Random Video Card Issue and lock-up (SOLVED)

[pb100]

Newbie needs help!

Installed latest version.  2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs

System works for 30-90 seconds then screens shows various colors and box freezes. Re-boot and same thing happens.

First thing on screen after choosing PCLOS 2012 is

"cannot open file delete"  then

fb: conflicting FB HW usage
nouveaufb vs vesa vga - removing generic driver

please give me detailed instructions if you ask for logs etc.

Thanks!

[Linuzoid]

What is your video card? Since it says nouvea, I assume it's some type of Nvidia? Did you just install the latest version of PCLOS or updated an older version? This info might help diagnose your problem.

[pb100]

I installed the latest version as of June 1 2012 and have updated through Synaptic.

Not sure about the video card, I believe it is Nvidia...

[pb100]

UPDATE:  deleted xorg.conf and re-booted.  Seems to be working much better. Has not frozen yet...

System is now operating without a xorg.conf file!

[T6]

to know what video card you have there you can run the command lspci in konsole

[pb100]

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation NV6 [Vanta/Vanta LT] (rev 15)

[T6]

that is a nvidia vanta or riva tnt2, really old video card, 14 years old

not sure what driver supports it

[pb100]

How about nvidia_71xx or nvidia_96xx  ?

How can I tell what driver is currently in use?

[JohnW_57]

How about nvidia_71xx or nvidia_96xx  ?

How can I tell what driver is currently in use?

http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/35626
There is no nvidia 71xx driver in repositories!
Guess the the nouveau driver could be working?

Didn't see any report on this forum if it' s working for a nvidia vanta gpu card.

JohnW

[Linuzoid]

Here is a link to what driver supports what:

http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/302.17/README/supportedchips.html

According to it the 71.86.xx driver is the one you want. JohnW_57 says it's not in the repos.

You can try setting up your card now through the PCLOS Control Center. Menu>More Applications>Configuration>Configure Your Computer. This will make a new xorg file for you. No guarantee it will work though.

[T6]

what is the rest of the specs of that machine, mainboard, cpu, ram?

if it is not that old, a video card upgrade could be useful here

14 years are alot for a video card

[pb100]

How can I get a printout of the specs of this machine?

[Linuzoid]

There is a handy program in the repos called systeminfo. Open synaptic, click on search and type in systeminfo, click the search button, and install the program.

[pb100]

OK, here it is:

id:   localhost.localdomain
description:    Desktop Computer
product:    MS-6380
vendor:    MSI
version:    2.0
serial:    00000000
width:    32 bits
capabilities:    smbios-2.3 dmi-2.3 smp-1.4 smp
configuration:   
chassis   =   desktop
cpus   =   1

id:   core
description:    Motherboard
product:    MS-6380
vendor:    MSI
physical id: 0
version:    2.0
serial:    00000000
id:   
firmware
description:    BIOS
vendor:    American Megatrends Inc.
physical id:    0
version:    07.00T
date:    08/17/2001
size:    64KiB
capacity:    192KiB
capabilities:    isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing escd cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int17printer int10video acpi usb agp ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification

id:   cpu
description:    CPU
product:    AMD Athlon(tm) Processor
vendor:    Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
physical id:    4
bus info:    cpu@0
version:    6.4.4
slot:    Socket-A
size:    1400MHz
capacity:    3GHz
width:    32 bits
clock:    133MHz
capabilities:    boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr syscall mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow up

id:   cache:0
description:    L1 cache
physical id:    5
slot:    Internal Cache
size:    128KiB
capacity:    1MiB
capabilities:    synchronous internal write-back unified
id:   cache:1
description:    L2 cache
physical id:    6
slot:    Internal Cache
size:    256KiB
capacity:    1MiB
capabilities:    synchronous internal write-back unified
id:   memory
description:    System memory
physical id:    1
size:    501MiB

id:   pci
description:    Host bridge
product:    VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333]
vendor:    VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id:    100
bus info:    pci@0000:00:00.0
version:    00
width:    32 bits
clock:    33MHz
configuration:   
driver   =   agpgart-via
resources:   
irq   :   0
memory   :   e0000000-e3ffffff

id:   pci
description:    PCI bridge
product:    VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP]
vendor:    VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id:    1
bus info:    pci@0000:00:01.0
version:    00
width:    32 bits
clock:    66MHz
capabilities:    pci pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
resources:   
memory   :   dde00000-dfefffff
memory   :   d9c00000-ddcfffff

id:   display
description:    VGA compatible controller
product:    NV6 [Vanta/Vanta LT]
vendor:    NVIDIA Corporation
physical id:    0
bus info:    pci@0000:01:00.0
version:    15
width:    32 bits
clock:    66MHz
capabilities:    pm agp agp-2.0 vga_controller bus_master cap_list
configuration:   
latency   =   64
maxlatency   =   1
mingnt   =   5
resources:   
memory   :   de000000-deffffff
memory   :   da000000-dbffffff
memory   :   dfee0000-dfeeffff

[T6]

so your board is a msi kt3 ultra MS-6380 socket A using DDR 266, a athlon xp at 1400mhz and a nvidia vanta/tnt2

that mainboard, does it have a fan in the chipset?

the mainboard is 10 or 11 years old, is that old the psu?  have you changed it?

if the mainboard is in good shape, i could be good if you can find a newer video card, in this case we recommend a nvidia 6200 that should be compatible with that mainboard

is good hardware but really old, not sure what to say here