Spencer wrote:
> On Tuesday 12 October 2004 07:09, Holly Bostick wrote:
>
>>Spencer wrote:
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>In the Genntoo Linux/x86 Handbook there's a section
>>>on compiling the kernel with menuconfig that has one
>>>selecting the subtopic "Processor type and feature"
>>>to configure the type of proccessor one has.I have a
>>>AMD K7 Processor on board, but there is no selection
>>>on the menu for any processors.What to do?
>>>The reason I'm doing another install is because I
>>>tried to bring up the x server and was unable to, do
>>>to the fact that my chipset wasn't recognize.I did a
>>>"less /proc/pci" and found this info-
>>>bus 1 device 0 function
>>>VGA compatible controller PCI devices 1106/7205
>>>I've been told that I have to set CONFIG_PCI=y.
>>>Where in the menuconfig will I find this value?
>>>TIA
>>>Wayne
>>
>>First of all, you're asking about at least two different issues.
>>
<snip>
>>Once you're finished with that section, you would want to back up one
>>level (to the main "Device Drivers" level), and choose the "Character
>>Devices" section. There, you would want to compile support for your
>>motherboard's chipset as well.
>
>
> I could not find a Device Drive category in the menu. I'm installing from
> the LiveCD which is linux-2.4.26-gentoo-r6.
It does not matter as far as this issue goes (though it's useful to know
for other reasons); every kernel has a "Device Drivers" category, to the
best of my knowledge. They kind of have to, so that you can compile the
drivers for your installed hardware.
The main menu categories when you first open make menuconfig (on my
system, which admittedly uses a 2.6-series kernel, but I truly don't
think it's relevant) are:
Code maturity level options --->
General setup --->
Loadable module support --->
Processor type and features --->
Power management options (ACPI, APM) --->
Bus options (PCI, PCMCIA, EISA, MCA, ISA) --->
Executable file formats --->
Device Drivers --->
File systems --->
Profiling support --->
Kernel hacking --->
Security options --->
Cryptographic options --->
Library routines --->
<snip>
>>I don't know what kind of video card is in use, but if it is listed
>>(keeping in mind that the "radeon" driver provided by the kernel does
>>not work for ATI cards above the 9200), select it.
>
>
> I thought that the info above gave the kind of video I have.
> The motherboard integrates VIA KM266Pro Northridge and
> VT8235 Southbridge chipsets that support one 4X AGP slot.
> Is this the info needed?
No, that's your motherboard chipsets, which is useful, but not
necessarily relevant if your motherboard does not have integrated video.
Do you have a separate AGP card in the AGP slot? Most people have a
separate video card, and if you do, I was asking what is its make and
model number, such as
ATI Radeon 9600
nVidia GeForce FX 5200
Matrox G550
etc.
Many motherboard chipsets have an option to integrate a video chip, but
any individual motherboard may not have made use of the option.
What is the make and model of your motherboard?
The information that the X server does not know is: what video card is
it supposed to be using to display the visuals that it is supposed to
display?
In order to do its job, the X server needs to know what hardware it is
intended to use, must have drivers that allow it to communicate with
that hardware, and must be told where to find both of those components
(in the configuration file).
In order to know what hardware it is intended to use, the kernel has to
know what hardware exists, and in order for the drivers for that
hardware to be used, the kernel has to load them.
In order for the kernel to know what hardware exists, so that it can
load the correct drivers, the kernel has to either ask the motherboard's
BIOS (which has already detected all the hardware connected to it), or
ask the hardware directly as to its ID (like knocking on a door and
seeing if anyone answers, and if so asking their name), or both.
The only problem is that different motherboard chipsets "answer" in
different ways, and the kernel has to be configured to understand them.
This is why you compile specific support for your motherboard's chipset
into the kernel, so that communication between them is clear. Further,
you have to configure support for each of the various 'busses' that
exist on a motherboard; the IDE bus, which allows communication between
the kernel and the aspect of the motherboard which controls the hard
drive connections, the PCI bus, which is where most of your cards are
plugged in, and the AGP slot, which is a variation on the PCI slot that
is different enough that it needs a separate communication style.
This is where 'CONFIG_PCI' comes in. If it is not set, the kernel will
know that something is connected in the PCI slots, but won't be able to
find out what, precisely-- kind of like standing outside somebody's
house and knowing somebody is home because you hear them moving around
inside, but being unable to tell who it is, because they won't open the
door. Integrated motherboard components are usually considered PCI
devices, so this holds true for them as well.
There are also kernel configuration options that allow it to communicate
with the IDE channels and AGP slots of specific motherboard chipsets.
If you have a separate video chip plugged into the AGP slot, you may
need to enable support for the motherboard's AGP slot in order for your
video card to be fully recognized.
You also need to determine what drivers your video card needs, and make
them available to be loaded by the kernel. Drivers for many video
chipsets are already in the kernel, but if your particular video chipset
has kernel drivers, they may need to be enabled (as modules, or directly
compiled) if they are not.
Some current video cards do not have kernel drivers (because the drivers
are closed-source); specifically current ATI cards (and possibly nVidia
cards, but not having an nVidia card, I don't know much about the
difference between the 'nv' kernel drivers and the proprietary 'nvidia'
drivers). These cards can be run without 3D hardware acceleration using
'generic' drivers (vesa), but if you want to run any OpenGL apps, you
would have to install the proprietary drivers available from the
manufacturer. These "special" drivers are available packaged for Gentoo,
and instructions for installing them are in the Handbook.
Once the kernel knows what hardware to load drivers for, has the drivers
to load for that hardware, and has in fact loaded the drivers (which can
be done manually, automatically, or semi-automatically), you then need
to tell the X server that it should use the specific piece of hardware
detected, and the specific drivers loaded.
This would be under the heading of 'configuring X', which you can do by
manually editing the configuration file, or by using the utility to
configure the X server program (xf86config or xorgconfig, depending on
which X server program you have installed).
Hope this helps you understand what's going on, what information you
need to provide for more specific help, and perhaps how further to proceed.
Holly
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