[PLUG] debian on dell inspiron 1100

[Colin Kuskie]

On Mon, Jan 31, 2005 at 06:44:32PM -0800, Mel Andres wrote:
> Yesterday I attempted to get debian installed on the laptop. So, 
> re-partitioned, et al then started the sarge net inst. I got a base OS 
> installed without too many issues. As I have been on an RPM based 
> system, the apt-get method is new to me, but I kept getting packages as 
> I went along when the system indicated they were needed. My final hurdle 
> (well maybe not, I don't know what I don't know yet.) is getting X to 
> start. When I issue the startx command, the screen goes blank for a bit 
> then displays a "no screens found" message complaining that there are no 
> Video BIOS modes for chosen depth. Looking in /var/log/XFree86.0.log, I 
> can see that the Intel 82845GM is detected during the PCI scan, detects 
> 12288kb vidioram which it attempts to tell the BIOS about. Then, where 
> the I810 driver checks for attached monitors, TV's and such, the LFP 
> line has FALSE for attached and present. Just a little below that, the 
> I810 reports Currently active displays on Pipe A, an LFP but complains 
> of no display size information. I don't know where to go from here. Any 
> pointers, hand-holding, hints greatly appreciated.

I can't speak to Debian, but Fedora Core works right out of the box
on my Inspiron 1100.  If worse came to worse, you could install Fedora,
copy the X config file, then reinstall debian and use that config instead.

Colin