951-FCG model.

Graphics controller: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (Intel 945GM).
Video display: 14.1-inch XGA (1024 x 768 resolution) TFT display.

Additional information:
During the installation of X, I only chose to install the "intel" driver, rest of the settings I was prompted on, I chose the default.

The monitor works fine with Windows XP, and Ubuntu -- so I'm inclined to think there's nothing wrong with my monitor, and it's just the settings.

I've attached my configuration file (xorg.conf.new), the log file (Xorg.0.log). Here's a link to the specifications of my Thinkpad T60: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-62487.

Hope there's somebody that can help me out with this.

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Asked On
2009-03-04 at 02:53:40ID24196965
Tags

X

,

FreeBSD

,

Thinkpad T60

Topics

X-Windows Window Manager

,

FreeBSD

,

PC Laptops

Participating Experts
1
Points
0
Comments
23

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Answers

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-04 at 14:18:04ID: 23800387


1) remove /etc/X11/xorg.conf
try X11
2) X -configure will create working xorg in place - you can go with that.

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-04 at 21:54:15ID: 23802888

Thanks for the reply.

Maybe it wasn't clear enough in my first post, but I already have done a X -configure, which gave me the xorg.conf.new file, which I've then tried to edit to fit my specs.

Either way, after your reply I tried doing it all over again, without any result.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 05:38:59ID: 23805235

Has it worked before your editing? Then leave as it is.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 05:39:39ID: 23805243

X -configure is not asking questions about setup, so it is worth trying.

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-05 at 05:41:52ID: 23805264

No, I've never gotten it to work, neither the standard config or my edited version. I'm thinking the intel driver isn't that well supported.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 05:43:35ID: 23805281

run X -configure
then run X as it says.
post /var/log/Xorg.0.log here
BIOS updates are known to help intel driver.

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-05 at 05:44:52ID: 23805293

This is what I've tried:

Running X -configure, testing that config -- no go.
Editing the xorg.conf to fit my specs according to the FreeBSD handbook -- no go.
Googling around, trying out adding different modules like GLcore -- no go.

All I'm getting is a black screen, and the computer locks up.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 06:05:27ID: 23805481

Computer locks up or just display card? Try pinging it while X locks.
Update BIOS as first effort to resolve.
NoAccel is next thing to try.

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-05 at 06:07:47ID: 23805504

Ok. I just updated my BIOS to the latest version I could find on the Lenovo site.

I ran X -configure, left the xorg.conf as standard, and ran it with X -config xorg.conf.new. The screen went black. On the laptop I can't do anything -- so in that sense it has locked up. I can SSH in to it though, and still use the computer as normal. I can ping it, do all commands, etc through SSH, just not directly from the laptop.

I've attached the Xorg.0.log file from my latest test.

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-05 at 06:08:46ID: 23805515

Seems the file didn't get attached on my previous post, trying again...

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 06:53:25ID: 23806034

There is something with monitor connection - play around with options from "man intel" regarding this part.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 07:10:14ID: 23806238

i.e  www.intellinuxgraphics.com
play around with explicit connector setups, DDC , and most importantly submit bug report upstream.
I had them always working even in dualhead.

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-05 at 08:13:07ID: 23807001

I looked into the man intel page, aswell as the documentation at http://www.intellinuxgraphics.com/ -- but this stuff is just too advanced for me. I'm not sure what I'm doing really.

I went ahead anyway, foolishly, and tried out disabling NoAccel, aswell as DCC without any luck. I read the section about LVDSFixedMode, which I think applies to this issue, but disabling it and trying to set it in the xorg.conf.new instead didn't work out for me. I'm pretty sure I did something wrong though.

What I did was: set LVDSFixedMode to false, and in xorg.conf.new I set up the depth and Modes under the Screen section.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 08:33:32ID: 23807263

Do you get picture with SVGA driver? i.e Driver "svga"

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-05 at 08:56:56ID: 23807544

Hmmm... don't think I've got that driver. How do I set that up?

I read that I might get a picture using the VESA driver though, so I did a "cd /usr/ports/x11-drivers/xorg-drivers && make config" and selected the VESA driver -- before editing my xorg.conf.new - Driver set to "vesa", but that didn't work. Maybe I did it wrong.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 12:48:35ID: 23810444

Please use pkg_add -r xorg-drivers

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-05 at 22:37:41ID: 23814329

Failed. "pkg_add: package 'xorg-drivers-7.3_3' or its older version already installed"

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-05 at 23:56:20ID: 23814580

pkg_deinstall or pkg_delete surplus package before installing.

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-06 at 00:09:37ID: 23814620

Getting told that I can't deinstall nor delete the xorg-drivers package, cause Xorg 7.4 is dependant on it. Do I really have to deinstall whole Xorg?

 

by: JimJumPosted on 2009-03-07 at 04:05:14ID: 23824543

I haven't been able to get a picture using driver "svga" -- I did however get a picture using the "vesa" driver. I also gave PC-BSD a try, which worked perfectly. I've added the config file that PC-BSD using for X, if that would give you any tips on what I should edit in to get it working in FreeBSD.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-08 at 05:08:10ID: 23829030

Read log already mentioned log and adjust config file.
I cannot blindly tell whats wrong form one side of info.

 

by: gheistPosted on 2009-03-11 at 07:52:13ID: 23857950

Let me suggest some Linux like ubuntu or Mandriva one to efficiently use your laptop.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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