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My Compaq Presario 1230, Hitachi, Gateway and probably other laptops use 
neomagic chips which the Xvesa in BL (and maybe also newer Xvesas) cannot 
handle - you get messy vertical stripes and need to reboot.

I packaged the things you need to switch to using xfbdev (framebuffer X) 
instead in http://keesan.freeshell.org/bl/bl3fbpkg.tgz.  Install the pkg 
with pkg to BL3.

This modifies startx, and adds cursor.pcf.gz and modifies fonts.dir for 
BL3.  DO NOT USE in BL2 (it will mess up your fonts and also not work).
And it puts xfbdev in /usr/X11R6/bin.  (You can then delete Xvesa to save 
space).

Boot with a framebuffer kernel (I posted 2.2.26 bzimfbcd.226, and 2.4.31 
versions - for which you also need 2.4.31 modules) and vga=788 or vga=791 
in lilo or on the loadlin line.  This will also give you nicer looking 
text, especially on laptops with bad looking text or text that does not 
fill the screen.

I also posted a while back a 2-FD BL3 modified to use framebuffer 2.2.26 
kernel and xfbdev instead of Xvesa.

This xfbdev (Xfbdev) uses less memory than SVGA X server and is easier to 
set up.  It may not work with all programs, such as mplayer, with certain 
video cards. It may not work at all with some video cards.  Stick with 
Xvesa if it works.  Xvesa is useless with half of my laptops.  Maybe the 
latest Xvesa can do neomagic?  Xorg posts Xvesa and Xfbdev for libc5.

Sindi Keesan