Linux Toshiba Satellite 1805-S274 Frame Buffer Micro-Howto

Also note that there are lots of other, better sources for information on the subject. You should be able to find plenty of documentation on getting this sort of thing running.

Anyhow, since you asked (or clicked, or somehow got to this page)...

The very first thing to do is to make sure your emergency boot diskette works correctly....

Then get to a root prompt, and install the XFree86-FBDev package from CD, if you haven't already got it loaded (probably is, actually).

To see if it's installed:

    rpm -q XFree86-FBDev

For more details, 'man rpm'.

Next, configure lilo to tell the kernel what vga mode to use. Note that the vga= mode you select at boot must match the vga mode you tell fbdev to use. (width, height and color depth) I do not yet boot with GRUB so I don't know how to configure it, but I am certain it's possible, and probably easier once you know how. (I suspect that Win XP plays better with GRUB too.)

My web page has a link to the lilo.conf I used: http://www.hartzler.net/satellite/lilo.conf -- note the vga= line. This is explained in the kernel documentation mentioned above. DO NOT replace your lilo.conf file with mine, or your dual boot will be broken, and probably a lot more. Just edit the file to add the vga=... line somewhere in the top section.

Remember to run lilo to update your bootstrap loader. GRUB does not require any such update, if you're using that...

    lilo -v -v

Pay attention to any error messages, and fix these, or you'll be testing your boot diskette next time you reboot!

Next, make a backup copy of /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 and replace it with the first one linked to from my web page, http://www.hartzler.net/satellite/XF86Config-4 -- Note the line

    Driver "fbdev"

Odds are your existing XF86Config-4 is trash, but saving a copy won't hurt.

Double check your work.

You'll need to reboot, in order to activate the kernel vga parameter. When it comes back up it *should* be working. If not, then CAREFULLY check everything, and CAREFULLY study any error messages you find. If it fails to come up properly in graphical mode, then you can try

    startx &> x.log

to create a file called 'x.log' with the error output of the X server's startup attempt. This will probably have useful clues. Also check /var/log/messages, if you don't already know about that.

Note that there are many security and performance updates available for redhat 7.2, and for most linux systems. I STRONGLY urge you to keep your system up to date with the latest vendor patches. This will also help you avoid some annoyances with buggy versions of X, gnome and nautilus that shipped with redhat 7.2.

Also note that you may be able to get snappier video performance by choosing a shallower pixel depth for your VGA mode. Remember to adjust both lilo's vga= parameter and your XF86Config-4 Display 'Depth' setting. A pixel depth of 16 is almost certainly better...