antiX-19 Live CD does not boot to graphics screen on Thinkpad 600E

[Member brmdamon]

I am trying to install AntiX-19 on an IBM Thinkpad 600E, type 2425, with 288 MB RAM and a Pentium II processor, 366 MHz.

If I boot from an AntiX-17 Live CD made from antiX-17.4.1_386-base.iso then the Thinkpad boots into a graphic desktop with menus and icons.

But booting from an AntiX-19 Live CD made from antiX-19.2.1_386-base.iso it does not show the graphic desktop. If I key <Alt>F1 to view the boot process, it stops at a text mode login prompt. It appears as if the window manager initialization is failing.

The /var/log/Xorg.0.log files for these two cases look roughly the same up to the messages that start “VESA(0)”. Both version of AntiX log these messages:

[ 135.243] (II) VESA(0): initializing int10
[ 135.248] (II) VESA(0): Primary V_BIOS segment is: 0xc000
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA BIOS detected
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Version 2.0
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Total Mem: 2496 kB
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM: MagicMedia 256AV 48K
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Software Rev: 1.15
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Vendor: NeoMagic
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product: MagicMedia 256AV
[ 135.251] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product Rev: 01.0

After that, they differ.

AntiX17:

[ 135.287] (II) VESA(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
“Screen0” for depth/fbbpp 24/24

Antix19:

[ 151.066] (EE) VESA(0): Specified fbbpp (24) is not a permitted value
[ 151.067] (II) UnloadModule: “vesa”
[ 151.067] (II) UnloadSubModule: “int10”
[ 151.067] (II) Unloading int10
[ 151.067] (II) UnloadSubModule: “vbe”
[ 151.067] (II) Unloading vbe
[ 151.067] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[ 151.067] (EE)
Fatal server error:
[ 151.068] (EE) no screens found(EE)

This looks to me like a bug, but I have no idea how to fix it. Any suggestions?

[Member Xecure]

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Others on old computers have also experienced problems related to the new xorg version that comes with Debian Buster. You could try to boot with the failsafe option and start testing things out from there.
Worst case scenario, you must use antiX 17, which will be supported for another 2 years. You could also try to upgrade from 17 to 19 (many posts on the forum).

It is sometimes a long process to find and fix the problems you encounter. You can start with failsafe option, and continue experimenting or, as said before, go back to antiX 17 and use it or try to upgrade.

antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.

[Forum Admin anticapitalista]

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Did you try the Safe and Failsafe options?

I think the fix might be to somehow change the framebuffer_depth=24

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=263599

Or, it might be that xorg used on antiX-19 is too ‘new’ for that old machine
and you may have to stick with antiX-17 (supported until 2022)

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

[Member brmdamon]

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Thank you for the suggestions.

I tried Safe Video and Failsafe but in both cases the system boots to a CLI. If I knew more about launching X and the desktop I could probably do it manually. Several years ago I had my desktop Debian system set up for multiseat operation and I knew all the details – but have now forgotten!!

Also looked at the http://www.raspberrypi.org forum. It appears to be related to my problem – but the /boot/config.txt does not appear to exist in antiX.

However, in the process of trying to find /boot/config.txt I decided to actually install onto the hard drive from the Live CD. That installation boots into a GUI desktop no problem! So the problem exists only for the Live CD boot, not a hard disk boot.

My original goal was to install to the hard drive so my problem is solved – but it seems to me that the failure of the Live CD to boot to a GUI desktop is a bug.

Thanks again for your help!

[Forum Admin anticapitalista]

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Glad it works installed.

Care to try any of these boot cheats. It will help us. For normal, safe and failsafe. Just type at live boot menu.

load=all

or

nuke=xorg

Thanks

Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

[Member ModdIt]

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You write, 288 MB RAM and a Pentium II processor, That device has a couple of ram slots so you could
max out your memory. If I remember correctly it supports about 640, not a huge amount but helps.

Maybe I have something to fit, if you are not in one of the the crazy postal charges areas or unable to
find on bay or other local source pls ask here and I can go through my vintage parts box.

[Member brmdamon]

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Thanks for the response @ModdIt. I think your numbers are right for the the Thinkpad 600X, which was the successor to the 600E. I have read that the 600E has 32 MB on the main board and sockets to add another 256 MB for a total of 288 MB. Unless there’s some special aftermarket upgrade that I have not heard about. In any case, I have antiX 19.2 running on the 600E now. I installed Abiword – seems to work OK. I had to apt-get remove firefox-esr – some other software launches it to get help etc. and the 600E just stops responding if that happens!!

[Moderator Brian Masinick]

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I wrote a response in another thread about memory constraints. Most full featured web browsers won’t run unless you have a couple of GB of memory these days.

Palemoon might work for simple browsing, but it will use all available memory. Otherwise really light footprint browsers like Dillo and links may be useful for text browsing.

--
Brian Masinick

[Forum Admin rokytnji]

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Learn link2 and Dillo and don’t use google products and you will be fine. When I say googler products. Forget gmail and signing in to google .

First thing I taught myself in links2 was how to make bookmarks.

http://links.twibright.com/user_en.html#subsubch-bookmarks

Internet sites are now java script heavy and YouTube heavy. Things you won’t have to deal with using those browsers.
Old gear requires compromise on your end. I taught myself on how those compromises work on my old gear like my P3 IBM T23.

Forgot to mention. I like LinuxQuestions.org forum because Dillo and Links2 works real good on their site. I can log in and everything. Some sites won’t let you log in using Dillo or Links2. I ignore those sites snafus when that happens and just read as a stranger,

• This reply was modified 2 years, 12 months ago by rokytnji.

Sometimes I drive a crooked road to get my mind straight.
Not all who Wander are Lost.
I'm not outa place. I'm from outer space.

Linux Registered User # 475019
How to Search for AntiX solutions to your problems

[Member ModdIt]

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I had to apt-get remove firefox-esr – some other software launches it to get help etc.

You can stop that by changing the system default browser, there is a moddit post on that somewhere in the
forum. If you are unable to find it I can take a look in my how too list tomorrow.

Sorry my old head is like a bucket with a hole at times, details often slowly leak out after a while..

Palemoon and Netsurf seem to fit my needs best on old computers, I have none newer than about 8 years old,
one I generals use is 13 at least.
Do block as much ads telemetry and tracking as possible, more traffic the less your hardware can cope..

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