HOW TO Fix resolution / refresh rate on Intel 815

How to do things, solutions, recipes, tutorials
Post Reply
Message
Author
Glitchman

HOW TO Fix resolution / refresh rate on Intel 815

#1 Post by Glitchman »

If you have been struggling to get decent colors, resolution, and refresh rate in Puppy, you are not alone. I have an Intel 815 chipset with an integrated video card. To put it nicely, the video card is a POS. With the right drivers, I can go as high as 1280*1024 in 24-bit color in several versions of Windows, but Puppy's default Xvesa driver only allows 800*600 in 16-bit color at best. Thanks to several others on this message board, here is what has recently worked for me:

First, you will want a fresh pup001 file to avoid any potential conflicts. Back up any pup001 files you have and boot to the live CD, creating a new pup001 file in the process.

Second, set up your Internet connection as usual. (I personally use xeznet with chat=no option since nothing else works for me.) Download your favorite window manager with PupGet and switch to it to prevent problems later (I use fvwm95, the default window manager in previous versions of Puppy.)

Now the fun begins. Download xorg682c.pup to a safe place, like ~/my-documents. When that finishes, you can launch it from ROX. It will then ask for your confirmation to overwrite files, so just let it install. Once that finishes, you will not be able to change your resolution the old way anymore (via Xvesa Video Wizard.) You will be using the new video driver the next time you restart X, so we will need to set it up first:

Exit to a prompt and type xorgconfig in order to set up your video and mouse. Follow through the questions, answering as conservatively as possible if you are unsure of the answers. Since I know that I can get 1280*1024 with 24-bit color and 85 Hz refresh rate in Windows, I answer the prompts accordingly. I also select "** Intel 810 (generic)" even though mine is actually an Intel 815. The video memory question is the tough one. In my case, answering 4096K is too much, since it was generating extra lines on the screen. Answering 2048K is safe for an Intel 815, although I have been successful answering with 3072K. Once you find out how much memory works best, you can always lower it later on to lower your resolution. Finally answer the default color depth that you prefer (e.g. 24-bit) and allow it to write the config file.

Now start X by typing xwin and (hopefully) everything should look better. If there is any indication of extra lines on the screen, flashing, or distortion, then hit Control-Alt-Backspace to get back to a prompt and go through the setup again, this time picking more conservative values (i.e. lower refresh rate range or less RAM.) With trial and error, you should be able to find the right settings.

One of the first things you may notice is that your fonts are suddenly very small, even in 800*600 resolution. It is most noticeable on menus in most programs, as well as any text that you type in leafpad. In order to fix this problem, I followed MU's suggestion on this forum to add the following line to /etc/.Xdefaults:

Code: Select all

Xft.dpi: 108
However, I find a value of 76 (or so) to be closer to what the fonts used to be under the old video driver (Xvesa.) Adjust this as you see fit and restart X to see the new settings.

Now when you have everything the way you like it, you might notice that your mouse wheel no longer scrolls, but still functions as the middle mouse button. If you are also affected by this, there is a simple fix. First, browse to /etc/X11/ and backup the xorg.conf file. You will be making a simple change to this file. Look for part of the file that looks something like the following:

Code: Select all

# **********************************************************************
# Core Pointer's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver

    Identifier	"Mouse1"
    Driver	"mouse"
    Option "Protocol"    "Auto"
    Option "Device"      "/dev/mouse"
Obviously, yours may vary depending on your type of mouse. I copied the following line from pakt's config file on this message board:

Code: Select all

    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"           # Enable the scroll wheel
If all goes well, adding that line should fix the mouse wheel after you have exited and re-entered X.

Final notes:

You might notice that Puppy may not properly shutdown the first time you use the new driver. I am not sure why, but it appeared to clear itself for me. I also noticed that this new video driver fixed the Caps Lock / Num Lock bug that has been plaguing Puppy since version 1.04. That is, you had to press each key FOUR times to toggle on/off rather than two. This is especially noticeable in fvwm95, where the Alt-Tab key sequence only works when the Num Lock is off. This has also repaired the right Alt key as well, which did not appear to do anything previously. I tried to fix all these things by trying out other PupGet packages, DotPups, and custom-made iso's, but to no avail. In a nutshell, Xorg682c has fixed almost all these problems for me.

I hope this helps anyone else who has been fighting video options. Good luck with the new video driver!

User avatar
Flash
Official Dog Handler
Posts: 13071
Joined: Wed 04 May 2005, 16:04
Location: Arizona USA

#2 Post by Flash »

Excellent, and thanks! :)

User avatar
gliezl
Posts: 322
Joined: Sat 06 Aug 2005, 22:30
Location: Manila

#3 Post by gliezl »

Very nice! Thanks :)
[color=blue][i]"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."
~Margaret Fuller[/i][/color]

User avatar
mayakovski
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun 20 Nov 2005, 00:42
Location: Comox, BC, CANADA

Glitchman is my hero.

#4 Post by mayakovski »

:D
Finally instructions I can follow and that work for me.

These worked great, the only difference was that after following the instructions and rebooting from the Live CD to the HD Install I had to rerun the Xorg install and rerun the xorgconfig as it did not seem to be there from the Live CD install. That was probably just my lack of Linux savvy. But hey, I'm learning.

Only other thing is where the heck is the pup001 file you mention to backup? I searched all of the directories and could not find it so I just skipped that step, though I would like to know where it is for future issues.

One question though, is there a way to manuallu force a refresh rate? Currently it defaults 1024x768 to 72 Hz, I would like to boost this to 85 as that is easier on my eyes. But I cannot figure out where to set this.

Thanks

And again, Many thanks for the instructions. I owe you a Big Beer Glitchman.

Mayakovski

User avatar
mayakovski
Posts: 124
Joined: Sun 20 Nov 2005, 00:42
Location: Comox, BC, CANADA

Re: HOW TO Fix resolution / refresh rate on Intel 815

#5 Post by mayakovski »

I find that the scroll wheel code works, but since I have a wireless mouse and keyboard if I leave this as is when I exit to prompt I loose the mouse and keyboard completely. I have to comment out this line, exit to prompt and then re enable the scroll code when I am back in the Puppy GUI.

Just a note for anyone else experiencing this.
Glitchman wrote:

Code: Select all

    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"           # Enable the scroll wheel
Mayakovski
**********************
Puppy Linux | Barking Up The Right Tree

Compaq Armada 1580DMT | P150, 49MB RAM - 3.2 GB HD, Puppy 1.0.6
Compaq Deskpro EN | P3-733, 384 MB RAM - 80GB HD, Puppy 1.0.7

kethd
Posts: 451
Joined: Thu 20 Oct 2005, 12:54
Location: Boston MA USA

FrameBuffer NeoMagic

#6 Post by kethd »

I have been struggling to get a FrameBuffer enabled Puppy for my Dell Latitude NeoMagic video chipset. Wonder if your xorgconfig dot-pup install instructions will work for that?

Zonkle
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed 28 Sep 2005, 11:20
Location: Damascus, Syria
Contact:

#7 Post by Zonkle »

Thanks.

But before I try it, can you please tell me if it would solve my Tv-out problem?

I have nVidia MX420 with Tv-out, and it has the output as NTSC by default .... is there anyway to change that under Puppy?

Thanks.

JTjtJT

Re: FrameBuffer NeoMagic

#8 Post by JTjtJT »

kethd wrote:I have been struggling to get a FrameBuffer enabled Puppy for my Dell Latitude NeoMagic video chipset. Wonder if your xorgconfig dot-pup install instructions will work for that?
This is something I also would like to know...
Anyone?
JT

kethd
Posts: 451
Joined: Thu 20 Oct 2005, 12:54
Location: Boston MA USA

#9 Post by kethd »

JT,
Try the new Puppy 1.0.7alpha -- it comes with Xorg framebuffer built-in, works for me (with patience).

Guest

#10 Post by Guest »

kethd wrote:JT,
Try the new Puppy 1.0.7alpha -- it comes with Xorg framebuffer built-in, works for me (with patience).
Forgot to thank you, so... Thank You! X works now nicely with my ancient Dell Latitude CPi. Airo wireless missing, so I am trying that now.

And your hint was there in 22 minutes... impressive!
JT

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#11 Post by tempestuous »

The aironet modules have been trimmed from Puppy in the interests of size.
Get them as an add-on package here http://mymirrors.homelinux.org/puppy/wireless/

Another forum member, jimj, reported that Aironet pcmcia cards may need to be reset to work like this -
cardctl eject
cardctl insert

Post Reply