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4. Alternate Method - Using XFCom_i810

4.1 Download The Necessary Files

Before you download any of the following files, check whether your distribution has out of the box support for the i810 here. This setup is mean only for those distros which does not have support. It would be worth your while to use a "modern" distribution which supports the i810 than use the XFCom_i810 server. In other words, use this method only as a last resort!

The files are available from http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel810/linuxsoftware.htm

You need to get down 2 files:

  1. XFCom_i810-1.2-3.i386.rpm
  2. I810Gtt-0.2-4.src.rpm

4.2 Compiling and Installing The AGP GART Kernel Module

Install the following packages from the RedHat Linux 6.1 CD if you have not installed it.

  1. rpm -ivh glibc-devel-2.1.2-11.i386.rpm
  2. rpm -ivh egcs-1.1.2-24.i386.rpm
  3. rpm -ivh cpp-1.1.2-24.i386.rpm
  4. rpm -ivh kernel-headers-2.2.12-20.i386.rpm
  5. rpm -ivh make-3.77-6.i386.rpm

NOTE: If you are using a distribution other than RedHat 6.1, find and install the equivalents for the above packages.

To compile and Install the agpgart module, do

# rpm --rebuild I810Gtt-0.2-4.src.rpm

# rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386/i810Gtt-0.2-4.i386.rpm

This will:

  1. Compile and install agpgart.o in your current kernel module directory. On a RHL 6.1 system that would be /lib/modules/<kernel-version>misc/agpgart.o
  2. Create a character device /dev/agpgart with major number 10 and minor number 175
  3. Append the line alias char-major-10-175 agpgart to /etc/conf.modules
  4. Invoke depmod -a to update the module dependencies

Kmod, the kernel module loader will autoload the agpgart module when X starts up.

Alternatively, you can also add the line modprobe agpgart to /etc/rc.d/rc.local which will load the module agpgart.o on boot up every time rather than have Kmod dynamically modprobe it.

NOTE: On a Debian system you need to add it to /etc/modutils/aliases and then run update-modules. This will update /etc/modules.conf with the new entry.

4.3 Installing And Configuring The X server

  1. Install the XFCom_i810 server:

    rpm -ivh XFCom_i810-1.2-3.i386.rpm

  2. Remove the old symlink:

    rm /etc/X11/X

  3. Change the X symbolic link to point to the new X server:

    ln -sf /usr/X11R6/bin/XFCom_i810 /etc/X11/X

  4. Adding The Entry In /etc/X11/XF86Config

    The final step would be to add the "Device" and "Screen" entry in the X Windows configuration file /etc/X11/XF86Config

    I have this in my XF86Config. Modify it to suit your requirements.

    Section "Device"
            Identifier  "i810"
            VideoRam    4096
    EndSection
    
    Section "Screen"
            Driver      "svga"
            Device      "i810"
            Monitor     ""
            DefaultColorDepth   16
            Subsection "Display"
                    Depth       8
                    Modes       "640x480" "800x600" "1024x768" "1152x864" "1280x1024" "1600x1200"
                    ViewPort    0 0
            EndSubSection   
            Subsection "Display"
                    Depth       16
                    Modes       "640x480" "800x600" "1024x768" "1152x864" "1280x1024" "1600x1200"
            ViewPort    0 0
            EndSubSection
            Subsection "Display"
                    Depth       24
                    Modes       "640x480" "800x600" "1024x768" "1152x864" "1280x1024" "1600x1200"
            ViewPort    0 0
            EndSubSection
    EndSubsection
    

  5. Starting X Windows With The New Configuration

    X -probeonly would let you debug any problems at this stage. So try it out.

    X -probeonly

    This should exit cleanly. Problems if any, could be traced back to XF86Config

    And finally...

    startx

"CTRL-ALT-KeyPadPlus" and "CTRL-ALT-KeyPadMinus" will rotate through the resolutions available at the current color depth.

NOTE: RHL 6.1 users should note that this symlink might revert back to /usr/bin/X11R6/bin/XF86_SVGA if you use Xconfigurator.

4.4 Resources

  1. Intel® 810 Chipset Family Linux* Installation Guide
  2. XFree86 FAQ


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