Can I downgrade X?

[Jim Cornette]

Timothy Murphy wrote:
> Jim Cornette wrote:
> 
> 
>>>Xorg does not work properly on my Sony Picturebook C1VFK.
>>>XFree86 did work properly under FC-1.
>>>Is there any way of downgrading to the older version of XFree86?
> 
> 
>>What video card does this Sony model use? Is the below correct?
>>
>>Processor type        Transmeta Crusoe TM5600
>>
>>Processor speed       667 MHz
>>
>>RAM installed         128 MB
>>
>>Dimensions (WxDxH)    24.8 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm
>>
>>System weight         1 kg
>>
>>Travel weight (with AC adapter and external peripherals)      1.25 kg
>>
>>Display size  8.95 in.
>>
>>Graphics chipset      ATi 3D Rage Mobility-M1
> 
> 
> Dear Jim,
> 
> Thanks very much for your useful info.
> The details above are correct,
> except that the graphics chipset seems to be
> ATI Rage Mobility P/M .
> I've never understood what this P/M means ,
> as it never seems to be given on lists of ATI cards.
> 
> What is slightly frustrating is that no error is reported
> if one sets Default Depth to 16 (or 15) -
> X appears to be running, but the screen is completely blank.
> 
> Incidentally, there is - or was - quite an active 
> Picturebook + Linux community,
> though activity is gradually dying out
> as the machines or their users perish.
> But no-one as far as I know has ever succeeded
> in getting Xorg running properly at more than 8bpp.
> (I have an 800x375x16bpp setting,
> but it is unsatisfactory in various ways.
> Under FC-1 X ran at 1024x480x16bpp perfectly.)
> 
> I guess the other question I would have - 
> apart from downgrading the whole X system -
> is whether it would be possible to downgrade just the ATI server?
> I tried running the old server with Xorg
> but this threw up lots of errors.
> 
> I've never looked into the source of X -
> although I am fairly proficient at coding -
> because of its apparent size and complexity.
> 
> I've wondered whether it is possible
> to find exactly what bytes are being sent to the screen
> by running X in some debug mode?
> If that were possible I could compare the output
> of Xorg and the previous XFree86.
> 
> As ever, any suggestions or advice -
> eg pointers to any relevant documentation -
> gratefully received,
> 

/usr/X11R6/lib/Server/drivers/ati contains some headers and source code 
for the ati driver.

I only know that because of having trouble with the cvs version killing 
the intel 815 card.

I looked at the debug rpms on one of the mirrors and saw nothing related 
to xorg-x11.

I haven't coded for years and then only simple "hello world" arena 
programs. I couldn't advise you on coding much.

Running the query file option for rpm shows that xorg-x11-sdk is 
responsible for that directory.

rpm -qf /usr/X11R6/lib/Server/drivers/ati
xorg-x11-sdk-6.7.0-6


This is probably the extent of what I feel can help you out. You might 
have luck with the CVS version of X that is available in the development 
directories on the mirrors.

Good luck,

Jim