Hello folks-

Well, by hook or crook, I got it running. It's quite fast. Nice!

With only one annoying problem remaining: when exiting Arachne, 
the text console does not restore properly - every other character 
(literally, not figuratively) is masked by some assemblage of pixels 
resembling a chinese ideograph. With a lot of imagination, I can make 
out the text, long enough to shut down and reboot.

For the record (and newbies and newbie-pluses), the critical 
part is in the interplay between the /root/.arachne/arachne.conf file
and the /etc/vga/libvga.config file. At the end of the former, under
the "[auto-added] heading, it says GraphicsMode HI16.J (=800x600). In
an obscure file (/opt/arachne164b/doc/arachne/CHANGES under Improvements) 
it is also indicated that HI16.I (=600x480) and HI16.K (= ??) are valid. 
May I suggest that all the options and their definitions be shown in the 
config file?

This keyword in the arachne.conf file must agree with the capabilities 
of your monitor and video card, and as defined in the libvga.config file 
(about in the middle of the file under "monitor:") the HorizSync range 
should agree with its capabilities. The VertRefresh range is quite wide. 

BUT, in autoselecting the video card, something apparently went awry.
It produced the blank screen I complained about in a previous post.
Towards the bottom of the config file, the chipset can be force-set 
by uncommenting the appropriate line. However, although I know I have 
a TVGA card, that setting produced the same result. The VESA setting 
worked, but with the lack of console text resetting mentioned above. 
The two settings to prevent this (last items in the config file) did 
not help, as of today. I will fiddle around some more.

I have not yet transferred the "modelines" Michael mentioned. Will 
report back. 

Klaus Hameyer, Burlington, VT (USA)


>>> DOS and Linux (Linux section should include probably also instructions
>>> how to upgrade SVGAlib, how to copy modelines from /etc/X11/XF86Config
>>> to /etc/vga/libvga.config, etc..) ...

>> Yes, yes, please!
>> I have KDE running on X windows so I know my /etc/X11/XF86Config
>> file is ok.
>> So what parts of it need to be transferred to /etc/vga/libvga.config?

>Basicaly "modelines" - copy as many of them, as possible, because
>anyway only those modelines fitting your actual monitor type and
>resolution requested by Arachne will be used.

>Then you have to set horizontal sync frequency and vertical refresh rate 
>range into the bounds defined in XF86Config. It is quite simple -
>in XF86config, there can be multiple monitors, devices, and whatever,
>while in libvga.config, there is only one global set of parameters, 
>so only one monitor can be configured at one time.


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