nvidia tv-out broken after upgrade to xfree 4.3.0

[jay]

Until recently I had my GeForce 420MX working properly with the TwinView option for watching mplayer videos on my connected TV. After migrating to Xfree 4.3.0 I'm just getting a black screen instead of a duplicate image from my monitor.

The documentation under /usr/doc/nvidia-glx-4xxx/readme don't specify anything where to troubleshoot when the tv stays black.

Here are my relevant XFree configuration parts:

Code: Select all

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "Hyundai"
	ModelName    "ImageQuest Q17"
	#Option	    "DPMS"
	HorizSync 27.0-92.0
	VertRefresh 60-75
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        Option     "NVAGP"                     "1"
        Option     "NoLogo" "True"
        #Option     "SWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "HWcursor"   "True"
        #Option     "CursorShadow" "True"
	#Option     "CursorShadowAlpha"  "64"    # 0 - 255 
	#Option     "CursorShadowXOffset" "4"    # 0 - 32
	#Option     "CursorShadowYOffset" "2"    # 0 - 32	
	#Option     "NoAccel"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShowCache"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShadowFB"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "UseFBDev"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "Rotate"             	# [<str>]
        #Option     "VideoKey"           	# <i>
        #Option     "FlatPanel"          	# [<bool>]
        Option      "TwinView"
        Option      "SecondMonitorHorizSync"    "30-50"
        Option      "SecondMonitorVertRefresh"  "60"
        Option      "TwinViewOrientation"       "Clone"
        Option      "ConnectedMonitor"          "CRT, TV"
        #Option      "IgnoreDisplayDevices"      "DFP"
        Option      "MetaModes" "1280x1024, NULL; 1024x768, NULL; 800x600, 800x600; 640x480, 640x480"
	Option      "TVStandard"  "PAL-B"
	Option      "TVOutFormat"   "SVIDEO"
        #Option      "IgnoreEDID"  "True"
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "nvidia"
	#Driver      "nv"
	#VideoRam    65535
	#VendorName  "NVidia"
	#BoardName   "0x0172"
	#BusID       "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor   "Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth 24
	#DefaultFbBpp 32

	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     16
		Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
                ViewPort 0 0
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     24
		Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
                ViewPort 0 0
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Can anybody see what I'm doing wrong here?

[RangerDude]

That's maybe why I never managed to make the CRT *and* the TV work at the same time. XFree 4.3 is broke...?

[jay]

I really don't know. Maybe its a problem with the nvidia drivers AND xfree 4.3 ? What driver do you currently use? I tried 1.0.4349 and 4363 with no luck.

There are no error messages in /var/log/xfree.log and I made sure that the cable or S-VIDEO on TV are not faulty (it works when conneting to my dvd-player).

Anybody has an idea or a working configuration?

[searcher]

I have a GeForce 2 mx 200 with tv-out, and it works fine in TwinView using XFree 4.3.0 and nvidia drivers 1.0.4349. The only thing that doesn't work and rather puzzles me is that i get a black bar on the top of the screen on the tv. This happened after i upgraded the drivers to the latest version, so i'm experimenting with modelines now to get the picture up. Any nice programs on that subject would be greatly appreciated

Here's my XF86Config (The bit that matters)

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "nVidia GeForce 2 MX"
    Driver      "nvidia"
    Option      "NvAgp" "on"

    #Option "AGPMode"
    #Option "AGPFastWrite"
    #Option "EnablePageFlip"

    Option "TwinView"
    Option "TwinViewOrientation"        "Clone"
    Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync"     "30-50"
    Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh"   "60"
    Option "MetaModes"              "1024x768,800x600_60.00@1024x768;800x600,800x600_60.00"
    Option "TVStandard"                 "PAL-G"

#    Option "ConnectedMonitor"           "crt,tv"
#    Option "TVOutFormat"                "COMPOSITE"

    #VideoRam    4096
    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

You need to change the bits specific for your tv (the refresh rate and tv-standard) You can also try using the last bit, which forces the drivers to use your defined setup of tv and monitor. Good luck.

[RangerDude]

I just get a blank screen and nothing on the TV when i startx.
My XF86config

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "device1"
    Driver      "nvidia"
    
    Option "NVAGP"			"1"
    Option "NoLogo"			"True" 

    #Option "AGPMode"
    #Option "AGPFastWrite"
    #Option "EnablePageFlip"

    Option "TwinView"
    Option "TwinViewOrientation"        "Clone"
    Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync"     "30-50"
    Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh"   "60"
    Option "MetaModes"			"1280x1024, NULL; 1024x768, NULL; 800x600, 800x600; 640x480, 640x480"
    Option "TVStandard"                 "PAL-G"

    Option "ConnectedMonitor"           "crt,tv"
    Option "TVOutFormat"                "SVIDEO"
    Option "IgnoreEDID"			"True"
EndSection

I something wrong here?

[hygge]

i've also noticed that the resulting tv-out screen using nvidias driver and xfree 4 wont go out in the corners (as the vcr does for example), the picture is centred and some blacklines is shown around it...

(i know there is a solution for ms windows using the app 'tvtool' where you can set the picture to be in 100% fullscreen mode. as the telivision cuts some parts of the picture (standard margins, to make sure no black bars are shown), and does that for every media, you miss some of the picture anyways. the solution is to go look for how big a window should be to perfectly fit on your television, and insert these values into tvtool. then you can use tvtools windowresize-function on the window you want to show.)

however, this solution is a bit clumsy and it would offcourse be smarter to have options set somewhere to make the screen perfect from the begining. do you boys know a solution to this?

[theJPster]

The "TVOverScan" option can be used to enable Overscan where supported. Valid values are decimal values in the range 1.0 (which means overscan as much as possible: make the image as large as possible) and 0.0 (which means disable overscanning: make the image as small as possible). Overscanning is disabled (0.0) by default.

Overscan is currently only available on GeForce4 or newer GPUs with either NVIDIA or Conexant TV encoders.

I've set mine to 0.9 and run in 800x600 mode.

Code: Select all

...
       Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
        Option "TVStandard" "PAL-I"
        Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
        Option "TVOverscan" "0.9"
...

Overscanning should help remove the black bars. I also find setting "NoLogo" to "false" helps me work out which screens are under the control of X.

As an alternative to TwinView, you can try running the X screens seperately. This lets me watch videos on my TV while I continue to work on my monitor. See "APPENDIX R: CONFIGURING MULTIPLE X SCREENS ON ONE CARD" in the nVidia-glx README file.

The relevant parts of my XFree86 Config are:

Code: Select all

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier     "XFree86 Configured"
        # Screen 0.0 first
        Screen         "PCScreen"
        # then screen 0.1
        Screen         "TVScreen" leftOf "PCScreen"
        InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
        InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

# Files, Fonts, Mice and other stuff was here...

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor"
        VendorName   "Iiyama"
        ModelName    "Vision Master Pro 454"
        Option      "DPMS"
        HorizSync   30-130
        VertRefresh 50-200
        ModeLine   "1600x1200/85Hz" 220 1600 1616 1808 2080 1200 1204 1207 1244  +HSync +VSync
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier "TV"
        HorizSync 30-50
        VertRefresh 50,60
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "PCCard"
        Driver "nvidia"
        BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
        Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT"
        # Screen 1 here means no Overlay support (poor video)
        Screen 1
        Option "NvAgp" "1"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "TVCard"
        Driver "nvidia"
        BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
        Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
        Option "TVStandard" "PAL-I"
        Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
        Option "TVOverscan" "0.9"
        # Screen 0 here means Overlay support (wicked video)
        Screen 0
EndSection


Section "Screen"
        Identifier "PCScreen"
        Device     "PCCard"
        Monitor    "Monitor"
        DefaultDepth 24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth   16
                Modes   "1600x1200/85Hz" "1280x960" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
                Virtual 0 0
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth   24
                Modes   "1600x1200/85Hz" "1280x960" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
                Virtual 0 0
        EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "TVScreen"
        Device     "TVCard"
        Monitor    "TV"
        DefaultDepth 24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth   16
                Modes   "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth   24
                Modes   "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

The first screen under ServerLayout determines which one gets KDE/GNOME/XDM, etc, displayed on it. You need to reverse the screen settings in the Device sections to get Overlay on the TV (otherwise videos will tear badly).

If you're having trouble with TwinView, try this multi-screen setup. If you don't want the TV on ... then turn it off. None of this Meta-Mode nonsense
Don't forget to backup you XF86Config first and don't blame me if it smokes something All I can say is it WFM but YMMV.

Oh and jay and RangerDude, I thought it was supposed to be Option "TwinView" "true", but that might make no difference at all

[jay]

Still no luck.
I tried to set up the TV as a second screen like you described above, but the TV remains black. But I know there mus be a signal somewhere, because when I switch into the console with CRTL-ALT-F1 something is flimmering on the TV screen.
I tried it also with an non-framebuffer kernel, COMPOSITE instead of SVIDEO, Twinview set to "true"...nothing. I really don't understand this since, it was working with exatly the same configuration before the upgrade....

I also tried setting up the TV as a single monitor, doesn't work either....

[theJPster]

In multi-screen mode, can you lose the mouse cursor off the left hand side of your monitor? That would suggest that X has setup the screen. Also, I'd set NoLogo to false so you can see if X is initialising the screen.

The only other things I can think of are make sure the cable is connected to the graphics card and the TV before you turn your PC on. On my GF4MX440SE (what a mouthfull...) this means I get a black and white copy of my bootup sequence (I guess it's feeding my PAL TV some NTSC, which I don't know how to change before I get to X). Does yours do that? If so it's an X problem.

As for SVIDEO and Composite, set what is appropriate for your lead. I've got a proper 4-pin mini-DIN lead running to a 4-pin SVIDEO socket on the TV. Sometimes scart adaptors let you plug an SVideo lead into a scart socket, but the TV doesn't accept SVideo from that socket and so it'll be black and white. The composite leads are the regular RCA/Phono leads (and often require an adaptor at the Graphics card end). That, I'm sure, everyone already knew. Oh and make sure you've got the output signal format correct. It's PAL-I for the UK, NTSC for America and all the others'll be listed in the nvidia-glx Readme.gz file.

/me clutches at more straws

I hate to say it, but have you tried booting Windows and re-checking the TwinView capabilities in that? Oh, and have you tried re-emerging the nvidia drivers (just in case something important got overwritten). Presumably the logs mention that the nVidia driver is loading and everything?

Code: Select all

(**) NVIDIA(1): Validated modes for display device TV-0:
(**) NVIDIA(1):      Default mode "800x600": 40.0 MHz, 37.9 kHz, 60.3 Hz
(**) NVIDIA(1):      Default mode "640x480": 25.2 MHz, 31.5 kHz, 60.0 Hz
(**) NVIDIA(1):      Default mode "512x384": 32.5 MHz, 48.4 kHz, 60.0 Hz (D)
(**) NVIDIA(1):      Default mode "400x300": 20.0 MHz, 37.9 kHz, 60.3 Hz (D)
(**) NVIDIA(1):      Default mode "320x240": 12.6 MHz, 31.5 kHz, 60.1 Hz (D)
(II) NVIDIA(1): Virtual screen size determined to be 800 x 600

Perhaps it's failling to find any suitable modes for the TV?

Oh and as a side point. Didn't they change the horrible black and white dotty pattern for the X background over to a plain black background in XFree86 4.3.0? Maybe I'm imagining things (or I've been editing in my sleep again...)

[jay]

Yahoo, I solved it! The nvidia drivers above 1.0.3123-r2 are buggy and can't display TV-Out correctly. I tried the 4191-r2, 4349 drivers, but they seem to have the same problem. As a matter of curiosity I took my nvidia card to a friend to check if the same problem exists - indeed, all XP drivers above version 6.0.3082 also have a broken TV-Out.

Since other people have TV out working with the 4xxx drivers it seems to be card-specific issue. Mine is using the (NV17) chipset which comes with a built-in tv decoder, it's one of those cards wich wont work unter nvtv (linux) or tvtool (xp) since nVidia won't release the chipset specifications. The older GeForce 2 cars use a Brooktree chipset.

The idea to this solution came into my mind when JPster (Thanks!) mentioned the losing of the mouse-cursor to the second screen. So X must have set up the screen corretly.

[hygge]

thanks theJPster!
that was just the option i looked for. i will try it as soon as i get home

have a nice day!

[bushwakko]

I wonder about something when I hear you guys use two screens and twinview and such. I've tried them both and what I saw is that I get horizontal tearinsg in the image on the TV, as if it's running at the same "fps" as the CRT-monitor but still running at it's own hz(60 or something). It's just like running quake at 100+fps and using 60hz, you'll get tearings all over the place. I can't be the only one who gets this?! or am I the only one who sees it?