Edubuntu 7.06 LTSP Inspiron 1100

[Tom Misilo]

I read all that and it is all good and everything, but as I am using
it as a edubuntu thin client I tried making a custom XF86config file
however when i put it in the lts.conf the computer won't boot.
Actually it won't boot even if i put Sound=False.

Also I tried looking up linux <computer/model> and was reading that
stuff for about 8+ hours trying stuff.

Thanks for any other suggestions,

Tom

On 6/26/07, alan c <aeclist at candt.waitrose.com> wrote:
> Tom Misilo wrote:
> > Hi everybody,
> >
> >    I am currently trying to figure out how to get my dell laptop to
> > use a resolution of 1024x768 when I am using it as a thin client. I
> > have the A32 bios installed on it. I think I need to have
> > 910resolution start every time this client starts but I am not sure
> > how I would go about adding this.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any help,
> >
> > Tom
>
> Yes I  currently use one.
> Your bios sounds later than mine,  I did update it initially to help
> with one of the display related problems.
>
> iirc the inspiron 1100 bios does not know the resolution of the screen
> - or something like that. When I reinstalled XP from the original Dell
>   CD the exact same problem happened, and I had to scrabble round for
> a suitable xp driver - buried somewhere on the dell resource CD.
>
> I posted various places, including linux-dell-laptops on yahoogroups
> (september 2006) and I think ubuntu forums - neither appear via google
>    :-(
>
> The details are copied to here (versions up to and including 7.04 are
> also same as this) :
>
>
> 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
> [begin ubuntu 6.06 note]
> =====
> hardware detail - 512 MB RAM, bios A32.
>
> The install of Ububtu 6.06 Desktop is ususlly done by first running
> the live CD then choosing the Install icon on the desktop. There was
> no problem booting or running the live CD, except that the display
> resolution remained fixed at a low value. (Similar problem when
> installing a new HD with Dell original OS CDs in fact, which needed
> special action to subsequently install video driver)
>
> After initial searches and trying many guessed Ubuntu boot options
> without success, I found the information necessary on the Ubuntu
> forums (note 1).
>
> After a file edit process, which was not difficult even for me as
> someone who has avoided use of command line, things did display
> correctly, and I am most grateful for the information referenced above.
>
> I am not new to linux but I still find I am unsure of many non gui
> actions, and other people even less confident than myself might find
> this summary useful.
>
> I was also happy to see that the immediate subsequent install from the
> edited running live cd ubuntu system was also correct in its screen
> display and needed no further editing of files.
>
> A Ubuntu forum posting on June 5th, 2006 by ssnitily included the
> following:
>
> ===================
> Default Installing on a Dell Inspiron 1100
> It's well known that the installation resolution for this laptop is
> incorrect and is locked at 640x480. Since the default installer for
> 6.06 involves booting and running a GUI and these installation screens
> are much larger than this it's very difficult to install as you can't
> see what you are tabbing to and can't click on any buttons as they are
> well bellow the viewable area on the screen.
> ===================
> My Comment: as it happens, this described the problem I had.
> ====================
> The response on June 6th, 2006 from durableapostle was on the button:
> ====================
> Default Re: Installing on a Dell Inspiron 1100
> I had the EXACT same problem. Here's what I did:
>
> 1) In a terminal window type: sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
>
> 2) Change your data to what I have below (actually, add this info,
> <i>in addition to</i> what you already have):
>
> Section "Monitor"
> Identifier "Monitor0"
> VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
> ModelName "Dell 1024x768 Laptop Display Panel"
> HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
> VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0
> Option "dpms"
> EndSection
>
> and in Section Screen, change the monitor line to read
>
> Monitor "Monitor0"
>
> 3) Save, close gedit, and then restart the x drive (crtl, alt,
> backspace). It should work.
>
> 4) Now, this is the part where you'll need help elsewhere... After a
> hard restart, this will probably go back to the small screen. You'll
> need to configure things so that this loads earlier in the startup
> sequence. I had a friend help w/ this... sorry, I don't know how he
> did it. Ask around the forums. At least you'll be able to easily fix
> it every time until you can get help with the part I can't help you with.
> =======================
> My comment: I had a little uncertainty about the above point 2)
> because I could see that some lines were obvious additions and one or
> two seemed to be replacements.
> I found that point 4) was not relevant to my need to run the live CD
> and then do an install to hard drive.
> =======================
> With this hindsight I would now slightly re-word the posting from
> durableapostle to read as follows:
>
> 1) In a terminal window type: sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
>
> 2) Change your data to what I have below
> Section "Monitor"
> Identifier "Monitor0"
> VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
> ModelName "Dell 1024x768 Laptop Display Panel"
> HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
> VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0
> Option "DPMS"
> EndSection
>
> and in Section "Screen", change the monitor line to read
>
> Monitor "Monitor0"
>
> 3) Save, close gedit, and then restart the X server (crtl, alt,
> backspace). It should work.
>
> 4)If you want to continue to install, double click the Install icon on
> the desktop, and proceed. My experience was that the installation
> adopted the current xorg.conf values.
>
> ====================
> Note 1:
> http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=190022&highlight=inspiron+1100
>
> HTH
> alan c
>
> =====
> [end ubuntu 6.06 note]
> 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>
>
> 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
> [begin Kubuntu note]
> +++
> Re: Dell Inspiron 1100 - Installation Ubuntu (Kubuntu) 6.06 Desktop
>
> --- In linux-dell-laptops at yahoogroups.com, "candtalan" <aeclist at ...>
> wrote:
>  >
>  > hardware detail - 512 MB RAM, bios A32.
>  >
>  > The install of Ububtu 6.06 Desktop is ususlly done by first running
>  > the live CD then choosing the Install icon on the desktop. There was
>  > no problem booting or running the live CD, except that the display
>  > resolution remained fixed at a low value. (Similar problem when
>  > installing a new HD with Dell original OS CDs in fact, which needed
>  > special action to subsequently install video driver)
>
> [snip]
> The main details are included in the messages here under the subject of
> Dell Inspiron 1100 - Installation Ubuntu 6.06 Desktop
> dated Sep 17, 2006
>
> However, I also use Kubuntu and there are slight differences in what
> is needed there, for example a diferent editor is available, and file
> permissions are handled slightly differently.
>
> For Kubuntu 6.06 Desktop:
>
> using a terminal window
> sudo chmod 777 /etc/X11/xorg.conf
>
> (note the upper case X)
> this removes restrictions protecting the file xorg.conf and allows it
> to be edited.
>
> I then edited the file (using kate) as detailed earlier in this thread
> and restarted the xserver display with control-alt-backspace.
>
> As it happens, I wanted something to help with doing this procedure at
> any time I used the Kubuntu 6.06 desktop (live) cd in this machine -
> say, for demonstrations.
>
> So after editing the xorg.conf file I copied it to a usb stick as
> xorg.conf
>
> The edited copy of xorg.conf file resided in the usb stick and could
> be seen as
>
> /media/sda1/xorg.conf
> because the usb stick was automounted as sda1 onto directory /media
>
> I then used kate editor to create a new file containing the two lines
> sudo chmod 777 /etc/X11/xorg.conf
> cp /media/sda1/xorg.conf /etc/X11
>
> and for convenience I saved this also onto the usbstick, say, as
> inspiron1100-fix-kubuntu
>
> Now, after booting with the live cd I can insert the usb stick, and
> copy the two lines of text into a terminal, and press return.
> Then restart the xserver. More convenient than editing the file again etc.
>
>
>
>
> +++
> [end Kubuntu note]
> 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>
>
>
> 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
> [begin knoppix note]
> ============
> This problem troubled me, and I post here hoping the information will
> be useful to other Dell Inspiron 1100 users.
>
> With knoppix 5.0.1 the display is not full size. However with knoppix
> 4.0.2 it fills the screen ok. I believe the Inspiron has something
> unusual with the way its video ram gets reported to the bios or
> something, but it is (was) a major product line. I am not sure it is
> entirely sorted out by the bios going up to A92.
>
> Solution for knoppix 5.0.1:
> I used this boot entry:
> boot: knoppix xmodule=i810
> and it WORKS! :-)
>
> Details:
> ==================================================
> Dell Inspiron 1100 (Bios revision A92)
> Knoppix 5.0.1
> (Note this procedure was not needed for knoppix 4.0.2, which used
> xfree86 not xorg)
>
> (Knoppix forum) original posting:
> Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:58 pm
> Dell Inspiron 1100 - 5.0.1 - display size
> http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24847
>
> and a reply from penguine5 Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:03 am
> with the same problem,
>
> followed by a reply from Harry Kuhman (moderator)
> mentioning the wiki
>
> The knoppix wiki:
> http://www.cwelug.org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?HomePage
> and for this problem, specifically the section:
> Knoppix/BootProcess
> http://www.cwelug.org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?Knoppix/BootProcess#tip4http://www.cwelug\
> .org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?Knoppix/BootProcess#tip4
> [Testing various xmodule= cheatcodes quickly]
>
> Particular useful extract:
> When Knoppix finish booting, change to VC 1
> with Ctrl-Alt-F1 and enter runlevel 3 with 'init 3'.
> To see what driver Knoppix used, type:
> grep -i driver /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
>
> When I gave this a try, the response I saw with my Dell Inspiron 1100
> (bios revision A29) was:
> i810
> (which seems to be the driver I needed knoppix to run).
> So I took the hint from a wiki entry:
> 'Once you find one that works better than what Knoppix guessed, you
> can use it at the boot prompt like so:
> boot: knoppix xmodule=fbdev'
>
> In my case the driver was i810, not fbdev
> ==================================================
>
> ============
> [end knoppix note]
> 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>
>
>
> hth
> --
> alan cocks
> Kubuntu user#10391
>


-- 
Tom Misilo
AIM:Tmisilo FL
Jabber:tmisilo at jabber.org
http://tmisilo.ath.cx