The GUI(s) works (in 480 x 600) but seems slow, in light of the possibility that Linux would use the machine resources more efficiently. Seems a little slower than w98.
The install routines still have a ways to go before they are easy enough for the total rube user. Too many contingencies are not anticipated in the program or documentation.
So progress is glacial. I least I have it installed and working on a rudimentary level.
mbs ----------------
Hey, Max, (caution, extreme computer babble follows, hit delete now)
Problems with the GUI depend on the graphic server or 'engine' you use. These are different and separate from Linux proper, which is the OS. The GUI or (X server) I use is called XFree86, and the main file that controls the display and card is XF86Config which is in the /etc directory. Type 'whereis xf86config' to find it. If you have something like this, print it out and look at it. On the web look for Kenton Lee's X-window pages. See:
[http://www.rahul.net/kenton/xsites.html] and more specific:
>From Kenton's, look for the particular desktop (different than the X
server) you have: Motif, CDE, KDE, Gnome, or whatever and follow those
for desktop questions. If you use the GUI server Xfree86 (which I
think you probably do), go to the XFree86 site and see the FAQ,
'Configuration Questions'. There should also be a lot of card and
monitor data and links there to locate info on your equipment. For
more general Linux info see this list:
[http://www.mindspring.com/~nunez/info/linux/Linux.html]
For configuring XFree86 on Linux see:
[http://metalab.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/XFree86-HOWTO-4.html#ss4.1]
The key to changing resolutions is figuring out what is on your display card and getting the vertical and horizontal sync ranges set correctly for the monitor---assuming you have a multi-sync monitor. The monitor specs will be in the documentation you got with the monitor and threw away (they might also be on the back or under the monitor on a label). They might also be available off the web from the manufacturer (or follow the monitor database links from one of the sites above.)
The other issue is figuring out the clock rates on the display card--the card produces a signal that oscillates at different frequencies to time the gun (inside the crt) scan rate, which in turn appears to shrink or expand the image--display bigger or small print for example. There is a handbook on setting up X-windows at the FreeBSD site:
[http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/index.html]
see the X-window system, section. More later, I have to go to work.
[BTW, I sent this in a hurry this morning and reversed the 'panix.lists' part of LBO's address. Below is a continuation from this evening.]
There are two files you should locate on your system. I have to assume that the Linux directories and files are laid out in a somewhat similar way to FreeBSD. Do a search for 'XF86Config.98' which is the default master copy of the specific XF86Config file in /etc. Open and print out the file and read it. There should also be XFSetup.doc which is the manual. You will be able to see which sections control the monitor and display card, the path to fonts, colors, keyboards, mouse settings, and so on. There should also be a program called Xvidtune. This is used as a graphical interface to the XF86Config file/program. Remember changing the setting in this file, is the same as changing the program (the file is a script that is run by the program which uses it as input to change the parameters of its own output to the devices--if that makes any sense.)
When you find Xvidtune, change to super user or 'root', or 'su', open and run the program, looking at the settings. Xvidtune is in the /usr/X11R6/bin directory. In X-windows, open an xterm (X-terminal) window, do cd '/usr/X11R6/bin'. When you find Xvidtune, in the xterm, type 'exec xvidtune' (Borne shell). What should happen is, when you start the program, a window appears on the desktop with a screen and labels. Meanwhile, in the xterm window, there will be something like this:
Vendor: Unknown, Model: Unknown Num hsync: 1, Num vsync: 1 hsync range 0: 31.50 - 79.50 vsync range 0: 60.00 - 75.00
These are of course my settings. In the xvidtune screen will be HsyncStart: 1312, and HsyncEnd: 1456, VSyncStart: 1027, VSyncEnd: 1030. These are the settings for the monitor and they roughtly correspond to a resolution of 1280 x 1024, which is what I am using at the moment. I have a ViewSonic 17PS multisync high resolution monitor, but I never filled in the Vendor and Model numbers.
Xvidtune allows you to change (fine tune) these settings dynamically. If you pick wrong, the screen will either go blank or compress into a band, or go squiwiggly. After you change something, put the mouse on the label 'Apply', but before you click, memorize where the label 'Restore' is--it's two labels over from 'Apply'.
If you fuck up the settings, you can move the mouse over two labels or buttons and click restore, without being able to see it. That way the screen will restore--otherwise, you have to just turn the computer off and re-boot (dangerous), or if the keyboard still works, change to a new user screen by hitting, 'ctrl, alt, F2' or some next 'F' key, login as root, and kill 'root' on the other screen. To do this, you type 'top' to see the processes, locate the root user's process (XF86_S3, or XF86_SVGA), PID xxx, and type 'kill -9 xxx'. You might have to kill it several times because your command, and the process have to be synchronized so the kill signal is received at the right time by the process, otherwise it fails. (I hope this is making sense.)
Find the buttons labeled, 'Fetch', 'Show' and click them. You should see in the xterm window:
"1280x1024" 135.00 1280 1312 1456 1712 1024 1027 1030 1064
Again these are my current settings. Now, I just Quit xvidtune, hit the "ctrl, alt, +" keys together and changed the resolution up one notch, opened xvidtune again and these are the settings now:
"1600x1200" 162.00 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250
Okay once more. This time I hit "ctrl, alt, -" twice to change to a lower resolution.
"1152x864" 92.00 1152 1208 1368 1474 864 865 875 895
If you look at the Xvidtune screen you will see a box called Pixel Clock (MHz): 92.00. In order to change resolutions, you have to have a display card with multiple oscillators or a tunable oscillator that can change its timing signal rate. These numbers, 135.00, 162.00, and 92.00 are those oscillating frequencies, also called modes or RAMDAC or dot clock rates. The higher the number, the higher the resolution you can 'drive' the monitor. SVGA is in the neighborhood of 1024 x 870. Remember the video card, the monitor, and the software driver all have to be capable of changing in order to have a selection of resolutions. Here are the numbers for the throw away 486DX with a VGA card card and really crappy monitor:
Vendor: Unknown, Model: Unknown Num hsync: 1, Num vsync: 1 hsync range 0: 31.50 - 31.50 vsync range 0: 60.00 - 60.00 "640x480" 25.17 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525
This is a very course resolution in mono with no change in resolution possible.. Changing the Xserver to Mono, speeds it up so that the screen changes as fast as a much faster and better card and monitor. As a matter of fact, it works just as fast as the fancy monitor and card above. Since most of the desktop applets use a font size and widget set for higher resolutions that run off the screen at 640x480, what I did was reduce the fonts sizes to 6x12, and window dimensions to 60x20 in the default xterm, so that now everything is proportional--doesn't look like Fred Flintstone software.
When you find the XF86Config file you will see the above resolutions listed as 'mode lines'. After reading the documentation from one of the above sites, you can re-write this file to correspond to exactly what your monitor and card will do, and what you want to do with it.
II.
Now, I have to admit that it took me a year and half of screwing around with FreeBSD and X-windows to figure out most of this and be able to use it to put together a home network from junk. The real problem with this software isn't the software, but my own ignorance, and lack of background. The learning curve is asymptotic. And the aesthetics are purely technical, do-it-yourself style. I couldn't have upgraded or installed a system in less than a week a year ago, and when I first started it took three months to get it up and running with everything working right. Last week, like I said, it took twenty-five minutes. So, progress is also asymptotic. On the other hand, my current problem is to learn how to set up the cdrom drive on the main box, so that the networked 486, can access and upgrade off the cd drive on the main box. .
All of the above illustrates Bill Gate's secret: nobody wants to learn about their computer. They want to use it and forget it. So Bill supplies a rather crude consumer-shopper level software. It looks nice, mostly works okay, but if it breaks or doesn't do what you want, you can't fix it and nothing is backwards compatible, and of course you have to pay and pay and pay. The reason the 486 was thrown away was because none of the current commercial software will run on it. I can't run Netscape on it, so I use either Lynx or Xemacs for web browsing. Otherwise it works fine on the command line, and with a mono Xserver it works about as fast as this one (which is no great machine either--a Pentium 133MHz--ready for the throw away bin too.)
Anyway, keep at it. It is hard to explain exactly why it is worth the effort, but it is. You end up completely free of the commercial bullshit of course. But there is something of a cultural and political aspect which I can't quite put my finger on. It isn't just the idea of boycotting Msuck. It has distinct positive features but they are hard to name.
Chuck Grimes