[MPlayer-users] Re: RH8: Can't Use VESA, Even As Root

[Dan8827]

On Mon, 2003-02-10 at 11:10, Jaanek Oja wrote:
> [Automatic answer: RTFM (read DOCS, FAQ), also read DOCS/bugreports.html]
> Hi,
> 
> I had the same problem with my mandrake 9.0 using the vesa output as 
> Xavier described in his posts.
> I could finally run mplayer using vesa output after I had downgraded my 
> glibc-2.2.5 -> glibc-2.2.4 .
> 
> I have one problem through, I couldn't get my tv-out working with ATI 
> Rage 128 card. I plugged the cable into TV after booting the system.

I've never tried plugging or unplugging the tv-out cable while the
system is running; I only do that when the system is off.  The ATI cards
(mine at least - Rage Fury Pro) will automatically activate the TV-out
function until told to turn it off, if a cable is plugged into that port
when the system is booted.  Unfortunately, TV-out is not compatible with
most of the common ways that we all configure X (probably the
resolution, refresh rate, etc.), so the whole display crashes as soon as
X starts, and a hard reboot is required.

So, if you turn the system on with a cable in, you need to ensure one of
the following:

*You're booting to a text console (run level 3).
*You're booting to X, and have it configured to be compatible with
Tv-out (call out the VESA driver and a 640 x 480 resolution in your
XF86Config file, for instance).
*You turn tv-out off somewhere in your boot up process, before X
starts.  I have the command "atitvout  c" in my /etc/rc.local file.

There may be other solutions, but those are the three that I've had
success with.

With any of the above, I can see the initial text messages on my TV
screen as the computer boots, so that's how you might confirm that the
cable is or isn't the problem.

So, ironically, the most useful function of atitvout (for me at least)
is the ability to turn TV-out OFF at just the right time!

--
Damian
Increasing The Entropy Of The Universe Since 1972