Monitor OUT OF SYNC

[Telkwa]

I keep a couple of CRT's handy because of problems like this. Usually a CRT will still give you something to work with when the installer sends a 480X640 signal, whereas LCD's just freak out.

Last night I tried Helena on my standard Linux test rig - an ASUS P5GDC-V motherboard running a Pentium 4, hooked to the CRT. It's running an old ATI video card right now, but that's just a temporary experiment. The CD spun up, then all I got was a black screen with about five thin multi-colored lines running horizontally across the top inch of the CRT.

I thought, I can fix that. Turned it off, removed the ATI vid card, plugged into the Intel onboard graphics chipset. This also failed in exactly the same way!!

i don't have a good grasp on how to work thru resolution problems. Will definitely give your suggestion a try, although I'm not sure what you mean by "slowly" pressing and releasing ctrl alt -

There's also this thread, which mentions "compatibility mode"

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=36504

Will have to write that little trick down and keep it on hand. Especially if it works!

[MrD]

I'm getting this problem now with an nvidia AGP 7600GS and CRT monitor (800x600/1024x768 possible resolutions)

message on the screen says:

HF 92.8hz
vf 58.0hz
operating frequency
hf 30-71khz
vf 50-160hz

Somehow I think that horizontal frequency might be at fault

Anyhow, the "crtl"+"alt"+"-" is working as I attempt to install now. I am carefully moving the desktop around on my screen to look at options and move on to the next stage. Hopefully when installed it will run right, or I can install propriatary driver and sort it. This is a sucky situation to be in. I missed the "alt" plus "f1" trick for menu but found a workaround with activating desktop effects

EDIT:

Had to physically take this desktop to the room with the router and plug it in via ethernet. After spending 10mins clicking blindly on the login window of which only half could be viewed by the above method, I finally logged in but unable to see taskbar to access Hardware Drivers. At this point I right clicked the dektop and tried to change to add graphics effects in compiz and this made the OS look for video drivers. So I had to be plugged into ethernet to get them installed. Unfortunately I couldn't attach to the router via wifi (no taskbar!) One reset later and it boots into proper resolution, after going out of frequency during boot. I can now use taskbar, get on wifi, get on with life!

Why is this issue with LM8? what caused it? the AGP 7600GS? the choice of monitor? (I used a CRT and a TFT that can display 800x600/1024x768 with no joy. If Nvidia cards are the choice hardware and just 'work' with Linux, what happened here?

EDIT2:

When the initial GPU drivers were installed I thought my problems had gone away. But then I checked for updates, at one point activating Hardware Drivers and found a newer Nvidia driver that said "recommended" next to it. Installing it threw my display off corrupted and amongst the static I could see a popup with a warning message in it. Couldn't do anything so had to reinstall LM8 from fresh and not update to that driver again!

[rrplay]

Hi I am glad to have found this thread as well, I too had a very similar situation with 'karmic' install with my Viewsonic A90f crt out of sync.
I also have and older pc with an AGP 7600 gs card..I tried the " crtl alt - " tip on the viewsonic and could not install even though I could see and read the screen no amount of fiddling with the window positions could install .. So I had a different 19" crt [CTX} that I tried & was still able to install Mint 8 on the AGP bus with the nvidia drivers and updates as well.. then booted back with the other monitor that i prefer to use. I did this on the agp card rather then switched back..Too bad none of this worked out compatibility mode [maybe there are some nifty "knoppix type' cheat codes to add to the boot line in compatibility mode?] since my previous experience with the Ubuntu 9.10 release was a text install.

I would be curious just to see if I were to try to install Mint 8 from the dvd because this was done from the cd version possibly when I get a bit more time to download and try the same from dvd if the install situations change.

[rrplay]

Thanks for helping out Cierpliwy..
to edit /etc/usplash.conf and change the screen res update-initramfs will not work on read - only media this will only work on an installed system not from the Mint 8 live cd. Unless you or someone else knows then please let us know
the screen resolutions that do appear in an an installed boot -- /etc/usplash.conf are what I did have on the other monitor when I had installed & that particular crt was able to handle those ranges.2048x1536..My preferred monitor has the same res as yours 1280x1024 And noticed the same on some other 9.10 releases as well.

[rrplay]

It probably would be interesting to see if mounting the downloaded .iso images of Mint and some 'other' 9.10 releases that are out of sync for a users screen edit etc/usplash.conf with a preferred resolution personally i may try 1600x1200 since that is the most my preferred monitor can handle -re-master and burn the edited 'live' cd.
This way if I were to give the new live cd to a friend he would not have this experience.
Really not to sure about as to when and if I may find the time to try edit&re-master for type of 'snafu'.

[motub]

Thank you, fubar and Cierpliwy-- your solutions worked for me as well (though the install was just a little corner of hell, on the giant desktop-- but it got done).

I suspect that the problem may lie in old monitors that don't do DDS (mine doesn't), possibly in combination with AGP graphics (nVidia 7900 GS), that don't communicate effectively with the spiffy new usplash, so that it just "guesses" at what resolution you might be able to use.... and the guess is just flat wrong. I mean, 2048x1538? What kind of a "sane default" is that?

Ah well. It's installed, and it's be-youuuuuuuuuuu-tee-ful.... so I'm not complaining (much).

This should go in the FAQ or something, though, even if an update/fix cannot be made. Fortunately, I had been using Mint 7 for a bit (OK, two weeks, but that was long enough to fall for it), so I kept trying, but I can really see a lot of potential new users who encounter this problem just saying, "Bite this," and walking away. And that would be a shame, for such a relatively minor issue (in the grand scheme of the distro as a whole).