T42, Mint Linux & display problems

[Elwyn]

Well. It was working OK. Then I 'accidentally' installed Nvidia drivers. I think I was tired and applied the update when I shouldn't have. Since then my display as only allowed a max of 800x600 not 1024x768, and I really would like the 1024 back without having to reinstall!

This is from lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82540EP Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Mobile) (rev 03)
02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 01)

And this is from my xorg.conf file

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"

I read this thread: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 1&p=493878

I have tried other commands, but even after reading over the xorg man pages a few times I feel lost. My latest guru is away for the weekend and I really could do with trying to manage through myself, albeit with online help...

Commands & Results.

dpkg --configure xserver-xorg
dpkg: error processing xserver-xorg (--configure):
package xserver-xorg is already installed and configured
Errors were encountered while processing:
xserver-xorg


apt-cache policy xserver-xorg-video-intel
xserver-xorg-video-intel:
Installed: 2:2.4.1-1ubuntu10
Candidate: 2:2.4.1-1ubuntu10.4
Version table:
2:2.4.1-1ubuntu10.4 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid-updates/main Packages
*** 2:2.4.1-1ubuntu10 0
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

Can someone help me please?

[Elwyn]

The display is running in safe mode / low graphics mode.

I have posted the /var/log/xorg.0.log to Pastebin: http://pastebin.com/f261d29dd

[Elwyn]

Having been digging further, but still in a quandary.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=72172

Is it possible to substitute anothers' T42 Xorg.conf file over mine? The above link states that the ATI drivers are no good for a 7500 series video, which is what I have...

[Elwyn]

Well, I've kinda got somewhere. I, er, reinstalled

Well. I'm a bit limited on time and my other machine is a zorked install of XP and needs a rebuild, so I had to make a decision...

Anyway, getting back to it.

Doing the 'updates' on Mint it seems that the system wants to install (and I've tried to deselect those options) the Nvidia software for the display drivers.

Is it apt-get remove [package name] to remove that software, or is there something else? I don't want them near the system as I think that's what helped me to scr...break it last time

Newbie awaiting advice

Regards. Elwyn

[phubai]

Well, not being a Debian derivitive expert, I would however say, yes:


\

Code: Select all

apt-get --purge remove nvidia

..should do the trick. I have a t42p so my xorg will be a little different, but close. Look in /etc/X11 for an xorg.conf.bak or other named backup as well. Most often when you do something like this, the system is smart enough to create a backup of your old xorg.conf and name it appropriately.

My xorg:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
DefaultDepth 24
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "fglrx"
EndSection

Now I have an ATI video card in the T42p, so that might make a difference, but it's a start and you won't be any worse off!

G'luck!!

[tylerwylie]

The T42 drivers usually work better with the driver set to "radeon" instead of fglrx. I get much better support with that driver, especially on VGA output and 3d effects, than with fglrx

[Elwyn]

Well, I've tried the command of

Code: Select all

apt-get --purge remove nvidia

but the system couldn't find nvidia, so had a further look and found nvidia in the following 'files'

nvidia-common
nvidia-71-modaliases
nvidia-96-modaliases
nvidia-173-modaliases
nvidia-177-modaliases

However, reading through before uninstalling them means I will apparently remove some core parts of the OS: Linux Mint.

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apt-get --purge remove nvidia-common
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  gnome-do tomboy gnome-do-plugins xdg-user-dirs-gtk localechooser-data giver
  libavahi1.0-cil cups-pdf libnotify0.4-cil
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED
  envyng-core* envyng-gtk* mint-meta-gnome* mint-meta-main* nvidia-common*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 5 to remove and 23 not upgraded.
After this operation, 1135kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? n
Abort.

Code: Select all

minolta saratoga # apt-get --purge remove nvidia-71-modaliases
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  gnome-do tomboy gnome-do-plugins xdg-user-dirs-gtk localechooser-data giver
  libavahi1.0-cil cups-pdf libnotify0.4-cil
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED
  envyng-core* envyng-gtk* mint-meta-gnome* mint-meta-main*
  nvidia-71-modaliases* nvidia-common*
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 6 to remove and 23 not upgraded.
After this operation, 1192kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? n
Abort.

I'm not sure how to take it further. Looking in the package manager it seems that some parts of the Nvidia and ATI software is, um, merged? Bound together to create the end result. If this is so then perhaps I just need a way to disable certain updates or anything like that downloading. Or I can just ignore the broken padlock in the taskbar

Thanks for the advice and help so far

Elwyn

[phubai]

It seems nvidia has an install/uninstall script which may help you. I found this info in the Ubuntu forums.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php? ... fig&page=2

Look specifically at post #12 which references what this individual did to remove and then reinstall his nvidia. You or course, will not want to reinstall, but at least the script may help you safely remove it.

You can always of course ignore the update notifier.

It seems that both Ubuntu and Mint are not using xorg.conf much anymore pretty much auto-sensing what needs to be done. If you can remove the nvidia infiltration, it may provide the correct settings for you upon reboot!?