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#! rnews 1925 bsd From: pascal@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de (Pascal Gienger) Subject: Old Compaq386/20e and freebsd 2.1.0 - display problems Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Organization: Universitaet Konstanz Summary: Keywords: FreeBSD 2.1.0, Compaq 386/20e, display Lines: 27 X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950515BETA PL0] NNTP-Posting-Host: nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de Message-ID: <3136d990.0@news.uni-konstanz.de> Date: 1 Mar 96 11:03:44 GMT Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!munnari.OZ.AU!spool.mu.edu!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!news.mathworks.com!fu-berlin.de!news.belwue.de!news.uni-konstanz.de!not-for-mail I just tried to install (for fun) FreeBSD 2.1.0 on a very old Compaq 386/20e with 640k + 8192k of RAM. Installation worked somewhat (after 5 or 6 tries to boot kernel from installation floppy) but after Install, booting stops with a system reset after loading the kernel. I tried to built another (on another machine), eliminating all drivers I don't need. With the fixit floppy and my installed partition, I managed to ftp this kernel to my system. I repeated the step for a kernel with "vt0" enabled and "sc0" disabled. Booting the kernel with sc0 again stops with system reset. Booting the kernel with vt0 gives normal system start... But I don't see any character on my screen, but I am able to login remotely... (after adding a user using "adduser" without seeing what I typed in... :-) ). The last line I can see on my screen is "total 0x25ca6a entry point=0x100000". I think the problem is due to the very old Video hardware of this Compaq (onboard). What can be done (besides disabling the onboard video adapter and using a newer video card) ? The onboard video claims to be "compatible with IBM VGA"... Pascal -- Pascal.Gienger Zentrale Rechner Rechenzentrum Universitaet Konstanz @uni-konstanz.de Voice: +49 7531 16074 Fax : +49 7531 20370