10.3 KDE video problem

Hello,
I know NOTHING about Linux, but would like to get away from
Windows. I tried suse 10.0, 10.1, and 10.2, but never could get the
wireless to work. FINALLY with 10.3 I was able to fumble through
procedures I read on site and got the wireless to work. However, my old
crt monitor was dying and I replaced it with a new Acer X241 24" LCD
monitor (16:10 aspect and 1920x1200 native resolution). I prefer using
it at around 1440x900 75hz. Linux only shows VESA resolution options,
which of course don't support my 16:10 widescreen monitor. I currently
have the video set for 1024x768 16-bit, and have found that I can not
change it to anything else in YAST. I make another selection and click
save, but it doesn't change anything. I have also tried moving the
screen around with the arrows, but nothing moves at all with any of the
size arrows, or the horizontal or vertical movement arrows. It is hard
to use the system with the screen displaying over to the right and
having to keep dragging windows around the screen with my mouse to view
them. Is there anyone who can explain to me how to get Linux to show my
screen resolution as 1440x900 75hz, or even 1680x1050 60hz would be
fine. BTW, I also notice that my clock is running slow in 10.3 whereas
it always runs fine in WinXP on this system. I use Kingwin removable
drive enclosures, so I can just pop the drives in and out and boot up
into "new systems" when I feel like changing. My system parameters
follow. Thanks in advance.

MSI 955x Platinum motherboard w/4gb ddr2 corsair ram
Linux suse 10.3 KDE 32-bit
Pentium D 3.2ghz cpu
ATI X1900XTX 512mb PCI video card
D-link WDA-1320 PCI wireless card
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS PCI sound card
Asus DVD-Rom drive
Asus DVD-RW drive

Robert Cohen
bobcohen@juno.com


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Hello,
As an update to my original message, I have discovered through
trial and error that if I open YAST and go into the graphics and
monitor selection, I can actually get the new video mode selection to
take effect IF I test and save it, and then do a complete system
shutdown immediately. Doing a cold boot brings Linux back up in the new
mode, but it won't change the mode if you do a warm boot (restart
system). At any rate, if I go into the monitor info screen with the
monitor input panel buttons, I see that it shows the video mode as
1280x1024, and it shows that same mode no matter what video mode I
change Linux to using YAST. However, if I change my video mode to
1280x1024 in YAST, test and save, and then shut down the Linux system
and do a cold boot, then the operating system seems to sync up properly
with the monitor and I get a "normal" full screen, despite the distorted
icons from the 1280x1024 mode (instead of 1280x768 or 1440x900 or
1680x1050). Also, I noticed that when the Linux video resolution is set
to anything other than 1280x1024 and therefore doesn't sync up with the
monitor at 1280x1024, YAST reports the video card as VESA framebuffer.
But if I set YAST to 1280x1024 so it syncs with the monitor at
1280x1024 and the screen displays "normally", then YAST reports the
video card as an ATI card. I hope this additional info helps to give
any additional information that may help to resolve my video issue. I
would REALLY love to get both YAST and my monitor to sync up at
1440x900 24-bit. BTW, my clock has lost 8 minutes in the last few
hours. Thanks again for any help someone can offer. If you have any
solution for me, please "spoon feed" me since I have no Linux
experience or Linux knowledge at all. Thanks again.

Robert Cohen
bobcohen@juno.com


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SuSE will identify and setup most video hardware out of the box, but if it
doesn't, then you have to tweak a bit.

ATI and NVIDIA provide proprietary linux drivers for their products that
work extremely well.

Go to

http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/l...ux-radeon.html

and you will be able to download the driver and installation intructions
for ATI.

The SuSE specific "unofficial" support site is here

http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/SuSE/OpenSuSE

The instructinos will tell you that you need to run sax2 to configure
afterwards, which is correct. What it may not tell you is that you need
to set the system to runlevel three to shutdown X windows first.

You can do this by doing a <ctl><alt>F1 from the GUI (takes you to
terminal screen 1), login as root and type init 3. It will tell you
runlevel 3 has bee reached. Hit enter to get a command line back. You
can then run sax2 with the switches defined by the instructions.

If sax2 doesn't automatically identify your monitor, you can select lcd as
the brand pick the resolution and frequency in the monitor configuration.
You can also select a tab within the monitor configuration to set the
screen size and aspect ratio.

FYI, SuSE 10.3 uses the Xorg xwindows system, so you can ignore an
references to XFree86 instructions.

-jt


On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:26:01 +0000, RobertE wrote:

>
> Hello,
> As an update to my original message, I have discovered through trial and
> error that if I open YAST and go into the graphics and monitor selection,
> I can actually get the new video mode selection to take effect IF I test
> and save it, and then do a complete system shutdown immediately. Doing a
> cold boot brings Linux back up in the new mode, but it won't change the
> mode if you do a warm boot (restart system). At any rate, if I go into the
> monitor info screen with the monitor input panel buttons, I see that it
> shows the video mode as 1280x1024, and it shows that same mode no matter
> what video mode I change Linux to using YAST. However, if I change my
> video mode to 1280x1024 in YAST, test and save, and then shut down the
> Linux system and do a cold boot, then the operating system seems to sync
> up properly with the monitor and I get a "normal" full screen, despite the
> distorted icons from the 1280x1024 mode (instead of 1280x768 or 1440x900
> or 1680x1050). Also, I noticed that when the Linux video resolution is set
> to anything other than 1280x1024 and therefore doesn't sync up with the
> monitor at 1280x1024, YAST reports the video card as VESA framebuffer. But
> if I set YAST to 1280x1024 so it syncs with the monitor at 1280x1024 and
> the screen displays "normally", then YAST reports the video card as an ATI
> card. I hope this additional info helps to give any additional information
> that may help to resolve my video issue. I would REALLY love to get both
> YAST and my monitor to sync up at 1440x900 24-bit. BTW, my clock has lost
> 8 minutes in the last few hours. Thanks again for any help someone can
> offer. If you have any solution for me, please "spoon feed" me since I
> have no Linux experience or Linux knowledge at all. Thanks again.
>
> Robert Cohen
> bobcohen@juno.com

James Taylor;1301434 Wrote:
> SuSE will identify and setup most video hardware out of the box, but if
> it
> doesn't, then you have to tweak a bit.
>
> ATI and NVIDIA provide proprietary linux drivers for their products
> that
> work extremely well.
>
> Go to
>
> 'ATI Proprietary Linux x86 Display Driver 8.42.3'
> (http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/l...ux-radeon.html)
>
> and you will be able to download the driver and installation
> intructions
> for ATI.
>
> The SuSE specific "unofficial" support site is here
>
> 'SuSE/OpenSuSE - cchtml.com'
> (http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/SuSE/OpenSuSE)
>
> The instructinos will tell you that you need to run sax2 to configure
> afterwards, which is correct. What it may not tell you is that you
> need
> to set the system to runlevel three to shutdown X windows first.
>
> You can do this by doing a <ctl><alt>F1 from the GUI (takes you to
> terminal screen 1), login as root and type init 3. It will tell you
> runlevel 3 has bee reached. Hit enter to get a command line back. You
> can then run sax2 with the switches defined by the instructions.
>
> If sax2 doesn't automatically identify your monitor, you can select lcd
> as
> the brand pick the resolution and frequency in the monitor
> configuration.
> You can also select a tab within the monitor configuration to set the
> screen size and aspect ratio.
>
> FYI, SuSE 10.3 uses the Xorg xwindows system, so you can ignore an
> references to XFree86 instructions.
>
> -jt
>
>
> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:26:01 +0000, RobertE wrote:
>
> >
> > Hello,
> > As an update to my original message, I have discovered through trial
> and
> > error that if I open YAST and go into the graphics and monitor
> selection,
> > I can actually get the new video mode selection to take effect IF I
> test
> > and save it, and then do a complete system shutdown immediately.
> Doing a
> > cold boot brings Linux back up in the new mode, but it won't change
> the
> > mode if you do a warm boot (restart system). At any rate, if I go
> into the
> > monitor info screen with the monitor input panel buttons, I see that
> it
> > shows the video mode as 1280x1024, and it shows that same mode no
> matter
> > what video mode I change Linux to using YAST. However, if I change my
> > video mode to 1280x1024 in YAST, test and save, and then shut down
> the
> > Linux system and do a cold boot, then the operating system seems to
> sync
> > up properly with the monitor and I get a "normal" full screen,
> despite the
> > distorted icons from the 1280x1024 mode (instead of 1280x768 or
> 1440x900
> > or 1680x1050). Also, I noticed that when the Linux video resolution
> is set
> > to anything other than 1280x1024 and therefore doesn't sync up with
> the
> > monitor at 1280x1024, YAST reports the video card as VESA
> framebuffer. But
> > if I set YAST to 1280x1024 so it syncs with the monitor at 1280x1024
> and
> > the screen displays "normally", then YAST reports the video card as
> an ATI
> > card. I hope this additional info helps to give any additional
> information
> > that may help to resolve my video issue. I would REALLY love to get
> both
> > YAST and my monitor to sync up at 1440x900 24-bit. BTW, my clock has
> lost
> > 8 minutes in the last few hours. Thanks again for any help someone
> can
> > offer. If you have any solution for me, please "spoon feed" me since
> I
> > have no Linux experience or Linux knowledge at all. Thanks again.
> >
> > Robert Cohen
> > bobcohen@juno.com
Hello James,
Your instructions sure sound complete and thorough.
It's pretty late right now and my wife is getting impatient for me to
shut down the system and call it a night <grin>, so I will try all you
wrote tomorrow. I sure do appreciate the information and it is great to
receive such quick assistance from a knowledgeable person! Thanks again,
and I'll let you know how it turns out. Perhaps after I do what you
wrote, maybe the screen saver will work too <grin>. Right now when it
goes into screen saver mode the screen just goes blank, regardless of
which screen saver I try to use. We'll see tomorrow <grin>. 'Night.


Robert


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RobertE wrote:

>
> James Taylor;1301434 Wrote:
>> SuSE will identify and setup most video hardware out of the box, but if
>> it
>> doesn't, then you have to tweak a bit.
>>
>> ATI and NVIDIA provide proprietary linux drivers for their products
>> that
>> work extremely well.
>>
>> Go to
>>
>> 'ATI Proprietary Linux x86 Display Driver 8.42.3'
>> (http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/l...ux-radeon.html)
>>
>> and you will be able to download the driver and installation
>> intructions
>> for ATI.
>>
>> The SuSE specific "unofficial" support site is here
>>
>> 'SuSE/OpenSuSE - cchtml.com'
>> (http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/SuSE/OpenSuSE)
>>
>> The instructinos will tell you that you need to run sax2 to configure
>> afterwards, which is correct. What it may not tell you is that you
>> need
>> to set the system to runlevel three to shutdown X windows first.
>>
>> You can do this by doing a <ctl><alt>F1 from the GUI (takes you to
>> terminal screen 1), login as root and type init 3. It will tell you
>> runlevel 3 has bee reached. Hit enter to get a command line back. You
>> can then run sax2 with the switches defined by the instructions.
>>
>> If sax2 doesn't automatically identify your monitor, you can select lcd
>> as
>> the brand pick the resolution and frequency in the monitor
>> configuration.
>> You can also select a tab within the monitor configuration to set the
>> screen size and aspect ratio.
>>
>> FYI, SuSE 10.3 uses the Xorg xwindows system, so you can ignore an
>> references to XFree86 instructions.
>>
>> -jt
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:26:01 +0000, RobertE wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Hello,
>> > As an update to my original message, I have discovered through trial
>> and
>> > error that if I open YAST and go into the graphics and monitor
>> selection,
>> > I can actually get the new video mode selection to take effect IF I
>> test
>> > and save it, and then do a complete system shutdown immediately.
>> Doing a
>> > cold boot brings Linux back up in the new mode, but it won't change
>> the
>> > mode if you do a warm boot (restart system). At any rate, if I go
>> into the
>> > monitor info screen with the monitor input panel buttons, I see that
>> it
>> > shows the video mode as 1280x1024, and it shows that same mode no
>> matter
>> > what video mode I change Linux to using YAST. However, if I change my
>> > video mode to 1280x1024 in YAST, test and save, and then shut down
>> the
>> > Linux system and do a cold boot, then the operating system seems to
>> sync
>> > up properly with the monitor and I get a "normal" full screen,
>> despite the
>> > distorted icons from the 1280x1024 mode (instead of 1280x768 or
>> 1440x900
>> > or 1680x1050). Also, I noticed that when the Linux video resolution
>> is set
>> > to anything other than 1280x1024 and therefore doesn't sync up with
>> the
>> > monitor at 1280x1024, YAST reports the video card as VESA
>> framebuffer. But
>> > if I set YAST to 1280x1024 so it syncs with the monitor at 1280x1024
>> and
>> > the screen displays "normally", then YAST reports the video card as
>> an ATI
>> > card. I hope this additional info helps to give any additional
>> information
>> > that may help to resolve my video issue. I would REALLY love to get
>> both
>> > YAST and my monitor to sync up at 1440x900 24-bit. BTW, my clock has
>> lost
>> > 8 minutes in the last few hours. Thanks again for any help someone
>> can
>> > offer. If you have any solution for me, please "spoon feed" me since
>> I
>> > have no Linux experience or Linux knowledge at all. Thanks again.
>> >
>> > Robert Cohen
>> > bobcohen@juno.com
> Hello James,
> Your instructions sure sound complete and thorough.
> It's pretty late right now and my wife is getting impatient for me to
> shut down the system and call it a night <grin>, so I will try all you
> wrote tomorrow. I sure do appreciate the information and it is great to
> receive such quick assistance from a knowledgeable person! Thanks again,
> and I'll let you know how it turns out. Perhaps after I do what you
> wrote, maybe the screen saver will work too <grin>. Right now when it
> goes into screen saver mode the screen just goes blank, regardless of
> which screen saver I try to use. We'll see tomorrow <grin>. 'Night.
>
>
> Robert
>
>

To fix the screen blanking go to Personal Settings (Configure Desktop), then
Peripherals, then Display. Under the Power Control tab check the Enable
display power management box. Under each slide (Standby after, Suspend
after, Poweroff after) slide the pointer all the way to the left. Each
should then read "disabled." What is happening is the power save is coming
on BEFORE the screensaver.

If you are worried about power consumption (I'm not as computers use far,
far less power than most people and technicians think they do) you will
have to play around with the enabled values so that they are much longer
than the time for the screensaver to go into effect.

--
Later,
Darrell Stec darstec@neo.rr.com

Webpage Sorcery
http://webpagesorcery.com
We Put the Magic in Your Webpages

Hi Darrell,
THANKS very much for that screen saver info. I will be
trying all of James information and your screen saver information in a
little bit, after breakfast <grin>. With those two problems hopefully
resolved I will just need to find a fix for the clock problem. I had
the system on for about 8-hrs yesterday and it lost about 40 mins of
time. It doesn't happen at all with Windows XP, only with this new 10.3
software. Thanks again.


Robert


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Hi James and Darrell,
Well both of your helpful info messages were quite
fruitful. The link to the ATI driver and installation info worked great
and my system is now at the monitor's native resolution of 1920x1200.
It's unfortunate though that the native resolution was the only one
that was added to the selectable list. I sure would have preferred
1440x900 or even 1680x1050 because my eyes aren't all that great
anymore in my waning years and I could use the larger fonts. Still,
beggars can't be choosers <grin>, and it sure is nice to get an
undistorted screen now that is in sync with the operating system. With
the added drivers I also got the ability to enable 3D acceleration and
enable DPMS, so with all of that and Darrell's info, the screen saver
is working fine as well. Now if I can find out how to get the system
clock to keep proper time it would be great I lose several minutes each
hour and I know it is not the hardware at fault. It is definitely
something in the 10.3 system that is causing the clock to constantly
lose time. Thanks again for your great help guys!!!!


Robert


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RobertE wrote:

>
> Hi Darrell,
> THANKS very much for that screen saver info. I will be
> trying all of James information and your screen saver information in a
> little bit, after breakfast <grin>. With those two problems hopefully
> resolved I will just need to find a fix for the clock problem. I had
> the system on for about 8-hrs yesterday and it lost about 40 mins of
> time. It doesn't happen at all with Windows XP, only with this new 10.3
> software. Thanks again.
>
>
> Robert
>
>

Reset the clock in the BIOS. I experienced exactly the same thing with
OpenSuse 10.3 (after some update) and again with a new installation of
10.3. Changing the time in BIOS corrected the problem. Then installing
the NTP (time) configuration under YAST --> Network Services kept it from
drifting those extra few seconds. You need broadband Internet access for
it to work.

--
Later,
Darrell Stec darstec@neo.rr.com

Webpage Sorcery
http://webpagesorcery.com
We Put the Magic in Your Webpages

RobertE wrote:

> time. It doesn't happen at all with Windows XP, only with this new 10.3
> software. Thanks again.

Install and enable the NTP client. Make sure you set your hardware clock to
local time otherwise Windows will confuse it every time you use it (the
dumb thing insists on setting the hardware clock to local time).

--
Ruurd

Hi Darrell and James,
Hmmmmm, I posted a new reply to you both, but I
don't see it? Anyway, I got the ATI driver installed okay, and it added
1920x1200 native resolution to the graphics card selections in YAST, but
too bad it doesn't also give me the options for 1440x900 and 1680x1050.
But at least the 1920x1200 works great now. The screensaver is also now
working fine since I was able to enable 3D acceleration and DPMS and
make the other changes Darrell suggested. Now I just need to get the
clock problem fixed <grin>. Thanks again guys.

Robert


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