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ElleStone
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 3:13 pm    Post subject: [SOLVED] laptop display screen has wrong resolution Reply with quote

Hi all,

I'm trying to install Gentoo on an Acer Aspire 5570Z laptop. It's a test install before installing Gentoo on my main computer.

I'm using icewm with startx. If I don't use any xorg.conf files, then startx works, but the monitor display resolution is wrong.

xrandr reports current and max 1024 x 768. The correct resolution is 1280 x 800.

"lspci | grep VGA" reports "Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML".

I've searched the internet and recompiled my kernel at least 20 times in the last three days, trying different kernel graphics card options, make.conf options, and X11 drivers.

I've tried with and without dri/opengl,
and with and without vesa,
and with and without various intel drivers/kernel options.

I've also tried creating various xorg.conf files in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d,
but when I do that, X won't start at all. There are various error messages, depending on steps taken previously.

Correction. Using the vesa driver (no kernel dri/framebuffer/intel stuff) and my (probably badly written) xorg.conf file, X does start, but there is a whole long line of mice/menus fuzzily piled up across the screen.

Could some kind soul offer advice as to how to properly configure the kernel, the make.conf, and/or an xorg.conf file, and which X drivers to install?

And a related question: for image editing, with absolutely no 3D/2D rendering/desktop effects/ect, is there any reason to use things like the intel driver, dri, opengl, framebuffers, etc?

Elle


Last edited by ElleStone on Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
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khayyam
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ElleStone ...

The kernel config should have:

CONFIG_AGP_INTEL=y
CONFIG_DRM=y
CONFIG_DRM_KMS_HELPER=y
CONFIG_DRM_I915=y
CONFIG_DRM_I915_KMS=y

... and no other "frame buffer hardware drivers" enabled.

In /etc/portage/make.conf VIDEO_CARDS="intel". You would then 'emerge --newuse @world' to pull in xf86-video-intel and deps. As long as 'udev' useflag is in use, and udev is running, there is no need to create an xorg.conf

ElleStone wrote:
and a related question: for image editing, with absolutely no 3D/2D rendering/desktop effects/ect, is there any reason to use things like the intel driver, dri, opengl, framebuffers, etc?

Its only opengl that is used for 3D but for accelerated 2D graphics (which you want!) you will need the intel driver, which of course pulls in opengl (xorg-server requires it unless the 'minimal' useflag is set, and xf86-video-intel requires it be set).

HTH & best ... khay
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ElleStone
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

khayyam wrote:
Its only opengl that is used for 3D but for accelerated 2D graphics (which you want!) you will need the intel driver, which of course pulls in opengl (xorg-server requires it unless the 'minimal' useflag is set, and xf86-video-intel requires it be set).

See, this is what I'm not so sure about. Wikipedia says about 2D computer graphics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2D_computer_graphics):
"2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. The word may stand for the branch of computer science that comprises such techniques, or for the models themselves."

That mentions digital images as *source* material for creating 2D computer graphics, but I'm not sure if accelerated 2D graphics has anything at all to do with working with digital raster images such as pngs, tiffs, and jpegs.

Anyway, I think I found the appropriate stuff in "make menuconfig". Unfortunately, after "emerge --newuse @world" and restarting the computer, the problem still persists. I think I'd be better off starting from scratch because "emerge --newuse @world" took 3 hours. Is there a way to uninstall everything? Or should I just put the install CD back in and start over?

Thanks very much! for the kernel config - it looks right, even if it didn't work like I hoped it would.

Elle
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khayyam
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ElleStone wrote:
See, this is what I'm not so sure about.

Elle ... when the screen on a computer is drawn it is a flat surface (so 2D) some compositing can provide the impression of 3D space on a 2D surface, this 3D rendering is used for CAD, games, and now some desktop widgets. However, whatever is drawn, be that 2D or 3D should use the full capacity of the graphics card, ie direct rendering. So, you basically want this whether you want 3D or not. Fast graphics rendering mean an overall speed of graphic display. Games, for example, will obviously require more from the hardware as they have to do far more work to provide the impression of 3D and far more to render as the display is constantly re-drawn, but its not so much a question of using 3D or not, but how well the card and drivers can perform in terms of rendering the display.

ElleStone wrote:
That mentions digital images as *source* material for creating 2D computer graphics, but I'm not sure if accelerated 2D graphics has anything at all to do with working with digital raster images such as pngs, tiffs, and jpegs.

These images have to be redrawn when the image is moved or manipulated, so the quality and speed of the cards rendering capacity plays a role in how fast you can work with the material, and how quicky that work is replicated on the display.

ElleStone wrote:
Anyway, I think I found the appropriate stuff in "make menuconfig". Unfortunately, after "emerge --newuse @world" and restarting the computer, the problem still persists. I think I'd be better off starting from scratch because "emerge --newuse @world" took 3 hours. Is there a way to uninstall everything? Or should I just put the install CD back in and start over?

Ummm ... sorry, I'd assumed you were up-to-date ... why do you think you need to start over? There probably isn't any deep issue that can't be resolved, intel graphics are well supported. Anyhow, you should provide info on what it is that your doing, otherwise its just guess work here. BTW, you did move/remove any xorg.conf you were previously working with.

A good start might be to pastebin /var/log/Xorg.0.log

ElleStone wrote:
Thanks very much! for the kernel config - it looks right, even if it didn't work like I hoped it would.

You're welcome & best ... khay


Last edited by khayyam on Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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BillWho
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ElleStone,

If you want to try this with the resolution you're trying to setup, it worked for me on an old computer that wasn't detecting the display correctly.
Code:
xrandr -q

check the connected display, in my case it's HDMI-0 connected .

I'm using 1680 1050 as an example, replace it with your resolution of 1280 800 and see if it provides a modeline.
Code:
cvt 1680 1050 60
Modeline "1680x1050_60.00"  146.25  1680 1784 1960 2240  1050 1053 1059 1089 -hsync +vsync

Code:
xrandr --newmode "1680x1050_60.00"  146.25  1680 1784 1960 2240  1050 1053 1059 1089 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode HDMI-0 1680x1050_60.00
xrandr --output HDMI-0 --mode 1680x1050_60.00

Add the above three lines to ~/.xprofile
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Jaglover
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Look at Xorg log, the reason why it comes up with wrong resolution is shown there.
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ElleStone
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I'd assumed you were up-to-date ... why do you think you need to start over?

I had installed xorg+xterm+icewm, then alsa+vlc, then konsole/dolphin/kate/rekonq. "emerge --newuse @world" reinstalled qtgui, which in turn reinstalled all? most? of the kde stuff. The laptop only has 1gb ram, so it took a long time.

Since then, I've uninstalled everything, and reinstalled xorg+xterm+icewm. I won't install anything else until I get the screen resolution to be correct.

Quote:
check the connected display, in my case it's HDMI-0 connected .

How do you do this? xrandr -q just says that is failed to get the size of gamma, the gives the wrong screen resolutions.
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BillWho
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ElleStone wrote:
xrandr reports current and max 1024 x 768. The correct resolution is 1280 x 800.

That was from your first post. The line immediately below the one you mentioned will tell you which display is connected.

This is the from the laptop this time:
Code:
laptop bill # xrandr -q|grep -w connected
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 194mm

You have to inform xandr which display you're manipulating, in this case it's LVDS1, my other post it was HDMI-0.
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khayyam
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BillWho ...

It should be noted that inteldrmfb uses KMS (kernel mode setting) and so the mode is autodetected, on the rare occasion that an incorrect EDID is detected, and so the mode set incorrectly, the mode can be set from the bootprompt using the 'video=' parameter. So, we're getting slightly off course here with xrandr, because probably the issue isn't the display resolution but some other issue.

Elle ... please pastbin the following: the kernel .config for the currently running kernel ie: /usr/src/linux/.config or the output of 'zcat /proc/config.gz' and /var/log/Xorg.0.log.

As far as setting the resoltuion via the boot parameters is concerned the syntax is:

Code:
video=1280x1024-24@75

... where 1280x1024 would be the display geometry, at 24bps, and 75Hz. You can also stipulate the display if need be.

best ... khay
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ElleStone
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BillWho, there doesn't seem to be anything about the display or type of connection. The entire contents of the xrandr output is:

xrandr -q | grep -w connected
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
default connected 1024x768+0+0 0mm x 0mm

khay . . .
The link for the kernel .config is: http://pastebin.com/SLWRKUEL
The link for the Xorg.0.log is: http://pastebin.com/D6LM4uzS

Thanks very much to both of you for helping me sort this out.

Elle
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khayyam
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Elle ...

By the looks of things you have other VIDEO_CARDS= set in /etc/portage/make.conf or its simply an empty var. This should be set to VIDEO_CARDS="intel i915". You have the exact same intel card as me, so ... I knows it.

Once this is changed, you should 'emerge --newuse @x11-module-rebuild && emerge -a --disclean' ... this should make sure the 'xf86-video-intel' is installed and xf86-video-vesa (and whatever other drivers were installed) are uninstalled (BTW, the '-a' switch is 'ask', so you'll be prompted to continue ... check the provided list and if all seems ok, then select '[Y]es').

That looks like all that should be needed ... if not then, again, pastebin the Xorg.0.log.

You're welcome & best ... khay
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ElleStone,

Can you boot your installation and paste back ls -l /boot and uname -a :?:
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ElleStone
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BillWho, khayyam, I managed to do something really stupid. So I'm starting over from the gentoo install disk. The good news is that now I know what options to choose when compiling the kernel. The laptop isn't fast, so it might take a while. Please bear with!

Elle
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ElleStone
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BillWho and khayyam,

Thank you both, very, very much for your patience and help in getting the display resolution correct.

I finally succeeded in reinstalling gentoo, xorg, and icewm, and now the screen resolution is correct. I put VIDEO_CARDS="intel i915" in make.conf and used khayyam's kernel configuration suggestions.

I did see in the ./config file these lines:

Code:
#
# Userland interfaces
#
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV=y
# CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_PSAUX is not set
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_X=1024
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_Y=768
# CONFIG_INPUT_JOYDEV is not set
CONFIG_INPUT_EVDEV=y
# CONFIG_INPUT_EVBUG is not set

For whatever reason, even at the command line the screen resolution is now correct. Before the font was too big and everything looked a bit fuzzy. Should I redo the kernel, changing CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_X/Y to 1280/800 respectively? Or leave well enough alone?

Also, does "video=1280x800-24@60" go in grub.conf?

Should I mark this as solved? If so, how?

Elle
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ElleStone wrote:
Thank you both, very, very much for your patience and help in getting the display resolution correct.I finally succeeded in reinstalling gentoo, xorg, and icewm, and now the screen resolution is correct. I put VIDEO_CARDS="intel i915" in make.conf and used khayyam's kernel configuration suggestions.

ElleStone ... again, you're welcome

ElleStone wrote:
I did see in the ./config file these lines:
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_X=1024
CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_Y=768

For whatever reason, even at the command line the screen resolution is now correct. Before the font was too big and everything looked a bit fuzzy. Should I redo the kernel, changing CONFIG_INPUT_MOUSEDEV_SCREEN_X/Y to 1280/800 respectively? Or leave well enough alone?

These are not important, its just whats reported to the 'mouse' as being the screen geometry, you'd probably not notice if you didn't change these. That said, for applications like gimp, and other drawing programs, they would prefer that they are informed of the actual geometry, so you can choose to fix it ... or wait for the next kernel update to do so.

ElleStone wrote:
Also, does "video=1280x800-24@60" go in grub.conf?

No need, the driver uses KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) so it should work without the need to add anything. The above is there simply for those corner cases where this fails ... and so it can be set manually.

ElleStone wrote:
Should I mark this as solved? If so, how?

Just edit your first post and change the subject line ... add [SOLVED].

best ... khay
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BillWho
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ElleStone wrote:
I finally succeeded in reinstalling gentoo, xorg, and icewm, and now the screen resolution is correct.

A success story - Glad to hear that you got it going :D

I suspected that the running kernel didn't match your latest compile. From the Xorg log, the modeline showed correctly early on
Code:
[  1442.430] (II) VESA(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
[  1442.430] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1280x800"x0.0   68.94  1280 1292 1356 1408  800 803 806 816 -hsync -vsync (49.0 kHz eP)

but, there were vesa messages after you disabled vesa in the kernel
Code:
[  1442.457] (--) VESA(0): Virtual size is 1024x768 (pitch 1024)
[  1442.457] (**) VESA(0): *Built-in mode "1024x768"

In any event it's all cleared up now :D
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