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> > > Xvesa works perfectly in Puppy Linux (X11R7, 2.6 kernel)
> > > Tested for over 30 minutes.
> > >
> > > Xvesa uclibc and glibc23, Xfbdev glibc, X SVGA with correct XF86Config
> > > all freeze up in BL2. Sometimes immediately. DSL Xvesa also freezes 
> > > eventually.  Both kernel 2.4.31.  glibc 2.3
> > > Twice VT1 has also frozen up when I tried to backspace.
> >
> > Attempting to use svgalib also crashes it (in addition to producing a badly 
> > scrambled screen).  svgalib uses vesa for the trident.


> I still don't know why ALSA cannot handle ES1869 and Puppy and DSL cannot 
> detect the two PS/2-type onboard mice.  BL2 had no such problems.

Web research:

Redhat 7 on a Winbook XL does not do sound (they did not mention if OSS or 
ALSA), and the trackpad (eraser-head mouse) conflicts with PCMCIA IRQ 12 
so the user disabled it and plugged in a serial mouse instead.  As did I.

X freeze bugs - involves the GPU (graphical processor) and is due to code 
which was not tested on all hardware, often apparently random, or 
triggered by certain events (such as starting SVGA X server or svgalib). 
Distinct from input bugs, which let the screen continue to update but you 
cannot access it - one time when I got as far as starting to download a 
website I could see the pink stuff go by in the little square at bottom 
right of icewm. The situation can be complicated by having two or more 
types of bugs.  (Such as my problem of Backspace causing a VT to freeze 
but not the whole computer to freeze).

X freeze can often be triggered by switching VTs or desktops.
The code tries to access the wrong register for particular hardware.

Suggestion is to ssh to the computer to test if it is an input bug and see 
if you can kill X using the client's keyboard.  (Via serial, 
parallel, or network cable - see BL archives about using BL as a serial 
terminal.  Telnet also works).

The bug must have been fixed in Puppy, but if it were a bug in the X 
server itself, it should have been fixed in the latest Xvesa which I 
downloaded from xorg precompiled for glibc 2.3.  I wonder how you find/fix 
an input bug triggered by loading X.

A reason to use newer software even on older hardware.
A BL based on recent glibc and kernel and X would be helpful here.

Sindi