Wide LCD monitors: does anybody understand the graphic chaos

Using a Samsung 940NW (1440x900) under OpenSUSE 11.0, I switched today to an Asus MW221U (or at least tried to) with a resolution of 1680x1050. The chaos I had encountered in setting the 940W plus the new one I am still in makes me wonder if someone has the answer to the following questions :

  1. When configuring a LCD monitor with a NVidia card with its proprietary drivers, is one supposed to use

1.1 YaST, then choice : hardware, then **screen & video card
**
OR

1.2 /usr/sbin/sax2 from root

OR

1.3 /usr/bin/nvidia-settings ?

I just don’t understand should be used and why, neither do I know if these programs - which normally modify settings - communicate the information about these changes to one another so they will not interfere.

  1. When choosing 1680x1050@60Hz in YaST, a test screen is displayed claiming to be 1600x1024, which is not what was asked. Then again, if that screeen is selected, the monitor OSD informs us that the real size setr is neither 1680x1050 nor 1600x1024, but 1240x1024.

Well, I guess that if anydody understands what is going on and can explain it, it will be a great help. Presently, the least I can say is that I am really puzzled :-o

In terminal as su
Run nvidia-settings and save your new configuration

Thank you. I am presently on a konsole trying to do that. Unfortunately nvidia-settings does allow to choose the resolution I am supposed to use for my screen, which is 1680x1050. I am therefore going to try 1400x1050, which as least specifies the right vertical resolution.

(saving this post before I try to restart the X server, juste in case :wink: )

With whatever you have plugged in and turned on, boot & at the bootsplash type “3” which will boot you to runlevel 3 = command line.

login as root
P/W
now type"
“sax2 -r”
(if for some reason that doesn’t work, try (sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia).
Sax2 will detect your card & monitors (if they are plug&play) and present a recommended display setup.
I always “Change Configuration” and have a look at the setup & usually change my resolution.
look at all the tabs > including monitor tabs > then look at those tabs at the top > there you can change dimensions, screen size, x&y values, etc.

When you have it like you think you want:
“Test” > Always “Test”
When it’s like you want:
“save”
“reboot”

Once you are up, you can fine tweak with the Nvidia Control Panel.

OK. I did the first thing to begin with : nvidia-settings, then resolution 1400x1050 (as 1680x1050 is not proposed in the pulldown menu), then save, then kill the X server and restart is with startx (I guess I could have used init 3 as well, though I would not swear it)

The resolution according to the OSD, once the X server is restarted, is still 1280x1024, which my eyes confirm as far as I can perceive it :frowning:

I shall now try the sax2 -r thing.

sax2 -r gives me a screen rather similar to the one I had with YaST. However, VESA 1024x768 comes preselected as Monitor as well as Properties. Changing that to LCD 1680x1050@60Hz in both.

(saving again juste in case…)

Absolutely no change : The test screen announces a resolution of 1680x1024 (while 1680x1050 was asked), and the OSD displays 1280x1024 (however, I did not restart the X server yet…)

After restarting the X server, the screen resolution as indicated by the OSD seems to be still 1280x1024 :frowning:

Now trying with sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia

Selecting LCD 1680x1050@60 Hz in Monitor, 1680x1050 in Properties.

Testing…

Routine ! The test screen announces once again 1680x1024.

And, without surprise, the OSD displays that the real resolution is in fact 1280x1024, giving like an impression of déjà vu :wink:

Well… perhaps it is morally wrong to use wide LCD screens in Linux

I am using a viewsonic 22" monitor with 1680x1050 and works fine with suse 11.0. with nvidia. So it is not morally wrong I guess:) I only use nvidia-settings and save it and choose not to merge with existing configuration in xorg. I am not using yast2/sax2 because it can’t recognize my nvidia’s correct resolution.

Hope this helps a bit

OK< I tried nvidiq6settings qgqinm choosing not to ;erge ;y xcorg<conf qnd restqrted the X server<

Zhile I chose !$))x!)%)m the OSD \still\ indicqtes !#*)x!)@$ once the X server is restqrted< The only difference zith the previous stqte is thqt it see;s ;y keyboqrd is noz in AZERTY tqther thqn in QWERTYm I just do not knoz zhy :confused::confused::confused:

:y xorg.conf file is noz the follozing one .

fda@e249:/etc/X11> cat xorg.conf

nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings

nvidia-settings: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder63) Mon May 19 00:34:28 PDT 2008

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Layout0”
Screen 0 “Screen0” 0 0
InputDevice “Keyboard0” “CoreKeyboard”
InputDevice “Mouse0” “CorePointer”
EndSection

Section “Files”
RgbPath “/usr/lib/X11/rgb”
EndSection

Section “Module”
Load “dbe”
Load “extmod”
Load “type1”
Load “freetype”
Load “glx”
EndSection

Section “ServerFlags”
Option “Xinerama” “0”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
# generated from default
Identifier “Mouse0”
Driver “mouse”
Option “Protocol” “auto”
Option “Device” “/dev/psaux”
Option “Emulate3Buttons” “no”
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
# generated from default
Identifier “Keyboard0”
Driver “kbd”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
# HorizSync source: xconfig, VertRefresh source: xconfig
Identifier “Monitor0”
VendorName “Unknown”
ModelName “CRT-0”
HorizSync 30.0 - 66.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 61.0
Option “DPMS”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “Videocard0”
Driver “nvidia”
VendorName “NVIDIA Corporation”
BoardName “GeForce 7600 GS”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Screen0”
Device “Videocard0”
Monitor “Monitor0”
DefaultDepth 24
Option “TwinView” “0”
Option “TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder” “CRT-0”
Option “metamodes” “1400x1050 +0+0; 1280x1024 +0+0; 1280x960 +0+0; 1024x768 +0+0; 800x600 +0+0; 640x480 +0+0”
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Oh, also Compiz does not work anymore now :confused:

OK< I tried nvidiq6settings qgqinm choosing not to ;erge ;y xcorg<conf qnd restqrted the X server<

Zhile I chose !$))x!)%)m the OSD \still\ indicqtes !#*)x!)@$ once the X server is restqrted< The only difference zith the previous stqte is thqt it see;s ;y keyboqrd is noz in AZERTY tqther thqn in QWERTYm I just do not knoz zhy :confused::confused::confused:

:y xorg.conf file is noz the follozing one .

fda@e249:/etc/X11> cat xorg.conf

nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings

nvidia-settings: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder63) Mon May 19 00:34:28 PDT 2008

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Layout0”
Screen 0 “Screen0” 0 0
InputDevice “Keyboard0” “CoreKeyboard”
InputDevice “Mouse0” “CorePointer”
EndSection

Section “Files”
RgbPath “/usr/lib/X11/rgb”
EndSection

Section “Module”
Load “dbe”
Load “extmod”
Load “type1”
Load “freetype”
Load “glx”
EndSection

Section “ServerFlags”
Option “Xinerama” “0”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
# generated from default
Identifier “Mouse0”
Driver “mouse”
Option “Protocol” “auto”
Option “Device” “/dev/psaux”
Option “Emulate3Buttons” “no”
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
# generated from default
Identifier “Keyboard0”
Driver “kbd”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
# HorizSync source: xconfig, VertRefresh source: xconfig
Identifier “Monitor0”
VendorName “Unknown”
ModelName “CRT-0”
HorizSync 30.0 - 66.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 61.0
Option “DPMS”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “Videocard0”
Driver “nvidia”
VendorName “NVIDIA Corporation”
BoardName “GeForce 7600 GS”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Screen0”
Device “Videocard0”
Monitor “Monitor0”
DefaultDepth 24
Option “TwinView” “0”
Option “TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder” “CRT-0”
Option “metamodes” “1400x1050 +0+0; 1280x1024 +0+0; 1280x960 +0+0; 1024x768 +0+0; 800x600 +0+0; 640x480 +0+0”
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

By the way, now that these changes are made, Compiz does not seem to work anymore

OK, let us therefore forget compiz from now on. Getting back to AZERTY was more important in the short run, so I did it using the only method I knew : with YaST.

My keyboard is now AZERTY again… but my screen resolution is now 1024x768 :eek::eek::eek:

OK. I do not know I managed to get the monitor back to normal or nearly so, but :

  1. according to the site What is my screen resolution
    my screen resolution is now 1440x1050 (far from perfect, but
    at least workable :slight_smile:

  2. (and this seems to be a bug of the Asus MW221U) the OSD still
    annonces a 1280x1024 resolution :-o

Now, how can I fine-tune things so the resolution will be 1680x1050 ? Looks like the goal is not far, now…

Do you think I could simply replace “1440x1050” by “1680x1050” everywhere in /etc/X11/xorg.conf ? I wonder if it would work or crash everything…

Any guess ?

If you use your Nvidia X server setting.
And set it to 1400x1050. You should be in root.
Log out and log in as root.
Click on “X server display configuration”
Set your resolution 1400x1050 or 1680x1050

Hit the apply button. And then click…save to X configuration file.
Hopefully it will save your setting.
You have to be root for it to save to Xorg.
One other suggestion…do you have the right LCD picked in your configuration?

Edit: Don’t forget to log out as root and go back to user,Or reboot.

I am running a Envision 32" LCD but @ 1366x 768 @ 60

If you use your Nvidia X server setting.
And set it to 1400x1050. You should be in root.

Yes. I was.

Log out and log in as root.
Click on “X server display configuration”
Set your resolution 1400x1050 or 1680x1050

I think you will hardly believe me because I hardly believe it myself, but while a moment ago I had to choose 1400x1050 because 1680x1050 was not proposed, I am now left with much less choice : 1024x768 and 1152x768 are the highest resolutions that are now in the pull-down menu !!! :-o

Where did the other choices go ?

How come it is not possible to edit these figures and enter any resolution we want ??? :-o

One other suggestion…do you have the right LCD picked in your configuration?

I am getting more and more certain that I did not buy the right LCD in the first place. However, I must mention that I encountered the very same kind of problems some months ago when I had to define my Samsung Syncmaster 940NW as 1440x900 (under 10.3).

And unfortunately, I must admit that I spent more time trying to define my monitor to X than I spent time using Linux once it was properly defined :frowning:

Is it normal ???

Finqllym I chose !!%@x&^* qnd restqrted ;y X server<

Obviouslym qs I refused to ;erge zit the previous xorg<confm Here I q; bqck in the QWERT ;ode qgin /

I have the feeling to be not exactly mastering an operating system, but rather being stuck more and more in a kind of swamp…

It sounds like your driver didn’t load.Just follow Snakerdriver’s instructions below. To get it back.

Sometimes things can give us fits when configuring.
It’s called learning. :smiley:
But sometimes one needs to just take a break. And come back the next day and figure it out.
It’s called keeping your sanity. :eek:

Good Luck!

Paganel75 wrote:

>
> Thank you. I am presently on a konsole trying to do that. Unfortunately
> nvidia-settings does allow to choose the resolution I am supposed to
> use for my screen, which is 1680x1050. I am therefore going to try
> 1400x1050, which as least specifies the right vertical resolution.
>
> (saving this post before I try to restart the X server, juste in case
> :wink: )
>
>
you can check out this thread it’s very similar Can’t get 1440x900
resolution in Suse 11

what does Nvidia-settings id your lcd as? if you select “auto” for
resolution it should give you the lcd’s default/recommended resolution

Suse 11.0 x64, Kde 3.5.9, Gnome 2.20, Opera 9.x weekly

Hello, Dood and Google ! :slight_smile:

Here is what I get in nvidia-settings :

X Screen Information

Dimensions: 1280x1024 pixels (433x347 millimeters)
Resolution: 75x75 dots per inch
Depth: 24
GPUs : GeForce 7600 GS (GPU 0)
Displays: CRT-0 (CRT-0)
Recovered GPU errors: 0

X Server Display Configuration

CRT-0
1400x1050

Model : CRT-0 (CRT-0 on GPU-0)
[Note : that is a drop-down box with only that choice]
Resolution 1400x1050 Auto

I was wondering if I could deduce the right “Modeline” to specify in xorg.conf by examining the existing xorg.conf and tampering with the values, but looking for information in a PDF document on the Net (XFree86-Video-Timings-HOWTO) I find the following information :

« Current (4.0.1 and up) versions of XFree86 compute optimal modelines from the resolution you specify in the Modes section of your X configuration file »

Now, I am not sure about what is XFree86, an whether or not it is the same thing as xorg