[SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

nashjc · 2018-12-06 19:17:44

I've an old Koolu box. It was running !# Waldorf just fine, but I thought I'd
like to keep up with developments, so installed Bunsen Deuterium non PAE. This
boots, but the display is shifted and screen real-estate is too small. xrandr
says it cannot find gamma size and is using 640x480. The ARandR edit only offers
this resolution.

Now liveUSB #! Waldorf comes up fine at 1280x1024 and looks great. So I'm wondering
what has got lost in the "improvements". I'm mainly a number-cruncher, and an
amateur when it comes to system stuff, so hopefully the fix is relatively simple,
such as installing a package or changing a setting.

While the box is clearly not my main machine, it would be nice to have it running
as a guest machine for web, email, music, etc.

Best, JN

Last edited by nashjc (2018-12-07 21:17:30)

damo · 2018-12-07 03:49:28

What resolutions are available if you run BL Live? (Try the new BL-Helium-4 iso)

nashjc · 2018-12-07 14:53:57

Tried both live and live (failsafe). VERY slow in both cases. Timing out on the "...userspace" and "BUNSEN HELIUM" start jobs. Ends up with 640 x 480 only, and somewhat more difficult to use because terminal window
too big to resize to screen (so I couldn't use nano editor -- the save file dialog was off the edge).

If it is useful to BL team, I'm willing to keep at this, otherwise I'll reinstall #! Waldorf or something similarly lightweight. Let me know.

Thanks anyway for quick response.

JN

nashjc · 2018-12-07 14:55:15

Above was with BL Helium-4 non-PAE.

JN

damo · 2018-12-07 15:00:34

nashjc wrote:

... terminal window too big to resize to screen (so I couldn't use nano editor -- the save file dialog was off the edge)....

Don't forget that with Openbox you can resize/move a window with Alt + L/R mousedrag.

nashjc · 2018-12-07 15:20:46

Should have remembered that. I use several systems, and the controls are different!

Let me know if you want me to do more testing, as this is a 10 year old box and I was using it to explore a few ideas rather than do critical tasks.

JN

damo · 2018-12-07 16:40:08

You haven't given any details of your hardware, graphics etc. I suspect it is a graphics driver issue, or maybe a kernel modesetting parameter may fix it.

https://wiki.debian.org/Hardware

nashjc · 2018-12-07 16:54:44

My bad. There may be more I can find out from #! live. Will see later.

https://www.mgraves.org/2008/07/koolu-a … appliance/

namely:
Processor (AMD Geode(TM) LX 800)
512 MB of PC 3200 RAM
80 GB Hard Disk (optional)
VGA port with up to 1920 x 1440 display resolution
4 USB ports with printer, keyboard, mouse, and storage support
Full 16-bit audio with stereo; Microphone-in, and Audio-out/Headphone
Case (H x W x D: 1.4″ (35 mm) x 5.5″ (140 mm) x 5.1″ (130 mm))
Power Supply
Typically uses less than 10 watts, but this may vary according to options installed.

damo · 2018-12-07 17:06:10

I suggest you google "debian amd geode" and see what others have had to do to get it to work on modern kernels.

A quick look suggests that Debian has dropped kernel support for many old processors, including 586-class and hybrid 586/686 processors.

An Arch user used "arch-i686" as a kernel boot parameter.

Last edited by damo (2018-12-07 17:12:18)

nashjc · 2018-12-07 18:35:08

In between posts I'd also found xserver-xorg-video-geode, but had not had chance to try.

Installed, rebooted. Voila! (This is on Deuterium, but it will do for now. Helium 4 seems very slow to boot on this particular box.)

Many thanks, JN

damo · 2018-12-07 21:04:31

Good news. If you could edit the title of your first post and add "[SOLVED]" it may help others looking for an answer.

nashjc wrote:

.... Helium 4 seems very slow to boot on this particular box.)

Probably due to the "entropy bug" - installing haveged helped for me.
Have a look at the systemd journal to see which unecessary services could be disabled.

systemd-analyze blame

#1 2018-12-06 19:17:44

[SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#2 2018-12-07 03:49:28

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#3 2018-12-07 14:53:57

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#4 2018-12-07 14:55:15

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#5 2018-12-07 15:00:34

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#6 2018-12-07 15:20:46

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#7 2018-12-07 16:40:08

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#8 2018-12-07 16:54:44

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#9 2018-12-07 17:06:10

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#10 2018-12-07 18:35:08

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

#11 2018-12-07 21:04:31

Re: [SOLVED] Video setup for Geode LX -- !# works, Bunsen not

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