[Openchrome-users] [VIA Chrome9 VX900 HD] Linux Driver Issue - Workaround

[shathawa at e-z.net]

FYI [VIA Chrome9 VX900 HD] Linux Driver Issue - Workaround

I purchased last year the VIA IPIA-M910-16 mainboard computer.
It includes the VIA Chrome9 VX900 HD video chipset.

The "openchrome" xorg driver for Debian 6 series does not support the
VX900 chipset and therefore falls back to use the "vesa" driver lacking
the newer video acceleration support.  This is fine for my use.

I since upgraded to Debian 7.1.0 and the new "openchrome" xorg driver
claims to support the VX900 chipset, but has bad blank-screen display
problems.  Here is the work-around to restore the "vesa" driver to
make the display again usable.

If you can boot your computer into non-graphic mode, you can create
a /etc/X11/xorg.conf that will bypass the automatic selection of the
"openchrome" video driver.

As root, enter the following command:
  Xorg -configure

This will create the file:
  xorg.conf.new

Edit this file and replace "openchrome" with "vesa" and then copy
the file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf and now your display should work
properly in vesa mode without the S3 Chrome accelerators that are
giving you problems.

I will try a future release to see if the S3 Chrome9 acceleration for
the VX900 HD chipset has been fixed.

Sincerely,
Steven J. Hathaway