boatman9 Posted April 23, 2010 Report Share Posted April 23, 2010 I'm working with a Magnavox 32MF339B/F7 TV/monitor attached to a computer running 2010.0 The video card is "nVidia Corporation NV18 [GeForce4 MX 440 AGP 8x] (rev a2)" with DVI and svideo outputs, using the nvidia proprietary driver. The monitor is capable of 1360x768 and works fine at that resolution in Windows, however in Linux the resolution seems to be stuck at 800x600. I want to change the display mode to 1360x768, have tried doing that using "Set up the graphical server" in MLCC but it remains in 800x600 mode. Another strange thing is that xrandr does not show the usually outputs such as DVI-0, but instead shows the following: Screen 0: minimum 800 x 600, current 800 x 600, maximum 800 x 600 default connected 800x600+0+0 0mm x 0mm 800x600 60.0* How should I begin to solve this problem? Is it all about changing settings in xorg.conf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted April 23, 2010 Report Share Posted April 23, 2010 Check to see if xorg.conf exists in /etc/X11 directory. If so, rename it to xorg.conf.old and reboot. Xorg doesn't need an xorg.conf nowadays, so maybe there is one there just a bit strangely configured. Another thing you can do is switch to runlevel 3 and then do something like this: Xorg -configure and then copy the xorg.conf from the /root directory into /etc/X11 and see if it works any better. So in short, first step: su (enter root password when prompted) cd /etc/X11 mv xorg.conf xorg.conf.old reboot, see if any better. If not: su (enter root password when prompted) init 3 Xorg -configure cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf and reboot. I'm assuming that the new xorg.conf placed in root will be xorg.conf.new. Let us know how you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman9 Posted April 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Check to see if xorg.conf exists in /etc/X11 directory. If so, rename it to xorg.conf.old and reboot. Xorg doesn't need an xorg.conf nowadays, so maybe there is one there just a bit strangely configured. I deleted /etc/X11/xorg.conf and rebooted but did it did not even get to graphical mode. I will try the 'Xorg -configure' command next time I get to that computer, it's not at my usual location, I get there about every two days. Another symptom that may be a helpful clue; at the grub menu where 'Help' 'Language' 'Kernel Option' should be displayed at the lower edge of the screen, those three choices are so low they are not visible, or maybe just the top of the letters can be seen. A similar problem exists at the top of the display as well as both right and left sides when in text mode. I don't see any way to solve that problem with xorg.conf because xorg.conf isn't run until after the grub menu has been displayed. What about replacing the nvidia card with another brand? Do you think an ATI card might work OK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 I think the reason you can't see the text is due to the change of resolution meaning you'd have to change the geometry settings on your monitor to reposition how the screen looks and/or change the height/width so that everything is visible. So that isn't a major problem. Try the Xorg -configure as mentioned and let us know if it goes any better. It should start at least with a minimal config and a default driver like vesa or nv if an nvidia card. I wouldn't suggest an ATI ones since they are much more problematic than nvidia ones. So stick with the nvidia one, you're more likely to have this working far easier than an ATI one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman9 Posted April 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 I used 'Xorg -configure' to create xorg.conf.new (attached), copied it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf an rebooted. X did not start, there was an error message: Fatal server error: no screens found After running Mandriva's X configuration tool I was able to recover to the 800x600 screen but still very much where I began, and still not seeing the usual screens when I run xrandr. xorg.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Batson Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 See if the following is any help. http://burtonini.com/blog/computers/randr-2007-02-06-17-50 http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Xorg_RandR_1.2 Three page guide: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=927 There is also something called monitor-edid. You might need to install that, or a newer version of it from backports. Don't know too much about it. http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/Tools/monitor-edid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman9 Posted April 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 I am familiar with xrandr but can't use it to any benefit in this case because the display output devices (such as VGA-0, DVI-0, S-video, etc.) have not been created. Compare the output of xrandr in my first post with that from your computer. The only output created is 'default' (800x600+0+0 0mm x 0mm). Something has gone wrong in the process of creating VGA-0, DVI-0, S-video, etc. The graphics cards is an nvidia with DVI and S-video outputs, and is supposed to support at least two monitors, either 2 DVI or 2 VGA, or one of each, so xrandr should show at least VGA-0, VGA-1, DVI-0, DVI-1, S-video outputs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Batson Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 (edited) To enable S-Video (TV Out) on my system, I had to issue the following xrandr commands. I would imagine you need something similar (addmode and output). $ xrandr --output S-video --set load_detection 1 $ xrandr --addmode S-video 800x600 $ xrandr --output S-video --mode 800x600 I also have the following in my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "single head configuration" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd" Option "XkbModel" "pc105+inet" Option "XkbLayout" "us" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "radeon" Option "AccelMethod" "XAA" Option "AGPMode" "4" Option "GARTSize" "64" Option "EnablePageFlip" "on" Option "ColorTiling" "on" Option "DPMS" "on" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 EndSubSection EndSection EDIT: The above xorg.conf was from Fedora 12 (previously edited Driver "radeon" to Driver "ati") with the same laptop I have Mandriva 2010 installed on. Below is the actual xorg.conf from Mandriva 2010 that I am using. # File generated by XFdrake (rev ) # ********************************************************************** # Refer to the xorg.conf man page for details about the format of # this file. # ********************************************************************** Section "ServerFlags" Option "DontZap" "False" # disable <Ctrl><Alt><BS> (server abort) #DontZoom # disable <Ctrl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching) AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension Load "v4l" # Video for Linux Load "extmod" Load "glx" # 3D layer Load "dri" # direct rendering EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "monitor1" VendorName "Generic" ModelName "Flat Panel 1400x1050" HorizSync 28.8-90 VertRefresh 60 # TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output. # 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630 # 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616 EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "device1" VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc" BoardName "ATI Radeon X1950 and earlier" Driver "ati" Option "AccelMethod" "XAA" Option "AGPMode" "4" Option "GARTSize" "64" Option "EnablePageFlip" "on" Option "ColorTiling" "on" Option "DPMS" Option "set load detection" "1" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "screen1" Device "device1" Monitor "monitor1" Subsection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1400x1050" "1024x768" "800x600" # Here you can set virtual screen size: Virtual 2800 1050 EndSubsection EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "layout1" Screen "screen1" EndSection Edited April 26, 2010 by David Batson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Batson Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 You might find this thread from the Fedora Forums useful. http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=244293 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman9 Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Thanks to both of you for your advice and the research you've done on this problem. I have been studying the xorg.conf documentation and will try creating a custom xorg.conf file. I will post here when I find a working solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman9 Posted May 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 Well, I worked on this problem again for a couple hours today. The problem is still affecting my friend's computer, stuck at 800x600, and seems to be due to the fact that none of the ModeLine modes under Section "Monitor" (in xorg.conf) actually work, meaning they don't appear as mode choices when I run xrandr. To make matters worse the TV's EDID data seems to be invalid; I used "get-edid | parse-edid" to read the EDID data and got some message that said not to trust the data, also the data looked like it was incorrect. I have two computers of my own, a laptop and a desktop. My laptop acts the same as my friend's machine, meaning ModeLines added under Section "Monitor" don't appear in xrandr output. In my desktop I can add modes by adding ModeLine statements under Section "Monitor", the modes then appear as mode choices in xrandr. I suspect the later situation is the way it's supposed to work. Anyone know how I can make ModeLine statements work as they should? This seems like a big bug in the Xorg package, or maybe there's something I've overlooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Batson Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 Just speculation. What if you add nomodeset to the kernel parameter boot line? This would disable KMS (kernel mode setting). Was /etc/X11/xorg.conf existing from the initial install or was something like system-config-display (Fedora) used to create it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman9 Posted May 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 (edited) Was /etc/X11/xorg.conf existing from the initial install or was something like system-config-display (Fedora) used to create it? On my friend's computer with the 1360x768 TV, xorg.conf was created during installation using an analog VGA monitor, later an AGP video card was added and the monitor was replaced by the 1360x768 TV. The introduction of the xorg.conf man page states; Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. When the same information is supplied in more than one way, the highest precedence mechanism is used. After reading that, I suspect the xorg.conf file has a fairly low priority for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters, relative to the other mechanisms mentioned in the man page. I've already looked at the man pages for xserver and xorg. Do you know where to find details about how to change the priorities of the configuration mechanisms mentioned? Edited May 3, 2010 by boatman9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Batson Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 Well, I am no expert, but I would be looking into KMS as I wrote in my previous post. http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/KernelModesetting#Detailed_Description Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
{BBI}Nexus{BBI} Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 Well, I am no expert, but I would be looking into KMS as I wrote in my previous post. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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