Just got a new system (Linux 3.1.9-1.4-desktop x86_64, penSUSE 12.1 (x86_64), KDE: 4.7.2 (4.7.2) “release 5”) on a Sony Vaio (Intel(R) Core™ i5-2450M) -
installation of the system went flawlessly but I have some minor problems -
the screen brightness does not change - when I try to change it I can see the on screen indicator changing but the brightness remains the same;
also I can get access to the optimal resolution on an external monitor (Dell FP1703) - the optimals is 1280x1024 but I can only go to 1024x768 - with my previous laptop that had an nvidia card I could just modify the xorg.conf file not with this one
I might be able to point you in the correct direction for the resolution issue. For the resolution issue, to understand better, we need more information.
Please, type the following command to tell us exactly what graphics hardware and possibly what driver:
/sbin/lspci -nnk | grep VGA -A2
and post here the output.
Please for more resolution information, with external monitor plugged in, type the following command:
xrandr
and please to give a better understanding of the details as to what is happening, after your external monitor has been plugged in, open the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log file with a text editor and copy the contents to the suse paste website SUSE Paste and press ‘create’ and then post here the website URL where those contents are located. That log file will have a LOT of useful information.
I may not be able to help, but I think that information will help others who are more knowledgeable than I sort this.
xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2390 x 768, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+1024+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 309mm x 174mm
1366x768 60.0*+
1024x768 60.0
800x600 60.3 56.2
640x480 59.9
VGA1 connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
1024x768 60.0*
800x600 60.3 56.2
848x480 60.0
640x480 59.9
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
When I look at that, I can not see at what point you plugged in your external monitor. It will be called ‘VGA1’ and I do not see it. I note:
20.968] Current Operating System: Linux linux-j3i6.site 3.1.9-1.4-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Jan 27 08:55:10 UTC 2012 (efb5ff4) x86_64
20.968] Kernel command line: root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400BPVT-55HXZT3_WD-WX21A91V8403-part3 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400BPVT-55HXZT3_WD-WX21A91V8403-part4 splash=silent quiet vga=0x362
........
20.993] (II) LoadModule: "intel"
20.994] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/drivers/intel_drv.so
.........
21.003] (II) intel(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
"Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
.....
21.003] (II) intel(0): Integrated Graphics Chipset: Intel(R) Sandybridge Mobile (GT2+)
21.003] (--) intel(0): Chipset: "Sandybridge Mobile (GT2+)"
.............
21.040] (II) intel(0): EDID for output LVDS1
21.040] (II) intel(0): Manufacturer: LGD Model: 2e9 Serial#: 0
.........
21.040] (II) intel(0): LG Display
21.040] (II) intel(0): LP140WH4-TLA1
21.040] (II) intel(0): EDID (in hex):
21.040] (II) intel(0): 00ffffffffffff0030e4e90200000000
21.040] (II) intel(0): 00140103801f11780ab7a59758568f27
21.040] (II) intel(0): 1f505400000001010101010101010101
21.040] (II) intel(0): 010101010101581b567e50000e302430
21.040] (II) intel(0): 350035ae100000190000000000000000
21.040] (II) intel(0): 00000000000000000000000000fe004c
21.040] (II) intel(0): 4720446973706c61790a2020000000fe
21.040] (II) intel(0): 004c503134305748342d544c41310017
21.040] (II) intel(0): EDID vendor "LGD", prod id 745
21.040] (II) intel(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
21.040] (II) intel(0): Modeline "1366x768"x0.0 70.00 1366 1402 1450 1492 768 771 776 782 -hsync -vsync (46.9 kHz)
.........
21.076] (II) intel(0): Output LVDS1 connected
** 21.076] (II) intel(0): Output VGA1 disconnected**
which indicates VGA1 is still disconnected. Did you plug in the external monitor BEFORE you copied that file ?
ok, thanks. Like the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file, that indicates the Intel driver (i915) is in use, and indicates you have sandbybridge Intel graphics (8086:0126).
That indicates you are obtaining 1366x768 on your laptop screen, but only obtaining 1024x768 on VGA1, your external monitor. It also indicates there are no modelines for a resolution higher than 1024x768 for VGA1 being automatically identified. Thats a puzzle as to why, as I don’t see hints in the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file, which makes me think you obtained that file before plugging in the external monitor ?
Hi there - thanks for the prompt response -
actually it is puzzling to me too! I have the external monitor plugged in (I actually rerun all the commands to see if there is a change, but still the same - it does show as VGA1 disconnected)
I will reboot with the external monitor plugged in and see if that changes things
apply the new mode to display both screen devices at once
Before doing that, it would be nice to know what frequency needs to be applied to your external display at 1366x768 mode (assuming that is the resolution you are trying to obtain).
Thats where my knowledge is fuzzy wrt an external display. Normally I would try running
cvt 1366 768
or
gtf 1366 768
but I don’t know how to point those to VGA1 instead of LVDS1 … (my never having tried this myself - I have always had the external mode lines already defined).
Do you have the specifications on this external monitor ?
which indicates to me it is using a generic low resolution EDID for VGA1 … ie it can’t detect the exact monitor device. Do you have any specs on this monitor ?
Ok I see 1280x1024 is the highest resolution, hence you could see if the gtf and cvs commands give correct modelines (although I would be worried they could give modelines for LVDS1 instead of VGA1) via:
cvt 1280 1024 75
or
cvt 1280 1024 60
or
gtf 1280 1024 75
or
gtf 1280 1024 60
which may produce the modeline spec needed to enter in the xrandr command
Thanks oldcpu - you actually understand well what needs to be done; stamostolias send me also some hints - thank you both
here is what I did and worked:
xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2390 x 768, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+1024+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 309mm x 174mm
1366x768 60.0*+
1024x768 60.0
800x600 60.3 56.2
640x480 59.9
VGA1 connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
1024x768 60.0*
800x600 60.3 56.2
848x480 60.0
640x480 59.9
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
xrandr | grep maximum
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2390 x 768, maximum 8192 x 8192
and then the needed resolution is available through the graphical interface
running again xrandr here is what I get:
xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2646 x 1024, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+1280+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 309mm x 174mm
1366x768 60.0*+
1024x768 60.0
800x600 60.3 56.2
640x480 59.9
VGA1 connected 1280x1024+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
1024x768 60.0
800x600 60.3 56.2
848x480 60.0
640x480 59.9
1280x1024_60.00 59.9*
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
hope now that I do not have to do this every time!
thanks guys
my problem is that now I have to run the newmode…
and addmode commands
everytime I reboot the pc -
is there a way that this becomes the default? (I saw I need to create an xorg.conf file but since there is none now I am not aware of the format)
Dimitris
I found a workaround using a start up script.
I found this start up script (for KDM in archlinux)
I updated it to add the desired resolution for my external monitor:
# This script toggles the extended monitor outputs if something is connected
#
# your notebook monitor
DEFAULT_OUTPUT='LVDS1'
# outputs to toggle if connected
OUTPUTS='VGA1 HDMI1'
# get info from xrandr
XRANDR=`xrandr`
xrandr --newmode "1280x1024_60.00" 109.00 1280 1368 1496 1712 1024 1027 1034 1063 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode VGA1 1280x1024_60.00
xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 1280x1024_60.00
EXECUTE=""
for CURRENT in $OUTPUTS
do
if $XRANDR == *$CURRENT\ connected* ]] # is connected
then
if $XRANDR == *$CURRENT\ connected\ \(* ]] # is disabled
then
EXECUTE+="--output $CURRENT --auto --above $DEFAULT_OUTPUT "
else
EXECUTE+="--output $CURRENT --off "
fi
else # make sure disconnected outputs are off
EXECUTE+="--output $CURRENT --off "
fi
done
xrandr --output $DEFAULT_OUTPUT --auto $EXECUTE