[ltp] Newbie video questions

[Alex Deucher]

On 8/29/06, Hans Bostrom <bostromed@yahoo.se> wrote:
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: linux-thinkpad-admin@linux-thinkpad.org
> > [mailto:linux-thinkpad-admin@linux-thinkpad.org] On Behalf Of
> > Matt Graham
> > Sent: den 29 augusti 2006 15:25
> > To: linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
> > Subject: Re: [ltp] Newbie video questions
> >
> > On Tuesday 29 August 2006 08:19, after a long battle with technology,
> > funkydoctor wrote:
> > > I would consider myself a Windows "power user",
> >
> > Careful.  Most of the time, people who call themselves "power users"
> > really mean "I am a big PITA to tech support".
>
> Warning received - although, in all fairness I only attempted to describe my
> current level of computer literacy, which includes never having called tech
> support on a Windows machine...  ;-)
>
>
> > > Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper) on my old IBM Thinkpad A20p.
> > > My first problem is, simply put, that I can't use Fn+F7 anymore.
> > > The IBM Thinkpad A20p comes with the ATI Rage Mobility 128
> > > graphics chip,
> >
> > Put the line
> >
> > Option "Display" "BIOS"
> >
> > into your /etc/X11/xorg.conf 's Device section, restart X.  This has
> > been used for r128 cards for a long time.
>
> Thanks, I'll try that as soon as I can.
>
>
> > > as I understand it this chip is not supported by the ATI
> > proprietary
> > > driver (?). So is there (a reasonably simple) way to achieve 2D/3D
> > > hardware acceleration for my video card?
> >
> > You've already got 2D accel if you're using the r128 X module.  3D
> > acceleration requires building and loading the r128 kernel module and
> > probably agpgart, and probably making some changes to xorg.conf .  I
> > forget what those are; it's been a while since I've used my old
> > r128-equipped Thinkpad.  Whatever you do, it won't help that
> > much--the
> > r128 is not nearly as fast as newer cards.  HTH,
>
> I'm sorry, I lost you there. How do I know if I'm using the r128 module
> (I've only done a standard install of Ubuntu 6.06)?

3D should be enabled by default on r128 in Ubuntu.  What do glxinfo
and your Xorg log look like?  Make sure you have the dri mesa package
installed.

Alex

>
> Best,
> Hans
>
>