This is the third time I've run into a Gateway branded board that didn't play nice with UNIX based on the work by SUN Microsystems-- I kind of sort of work for a company that specializes in Gateway hardware so the chances of this happening are a little higher for me than most.
The most simple way I saw to make things work regardless of the system I was working on was to start going down to VESA 1024x768 resolution. I usually use SUN tech for file servers-- plenty for a box that just plain doesn't need a GUI.
Here are the details for this time:
-Gateway 4006259R (Intel, Socket 775, G33 Express Chipset, customized BIOS for Gateway) has deep video issues.
-OpenSolaris (and OpenIndiana) boot to LiveCD CLI
-Login
u: jack
p: jack
-Elevate self to root
su
p: opensolaris
(or p: openindiana)
svcadm enable ssh
-Get the DHCP IP address assigned
ifconfig -a
-Install the OS via ssh from another machine
ssh -X 192.168.1.50 -l jack
p: jack
-Elevate self to root
su
p: opensolaris
(or p: openindiana)
-Start GUI install (CLI install not available)
/bin/gui-install
-Restart the machine
-Login as self over SSH
ssh -X 192.168.1.50 -l brad
p: guess
-Attempt to elevate self to root
su
p: guess
-Root password expired mumbo-jumbo
p: guessagain
confirm p: guessagain
-Check to make sure you have elevated yourself to root
su
p: guessagain
-Get a xorg.conf skeleton to edit
/usr/X11/bin/Xorg -config
-Edit the xorg.conf skeleton
vi /home/brad/xorg.conf.new
-Your xorg.conf allows for the joining of at least one device (video card) with at least one monitor in a screen section
-Those are the parts of this file we are going to focus on
-Add these lines to your new xorg.conf.new file:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "vesa"
EndSection
-Delete the similar section that was automatically generated
-Get the settings for your monitor
-Make sure the automatically generated settings match closely enough
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "BrandOfMonitor"
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
-Then we put it all together with a Screen section
-This section happens to conform to the VESA standards
-A VESA setup will work with an overwhelming majority of hardware
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
-Write and quit the editor
-Copy your file to /etc/X11/ as xorg.conf
-Log in via SSH -X one last time
-Use the GUI tool to update the system
-Restart your machine
-Pray
-If you don't get the GDM login, you are at least close.
You are welcome.
Enjoy your ZFS based fileserver,
-Brad
