You passed an undefined mode number???

**A. Jorge Garcia** · 09-02-2003, 05:23 PM

I just got a new lab of Dell Optiplex GX270s (PIV, 770MB ram, 40GB hdd, etc). When booting the latest KNOPPIX CD (20030726) I get an error message right after the "boot:" screen (where you enter cheat codes) about an invalid video mode number.

Has this happened to anyone before? I've never had a problem like this. I can pick from a number of modes (which look like text modes: 80x25, 80x50, 40x20, etc). No mater what I pick the the screen resolution ends up way to small (must be 640x480). How do I fix this? I've tried several cheats, nothing seems to work. BTW, these PCs have some sort of Intel Integrated Video Card (82865?) if that means anything to anyone!

Also, my audio card is unrecognized (Intel 8280?)!!!

Please help!

TIA,

**Dave_Bechtel** · 09-02-2003, 11:29 PM

--If you boot with a framebuffer (' fb1024x768 ') or tell it ' knoppix vga=ext ' (or vga=normal, for 80x25) the error message should disappear.

--You can also try ' knoppix vga=normal screen=1024x768 '.

--It has something to do with the kernel not detecting properly which video mode it can use, or something. Could also be the monitor.

Originally Posted by A. Jorge Garcia

I just got a new lab of Dell Optiplex GX270s (PIV, 770MB ram, 40GB hdd, etc). When booting the latest KNOPPIX CD (20030726) I get an error message right after the "boot:" screen (where you enter cheat codes) about an invalid video mode number.

Has this happened to anyone before? I've never had a problem like this. I can pick from a number of modes (which look like text modes: 80x25, 80x50, 40x20, etc). No mater what I pick the the screen resolution ends up way to small (must be 640x480). How do I fix this? I've tried several cheats, nothing seems to work. BTW, these PCs have some sort of Intel Integrated Video Card (82865?) if that means anything to anyone!

Also, my audio card is unrecognized (Intel 8280?)!!!

Please help!

TIA,

**A. Jorge Garcia** · 09-03-2003, 01:10 AM

I don't think its the monitor as I think I've used it before without a hitch on another system (Dell 300a?).

>>
If you boot with a framebuffer (' fb1024x768 ') or tell it ' knoppix vga=ext ' (or vga=normal, for 80x25) the error message should disappear. You can also try 'knoppix vga=normal screen=1024x768'
<<

OK, I'll try this! I didn't even try fb as the knoppix.net cheatcode page said it had to do with laptops??? BTW, does 80x25 refer to the font size? Why do I need to set that if I'm having trouble with graphics?

I always get confused with this. For fb I don't write knoppix first, right?

If so, I will try:
boot: fb1024x768
or
boot: knoppix vga=normal screen=1024x768

What do vga=ext and vga=normal mean, anyway? Also, how do I add 'knoppix nosmp' to fb1024x768? What about the sound?

TIA,

**garyng** · 09-03-2003, 02:04 AM

fb1024x768 == knoppix so it would be :

fb1024x768 nosmp noscsi lang=us

BTW, your graphic problem mostly has nothing to do with the error you saw.

I see it all the time on my Dell notebook(the invalid mode stuff) and it doesn't matter. You only got a 640x480 X usually means the native driver failed to load and it drops back to vesa or svga or the native driver is loaded but some configuration in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 prevents it from using the best resolution.

I don't know if XFree86 4.3 supports the latest Intel integrated graphic chips. fb won't help in this case as the last time I check, it is not included in the kernel for Intel graphic chips.

edit: A brief check on Intel said that there is driver(chipset 82865G) for linux, it belongs to the i830 family. Try to see if it works. Otherwise, you need to download the driver from Intel but how to put that on KNOPPIX would be another issue.

**A. Jorge Garcia** · 09-03-2003, 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by garyng

fb1024x768 == knoppix so it would be :
fb1024x768 nosmp noscsi lang=us

OK, I'll try that, but I don't have a problem with scsi or lang. I suppose you meant that as an example of stringing together cheatcodes with fb1024x768 (ie: just as with knoppix cheats).

Originally Posted by garyng

edit: A brief check on Intel said that there is driver(chipset 82865G) for linux, it belongs to the i830 family. Try to see if it works. Otherwise, you need to download the driver from Intel but how to put that on KNOPPIX would be another issue.

How do I "see if it works?" I'm not clear on what you mean by "it."

TIA,

**garyng** · 09-03-2003, 04:18 AM

Originally Posted by A. Jorge Garcia

Originally Posted by garyng

fb1024x768 == knoppix so it would be :
fb1024x768 nosmp noscsi lang=us

OK, I'll try that, but I don't have a problem with scsi or lang. I suppose you meant that as an example of stringing together cheatcodes with fb1024x768 (ie: just as with knoppix cheats).

edit: A brief check on Intel said that there is driver(chipset 82865G) for linux, it belongs to the i830 family. Try to see if it works. Otherwise, you need to download the driver from Intel but how to put that on KNOPPIX would be another issue.

How do I "see if it works?" I'm not clear on what you mean by "it."

TIA,

It is just shown as an example of how 'fb1024x768' would be used. But as I said, I very much doubt it works as I don't think fb for Intel is in the kernel(it requires a whole lot of patches).

As for to see whether 'it' works, I mean use the i830/i810 driver.

Try this :

knoppix 2 (to get the prompt)

edit(I use vi, you pick your favorite) /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

remove all 'modeline' entries under the monitor section and adjust the horizontal frequency to something less aggressive(this is especially true for LCD) like 28-48

then 'startx'

**A. Jorge Garcia** · 09-03-2003, 08:26 PM

Well, fb1024x768 didn't work at all. Also, the i810 driver is loaded already.

The best result I've had so far is with:

knoppux nosmp vga=normal screen=1024x768

This got rid of all the boot-up errors (only one processor found and passing undefined mode). However , the problem is still there: I can only get 640x480 res!

BTW, the sound is no go at all!

Regards,

**Dave_Bechtel** · 09-03-2003, 09:54 PM

--That's truly scarey, I've never known framebuffer to fail!

Here's some things you can try, excerpts from ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/knoppi...cheatcodes.txt

(Check the back of the monitor to see what refresh rate it can handle.)

Code:

knoppix xvrefresh=60                Use 60 Hz vertical refresh rate for X
knoppix xserver=XFree86|XF86_SVGA   Use specified X-Server
knoppix xmodule=ati|fbdev|i810|mga  Use specified XFree4-Module (1)
knoppix xmodule=nv|radeon|savage|s3 Use specified XFree4-Module (2)
knoppix xmodule=radeon|svga|i810    Use specified XFree4-Module (3)

--Thus you can try:
' knoppix nosmp vga=normal screen=1024x768 xvrefresh=60 xmodule=i810 '

or:
' knoppix nosmp vga=normal screen=1024x768 xvrefresh=60 xserver=XF86_SVGA xmodule=svga '

--As you prolly already know, once you find out what works you can use the mkfloppy.bat and modify the syslinux.cfg file on the resulting bootdisk to automatically enter them for you.

--If THAT doesn't work, I would seriously write a nasty letter to Dell and say STOP MAKING NON-LINUX-COMPATIBLE MACHINES!!

Originally Posted by A. Jorge Garcia

Well, fb1024x768 didn't work at all. Also, the i810 driver is loaded already.

The best result I've had so far is with:

knoppux nosmp vga=normal screen=1024x768

This got rid of all the boot-up errors (only one processor found and passing undefined mode). However , the problem is still there: I can only get 640x480 res!

BTW, the sound is no go at all!

Regards,

**A. Jorge Garcia** · 09-03-2003, 10:39 PM

I just got back from work, so I'll have to try your suggestion, Dave, tomorrow. Thanx alot, I think this may just work! Boy, talk about cutting it close. I started classes today, but labs don't open until tomorrow....

BTW, do you really think I should specify xmodule=i810 when KNOPPIX has already autodetected i810?

Also, is this a case of Dell making Linux-unfriendly hardware, or is it that this hardware is just too new to be recognized by KNOPPIX as yet? I would hope that an upcoming KNOPPIX upgrade may have new drivers for this soon. Albeit, this integrated audio/video chip stuff is real pain in the &%@^%!!!

OK, so I'm going to try:
knoppix nosmp alsa vga=normal screen=1024x768 xvrefresh=60 xmodule=i810 '
or
knoppix nosmp alsa vga=normal screen=1024x768 xvrefresh=60 xserver=XF86_SVGA xmodule=svga
to get sound working with alsamixer running in a Konsole too!

TIA,

**garyng** · 09-04-2003, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by A. Jorge Garcia

Well, fb1024x768 didn't work at all. Also, the i810 driver is loaded already.

Just as I expected that there is just no fb device for Intel i8xx in KNOPPIX. Since it can detect i810 as the driver, the problem most likely is in XF86Config-4.