Ok, I figured this out but thought I'd share it with the list.

> "Bill Layer" <blayer at qwest.net> wrote:
> >
> > I don't get this. I have a box here (ok, it's a Compaq, but we don't
need> > to get into that) that simply refuses to run a vesa_fb console.
The> > onboard video is Cirrus Logic 5436, which is known to be VESA
compliant> > and is know to work with the vesa_fb driver. I've also tried
a couple> > other cards, including an AT Mach64 and S3 ViRGE, none of them
will work.

I was wrong on two points: 

1) The onboard Cirrus 5436 does not support VESA 2.0, it is a VESA 1.02
card so the vesa_fb driver is not an option.

2) When using the native Cirrus FB driver, it does NOT accept the same
arguments as the other drivers, so the vga = 781 argument I was passing
was of no use. Instead, with the Cirrus FB driver, you add an append line
to the selected lilo stanza, and use a different syntax:

append = "mode:800x600"

Now I have FB on my crappy Compaq with it's crappy onboard Cirrus video.
Rah! It was worth it for the Tux logo at boottime.

          -.bill.layer.- .-frogtown.mn.usa.-

.-Microsoft.Windows.XP.- -.suddenly.everything.sucks-.