On Thu, 11 Apr 2002, village idiot wrote:

> Do I actually need to know the hardware
> specifications?

No, but it helps.

> I have no idea about what kind of graphic card that
> sits in the pc, other then that it is 16MB of size. I
> opened up the cabinet, and took out the graphic card
> to have a looksie. All stated on it was 3dfx, so I
> suspect it is a Voodoo 2000 card of some kind.

Any identification numbers?

Anyways, this card is supported. You can probably find example XF86Config
files via google.

Also, try using XF86Setup (available via pkg collection).

(Have you tried xf86config?)

And the XFree 4.x series (I think) can auto-detect this. (I don't use 4.x
series -- can anyone comment on how the auto-detecion works?)

> I get the startx to fire up the windowmanager, but it
> has a Forrest Gump kind of look. Large fonts, looks
> like windows safe mode, only a little worse.

Probably, your default resolution is 8-bit color and 640x480 screen size.
And maybe you are using the XF86_Mono or XF86_VGA16 server.

For example, my X is linked to /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_SVGA and in my
/etc/XF86Config I have
DefaultColorDepth 24
in my Section "Screen" for SVGA driver. And my first mode for Modes is
"1024x768".

> I have no specifications for my monitor either, but
> that I guess is easier to get hold of, since I know
> that model. I have tried mocking a little around with
> the vertical sync rates and stuff like that, but to no
> avail so far.

Maybe your monitor has some identification numbers on the back or side
that you can use google and altavista to find your monitor. (Then search
for "vertical" and "horizontal" too.)


I often use X without knowing the graphics card or monitor (by using my
live NetBSD CD). I use a XF86Config that has several generic modes (VESA,
IBM standards and others).

> Any ideas? Do I need to chuck out the graphic card and
> get one with documentations?

Try using XF86Setup.

> Why is this stuff easier on Linux, should be some kind
> of autodetect here...

I think XF86 4.x can do this.

   Jeremy C. Reed
   http://www.reedmedia.net/