by I just bought a laptop (Compaq Presario 1800) and started installing
Linux on it.
When I got to the X setup, I tried to use sax, which Linux (Suse 6.3)
recommended (but it also offered x86config and X86Setup).
At that point, the screen started getting weird streaks across it,
and slowly the screen started going white, and after a while, the
corners started getting dark.
Having read somewhere that incorrectly setting up the display can
permanently destroy your screen, I quickly pulled out the power
plug (Ctrl+Alt+Delete did not work, nor did switching to another
virtual terminal). Luckily the battery was not in...
Now, I nervously turned the computer back on, and the display
seems to be fine.
I was able to use X86Setup to get the X server set up (because
presumably it does no do the "probing" that sax is attempting
which is causing my display to go white). I'm not completely
satisfied though because I haven't gotten the display into 24
bit mode, which I know how to do in sax but not in X86Setup.
I'm having the same problem with the APM. If I hit the power
button while in console mode, it works just great - it goes into
hibernation mode. However, if I press the same key while running
X, the screen goes white and starts to "fry" again.
So my questions are:
1) Can I damage my screen that way?
2) If so, what's the right way to get my X config set up correctly
to use 24 bits? Since the system uses the ATI Mobility chip,
I've set it up to use the ATI Mach 64 driver. But there are lots
of variants of that chip - does anyone know if I can choose
a particular one (for example, I believe the chip has 3D
acceleration).
3) How can I fix the APM behavior under X? I believe I have the
right X setup (since it works fine, although in 8bit mode) but
it goes into another mode when it tries to shutdown.
4) If I can not fix APM, and if the screen whiting _does_ damage
my hardware, is there something I need to do to ensure that
it doesn't happen say as part of a screensaver? I would have
to leave my system unattended for 30 minutes and come back and
find that my screen has been destroyed. Is there an init file
or something I need to disable APM from?
Thanks a lot in advance for your help,
Tor Norbye