Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.matrox,comp.os.linux.hardware (More info?)

Could someone please help me out with matroxfb?

I'm trying to set up the frame buffer so I can get a bigger vt than the
default 80x25 chars.... Simply compiling matroxfb support results in my
terms being completely corrupted....

I've tried several of the modes in fb/matroxfb.txt docs, but all I get is
varying degrees of corruption in the text modes, and my X windows
shrink.... Clearly I'm missing something. I've done this successfully
before, but not with matrox cards....

My video card is a G550:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G550 AGP (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Subsystem: Matrox Graphics, Inc. Millennium G550 Dual Head DDR 32Mb
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 5
Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
Memory at da000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Memory at db000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8M]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [f0] AGP version 2.0

Archived from groups: comp.os.linux.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.videocards.matrox (More info?)

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 15:02:20 UTC in comp.os.linux.hardware, Captain
Dondo <yan@NsOeSiPnAeMr.com> wrote:

> Could someone please help me out with matroxfb?
>
> I'm trying to set up the frame buffer so I can get a bigger vt than the
> default 80x25 chars.... Simply compiling matroxfb support results in my
> terms being completely corrupted....
>
> I've tried several of the modes in fb/matroxfb.txt docs, but all I get is
> varying degrees of corruption in the text modes, and my X windows
> shrink.... Clearly I'm missing something. I've done this successfully
> before, but not with matrox cards....
>
> My video card is a G550:
>
> 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G550 AGP (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
> Subsystem: Matrox Graphics, Inc. Millennium G550 Dual Head DDR 32Mb
> Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 5
> Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
> Memory at da000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
> Memory at db000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8M]
> Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=128K]
> Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2
> Capabilities: [f0] AGP version 2.0

This is the append line from my /etc/lilo.conf. It sets the vertical
refresh rate to 75Hz and it's probably that that causes your problems.

append = "video=matrox:vesa:0x11A,fv:75"

My kernel has matroxfb support built-in, not as a module. I think you
can do the same sort of thing as a module but you'd have to pass
parameters to the module as you load it and those may differ in format
from the ones I use. The 0x11A tells it to run my console at
1280x1024x16bpp - you may need to pick a different mode if you don't
have a monitor capable of supporting this sort of resolution.

--
Trevor Hemsley, Brighton, UK.
Trevor-Hemsley at dsl dot pipex dot com

Archived from groups: comp.os.linux.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.videocards.matrox (More info?)

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 15:15:42 +0000, Trevor Hemsley wrote:

> This is the append line from my /etc/lilo.conf. It sets the vertical
> refresh rate to 75Hz and it's probably that that causes your problems.
>
> append = "video=matrox:vesa:0x11A,fv:75"
>
> My kernel has matroxfb support built-in, not as a module. I think you
> can do the same sort of thing as a module but you'd have to pass
> parameters to the module as you load it and those may differ in format
> from the ones I use. The 0x11A tells it to run my console at
> 1280x1024x16bpp - you may need to pick a different mode if you don't
> have a monitor capable of supporting this sort of resolution.

OK, thanks. I got a graphics console at 1024x768 - I guess matrox wants
75Hz refresh, and I was using 72..... Two issues:

1. The font stayed the same - I still have 80x25; I'm looking for
something bigger. Any way to set the equivalent of the vga=791 setting?

2. I've lost acceleration under X... Any way to run both a matrox fb for
the consoles and the matrox mga driver for X? Or to get acceleration
under X using matroxfb? At least from the kernel docs (fb/matroxfb.txt)
it should seem possible, but I'm not sure how....

Thanks.

Archived from groups: comp.os.linux.hardware,alt.comp.periphs.videocards.matrox (More info?)

[followup set]

On 19 Jan 2005 15:15:42 GMT, Trevor Hemsley <Trevor-Hemsley@mytrousers.dsl.pipex.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 15:02:20 UTC in comp.os.linux.hardware, Captain
> Dondo <yan@NsOeSiPnAeMr.com> wrote:
>
>> Could someone please help me out with matroxfb?
>>
>> I'm trying to set up the frame buffer so I can get a bigger vt than the
>> default 80x25 chars.... Simply compiling matroxfb support results in my
>> terms being completely corrupted....
....
> This is the append line from my /etc/lilo.conf. It sets the vertical
> refresh rate to 75Hz and it's probably that that causes your problems.
>
> append = "video=matrox:vesa:0x11A,fv:75"

And as another data point, my line reads:

append="video=matrox:vesa:0x1BB"

Works nicely, and switching between X and console doesn't corrupt either
one. This is with a G400 though; I own a G550, but its machine is headless.

/Jorgen

--
// Jorgen Grahn <jgrahn@ Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu
\X/ algonet.se> R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!