More help setting display resolution please as my computer is unuseable!

English Hardware
1

I have started a new thread as on booting now the display resolution is so poor that I cannot even select anything. This is by far the worst situation I have been in with this machine. I have had to edit grub to boot to level 3 which works fine but impossible for me to exchange any info except by using another computer and then I do not yet know how to copy from my console to anywhere else.

I have read through the post from mrmazda from September of last year but have had no success this time and am not sure where to start. Please would some kind soul help me back to at least 1289 x 1024 so I can communicate after a fashion.

Budgie2

2

Start from the top. Basic info please…

inxi -GSa
echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
xrandr
3

Hi Dean,
I have now been able to shrink the displayed images back to 1024 x 768 and can work on my machine again so here are the basics. BTW how to I highlight code now when posting from my console? Meanwhile here it is without the code quotes:-

alastair@ibmserv2:~> sudo inxi -GSa
[sudo] password for root:
System:
Host: ibmserv2 Kernel: 5.14.21-150400.24.38-default arch: x86_64
bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.5.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.14.21-150400.24.38-default
root=UUID=d49782e2-1df9-4013-a8c9-6136ff257446 splash=silent
quiet mitigations=auto 3
Console: pty pts/1 DM: SDDM Distro: openSUSE Leap 15.4
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM]
vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire driver: radeon v: kernel
arch: TeraScale-2 code: Evergreen process: TSMC 32-40nm
built: 2009-15 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max:
lanes: 16 ports: active: VGA-1 empty: DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-1
bus-ID: 15:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:6779 class-ID: 0300 temp: 44.0 C
Display: server: X.org v: 1.20.3 with: Xwayland v: 21.1.4
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: radeon
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: r600 gpu: radeon tty: 71x16
Monitor-1: VGA-1 size-res: N/A in console modes: max: 1024x768
min: 640x480
API: OpenGL Message: GL data unavailable in console for root.
alastair@ibmserv2:~>

alastair@ibmserv2:~> echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
KDE
alastair@ibmserv2:~>

alastair@ibmserv2:~> xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 16384 x 16384
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DVI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VGA-0 connected primary 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
1024x768 60.00*
800x600 60.32 56.25
848x480 60.00
640x480 59.94
alastair@ibmserv2:~>

This is mostly what I expect to see because of the KVM remote switch getting in the way but I thought I had inserted the correct settings permanently in my system following the posts in September last. Clearly not.
I have gone back to earlier posts from you but this time I have been unable to follow. If you can help it would be much appreciated please.
Regards,
Budge.

4

Please take a look in ‘/usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/’ –

  • Choose a console font which is large enough to be readable.

Drop the choice into ‘/etc/vconsole.conf’ – I’m currently using the ‘suse12x22.psfu.gz’ font file.

 > cat /etc/vconsole.conf 
KEYMAP=de-nodeadkeys
FONT=suse12x22.psfu
FONT_MAP=
FONT_UNIMAP=
 >

I’m using a 32 inch display with a resolution of 3840x2160 and 140 dpi.

  • The openSUSE default VT font is really small on these displays …
5

Hi and thanks for the info on fonts. I shall look at this later as the fonts are not the problem at present, it is my system and I suspect a KDE change which has messed thing up.

6

Further to this I went to the Z640 machine which is using windoze for the office and rebooted into Leap 15.4. Now this machine is connected to the KVM port which receives the KVM switch info for the display and was working on 1600 x 1400.
Sadly once booted into openSUSE the resolution cannot be changed above 1024 x 768.

I am thinking that it is, as usual, the update which has stuffed my system and not me.

7

Well this is fun. I stopped all three machines on my subnet and disconnected the KVM remote which has power.
I then booted the HP_Z640 machine which had the grub default for windoze, went to the remote site, turned on the KVM and waited for the boot to proceed.
Too slow to get to see the grub screen (the HP boots quite quickly, the IBM 5 minutes) but I was able to see the boot process and it was for Leap 15.4.
During the last update the grub default was reverted to Leap 15.4, not by me though.
Anyhow once it had booted and to my great joy, my display was back to 1920 x 1080!!!
Unfortunately the same machine could not make an internet connection.
Re-set the grub default to windoze, because this is what it is intended to use for the office, rebooted to windoze and I was also able to get 1920 x 1080 and also able to make an internet connection.

I then re-started my ibm workstation using wol from my laptop and now the IBM server is running with 1920 x 1080 resolution and an internet connection.

So here is what I have now:-

alastair@ibmserv2:~> sudo inxi -GSa
[sudo] password for root:
System:
Host: ibmserv2 Kernel: 5.14.21-150400.24.38-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.5.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.14.21-150400.24.38-default
root=UUID=d49782e2-1df9-4013-a8c9-6136ff257446 splash=silent quiet mitigations=auto
Console: pty pts/1 DM: SDDM Distro: openSUSE Leap 15.4
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM] vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire
driver: radeon v: kernel arch: TeraScale-2 code: Evergreen process: TSMC 32-40nm built: 2009-15
pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: lanes: 16 ports: active: VGA-1
empty: DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 15:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:6779 class-ID: 0300 temp: 46.0 C
Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.20.3 with: Xwayland v: 21.1.4 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
loaded: radeon unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: r600 gpu: radeon tty: 109x18
Monitor-1: VGA-1 model: Asus BE249 serial: L7LMQS062794 built: 2020 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 93
gamma: 1.2 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080
min: 720x400
API: OpenGL Message: GL data unavailable in console for root.
alastair@ibmserv2:~>
alastair@ibmserv2:~> echo $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
KDE
alastair@ibmserv2:~>
alastair@ibmserv2:~> xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 16384 x 16384
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DVI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VGA-0 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 527mm x 296mm
1920x1080 60.00*+
1600x1200 60.00
1680x1050 59.95
1280x1024 75.02 60.02
1440x900 59.89
1280x960 60.00
1152x864 75.00
1024x768 75.03 70.07 60.00
832x624 74.55
800x600 72.19 75.00 60.32 56.25
640x480 75.00 72.81 66.67 59.94
720x400 70.08
alastair@ibmserv2:~>

I have no idea why this problem occurred but would still like to get a more certain way of achieving my objective than unplugging everything and starting again.
Budgie2

8

Simply use this function provided by the forum editor:

type or paste code here

c0a81031a47464fa1729ba2642da8be02d25aa1f_2_690x254

9

Never unplugged anything. Configured once in 2020 and never needed to change since then: sddm-greeter font size

10

Hi Budgie. You can use the </> (Preformatted text) button in the forum editor, or use CODE tags as with the previous forum platform.

11

Since you apparently were able to find such, how about providing the URI to it for our review without each of us needing to do the same search?

Is the current status OK, but you want us somehow to explain why you had the same problem as 4 months ago?

I would put on your todo list migrating away from your deprecated monitor connectivity as soon as practical. Digital is more reliable than analog. Use DVI, HDMI or DP instead of VGA if at all possible. Fewer and fewer developers use VGA connections any more, so regressions in old drivers and GPUs are much more likely to escape into the wild than they used to be.

You may be best off uninstalling xf86-video-ati so that X will use the modern technology modesetting DIX display driver instead of radeon DDX.

12

Hi and thanks once again. Your points are well made and understood. I have not yet pinned down the cause of the current problem. Too many variables.

I have looked at updating my very ancient existing KVM switch and remote setup which is all from Adder. They are quite up-market and have a huge range of options available but cash flow has been difficult these last three years and the update a very low priority.

I am also looking at other options as most of the office work now is by others and mostly in the cloud so maybe I could even move out of the office altogether and think about retirement but stuck here for now!

13

Hi and thanks. I was confused by the popup which is “Preformatted text.” If it had stated “Code” like it used to I would have found it. Just me being dumb.

14

Which Display Manager are you using?

  • SDDM or, something else?
15

Yast is showing SDDM. There are 4 packages enabled:-

libXdmcp6 1.1.2-1.23
sddm 0.19.0-lp154.3.6
sddm-branding-openSUSE ditto
xdm 1.1.11-150400.23.6

16

Or highlight the texts and hit Ctrl + E.

17

Hi and thanks for this. Now I have the best solution for my purposes going forward but this is slightly OT.
I now have a working system but still have not been able to pin down the reasons for my display problem, not helped by a network problem which seems unrelated but I now find may be related because, when the network connection is working correctly I do not have the problem or it is easily fixed.
To clarify, the display problem seems to be due to the switch+kvm setup but this does not use the network. The remote device is connected by a separate dedicated cable so not directly related to the network.

18

Yes, if you hover over the</> button it will show you that shortcut :wink:

1 Like
19

Are there any hints in the log files located in ‘~/.local/share/sddm/’ ?

  • Depending on X11 or Wayland, there’ll be an appropriately named log file there.

The systemd Display Manager service status will also display which manager is being used:

 > systemctl status display-manager.service

Anything in either the System or User systemd Journal related to the Display?

If X11, is there anything in ‘/var/log/Xorg.0.log’ hinting as t what’s going on?

  • If Wayland, ditto the Wayland log file.
20

Hi Don,
I lost most of yesterday trying to sort this out and have not been able to return to it as I have to recover the time. Possibly later this evening I shall get back to it, so many thanks. I shall do as you suggest.

I am still trying to work out what has been going wrong and it is clear that there are at least two issues which I thought should not be related but it now seems they may be. More anon.
Many thanks again,
Budge.