framebuffer console problems: not enough video RAM?

[James Miller <jamtat@mailsnare.net>]

Latest on this problem is that I'm using only the video=atyfb:102x768-8@75
argument (no vga=xxx argument) in menu.lst.  During the boot process the
screen goes black for a time--with just a cursor at the very bottom, which
starts scooting back and forth horizontally--then comes back just as it
was at a 640x480 resolution.  Boot process continues and gdm fires up.  In
all this fiddling around, I've somehow gotten fbset to work--maybe by
adding atyfb to /etc/modules.  When I run fbset (no options) it tells me
the console is set to 640x480-60.  Trying to reset it to 1024x768-75--or
any other of the 1024x768 or 1280x1024 settings I've tried--makes the
console go black and the "vga mode not support(ed)" message appear on it.
Reading some further info on the web, I decided to try issuing some
resolution setting options separately with fbset--i.e., specifying just
the V or H resolutions.  yres at 768 "works" although the screen goes
blank.  When I try to set xres at 1024, I get an IOCTL error though.  When
I check dmesg output afterwards, I see "kernel: not enough video memory."
Is my problem therefore--with atyfb just as with vesafb--not enough video
memory to do 1024x768?  I would have guessed 8MB would suffice, but that's
just a layman's conjecture.  I actually have 12MB--added an 8MB SGRAM
module where a 4MB one was supposed to go--but BIOS seems only to see 8
and that's what dmesg reports too.  So, is this the inglorious end of all
this researching and tweaking?  Feedback appreciated.

James

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