Linux on a Dell Inspiron 3700/7000/7500

Method 4: VESA Framebuffer -- FBDev
This method should for almost everyone. Instead of using the Mach64 server, you use the FBDev server instead. If you can get the penguin logo appear when you boot up, then this method will work for you. The tradeoff, however, is that the FBDev is noticeably slower than the Mach64 server (roughly equivalent to the SVGA server in performance). This method is not written up with as much detail as the other methods. If you are a new user and have trouble accomplishing all of these steps, let me know and I'll elaborate.

1. Check that /dev/fb0 and /dev/fb0current exist. If you type ls /dev/fb0 /dev/fb0current and you get the error "No such file or directory", then create them with the commands
   

   mknod /dev/fb0 c 29 0

   ln -s /dev/fb0 /dev/fb0current

2. Reboot. At the LILO prompt, hit the left SHIFT key and type "linux vga=791" and make sure that you see a small Penguin logo when Linux is booting. If you see the penguin, then make linux boot into this mode by default by adding vga=791 to your /etc/lilo.conf file and then running /sbin/lilo. Do you need instructions on how to modify the file? See Using Vi To Edit lilo.conf.
3. Depending on your distribution, download either the glibc 2.0 stock libc6 3.3.6 FBdev X server or glibc 2.1 stock libc6 3.3.6 FBdev X server
4. Untar the file and install the binary in the appropriate location (i.e. /usr/X11R6/bin/). You will need to make this X server the default X server when starting up. On Debian Linux, this is done by making the first line of /etc/X11/Xserver point to /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_FBDev. On other distributions, this may entail changing the symbolic link /usr/X11R6/bin/X to point to /usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_FBDev.
5. Download the FBDev XF86Config file and install it as /etc/X11/XF86Config or /etc/XF86Config, depending on your Linux distribution.
6. Try starting X...
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