Ubuntu 8.04 doesn't run some simple games on Intel 815 chipset

There were two drivers for the i810/i815, the "intel" driver and the "i810". The "i810" is a legacy driver, which was dropped some time ago in favor of the newer "intel" driver, but this newer driver had no proper support for older hardware.

Ubuntu 8.04 still shipped with the "i810" driver, you can force xorg to use it. Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf and change the line that says:

Driver "intel"

to

Driver "i810"

then restart X.

Also, newer version of the "intel" driver should have better support for older hardware, so you can take a look at 9.04 once it is released in a couple of weeks.

Xubuntu, Kubunu or Ubunu all have the same common base, the differ only on the default desktop enviroment and selection of desktop applications.

I opened /etc/X11/xorg.conf and this is what I found in the only (I thought) relevant section.

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Option "UseFBDev" "true"
EndSection

What do I change this to to get the i810 driver to boot instead?

BTW, there are 2 other xorg.conf files with long numbers at the end of the file name. Are these back ups?

Thanks for the quick answer.

Kevin

And I understand that Xubuntu is less resource intensive from some of the posts. That's why I asked if it might be a helpful alternative to Ubuntu.

Thanks again.

Kevin

Change this:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Option "UseFBDev" "true"
EndSection

to this:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
# Option "UseFBDev" "true"
 Driver "i810"
EndSection

The other xorg.conf files with long numbers at the end are indeed backups. Hope this works. You can find additional configuration options with the command "man i810" and "man intel".

I tried editing xorg.conf but the text editor wouldn't let me save the change. I did a search on "how edit xorg.conf" but none of the conversations this brought up actually addressed this question. I'm sure this is a nOOb question but how to edit? And where is a good place to get educated on the basics?

And thank you Guillermo for your kind answers.

Kevin

OK. Figured out for myself how to edit xorg,conf. Put a pound sign at the beginning of the option line and added Driver "i810" below it and restarted. Screen was unreadable after reboot. Restarted in recover mode and chose to have xorgfix fix the display. Back to where I was except there is no Option "UseFBDev" "true" line in xorg.conf now. What do I do different?

Sorry if it turns out I left out vital info. But I have a KVM switch in between the monitor, mouse and keboard and the box. Does that make a difference?

The only thing I can think of is to try this:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Option "UseFBDev" "true"
 Driver "i810"
EndSection

If that still does not work, you can revert to the default configuration with this command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

And don't worry, the KVM does not interfere at all.

That didn't work either. Had to use xfix to make things visible again. What to do know?

Additional info: Main board Gigabyte GA-61EM Rev. 1.1
Chipset: Intel 82815 B-step host/AGP controller
              Intel 82801BA

On board VGA: Build in FW82815

And just in case I haven't made clear what the problem is since the graphics are working:
Under 8.04 there isn't the power to run some of the simple 3D games I mentioned above. But I know there is such power there under Windows 98.

As I said this is for my children to start out on and I would rather start them out on LInux. But games are what is driving there curiosity. If I had a driver under 8.04 that gave me access to what admittedly is limited 3D graphics for this day and age but should run at least some of these low spec. games it might catch their attention long enough for me to get them something better.
That's one of the advantages of Linux, right? Extending the life of older hardware?

Sorry if I sound pushy. Trying for a week now to get this going with my kids egerly waiting.

Kevin

I don't know what else to try, maybe if I had an i810/i815 board for testing I could help you better. The only thing I can think of is to wait until 9.04 is released and see if the newer intel driver has 3D acceleration with your video card.

So, did you try Jaunty?

The short answer is no.

To be accurate GravityWars work now. But Scorch 3D, Slune, TORCS and Trigger won't display properly or even start.
I also have Wine installed and have tried to run Masters of Orion 2 on it but it still freezes.
I'm afraid I'm just going to have to re-install Win98. Don't have room in the budget for even a used video card.

Got to say I'm pretty disappointed. I've read many opinion pieces saying Linux is a good way to breath some new life into old hardware. But that's simply not true for the Intel 815 platform.

Thank you Guillermo for your time.

I'm marking this Problem Solved as I believe there is no answer.

Kevin

Just looked at this again and realized my answer made no sense. I did upgrade to 9.04. But only one more game worked than before.

The rest of my answer stands.

Again many thanks to you Guillermo for checking back.

Kevin i used to have Ubuntu 6.10 on a Sony Laptop with the 815 EM Driver who uses the same module as your machine. It used to work pretty good. My Dad used to use that laptop so i never upgrade it at all since we were living far away. Anyways, i have install new ubuntu distros on it, and i have the same luck as you. The resolution gets to 800x600 only. Now i have tried with Karmic Koala Ubuntu with no luck, so maybe im trying to go back to that 6.10 distro because i can not see a xorg.conf file to work with anymore. The only thing i want it to upgrade was because some new packages i need it and were not available for 6.10 because is so old. But if you need to run games on it, it will do it. So give it a try.

PS. I have just read some guy had the same issue on 7.10 but made it work. So theres your choice...

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