Ok... So What Do Us Wide-Screen Users Do???

[matheusleite]

Originally Posted by oldcpu

11.2 milestone and RC releases were for testing, so that if something did not work, a user would write a bug report. Did you have an answer from the bug report you presumeably wrote?

I didn't write a bug report. The reason being I don't follow the development and I wasn't aware of this rule. Even if I knew, I wouldn't write a bug report, because I am a casual user who expects basic things to work out of the box.

However I like OpenSuse and I am used to it. I use it for office purposes only. I thought this forum would be the right place to ask, and I apologize if I was wrong.

Also, when you state 11.2 doesn't support your Samsung SyncMaster 2233sw widescreen monitor with a NVidia GeForce 7300GS graphics card ..... what can you tell us about that SyncMaster 2233 ? ie doesn't support it at all ? or does not support some resolutions? What graphic drivers did you try? vesa? the openGL "nv" ? the proprietary "nvidia" ?

I don't know about a 2233. I only have a 2233sw. The image is stretched, as if I was using a non-widescreen resolution with a widescreen monitor.

I don't know which graphics driver I used. I used the live KDE DVD, and later tried to tinker around the resolution with no success.

Once again sorry for disturbing.

[oldcpu]

Originally Posted by matheusleite

I thought this forum would be the right place to ask, and I apologize if I was wrong.

This IS the right place for versions of openSUSE that have been released, such as 11.1 and earlier, and in just over a week, when 11.2 is released, it WILL be the place for 11.2 casual users who are looking for support.

But for 11.2 milestone and release candidate, 11.2 is NOT recommended for casual users who are not interested in testing/writing bug reports, as 11.2 is not sufficiently ready and users could come to the wrong conclusion.

If one does install 11.2 milestone or release candidate, and have a problem, and one is doing this to help testing, then one can go to our software/beta testing subforum, or one can simply write a bug report.

Originally Posted by matheusleite

I don't know which graphics driver I used. I used the live KDE DVD, and later tried to tinker around the resolution with no success.

Hmm ... there is no such thing as a live KDE DVD.

I think you mean the live KDE CD.

That does NOT come with a proprietary nVidia driver, but rather will use the openGL graphic driver (referred to as "nv") or the generic vesa graphic driver (referred to as "vesa"), or in worst cases the fbdev graphic driver (referred to as "fbdev" ). Starting in openSUSE-11.2 the method for having graphics setup on openSUSE change, and the /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file, which used to be the configuration file for openSUSE graphics, is no longer required, although IF present it will be used.

Note you can still tell what graphic driver is being used (even IF there is no /etc/X11/xorg.conf file) in openSUSE-11.2 by typing in a konsole:

/usr/sbin/hwinfo --gfxcard | grep Driver

note linux is case sensitive.

You may see "nv" or "vesa" indicating the driver that the live CD was using.

If the autosetup of graphics did not work on the live CD, it is possible to logout of X windows (without rebooting) and then run the program sax2 with very specific input arguments, to configure for the "vesa" or "nv" driver, and see if one can improve on the autoprobe/autosetup of the graphics.

Typically the proprietary graphic driver will have superior capabilities, but for that its easiest to install if one already has openSUSE installed on one's pc. For openSUSE-11.2 RC (ie BEFORE official release) I typically recommend one install that version only on a sandbox pc.

If the above reads to be complicated, thats because 11.2 RC2 is still a test version. Apologies.

[brunomcl]

Originally Posted by conram

Three weeks ago I installed opensuse 11.1 for my daughter. It is using a cheap nvidia gforce fx5500 on a 32" samsung lcd t.v. After installing the driver, it detected the t.v default screen resolution which is 1360x768. I tested it on a nvidia 7300 gt and got the resolution also. Base from the op, I am not sure now if the t.v is wide screen. The measurement is x=15.5" and y=27.5" diagonal dimension is 32". Can someone confirm if this is a wide screen or not because opensuse is using the right resolution.

27.5/15.5 = 16/9, which is widescreen, as well as 16/10 - you can find monitors/Tvs with both aspect ratios. Fullscreen monitors/TVs are 4/3 or 5/4.

Your TV resolution, 1360/768, equals the same 16/9, so everything is kosher.

Also, sqrt(27.5²+15.5²) = 31.6 which is your diagonal (vendors tend to round them up).

[conram]

Originally Posted by brunomcl

27.5/15.5 = 16/9, which is widescreen, as well as 16/10 - you can find monitors/Tvs with both aspect ratios. Fullscreen monitors/TVs are 4/3 or 5/4.

Your TV resolution, 1360/768, equals the same 16/9, so everything is kosher.

Also, sqrt(27.5²+15.5²) = 31.6 which is your diagonal (vendors tend to round them up).

brunomcl,

Thanks. Now it's clear to me. Thanks for the explanation.

conram

[brunomcl]

Glad to be of help

[conram]

Yep, and that confirms wide screens does work.

[brunomcl]

IME there's one situation at least where it may not work. The explanation is lengthy, so be patient

I've been messing around with LCD TV's and their differences from LCD monitors. They are mostly two, as far as I could see:

1) Less choice of horizontal frequencies, usually 60Hz.

2) Iffy EDID.

EDID is the protocol the TV/Monitor use to tell the graphics card of it's capabilities: Frequencies x resolutions, preferred freq x res, and physical size.

Well, #2 is a killer. While monitor fabs are keen on setting the correct EDID data and functionality, those doing TV's don't really care as connections will be by HDMI cable, with a fixed set (720 or 1080 lines and their variations).

Some TV's give wrong/meaningless info, others fail to even communicate. The EDID data can usually be seen at /var/log/Xorg.99.log. For example, with a 24" LCD monitor:

(II) fglrx(0): Connected Display1: DFP on secondary TMDS [tmds2i]
(II) fglrx(0): Display1 EDID data ---------------------------
(II) fglrx(0): Manufacturer: AOC  Model: 2416  Serial#: 3585
(II) fglrx(0): Year: 2008  Week: 13
(II) fglrx(0): EDID Version: 1.3
(II) fglrx(0): Digital Display Input
(II) fglrx(0): Max Image Size [cm]: horiz.: 52  vert.: 32
(II) fglrx(0): Gamma: 2.20
(II) fglrx(0): DPMS capabilities: StandBy Suspend Off
(II) fglrx(0): Supported color encodings: RGB 4:4:4 YCrCb 4:4:4 
(II) fglrx(0): First detailed timing not preferred mode in violation of standard!
(II) fglrx(0): redX: 0.640 redY: 0.329   greenX: 0.300 greenY: 0.600
(II) fglrx(0): blueX: 0.149 blueY: 0.060   whiteX: 0.312 whiteY: 0.328
(II) fglrx(0): Supported VESA Video Modes:
(II) fglrx(0): 720x400@70Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 640x480@60Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 640x480@67Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 640x480@72Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 640x480@75Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 800x600@56Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 800x600@60Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 800x600@72Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 800x600@75Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 832x624@75Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 1024x768@60Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 1024x768@70Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 1024x768@75Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 1280x1024@75Hz
(II) fglrx(0): 1152x870@75Hz
(II) fglrx(0): Manufacturer's mask: 0
(II) fglrx(0): Supported Future Video Modes:
(II) fglrx(0): #0: hsize: 1280  vsize 720  refresh: 60  vid: 49281
(II) fglrx(0): #1: hsize: 1280  vsize 960  refresh: 60  vid: 16513
(II) fglrx(0): #2: hsize: 1280  vsize 1024  refresh: 60  vid: 32897
(II) fglrx(0): #3: hsize: 1440  vsize 900  refresh: 60  vid: 149
(II) fglrx(0): #4: hsize: 1600  vsize 1200  refresh: 60  vid: 16553
(II) fglrx(0): #5: hsize: 1680  vsize 1050  refresh: 60  vid: 179
(II) fglrx(0): Supported additional Video Mode:
(II) fglrx(0): clock: 154.0 MHz   Image Size:  520 x 330 mm
(II) fglrx(0): h_active: 1920  h_sync: 1968  h_sync_end 2000 h_blank_end 2080 h_border: 0
(II) fglrx(0): v_active: 1200  v_sync: 1203  v_sync_end 1209 v_blanking: 1235 v_border: 0
(II) fglrx(0): Supported additional Video Mode:
(II) fglrx(0): clock: 119.0 MHz   Image Size:  433 x 271 mm
(II) fglrx(0): h_active: 1680  h_sync: 1728  h_sync_end 1760 h_blank_end 1840 h_border: 0
(II) fglrx(0): v_active: 1050  v_sync: 1053  v_sync_end 1059 v_blanking: 1080 v_border: 0
(II) fglrx(0): Ranges: V min: 50 V max: 75 Hz, H min: 24 H max: 80 kHz, PixClock max 170 MHz
(II) fglrx(0): Monitor name: 416

Note that even this monitor doesn't follow EDID standards fully. The native resolution is 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz.

In a Philips 32" TV, X is unable to retrieve EDID data, and the native resolution of the TV, 1336 x 768 (or any 16:9 ratio resolution) apparently requires unusual timings, so non-4:3 standards are unstable, with the TV trying too resync every few seconds. The largest stable resolution is 1024 x 768, with gives flattened out icons and text.

Note that all this was tested with the analog RGB connector (DSUB), usually (but wrongly) called VGA connector. Probably with a DVI-D or HDMI the situation will be different. I may test it sometime.

OBS: X calls everything connected to analog RGB a CRT, and to a digital connector a DFP (digital flat panel). That's why you see CRTxx in Xorg.conf even if you're using a LCD monitor.

[Wilson_Phillips]

Folks, please remember that using a Live CD of a Release Candidate is always an iffy situation. It will not load the proprietary driver and may or may not work with your hardware. openSUSE does not use any closed source software, so an openSUSE Live CD can not be expected to fully support all hardware. It is basically available to use to try out the version, or to use for rescue work.

Do not expect a full install to react the same way, as you would be able to install the needed drivers and you would be able to expect it to work properly after that. In a few days, the full blown version of 11.2 will be available on the mirrors and it should be a great distro.

__________________________________________________ _______

Rant Time

Oldcpu, keep your finger on the DELETE button. If I still had that option, about 1/3 of this thread would be in the trash.

Chrisantine, I have always had so much respect for your knowledge, but you start more arguments than anyone on this board. We have to treat everyone with some respect. People come here for help and we should be helping them. If you don't want to help, keep your fingers off the keyboard.