[LI] Configuration of SiS 6326 based graphics adapters under RH 5.2

["S. Krishnan" <skrishnan@xxxxxxxx>]

A lot of people have raised the question of how to configure SiS 6326
based video cards with Linux. A lot of people have advised users of
these cards to upgrade to RH 6.0 or 6.1, which has just been released by
PCQ.

However, there are several of us who users of RH 5.2 who do not wish to
upgrade just now, but are also stuck with using 6326 based display
hardware.  From inputs both from the list and the net, I managed a
simple workaround which I reproduce here for interested people, to
enable RH 5.2 users to use X with the 6326 chipset.

First, you need to visit the SuSe X Server webpage at
http://www.suse.de/en/support/xsuse/, and download the following
packages:

1. XF_Com.SiS as a RPM archive (it is a highlighted link on the page),
and will download as xsis.rpm.  Save this file in your home directory.
Next, get a file called regframe.rpm, which you will find as  a
highlighted link at the bottom of the web page, and save this one too.

2. SuSE users seem to have the benefit of an X configurator utility
called SaX which is not available with RH.  They propose an alternative
in the form of a modified version of XF86Setup, which is downloadable
from the page as a file called xfsetup.rpm.  Initially I downloaded this
and extracted it, but it is not willing to run on my system, crashing
instead with a "Segmentation Fault: Core Dumped" message.  I therefore
suggest that you do not download this, but finish your configuration
using RedHat tools, which I'll show you how to apply below.

3. First, extract the files from the rpm package using the following
command:

rpm -U --nodeps xsis.rpm
rpm -U --nodeps regframe.rpm

These command will operate silently and will return you to the command
prompt when done.

4. Next, create the symbolic link to the XF_Com XVGA server (the SuSE
driver) which you have downloaded and unpacked.  This is done with the
following command:

ln -s /usr/X11R6/bin/XFCom_SiS  /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_SVGA

Having done this, you need to configure X to accept this server.  SuSE
advise use of their modified XF86Setup, but as I noted above, this does
not seem to run, at least on my PII/ 400 box.  Instead, this is what you
do:

4.1 Go to /usr/X11R6/lib/X11 and get a directory listing.  You will see
a file called Cards, which is the master video card database for both RH
Xconfigurator as well as xconf, and another file called Cards.SiS which
has been unpacked from xsis.rpm.

4.2 Open Cards in your favourite text editor and look for SiS inside.
The existing entry covers only the 65C201.  Delete this and insert the
Cards.SiS file at this point, (or at the bottom, if you feel more
comfortable these).  Be sure to remove the END statement at the end of
the inserted Cards.SiS file after the insertion.  Save the updated file
and exit the text editor.

5. To ensure that Xconfigurator is able to locate your updated SiS
driver file, copy your XFCom_SiS file to XF86_XFCom_SiS, or else rename
it to XF86_XFCom_SiS, since Xconfigurator will want a leading XF86 in
its server files - remember, we set the symlink that way in Step 4 (with
the leading string maintained as an indicator).  (The file is in
/usr/X11R6/bin).

6. Now run Xconfigurator and select the SiS 6326 from the various menu
options displayed.  However, note that if you run the probe options in
Xconfigurator, they will fail (at least it happened to me).  Don't let
this get you, X runs neverthless.  Select your monitor, or its hsync and
vertical refresh frequencies in Xconfigurator, do not probe, and finally
update and exit Xconfigurator.

7. Now, as per the very good advice provided by the SuSE people, you
will need to enable the regframe utility.  This is done as follows:

First, make sure that you are logged in as root, else enable root
privileges by running the su command and entering the root password.
Next, create the file                      /etc/ld.so.preload, using a
text editor.  Type

/lib/libregframe.so

on the first line, hit <ENTER> and save the file.

Voila!  You're set for business!

Now run X, and have the satisfaction of seeing it come up the way it
should.

AND DON'T FORGET TO READ THE SUSE X SERVERS PAGE CAREFULLY: IT WILL GIVE
YOU A LOT MORE INFO THAN I EVER COULD!

Cheerio,

S. Krishnan


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