Differences between revisions 7 and 8
Revision 7 as of 2009-04-23 22:14:04
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Editor: ?dsalt
Comment: vbetool/kernel bug symptoms
Revision 8 as of 2009-05-08 00:00:38
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Editor: ?dsalt
Comment: Note about disabling VBE state saving
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   * Running this will cause X to fail to start up (black screen except for a static cursor at the top left, can't switch vt), and may cause other problems. (This is a kernel bug.)    * Running this will cause X to fail to start up (black screen except for a static cursor at the top left, can't switch vt), and may cause other problems. (This is a kernel bug.) To avoid this, set {{{SAVE_VBE_STATE=false}}} in {{{/etc/default/acpi-support}}}.

KernelModesetting

To enable Kernel Modesetting also known as KMS , you need:

  • a kernel image > 2.6.29 (in Sid since 2009-04-04)

  • supported graphics card

Intel

i915

To enable KMS on i915 hardware, just add the following lines to /etc/initramfs-tools/modules :

# Enable Kernel Modesetting
intel_agp
drm
i915 modeset=1

And regenerate your initramfs:

# update-initramfs -k `uname -r` -u

At the next boot, the kernel should be handling modesetting.

Known bugs

  • pm-utils
  • vbetool
    • Running this will cause X to fail to start up (black screen except for a static cursor at the top left, can't switch vt), and may cause other problems. (This is a kernel bug.) To avoid this, set SAVE_VBE_STATE=false in /etc/default/acpi-support.

  • linux-2.6
    • Do not load any framebuffer drivers other than inteldrmfb (which is provided by i915) if you enable KMS, else you will probably see hard lockups when trying to start X.
    • xserver-xorg-video-intel 2.7.0 doesn't work fine with linux-image 2.6.29-1. You can fetch a fixed kernel from buildserver sid snapshots (see DebianKernel)