Silicon Motion X driver fails to correctly restore text mode; requires modprobe vga16fb fbcon
Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
xf86-video-siliconmotion |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
xorg (Ubuntu) |
Won't Fix
|
Low
|
Unassigned |
Bug Description
Binary package hint: linux-source-2.6.22
After installing from i386 Alternate CD (20070921.1) onto an Acer Travelmate C104TCi (C100), the PC has no console video driver and therefore virtual consoles aren't usable when switching away from GDM.
The reason is, there is no console video driver loaded. lsmod doesn't show a module loaded.
Alt+F2 "sudo modprobe vga16fb fbcon"
in a terminal fixes this for the session. To fix it permanently the initrd image needs updating:
$ sudo sh -c 'echo "vga16fb\nfbcon" >> /etc/initramfs-
$ sudo update-initramfs -u
After a reboot the consoles are usable.
This should have been installed by debian-installer.
$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82440MX Host Bridge [8086:7194] (rev 01)
00:00.1 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation 82440MX AC'97 Audio Controller [8086:7195]
00:00.2 Modem [0703]: Intel Corporation 82440MX AC'97 Modem Controller [8086:7196]
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Silicon Motion, Inc. SM720 Lynx3DM [126f:0720] (rev c1)
00:03.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ6933/711E1 CardBus/
00:03.1 CardBus bridge [0607]: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ6933/711E1 CardBus/
00:04.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/
00:05.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Texas Instruments TSB43AB21 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link) [104c:8026]
00:07.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82440MX ISA Bridge [8086:7198] (rev 01)
00:07.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82440MX EIDE Controller [8086:7199]
00:07.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82440MX USB Universal Host Controller [8086:719a]
00:07.3 Bridge [0680]: Intel Corporation 82440MX Power Management Controller [8086:719b]
$ sudo dmidecode
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.
37 structures occupying 1235 bytes.
Table at 0x000FD080.
Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 19 bytes
BIOS Information
Vendor: Wistron
Version: V3.3 R01-A4K EN
Release Date: 03/04/2003
Address: 0xF0000
Runtime Size: 64 kB
ROM Size: 512 kB
ISA is supported
PCI is supported
PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported
PNP is supported
APM is supported
EDD is supported
USB legacy is supported
Handle 0x0100, DMI type 1, 25 bytes
System Information
Product Name: TravelMate C100
Version: -1
Serial Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
UUID: C0DEFF20-
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
Handle 0x0200, DMI type 2, 8 bytes
Base Board Information
Product Name: Intel 440MX and PX4M
Version: -1
Serial Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Changed in xserver-xorg-video-siliconmotion: | |
importance: | Undecided → Medium |
status: | New → Confirmed |
I should have noted that I'm aware vesafb is compiled into the kernel. For some reason, no matter what combination of modes are put on the kernel command-line, it doesn't help the virtual consoles.
With just vesafb+fbcon I tried vga=0x317 (1024 x 768 x 16) and 0x318 (1024 x 768 x 24) and they both worked whilst the system was starting up.
Another issue, possibly related, is that the initial GDM greeter screen is terribly colour-inverted (dark blue, negative-looking image). This is cured by switching away from VT7 and then switching back.