xserver does not start after installation on Dell Inspiron 2200

[Rikard Nordgren]

I installed Hoary on my new Dell Inspiron 2200. The gnome login screen was blank
but I could hear the sound. After some search on the web I found the solution. I
changed the driver in /etc/X11/xorg.conf like this

Section "Device"
# ...
Driver "vesa"
#...
EndSection

I don't know if this is the right driver, but it works.

[Rikard Nordgren (rikard-nordgren)]

After changing the driver in xorg.conf there is still a minor annoyance left.
Before viewing the login screen a trash screen is viewed. Sometimes the ubuntu
background screen together with trash pixels. Sometimes only "random" pixels.

[Matt Zimmerman (mdz)]

Please attach /var/log/Xorg.0.log and /etc/X11/xorg.conf, as created immediately
after installation (or booting the live CD)

[Rikard Nordgren (rikard-nordgren)]

I am sorry to say that I don't have these left. I changed some resolutions and
sync values in xorg.conf but it didn't work. But when I changed the driver to
"vesa" as stated above it finally came to life. Is there a way to reproduce the
original files without doing a complete reinstall?

[Daniel Stone (daniels)]

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

[Pablo (piaranda)]

Created an attachment (id=2820)
X log on Inspiron 2200 with i810 driver selected

I'm Pablo and I've got the same problem with my Dell Inspiron 2200 with Intel
915. I have obtained the information you were asking for. I hope this can help
you solving the problem. Sorry for my english.....

Note that this log is the log generated by Xorg with the xserver-xorg package
reconfigured to use i810 instead of vesa driver (which I need to run Xorg and
obviously without acceleration).

The distribution is a Warty upgraded to Hoary (I have not installed a Hoary CD,
I installed Warty and upgraded to Hoary)

[Pablo (piaranda)]

Created an attachment (id=2821)
...and now the xorg config file

This is the configuration file generated by the command dpkg-reconfigure
xserver-xorg and selecting the intel 810 driver (suggested by the configuration
program when trying to autodetect the hardware). Nothing else changed in this
configuration, only the driver used.

Thanks for your help.

Pablo.

[kvb (commercante)]

I have the same problem
a piece of the xorg.conf's file just after the installation

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Intel Corporation Intel Default Card"
 Driver "i810"
 BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

but the dell inspiron 2200 it isn't i810 ! It is i915
that's the reason why the Xserver doesn't work correctly after installation

with the vesa driver i can open gnome but i can't read a dvd movie or play a game
so I try to install i915 driver
1- on Intel's website :
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df-external/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=1764
but i can't install this
2- on dri's website : http://dri.freedesktop.org/snapshots/
i can't install this one to (ps: i can install this with mandriva 2005, then i
have a new probleme with usb-storage module)

I'm a beginner so please help me

[Pablo (piaranda)]

hello, beginner...

We all know that Inspiron's video card is Intel 915, not Intel 810....but using
i810 should work correctly with acceleration (in other laptops and PC's i810
driver works perfectly with these cards, ok?)...if the problem was the
"different number (810 driver for 915)", do you think that we wouldn't have
discovered it before? Hehehe.....

No problem, only a joke ;D

[Pablo (piaranda)]

have you discovered something??? Could it be problem of the display frequencies instead of the
driver used?? I think this could be the problem, because the xserver starts without any problem
and I can hear the sound of gdm when it loads. If it was problem of the driver, I think that Xorg
would crash and report an error....

Thank you for your help again...

[Daniel Robitaille (robitaille)]

Note: I have a Dell Latitude 110l which seems to have somewhat similar hardware
(and bugs) to the Inspiron 2200. That exact problem was present when installing
Hoary (X started but screen stayed blank and switching to vesa was solving it).
  But the problem appears to be gone with Breezy so there is no need anymore to
switch from i810 to vesa in xorg.conf to get an image. Hopefully it is true as
well for the 2200.

[Daniel Stone (daniels)]

argh, pathological video BIOS alert

This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 9525.