debian video driver problems

decdoc

i'm installing debian on a dell sc430 poweredge and i'm having trouble with the video drivers. Its got a XGI Volari z7 integrated video chipset, which drivers aren't included in the xf86config program. I've found drivers on the xgi website here http://www.xgitech.com/sd/sd_download2.asp but there .rpm's, is there any way for me to use them in debian and how would i go about doing it. i've tried using the basic vga drivers but thats not working i just get the following error

AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0


by the way i'm a complete novice to linux so any help would be great

windowlicker

do you have an xserver running at the moment?

you can try to change the .rpm to a .deb with alien
it would be best to do as root "apt-get install alien"

ive never really used it but as far as i know if there are any dependencies it might have trouble.

niallb

Have you already got Debian installed on it?
How'd you get around the SATA problems?
Debian sarge doesn't yet support that system out of the box.
A video driver might be the least of your worries, and do you really
need a windows system on the box anyway?
If it's a binary driver, it won'rt work for you with the debian kernel anyway.

You might get further with a Kanotix install.
You can convert it to debian at a later date without having to go through
the install process again. Kanotix's installer uses a much more up to date kernel.

Nice machine I'd say. What you using it for?

This installer CD might help you get things started with debian.
Instructions and explanations are here.

NiallB

decdoc

niallb wrote:

Have you already got Debian installed on it?
How'd you get around the SATA problems?
Debian sarge doesn't yet support that system out of the box.
A video driver might be the least of your worries, and do you really
need a windows system on the box anyway?
If it's a binary driver, it won'rt work for you with the debian kernel anyway.

I'm using a sata hardware raid card which allowed me to bypass any trouble with the onboard controller

niallb wrote:

You might get further with a Kanotix install.
You can convert it to debian at a later date without having to go through
the install process again. Kanotix's installer uses a much more up to date kernel.

Nice machine I'd say. What you using it for?

This installer CD might help you get things started with debian.
Instructions and explanations are here.

The system is going to be used as a fileserver, so it'll mainly just be running samba, so if i can't get xwindows running it isn't a major problem. Just wanted to see if i could do it, as i'm trying to learn as much as i can about linux

windowlicker wrote:

do you have an xserver running at the moment?

you can try to change the .rpm to a .deb with alien
it would be best to do as root "apt-get install alien"

ive never really used it but as far as i know if there are any dependencies it might have trouble.

no, when i use the startx command i get the AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0

I've been able to convert the .rpm driver to a .deb and i've used dpkg packet managerto install the driver, and it seems to install alright, but I'm not really sure were to go from there as the card still isn't available in xf86config

niallb

decdoc wrote:

The system is going to be used as a fileserver, so it'll mainly just be running samba, so if i can't get xwindows running it isn't a major problem. Just wanted to see if i could do it, as i'm trying to learn as much as i can about linux

On the bright side, you'll learn much more about linux without xwindows running :-)

You should be able to get an adequate display up though using the 'fb' driver.
Look up framebuffer for more information.
If you get a penguin on the screen when you boot up, the framebuffer driver will work for you.

NiallB