SiS 771/671 Mirage 3 Video Drivers

[jcglt]

I got the 1280*800 driver there :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983756/sis671_10.x.tar.gz

It works nicely (you find a .txt file which explains quite well what must be done) BUT I don't have any tty nor recovery mode startup.

[codegateway]

I got the 1280*800 driver there :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983756/sis671_10.x.tar.gz

It works nicely (you find a .txt file which explains quite well what must be done) BUT I don't have any tty nor recovery mode startup.

I think it would help you the last part of mhgsys tutorial:
>sudo bash
(your password)
>echo blacklist vga16fb > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-vga16fb.conf
>update-initramfs -u
>reboot
It worked for me

By the way, the diferent drivers provided here/elsewhere didn't work for me, so in despair I tried the default vga driver provided in Lucid's distro, and that worked fine (my SiS m672 got in 1280x768 after I added HorizSync and VertRefresh on xorg.conf - I generated it from xorg.conf.failsafe config file)
The steps (every line begining with > are command lines typed in a console):
>sudo bash
(password)
>cd /etc/X11
>cp xorg.conf.failsafe xorg.conf
>gedit xorg.conf
*The section:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection
*Should be edited to:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
HorizSync 28-72
VertRefresh 43-60
EndSection

>service kdm restart
At this point my resolution is 1280x768 on Kubuntu Lucid Lynx (it should be: >service gdm restart for Ubuntu Lucid Lynx)

Then i needed to fix the TTY problem:
>sudo bash
(my password)
>echo blacklist vga16fb > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-vga16fb.conf
>update-initramfs -u
>reboot
At this point my resolution is 1280x768 and TTY working ok

Really thanks a lot to the experts around here

[jcglt]

AT codegateway,
Thanks for your help. I did it BUT I am still in the situation of a blind terminal in tty and recovery mode start. The terminal seems to work as I can BLINDLY type in commands and they work but this is not very satisfactory !
I revert to my former setting with a much nicer graphic screen in 1280*800 and garbled tty terminals and I'll try to find a better answer to my problem, this SIS671 is a damned thing...

[MichealH]

I got the 1280*800 driver there :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983756/sis671_10.x.tar.gz

It works nicely (you find a .txt file which explains quite well what must be done) BUT I don't have any tty nor recovery mode startup.

Hey I love that driver! Oh wait its mine!

I may add an .sh script for tty's soon you know Im cought up in stuff!

[pathematica]

Hi

I also have an advent 9315 with the loathsome SiS chip.

I would appreciate some help. I have just upgraded 9.04 to 10.04. I cannot get a (gnome) screen.

I have fiddled with nuts and bolts before but I don't do that often enough to remember how I did it last time and I expect that I have a long haul ahead of me.

I had my graphics card working at some usable resolution (1024 x 768, I think) under VESA using settings found by SuSE in its xorg.conf file. I transferred these to the /etc/X11 folder in ubuntu and that worked in 9.10 (and 9.04).

I seem to remember learning with the last upgrade that ubuntu no longer uses xorg.conf by default but it (9.10) would still recognise such a file if one exists.

I multiboot from grub legacy so I can pass parameters as I boot the kernel. I cannot find a parameter that gives me anything other than a non-synced snowscreen (so that I might at least have somewhere from which to try to fiddle with the graphics settings).

The parameters I have tried include "single" (which I understood to be the recovery mode with all of the "safe" settings selected) and "VGA=***" (with a low graphics setting) but these do not work.

I can get a stable workable low resolution screen from the livedisk. I used that to remove the xorg.conf to see if it would help (on the presumption that it might be overruling the safe graphics settings from the boot parameters) but it did not.

Any help would be appreciated. I have backed up data but it would make life so much easier if I could just keep the data where it is (if I can get at it). I do have /home on a separate partition and I could trawl for any odds and ends that I might want.

Anyway, in the first instance, merely getting a low resolution usable gnome desk would be extremely useful (eg with some suitable parameters to pass through grub while booting).

Did I say "help" yet?

Help!

[pathematica]

I've tried a few things without success.

I have an additional problem that I have to do everything (including adding drivers adn modifying files) from another distro (specifically SuSE from a multi boot) because I have not been able to get anything other than a flickering screen in ubuntu.

I downloaded the drivers suggested by mghsys (into SuSE) extracted them and placed them in /usr/lib/media/drivers folder of ubuntu (suitably mounted in SuSE).

I have changed the xorg.conf following various instructions and modifying variously the original failsafe, with various modifications of the HorizSync and VertRefresh as suggested on other threads and with similar various modifications of the xorg.conf that was copied and modified from SuSE and which worked with 9.10.

Still no joy.

I would be very grateful if anyone could offer any suggestions or answers to the following:

I have SiS771 - should the SiS671 drivers support it or will I need a different set of drivers?

Is it significant that the drivers folder has many drivers that end in *.so but none that end in *.la except for the ones downloaded from sidux?

Is is significant that the SiS671 drivers have different icons to all of the other drivers in the folder?

Do I need to follow the other instructions to stop and start X after installing the drivers? If this is so, I suspect I will have serious problems (or I will not be able to do it) as I cannot get any sort of screen to do any work in 10.04. Everything is blind. I have tried issuing commands blindly (eg sudo reboot - return - password - return) to see whether anything is responding; it seems that it is not. This means that all of the work to add drivers and modify xorg.conf must be done from SuSE before trying to boot again from grub (legacy).

I note that it seems impossible (or very difficult) to boot to a terminal in ubuntu. I have seen many threads that report that this is part of the design philosophy and it appears to have become harder with each new version.

Still "Help!"

[jcglt]

AT pathetica,
I can just say that
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983756/sis671_10.x.tar.gz

worked for me : I downloaded, untarred and strictly copied (as explained in a .txt file got after untarring) one xorg.conf file to /etcX11 without any modification and the two drivers files to /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/sis671_drv.la and /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/sis671_drv.so
then just rebooted and it worked more or less for me : a very nice and crisp 1280*800 screen BUT no tty nor recovery mode start (because the tty are working only blindly as with a QWERTY keyboard as it seems even if I actually use an AZERTY keyboard). I understand from your explanation that it is a Canonical policy to deprive us of tty terminals ?
I compared these two driver files to other found in other web pages, they seem to be allways the same.

[mhgsys]

I've tried a few things without success.


I downloaded the drivers suggested by mghsys (into SuSE) extracted them and placed them in /usr/lib/media/drivers folder of ubuntu (suitably mounted in SuSE).

I have changed the xorg.conf following various instructions and modifying variously the original failsafe, with various modifications of the HorizSync and VertRefresh as suggested on other threads and with similar various modifications of the xorg.conf that was copied and modified from SuSE and which worked with 9.10.


Still "Help!"

You're suppose to copy the downloaded drivers to
/usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/

Also;

I have tried issuing commands blindly (eg sudo reboot - return - password - return) to see whether anything is responding; it seems that it is not.

It seems you forgot to log in first.
when switching to tty blindly (ctrl+alt+f1,f2,f3 etc)

type in your username

Press enter

type in you password

Press enter

after doing that; commands will work.

Also; about the xorg.conf..
I don't know why the copied one is not working, maybe because you did not install drivers yet.

After you installed the drivers; switch to tty (ctrl+alt+f1) and generate a xorg.conf
(you can always put in the horizsync and vertrefresh from your old xorg.conf later)
You should be able to figure it all out when you read my post here;
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=958967&page=38

[dc740]

thanks buddy! that worked. Unfortunately I have the x64 version, so I made a tutorial for those who can't get it working and need to compile it by themselves:


First fix flickering screen in console mode:
Start in low graphics mode, if it doesn't work try booting an older kernel from the boot list (it will work for sure)

Open a terminal (or switch do a console and login) and type:

sudo su
(my password)
echo blacklist vga16fb > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-vga16fb.conf
update-initramfs -u
reboot

Second, lets compile the drivers:

Install the required packages to build it:
sudo apt-get install autoconf libtool xorg-dev xutils-dev x11proto-xf86misc-dev

Download the source code from:
http://estebanordano.com.ar/wp-conte...-source.tar.gz

Unpack it and cd into the folder where you extracted the files

NOTE: Do not extract it to a dir with spaces in it's name!
Example:
Working path
/home/user1/Downloads/SisDrivers/xf86-video-sis-0.10.2
NON Working path:
/home/user1/Downloads/Sis\ Drivers/xf86-video-sis-0.10.2


Now run:
./autogen.sh

No error messages should be shown.

Run:
make
sudo make install

(it doesn't matter if you see some error message after running make)

Now you have successfully built your own x64 sis drivers

All you have to do now is use a working xorg.conf file
This is a working example:

Dual Monitors xorg.conf
http://estebanordano.com.ar/wp-conte...xorg.conf_.zip

The important configuration options that make a dual monitor config work:

1.
Option "EnableSisCtrl" "yes"
2.
Option "DRI" "off"
3.
Option "MergedFBAuto" "true"
4.
Option "MergedNonRectangular" "on"
5.
Option "Merged DPI" "100 100"
6.
Option "MetaModes" "1280×1024-1280×800 640×460-640×460 1280×800-1280×1024"



If you don't have a clue on how to do this... here is a hint:

Download the xorg.conf from the url below. extract it to a folder and then copy it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf
example:
sudo cp ~/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf

remember to make backup copies... ALWAYS! (just in case something goes wrong)


Good luck!

[Sk41m4n]

I got the 1280*800 driver there :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/983756/sis671_10.x.tar.gz

It works nicely (you find a .txt file which explains quite well what must be done) BUT I don't have any tty nor recovery mode startup.

I use that driver too but the colour depth or something seems to be messed up, almost every image looks like low quality jpegs!?