Problems when Closing XFree86 Using a S3Virge/Gx

Yet Another Anonymous Coward asks: "I am using a S3Virge/GX video card to run XWindows. I am running Red Hat 6.0. I was able to get Xwindows running but when I close the Xsession, my display is shifted. I have tried using F86_SVGA and XF86_S3V servers but I continue to have the same problem. Any suggestions???"

Comments

Re: Problems with XFree86 and S3Virge/GX

[Anonymous Coward]

I had the same problem. The only solution at the moment is to use the framebuffer support for text mode and the S3V server for XFree86. The Framebuffer HOWTO warns that you might still have a problem with the S3V server resetting the screen and if that is the case you will have to use the unaccelerated XF86FB_dev server. I have been using the S3V server for about three months now and have had no problems. Support for these cards is in the works, so use the framebuffer until then (you might like it so much that you will stay with it, I know I am). Hope this helps.

Older S3Virges

[rwa2]

You might want to search through http://www.linuxhardware.net/ to see what other S3Virge owners have had so say. There have always been problems with console corruption with these cards, and I've heard of people using everything from setfont to SVGATextmode to cope.

As for me, I have a plain old S3V (86C325) card that isn't even VESA 2.0 compliant, so using a framebuffer console is kind of out of the question for me. On the other hand, it's the only card I have that can drive this big old fixed-frequency monitor that my roommate found. I haven't figured out how to set the video timings for the console, so I only use it for X. I've found that newer X servers greatly reduce the likelihood of console corruption, though, so perhaps your best recourse is just waiting for the next version...

s3v bug in hardware

[lubricated]

some of the s3v don't go back to text mode correctly this is a hardware bug. There are so many s3v chips out there. "S3 makes the everybody else makes the boards". Seams like if you are running xdm gdm or kdm it shouldn't matter. Some of the s3v cards need to be run with XFree S3v server instead of SVGA because it just works better. Furthermore if you have the s3v framebuffer in the kernel or just a generic 16 color console driver and you have setup the console to use that frambuffer than it shouldn't be a problem going back and forth between text and nontext because even when you go to text it really stays in graphics mode.