NVIDIA can't lower resolution

[raparree]

Hi,

My nvidia options don't allow me to lower (or change) the resolution. It only offers me the options "auto" and "1920x1200". When i give a presentation i want to lower it down to whatever the projector is capable of.
I have a Dell Precision M6300 with a Quadro FX1600M

My xorg config is as follows:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
Screen "Screen[0]" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Mouse[3]" "SendCoreEvents"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
EndSection
Section "Files"
InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata"
InputDevices "/dev/input/mice"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
...
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "freetype"
Load "extmod"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
Option "ZapWarning" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard[0]"
Driver "kbd"
Option "Protocol" "Standard"
Option "XkbLayout" "nl"
Option "XkbModel" "precision_m"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "InputFashion" "Mouse"
Option "Name" "MX310"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Vendor" "Logitech"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse[3]"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "Buttons" "7"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
Option "InputFashion" "Mouse"
Option "Name" "Touchpad"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
Option "Vendor" "Synaptics"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
VendorName "SEC"
ModelName "KH164 LCD MONITOR"
UseModes "Modes[0]"
DisplaySize 367 230
HorizSync 30.0 - 94.0
VertRefresh 43.0 - 60.0
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
Option "DPMS"
Option "PreferredMode" "1900x1200"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVidia"
BoardName "Quadro FX 2500M"
Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Device "Device[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1900x1200" "1600x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1600x900" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1360x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1900x1200" "1600x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1600x900" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1360x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1900x1200" "1600x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1600x900" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1360x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1900x1200" "1600x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1024" "1600x1000" "1400x1050" "1600x900" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x960" "1366x768" "1360x768" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "on"
EndSection

[deano_ferrari]

Try using xrandr command to set the display resolution of your projector.

List detected display devices and current/available modes with

xrandr -q

Hopefully you will see all connected displays. (Sometimes they're not correctly reported).

This Xrandr with External Displays HOW TO should give you the basic idea on setting modes.

Hope it is of help.

[raparree]

Thanks for your response, i will most certainly check this out. However i am not connected to the project at this time.
I should be able to just lower my resolution of my laptop display panel, but there are no resultions in the dropdown box of the nividea settings, just the two i mention: auto and 1900x1200.

Any clues?

tx.,

[deano_ferrari]

Same tool applies. You can do

xrandr -q

to see current/available modes.


For example, I get

dean@linux:~> xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 800, maximum 1280 x 800
default connected 1280x800+0+0 0mm x 0mm
1280x800 60.0*
1024x768 60.0
800x600 60.0
640x480 60.0
960x600 60.0
768x480 60.0
640x400 60.0
640x350 60.0
512x384 60.0
400x300 60.0
320x240 60.0
320x200 60.0

You can see the default (and native) resolution for my display is 1280x800. To set a lower display mode, I can do

xrandr -s 1024x768

The change is immediate.

[raparree]

Hi,

Hmmm, with me it only displays:
Screen 0: minimum 1920 x 1200, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 1920 x 1200
default connected 1920x1200+0+0 0mm x 0mm
1920x1200 50.0*

That's it, the problem is somewhere deeper, do you have any clues?

Tx.,

Raphaël

[deano_ferrari]

That's it, the problem is somewhere deeper, do you have any clues?

The X-server relies on EDID information from the display devices (monitors, LCD screens etc) for their available modes. It doesn't always work properly. You can use xrandr to add new modes for a given display, then set the desired display mode.

If you need these modes to be persistent, your xorg.conf file will need the required modelines added (to your modes section).

For example, if you know your display can do 1024x768@60Hz, then you can use gtf to get modeline

gtf 1024 768 60

# 1024x768 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 47.70 kHz; pclk: 64.11 MHz
Modeline "1024x768_60.00" 64.11 1024 1080 1184 1344 768 769 772 795 -HSync +Vsync

These can be tested via xrandr as follows. (Note these will not be persistent).

xrandr --newmode 1024x768 64.11 1024 1080 1184 1344 768 769 772 795 -HSync +Vsync

xrandr --addmode LVDS 1024 768

From there, if all went well it should be listed via 'xrandr -q'. You can then set it with

xrandr -s 1024x768

Have a look at this Ubuntu-based xrandr guide.

[raparree]

Thanks for the comprehensive response. A first try gave me an error stating there was an error changing the configuration. I will dive deeper into the documentation.

[hogg101]

Hi!

I am having the same problem re resolution - it is only offering me the native lcd display.

I have been following the above, but, being a noob to linux, got as far as

xrandr --addmode LVDS 1024 768

when xrandr complained that it didnt know what device LVDS was.

What are the other options for the device name, or where do I get it from? My display appears to be a standard seiko LCD.

Sorry to hijack this thread!

[deano_ferrari]

Hi hogg101. Are you using (proprietary) nvidia or (open source) nv driver.

xrandr -q

will list available display device names and modes AFAIK. Sometimes xorg.conf needs adjusting manually, with manual modelines, and they will still get ignored, unless you disable EDID. You may need to google for more info.

Some useful references to get you started

Modify xorg.conf for better performance | TuxRadar

Modeline Database - MythTV

[hogg101]

Hi!

creen 0: minimum 1680 x 1050, current 1680 x 1050, maximum 1680 x 1050
default connected 1680x1050+0+0 0mm x 0mm
1680x1050 50.0*
1280x800_60.00 (0x232) 83.5MHz
h: width 1280 start 1352 end 1480 total 1680 skew 0 clock 49.7KHz
v: height 800 start 803 end 809 total 831 clock 59.8Hz
1024x768_60.00 (0x244) 64.1MHz
h: width 1024 start 1080 end 1184 total 1344 skew 0 clock 47.7KHz
v: height 768 start 769 end 772 total 795 clock 60.0Hz

As you can see, I have managed to follow the above guide so far, and got the 1280x800 line written in, but then got stuck with trying to access it and make it permanent, as detailed in my previous post!