Configuring HDMI output for HD TV using ATI graphics card

[BeakersHelper]

Hello and a Happy New Year to everyone.

Before I explain my problem, I will describe my system.
I have a HP Pavillion DV6-2030 SA laptop with a native screen resolution of 1366x768 pixels. The graphics card is an ATI M92 [Mobility Radeon HD 4500 Series].
I have installed Linux Mint 8 (64 bit version) and have installed the ATI drivers from the [System] - [Administration] - [Hardware Drivers] menu.
The currently installed drivers are the ATI/AMD Proprietary FGLRX Graphics Drivers.

The problem I have is that when I connect my computer to a 42" LCD television (Sharp, native 1920x1080p) using the HDMI output, the detected screensize is 52" (not 42" as expected). Although I can configure the display settings to use the LCD TV (at the same time as the laptop monitor), the display is incorrect. I don't know if this is because the screen size is incorrect or because I cannot select the correct resolution for the TV (there is no option for 1920x1080)

I would be very grateful if someone could explain how I can correctly configure the screen size of the external monitor and set its resolution to 1920x1080p.

I would be very grateful for any help or suggestions.

Best wishes,

[Husse]

Will get back to you shortly - however it should work

[Husse]

This is because the graphics card cannot read the EDID data from the TV properly
I was reminded of a way to replace the EDID data with something you provide
Unfortunately the solution is a bit tricky for those that fear the command line
The solution makes use of a xorg.conf file and there is none by default in Helena
This solution is only valid if you use the restricted ATI driver (fglrx)
fglrx ignores xorg.conf in favor of its own config file amdpcsdb
We must begin by creating a xorg.conf - first check if the fglrx install has created a file - check if you have /etc/X11/xorg.conf
I'm not sure if the next command can do that or if it throws an error if there is no file, so let's create one

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sudo touch /etc/X11/xorg.conf

For an explanation of "Select All" above see here - sorry if it's obvious to you
Tweak it a bit

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sudo aticonfig --initial 

Add the solution

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gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Add the following to Section "Monitor"

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OPTION "DPMS"
        HorizSync 40-90
        VertRefresh 50-75

Save and then make amdpcsdb use the change we just made to xorg.conf

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sudo aticonfig --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf --tls=1

This command must be run after any change to xorg.conf if you want fglrx to use the change
After this I think it will work - you have to reboot I'm afraid
If not you have to use modelines I'm afraid - use Advanced search to search for modelines and my user name to get quite a few useful examples

[BeakersHelper]

Hi Husse,

sorry for the delay in replying to you. For some reason I didn't get a notification that a new reply had been added to my thread and I hadn't checked it for a few weeks. Thankyou for looking into this for me. I would like to clarify one point in your instructions. When I create the xorg.conf file, there are several entries for monitor as you can see below. Should I add the lines you suggested to each monitor section, or just a specific one?

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OPTION "DPMS"
        HorizSync 40-90
        VertRefresh 50-75

Thank you and best regards,

BeakersHelper


***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "aticonfig Layout"
Screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "0-LCD"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
Option "PreferredMode" "1366x768"
Option "TargetRefresh" "60"
Option "Position" "0 0"
Option "Rotate" "normal"
Option "Disable" "false"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "0-DFP2"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
Option "PreferredMode" "1366x768"
Option "TargetRefresh" "60"
Option "Position" "0 0"
Option "Rotate" "normal"
Option "Disable" "false"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Driver "fglrx"
Option "Monitor-LCD" "0-LCD"
Option "Monitor-DFP2" "0-DFP2"
Option "UseFastTLS" "1"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Virtual 3286 3286
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

[Husse]

I have to digest this - the original config done by fglrx is always more than a bit complicated

[Husse]

The computer I use mostly is a desktop with dual monitors one screen with a Radeon 1350 (if my memory serves me right)
No problem with 1920x1080 (a 23 inch monitor) and 1280x1024 (a 17 inch monitor)
My xorg.conf looks like this

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Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "amdcccle Layout"
	Screen      0  "amdcccle-Screen[5]-0" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "glx"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "0-DFP1"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
	Option	    "PreferredMode" "1920x1080"
	Option	    "TargetRefresh" "60"
	Option	    "Position" "0 0"
	Option	    "Rotate" "normal"
	Option	    "Disable" "false"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "0-DFP2"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
	Option	    "PreferredMode" "1280x1024"
	Option	    "TargetRefresh" "60"
	Option	    "Position" "1920 0"
	Option	    "Rotate" "normal"
	Option	    "Disable" "false"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Default Device"
	Driver      "fglrx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "amdcccle-Device[5]-0"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	Option	    "Monitor-DFP1" "0-DFP1"
	Option	    "Monitor-DFP2" "0-DFP2"
	BusID       "PCI:5:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "amdcccle-Device[5]-1"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	Option	    "Monitor-DFP2" "0-DFP2"
	BusID       "PCI:5:0:0"
	Screen      1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Default Screen"
	DefaultDepth     24
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "amdcccle-Screen[5]-0"
	Device     "amdcccle-Device[5]-0"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Virtual   3200 3200
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "amdcccle-Screen[5]-1"
	Device     "amdcccle-Device[5]-1"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

I hope you can make some sense of it
Remember that if you change xorg.conf you must run

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sudo aticonfig --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf --tls=1

to change the amdpcsdb file which fglrx uses instead of xorg.conf
And perhaps reboot...

[BeakersHelper]

Hi Husse,

thank-you for posting the xorg.conf example. It will take me some time to work out how to configure it to my system but i appreciate your help with this. Will play around with some of the settings let you know how it goes.

cheers,

BeakersHelper

[Husse]

I know I should have modified the xorg.conf but I have to "cut corners" to be able to answer as many as possible and frankly when I looked at it I felt a certain dizziness
ATI makes really "advanced" xorg.conf files