LinuxCNC 2.7 Graphics card installation problem.

As a newcomer to Linux, I am trying to install LinuxCNC 2.7 on an ASUS P4P800 to replace my aging Windows XP CNC system. The issue seems to be the Matrox Millenium P750 graphics card (AGP model). During initial installation, with a monitor on the P750 DVI A port all works well (graphic screen, can input setup parameters etc), after reboot the screen shows initial boot, then remains black. After a lengthy struggle I found that I can boot in safe mode and get a command line interface.

After learning some more Linux basics, I found that the Xwindows system does not run, but the card is listed in the hardware list. I downloaded the appropriate installation kit for the card from the Matrox website (mtxdriver-installer-x86_32-cvs-20090511.run), managed to get the USB key recognized and ran the installation, which fails with an error. I could capture the log (see attached), and it seems the header file linux/autoconf.h is missing.

It is interesting that the P750 card seems to work OK (full graphics) during the installation process.

What Can I do next to get the graphics running?

Thanks, Elco

Thank you Andy.
Running the install command results in a message that build-essential and autoconf are installed and at the latest version.
I located where autoconf.h (and other .h files) were located and copied them to several locations, with the same error message.

I don't understand the logfile very well, but this part should tell more about the problem:

---

make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.4-9-rtai-686-pae'
CC [M] /root/matroxdriver-x86_32-cvs-20090511/kernel/src/mtx_drv.o
In file included from /root/matroxdriver-x86_32-cvs-20090511/kernel/src/mtx_drv.c:15:0:
/root/matroxdriver-x86_32-cvs-20090511/kernel/src/mtx_drv.h:36:28: fatal error: linux/autoconf.h: No such file or directory

---

Should the missing .h files be copied in /root/matroxdriver-x86_32-cvs-20090511/kernel/src/linux/ ???
After the broken installation there is no /root/matroxdriver-x86_32-cvs-20090511/ directory at all.

Thanks, Elco

Yes I do use sudo.

When installing LinuxCNC, graphics works OK with a medium resolution. The P750 card probably works then in a fallback mode, which would be OK for me, but I have no idea how to achieve that. The driver I am using for manual install in the safe mode is downloaded from Matrix, before I also tried a freeware version that I found in the web, which has the same problem.

When I tried this a few months ago, I could see (using some Linux commands) that the hardware of the P750 is visible on the bus, but that the Xwindow system was not running (obviously without a working graphics card). I was a bit surprised that a common (at its time) graphics card was not included in the kit, but maybe I should try a (much) older CNC version. I got the P4P800 mainboard as it has a printer port and low jitter rates. The driver comes with an extensive manual, but I would have to learn a lot more about Linux in order to understand it.

Is the issue that, since LinuxCNC uses a modified (?) realtime Linux kernel, necessary files are not located where this installation kit expects them?

Elco

Thanks for the google link, I'll check that out.

Bad luck. I managed in safe mode to start the network, and ran a sudo update to see if that would work (OK).
None of the commands in the google book would work; apt-get could not find gcc-3.4 for instance. Nor the files that should be present as specified in the Matrox documentation were present in the system . I found on the web a free build install kit supporting linux 2.6 versions. That generated the same autoconf.h file missing error. I installed 'locate' and found autoconf.h alright on the disk. It is clearly not in the right place, but seems to be a small part of the problem.

The Graphics on the main board is AGP, and the board has no PCI-e, so a modification is hardly useful. No alternative for Windows XP, which runs out of the box in low res mode (all I need). It still puzzles me that during the installation of LinuxCNC, the graphics card ran OK. No way to shut down the part that screws it up?

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.