Dell 8000 manual Video Issues, Lilo parameters

•256M RAM

•ATI Technologies Inc Rage Mobility M4 AGP

•ESS Technology ES1983S Maestro-3i PCI Audio Accelerator (rev 10)

•a Dell Logitech scrolly-wheel infrared mouse, model M-UR69

I was working off a Debian Woody image with the stock kernel 2.2.20-idepci, downloaded from the Rutgers mirror here:

ftp://ftp.rutgers.edu/pub/debian-cd/images/i386/debian-30r1-i386-binary-1.iso

This image had a corrupt library (libpcap0 0.6.2-2 i386.deb), which pre- vented me from using the CD as my primary installation source (I did a network install instead). I do not recommend it!

1Video Issues

I had two large problems with the video card (or, for lack of my understanding of what that incorporates, let’s say “the graphical elements of the system”). The first prevented me from even beginning the install in a reasonable manner, so I’m addressing them first.

1.1LILO parameters

When I stuck my fresh new Debian CD in my drive and rebooted, a big blue welcome screen like I am accustomed to did not pop up. Instead, as soon as the CD started loading its default kernel (2.2.20-idepci), the screen split itself in four, overlapping its text at the horizontal quarters. To get an idea of what this was like (if you’re not already staring at it), picture the normal screen, then copy it, and scoot the second image down so it overlays the first, at the 1-quarter mark. Do the same again at the halfway mark, and the 3-quarter mark, and you have something that is utterly illegible by the bottom.

As I now understand it, this has something to do with framebuffer support. But instead of disabling that in the kernel (which you might want to do if you ever get around to rolling your own, for some really good reason (I’m not a fan

—see why in Section 5!)), you can just pass a couple options to your boot loader.

Debian uses LILO by default, so at this point, you can just use the following (I don’t know how to do it in grub, but I’m sure it’s possible):

video=vga16:off

This means that instead of hitting ‘ENTER’ as usual and watching the stock kernel load, you will need to type:

2