Baslinux mailing list

[Ron Clarke <ariadne AT acepia.net.au>]

Hi Sindi

On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 18:23:45 -0500 (EST)
Sindi Keesan <keesan AT iamjlamb.com> wrote:
> Opera was easy, once I followed Steven's instructions instead of using 
> installpkg.  tar -zxvf opera.tgz (the full file name) and then run the 
> doinstall.sh script (I forget how - sh doinstall.sh?).  Opera will work 
> with even the 2-color mono server but with that one you get no images at 
> all.

   I have opera in and working.    :)  
Also Netscape.

> >     And I will try to get the ICEWM to stretch to more than 16 colours 

> What video chip is on this card?  

   S3 ViRGE

> Did you install xsvga.tgz?  

    Yep.

> With that one I can only get 8-bit color (256 colors).  With xvga16 only 
> 16 colors.  That is the default unless you install xsvga or another 
> Xserver and also run xf86config (or setup from another package) and choose 
> your modes correctly.  Did you do both of these?

    Yep, did that too.
 
> I can change the color depth with startx for my S3 card with XS3.tgz 
> installed.  I did not see anything called "defaultcolordepth".  The 
> default is 8-bit 256 colors.

   I haven't installed xs3.tgz on this machine yet, and it looks like I 
probably don't need to.

> 
> startx -- -bpp24 should give 24-bit color if things are working right. 

  That was the hint (and a short dose of RTFM) that I needed.
All is now as I wanted it 800x600 and 245 colours. No more colour switches as 
I
wave the mouse over different application windows.

 
> What exactly did you do other than install BL2-X.tgz to get to your X 
> screen with too few colors?

   Just a plain vanilla install as per Steven's instructions. I was coming at
this machine from another that had a monitor that wouldn't do 800x600 anyway.


> >      I know it is a steep learning curve, but this one needs cramp-ons 
> > and a
> > rope!
> 
> And a few helpful people pulling from the top.

  You got that right.   :)

Regards,
         Ron