[linrad] svgalib installation, svgalibhelper, etc

[w3sz <w3sz@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello, All,

This is just a brief note.  Over the past year to 18 months, several  
[many?] folks have had problems, with various distros of Linux, with a  
failure of the svgalibhelper module to install properly.  About 18-21  
months ago there was a flurry of postings on this subject.  I think David  
GM4JJJ had similar problems early this summer, with the 1.9.19 version of  
svgalib.  I had problems I think in January of 2003 with this and had to  
resort to a manual 'make' of the svgalib_helper.h file and then I had to  
run 'insmod' each time I booted up [ I made it a part of the rc.d files,  
so it happened automatically on boot].

For various reasons I decided to update the kernel of my RedHat Linux 8.0  
distro this weekend, then update to the latest version of OSS, and then  
update to the latest version of svgalib.

I am happy to report that the updates [on 2 computers] went without a  
hitch, so it seems like the svgalibhelper issues may be a thing of the  
past, at least with RedHat 8. I am saying that because I had the problems  
with earlier versions of the 8.0 kernel, and with earlier versions of  
svgalib [1.9.17], but no problems today on 2 different computers.  There  
was no need to do any manual 'make' procedure for svgalib_helper.   
Bopefully the newest kernels of the other distros will now also be  
problem-free in this respect.

My software versions [installed today] are:

RedHat Linux 8.0, kernel 2.4.20-28.8

OSS 3.99.1g

svgalib 1.9.19

The only 'detour' I had was that the kernel installed with module-loading  
turned off, and I had to go to the /usr/src/linux-2.4.20-28.8 [or  
whatever...] directory and do a 'make config' to enable module loading.  
Once I did that, svgalib installed completely, and without a hitch.

After that it was just a matter of resetting the mousetype and monitor  
horiz and vert frequency ranges in /etc/vga/libvga.config and then linrad  
01-25 worked perfectly.

I take this as a sign that the pervasive and annoying installation  
problems that at some point crept into the various kernels and svgalib are  
on the wane.

73,

Roger
W3SZ


-- 
Roger Rehr
W3SZ
http://www.qsl.net/w3sz

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