Yet another problem with WSXGA+

English Hardware
1

Hi

openSUSE 11.2 i586, ASUS P3-P5G43 Rev. R1.04G
Intel Core2 Duo CPU E8400@3.00GHz, Intel G45/G43 Chipset

The Problem: The screen is for the WSXGA+ (1680x1050) standard. This resolution was detected, at the initial install and later with sax2. It shows the desktop with a 1 inch wide black area along the right border of the screen and that is exactly what is missing at the left border (i.e. invisible). It is like the desktop is shifted to the left of the screen. As far as it is visible the image is crisp and clean.

Lowering the resolution to 1280x960 works ok, but the aspect ratio is no longer correct.

I have checked the archives and found Intel integrated graphics - openSUSE Forums but trying different hints from the thread did not help.

Additional info:

lspci
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)                                                   
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

lsmod
i915                  248968  1                                                
drm                   184896  2 i915                                           
i2c_algo_bit            6884  1 i915                                           
video                  24600  1 i915

Some snippets from dmesg:

dmesg
    0.000000] DMI present.
    0.000000] AMI BIOS detected: BIOS may corrupt low RAM, working around it.
    0.326118] pci 0000:00:02.0: Boot video device
    0.326383]   alloc irq_desc for 24 on node 0
    0.326385]   alloc kstat_irqs on node 0
    0.326949] vesafb: framebuffer at 0xe0000000, mapped to 0xf7880000, using 5120k, total 32704k
    0.326951] vesafb: mode is 1280x1024x16, linelength=2560, pages=11
    0.326953] vesafb: scrolling: redraw
    0.326955] vesafb: Truecolor: size=0:5:6:5, shift=0:11:5:0
    5.287694] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: Intel G45/G43 Chipset
    5.288938] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: detected 32764K stolen memory
    5.291618] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: AGP aperture is 256M @ 0xe0000000
    5.305895] iTCO_vendor_support: vendor-support=0
   38.505546] mtrr: type mismatch for e0000000,10000000 old: write-back new: write-combining
   38.505551] [drm] MTRR allocation failed.  Graphics performance may suffer.
   38.505605]   alloc irq_desc for 29 on node 0
   38.505607]   alloc kstat_irqs on node 0
   38.505615] pci 0000:00:02.0: irq 29 for MSI/MSI-X
   38.505760] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20080730 for 0000:00:02.0 on minor 0

Snippets from xorg.conf:

Section "Monitor"
  DisplaySize  473 296
  HorizSync    29-85
  Identifier   "Monitor[0]"
  ModelName    "ASUS MW221C"
  Option       "DPMS"
  Option       "PreferredMode" "1680x1050"
  VendorName   "ACI"
  VertRefresh  43-75
  UseModes     "Modes[0]"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
  Identifier   "Modes[0]"
# wakou posts this:
#  Modeline     "1680x1050" 119.00 1680 1728 1760 1840 1050 1053 1059 1080
# sax2 on localhost found this:
#  Modeline     "1680x1050" 146.00 1680 1704 1880 2208 1050 1053 1059 1089
# /usr/bin/gtf 1680 1050 60   --->
#  Modeline     "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -HSync +Vsync
# http://forums.opensuse.org/hardware/415432-intel-integrated-graphics-2.html#post1992900
  Modeline      "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -HSync +Vsync
#
  Modeline      "1600x1024" 145.72 1600 1704 1872 2144 1024 1025 1028 1062
  Modeline      "1600x1024" 116.75 1600 1648 1680 1760 1024 1027 1037 1055 +HSync -VSync

Any hints what to do next?

2

The image shift is caused by wrong modeline data, possibly from EDID data retrieved when xorg probes the monitor, at boot. There are some sites that help you calculate the correct (or less wrong) modeline data, but it’s not a trivial exercise.

When xorg probes the video devices it so does in different ways, using the vesa driver - which reports usable resolutions/freqs, then the open-source card driver, then the closed-source driver (if any), then the monitor’s EDID data, etc. All this is logged by xorg (you may have to specify verbose log mode before xorg starts).

I’d first check Xorg logs (/var/log/Xorg.XX.log IINM, XX being 0 or 99) to see where this info is coming from. If from EDID, for example, you can disable it’s use in Xorg.conf.

Then I’d try to comment out the modeline or use a recalculated one.

Of course, this may be a problem related to xorg + intel graphics that I know nothing about… :frowning:

Good luck.

3

The modeline comes from xorg.conf, not from EDID. I have also tried to calculate one with gtf and inserted it into xorg.conf. Now I have run xrandr --verbose and it reports a different modeline as preferred:

Modeline "1680x1050" 146.00 1680 1960 2136 2240 1050 1053 1059 1089 -HSync +VSync

Big surprise: no change. I would at least have expected some blue smoke coming out of the monitor or some garbled screen or any change. I hate those wide screens.

BTW 1440x900 works but the fonts look better with 1280x960.

4

Not so. Xorg.conf, if it exists, is built by sax2, or another app like nvidia-setting or aticonfig --initial, depending on what the user does. The INFO in xorg.conf come from whatever these apps probe from the hardware, including EDID information, if available.

Xorg collates this info - discarding some - to create a working on-the-fly configuration, eventually overriden by xorg.conf if it exist and is not broken.

If you check the logs you might see how it works, specially if you don’t use xorg.conf (usually not necessary in openSUSE 11.2).

5

Try searching “modeline” + your monitor model, someone may have solved it before.

6

You could check the DPI settings, and toggle anti aliasing if it’s enabled in your system.

Also some non-desktop system fonts (like in KDM) can be configured with qtconfig (different fonts in user and root mode). That’s assuming you’re running KDE, of course.

7

Oops, I launched xvidtune to play around with the modelines, but to my surprise nothing moved (or changed in any way) on the screen. It appears to me that the modeline is completely ignored. What’s going on here?

Also found this: Ubuntu Forums - View Single Post - HOWTO: 1680x1050 with Samsung 226 BW and Intel 945GM (i810) on Kubuntu Feisty but it confused me more than it did help.

8

Hi vodoo,

Check your monitor if it has an auto image adjust function.

9

Yes, it auto adjusts to anything else after a few seconds even without pressing any button (there is no button for this) but it does not adjust to this darned WSXGA+ resolution.