Configuring graphics cards in openSUSE 11.3

English Hardware
#1

See SDB:Configuring graphics cards - openSUSE

There are some changes in the way openSUSE 11.3 handles the graphics drivers, and users probably will benefit from having this information at hand.

#2

Hello,

spent about 4h and now success - if this doesn’t belong here - please delete, move …

It is about configuring a dualheaded display on a Lenovo X61 (in a docking station) with an Intel 965 GM graphics card and an LCD monitor besides. I upgraded from 11.2 to 11.3 and all a sudden nothing worked.

I finally have an xorg.conf that works.

It seems that something must have changed in the driver as under 11.2 it was possible to have two “Device” sections, but now the error came:
(II) Primary Device is: PCI 00@00:02:0
Requested Entity already in use!

and X died…

So - the solution seems to be:

  • Have ONE ServerLayout referring to TWO Screen sections.
  • Both Screen Sections refer to the SAME Device section
  • The Device section has options for BOTH Monitor sections
    • Option “Monitor-LVDS1” needs to be named that way
    • Option “Monitor-VGA1” needs to be named that way
    • The values for these options are referring to the names YOU GAVE the corresponding sections

What’s open? Don’t know whether I really need the Display subsection - I did it because I remember having read somewhere you have to specify a “Virtual” parameter in order to have the driver allocate video RAM for the bigger combined virtual desktop…

So here is my xorg.conf - maybe it helps…(but remember - backup old file and if it works: fine - if it blows your hardware - your fault…)

Section “ServerFlags”
Option “AIGLX” “on”
Option “AllowMouseOpenFail” “on”
Option “ZapWarning” “on”
Option “Xinerama” “on”
EndSection

Section “Module”
Load “dbe”
Load “freetype”
Load “glx”
Load “extmod”
Load “dri”
EndSection

Section “DRI”
Group “video”
Mode 0660
EndSection

Section “Extensions”
Option “Composite” “on”
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “LAYOUT1”
Screen 0 “SCREEN1”
Screen 1 “SCREEN2”
Option “Xinerama” “on”
Option “Clone” “off”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “SCREEN1”
Device “DEVICE1”
Monitor “MONITOR1”
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1024x768” “1024x600” “800x600” “768x576” “640x480”
Virtual 2224 1024
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “SCREEN2”
Device “DEVICE1”
Monitor “MONITOR2”
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1280x1024” “1024x768” “1024x600” “800x600” “768x576” “640x480”
Virtual 2224 1024
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “DEVICE1”
BoardName “965 GM”
Driver “intel”
BusID “pci:0:2:0”
Screen 0
Option “monitor-LVDS1” “MONITOR1”
Option “monitor-VGA1” “MONITOR2”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “MONITOR1”
ModelName “LENOVO LCD MONITOR”
Option “DPMS”
Option “PreferredMode” “1024x768”
Option “Position” “0 0”
VendorName “LEN”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “MONITOR2”
ModelName “VG712s”
Option “DPMS”
Option “PreferredMode” “1280x1024”
VendorName “VIEWSONIC”
Option “Position” “1024 0”
Option “RightOf” “MONITOR1”
EndSection

Seems a bit redundant to me - the device pointing to the monitor - and the screen as well - but it works, and I have to go to sleep…

Regards
Wolf

#3

Hello,

i’m not sure if this is the same problem, but i recently upgrade my 11.2 to 11.3 on my desktop equipped with a 8800GT.
I used the proprietary driver from the repo and during upgrade, openSuse switched to the open source driver. Then, X wouldn’t start anymore, claiming that i can’t enter runlevel 5.
Running startx showed something about the nvidia module not being able to load.
I then installed the proprietary driver again using yast over in the shell and X worked again. I still had to run nvidia-xconfig manually, though.

#4

Catalyst 10.7 (proprietary drivers for Linux) explicitly support openSuSE 11.3 (including the 2.6.34-series kernels), in both x32 and x64 flavors (as usual, a kernel upgrade/change requires a driver rebuild).

Follow the hard way instructions for 11.2, substituting 10-7 for 10-3 in the example given.

(These drivers are of particular use for HD5xxx-series GPUs, which are not supported by the FOSS drivers in terms of 3D/OpenGL/DRI.)

#5

I am having my own issues with 11.3 and the Catalyst 10.7 driver, and without sax commands I am finding almost no helpful information out there. Does anyone know of a good post sax era howto for Opensuse Graphics driver installs.

#6

I install package cpufrequtils this what show me after the command about info of my frequency:

linux-rx5c:~ # cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 006: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to openSUSE:Submitting bug reports - openSUSE, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
driver: powernow-k8
CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0
CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0
maximum transition latency: 109 us.
hardware limits: 800 MHz - 1.80 GHz
available frequency steps: 1.80 GHz, 1.60 GHz, 800 MHz
available cpufreq governors: conservative, userspace, powersave, ondemand, performance
current policy: frequency should be within 800 MHz and 800 MHz.
The governor “ondemand” may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 800 MHz (asserted by call to hardware).

is this the problem that i have? if yes how i can change this to work in correct range 800-1800Mhz?

Sorry wrong 3d…sorry again…

#7

I for one have given up. I have other things to do. But I did take the time to whine about it at my new blog which no one is reading anyway: Dear openSUSE: Your 11.3 display settings doesn’t do it for me.

#8

Well now Benno. I’ve just spent a while replying to your blog. Couldn’t do it old son because I am presented with stuff like “Comment as”!

What? I gotta sign up to something to post a reply to you?

Hmmm. Maybe that’s why you get no replies.

Cheers - AK

#9

But - Benno has a point.

I had a nightmare with this on my laptop using an Intel card with 11.2; and finally got it working by downloading SaX2. I decided to wait a bit and then jump up to 11.3… and once again, it’s “muck about with X settings” time. It’s really disheartening.

I followed through the guide; got a segmentation fault on running Xorg -configure; and am now trying to find SaX2 again… without success. Does anyone know of a repository that has it?

#10

Just did 1 click install for nvidia driver in SUSE 11.3, it rocks; better than windows.

#11

I note this in your blog:

PS. Yes, I consider going through some of the procedures described at the Configuring graphics cards wiki page. But just from peeking at it I sure understand why most would never consider this an option

I confess I am getting a bit worn down, and long in the tooth … my wish here is that users, when they see something they do not like, would contribute to fix the wiki for areas that are difficult to read, to the maximum extent practical for them. Thats what open source is about, and its something we strive for.

I wrote that guide. I want input for the guide. I asked for input for that guide. I received input for that guide and implemented it as best I could… I made it as simple as I knew how, with step1, step2, step3, etc … where AS SOON AS ANY STEP WORKS one can stop.

But I read:

But just from peeking at it I sure understand why most would never consider this an option

I confess I can be irrascible and irritable at times, but I do have to look myself in the mirror in the morning, and I do have a wife who pulls me down to earth and ensures I am not too nasty a person. Hence I think I am able to politely receive constructive criticism that IS SPECIFIC.

How then do you propose to improve that guide, A guide where YOU say most would never consider this as an option?

#12

Its not uncommon (sadly) to get a segmentation fault when running “Xorg -configure”. Still, even though that happens, often the /root/xorg.conf.new file is STILL CREATED with the seg fault. Did you check for the file ? is it there ?

Did you also try booting to ‘safemode’ ? Did you try the ‘nomodeset’ boot code? But MORE to the point, what Intel card do you have? Some Intel cards work BEAUTIFULLY and some do NOT work at all. We need to know SPECIFICALLY which you have.

#13

1 click install works fast and it gets right kernel modules. Secondly, there is no point in creating xorg.conf.new and then copying it. Get to terminal, su yourself and open nvidia-settings. Check the configuration and save it from there.

#14

Thanks for the link to the stickySDB article. I got hung up switching from NVidiaTNT2 to MatroxG400. After doing the Xorg -configure, testing it simply crashed the system. Then I learned 11.3 doesn’t use a configuration file anyway until I used the nomodeset boot option. The automated boot time configuration threw me, but it makes sense for the variety of configurations possible now.

I moved xorg.conf.new to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, copied the modes section from a SuSE9 alternative boot partition XF86Config, cleaned up the format according to the xorg.conf man page, and it works nice now.

Learning is frustrating, but that’s how I got old cards to display nicely on new aspect ratio LCD monitors. The software machinery is usually there if you dig hard and long enough.

#15

Just installed 11.3 inside a VMware guest and am also having video configuration issues. I went through the SDB posted for 11.3 video and the best I could do based on that information was get the system to come up with a 1440x1050 display. The Xorg.0.log file says that the 1680x1050 mode was rejected due to “width requires unsupported line pitch.”

I then found in another thread a link to a set of sax2 rpms and after getting that installed I was able to create an xorg.conf that bumped the display up to 1600x1050. Still get the 1680 line rejected for the same reason though.

Now, what’s truly bizarre is that I can set the display to 1680x1050 via the display configuration within the desktop configuration app. But, this setting does not survive a logout. I tried setting the session manager to restore from a saved session and saved the state of the desktop after changing the display but, no-go.

So, in short, the display is capable of 1680x1050 via KDE4’s desktop configuration, but I can’t get it to do the same via Xorg.

FYI, I’ve been using SuSE since 9.0 as both a VMware host and guest, so I’m not a noob at this…

TIA.

Due to post size limits I’ve only included what I think are the relevant parts of both the Xorg.0.log and xorg.conf files below:

####################################################################################

Xorg.0.log

####################################################################################
2558.602] (–) VMWARE(0): VMware SVGA regs at (0x1440, 0x1441)
2558.602] (II) Loading sub module “vgahw”
2558.602] (II) LoadModule: “vgahw”
2558.606] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libvgahw.so
2558.638] (II) Module vgahw: vendor=“X.Org Foundation”
2558.638] compiled for 1.8.0, module version = 0.1.0
2558.638] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 7.0
2558.757] (–) VMWARE(0): caps: 0x000083E2
2558.757] (–) VMWARE(0): depth: 24
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): bpp: 32
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): vram: 134217728
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): pbase: 0xf0000000
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): mwidt: 1680
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): mheig: 1050
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): depth: 24
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): bpp: 32
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): w.red: 8
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): w.grn: 8
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): w.blu: 8
2558.758] (–) VMWARE(0): vis: 4
2558.759] () VMWARE(0): Depth 24, (–) framebuffer bpp 32
2558.759] (==) VMWARE(0): RGB weight 888
2558.759] (==) VMWARE(0): Default visual is TrueColor
2558.760] (==) VMWARE(0): Using HW cursor
2558.760] (==) VMWARE(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
2558.760] (II) VMWARE(0): Monitor[0]: Using hsync range of 30.00-66.00 kHz
2558.760] (II) VMWARE(0): Monitor[0]: Using vrefresh range of 48.00-100.00 Hz
2558.761] (II) VMWARE(0): Clock range: 0.00 to 400000.00 MHz
2558.765] (II) VMWARE(0): Not using mode “1680x1050” (width requires unsupported line pitch)
2558.765] (–) VMWARE(0): Virtual size is 1600x1050 (pitch 1600)
2558.765] () VMWARE(0): *Mode “1600x1024”: 119.1 MHz, 56.0 kHz, 53.0 Hz
2558.766] (II) VMWARE(0): Modeline "1600x1024"x53.0 119.10 1600 1696 1864 2128 1024 1025 1028 1056 (56.0 kHz)
2558.766] () VMWARE(0): *Mode “1600x1000”: 118.6 MHz, 55.7 kHz, 54.0 Hz
2558.766] (II) VMWARE(0): Modeline "1600x1000"x54.0 118.59 1600 1696 1864 2128 1000 1001 1004 1032 (55.7 kHz)
2558.766] () VMWARE(0): *Mode “1400x1050”: 118.4 MHz, 63.0 kHz, 58.0 Hz
2558.766] (II) VMWARE(0): Modeline "1400x1050"x58.0 118.42 1400 1488 1640 1880 1050 1051 1054 1086 (63.0 kHz)
2558.766] () VMWARE(0): *Mode “1600x900”: 119.0 MHz, 55.9 kHz, 60.0 Hz
2558.766] (II) VMWARE(0): Modeline "1600x900"x60.0 119.00 1600 1696 1864 2128 900 901 904 932 (55.9 kHz)
2558.766] () VMWARE(0): *Mode “1280x1024”: 110.8 MHz, 64.7 kHz, 61.0 Hz
2558.766] (II) VMWARE(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x61.0 110.80 1280 1360 1496 1712 1024 1025 1028 1061 (64.7 kHz)
2558.766] () VMWARE(0): *Mode “1440x900”: 109.2 MHz, 56.9 kHz, 61.0 Hz
2558.766] (II) VMWARE(0): Modeline "1440x900"x61.0 109.16 1440 1528 1680 1920 900 901 904 932 (56.9 kHz)
2558.768] () VMWARE(0): Display dimensions: (305, 230) mm
2558.768] (**) VMWARE(0): DPI set to (133, 113)
2558.769] (II) Loading sub module “fb”
2558.769] (II) LoadModule: “fb”
2558.773] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfb.so
2558.801] (II) Module fb: vendor=“X.Org Foundation”
2558.801] compiled for 1.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
2558.801] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
2558.801] (II) Loading sub module “shadowfb”
2558.801] (II) LoadModule: “shadowfb”
2558.802] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libshadowfb.so
2558.812] (II) Module shadowfb: vendor=“X.Org Foundation”
2558.812] compiled for 1.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
2558.812] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
2558.812] (II) Loading sub module “ramdac”
2558.812] (II) LoadModule: “ramdac”
2558.812] (II) Module “ramdac” already built-in
2558.813] (–) Depth 24 pixmap format is 32 bpp

####################################################################################

xorg.conf

####################################################################################

/…/

SaX generated X11 config file

Created on: 2010-11-08T22:25:57-0500.

Version: 8.1

Contact: Marcus Schaefer <sax@suse.de>, 2005

Contact: SaX-User list <https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/sax-users>

Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!

Section “Module”
Load “dri”
Load “dbe”
Load “extmod”
Load “glx”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
DisplaySize 305 230
HorizSync 30-66
Identifier “Monitor[0]”
ModelName “1680X1050@60HZ”
Option “DPMS”
Option “PreferredMode” “1680x1050”
VendorName “–> LCD”
VertRefresh 48-100
UseModes “Modes[0]”
EndSection

Section “Modes”
Identifier “Modes[0]”
Modeline “1680x1050” 117.69 1680 1776 1952 2224 1050 1051 1054 1080
Modeline “1600x1024” 119.10 1600 1696 1864 2128 1024 1025 1028 1056
Modeline “1600x1000” 118.59 1600 1696 1864 2128 1000 1001 1004 1032
Modeline “1400x1050” 118.42 1400 1488 1640 1880 1050 1051 1054 1086
Modeline “1600x900” 119.00 1600 1696 1864 2128 900 901 904 932
EndSection

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

Section “Device”
BoardName “VMWARE0405”
Driver “vmware”
Identifier “Device[0]”
VendorName “VMWare Inc”
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Layout[all]”
InputDevice “Keyboard[0]” “CoreKeyboard”
InputDevice “Mouse[1]” “CorePointer”
Option “Clone” “off”
Option “Xinerama” “off”
Screen “Screen[0]”
EndSection

Section “DRI”
Group “video”
Mode 0660
EndSection

Section “Extensions”
EndSection

#16

Could this be a vmware-specific configuration issue? I have little experience with virtual machines, but I found a blog and forum thread concerning this same apparent issue

Increase resolution on Vmware Server with Linux guest | Dbvisit - Standby Database Technology Blog

X11 not working at 1680x1050 under vmware ‘width requires unsupported line pitch’

Could it be that the vmx file just needs to be edited (svga.maxWidth, svga.maxHeight) and the virtual machine restarted to allow for a higher display resolution?

Please ignore this if I’m on the wrong track :slight_smile:

#17

Where did you find that ?

I’m using 11.3, I’ve tied loading both the 260 and 173 packages, I’ve run nvidia config to modify my xorg.conf

Section “Device”
Identifier “Device0”
Driver “nvidia”
VendorName “NVIDIA Corporation”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Screen0”
Device “Device0”
Monitor “Monitor0”
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Now in fedora you have to add a file section to point to the libs in /usr/lib64/xorg

Is that needed here ?
If I run lsmod and look through the list I cant see nvidia listed , however
richard-g8jvm:/home/richard # lsmod | grep nvidia
nvidia 8105046 24

Normally when the nvidia drivers are loaded you see a short bootsplash, and there is the nvidia control center to alter resolution etc.
this is not happening.

I have a problem with an app that need the proprietary drivers , my card is a GT8500

the noveau drive should be black listed, sysconfig is correct according to the guide.

I would expect also to see the bootup hang for a while while the module is being compiled, this is not happening either.
I dont want to resort to getting the installer off the nvidia site, as that means recompiling everytime the kernel is updated.

What have I missed, I’ve only been using Suse for 24 hrs, so haven’t found everything yet

thanks
Richard

#18

If you encounter such a difficulty again in the post size limitations, I recommend you paste your file’s contents to pastebin - collaborative debugging tool and press submit on that site, and then post here the URL that is given you.

Reference your difficulty, deano_ferrai knows much more than I about this graphic subject, so I’m hoping he will come up with a solution for you.

#19

Please ignore my last post, when I changed the driver back to 260 they did build, my stupidity for not spotting that and , I got fooled by nvidia setting not appearing in the apps menu , as it does on other OSs,

Richard

#20

Thanks. Unfortunately, the .vmx file already has the following in it:

svga.vramSize = “13417728”
svga.maxWidth = “1680”
svga.maxHeight = “1050”

They work fine on an 11.2 or earlier guest. Also, I’m able to get the display to use 1680x1050, but only via the KDE display configuration.

It’s only in Xorg that the pitch error shows up.