NVIDIA chip/resolution problem in Mint 6 XFCE CE

[Losgann]

Hello,

So I just did a fresh install of Mint 6 XFCE, and after building the NVIDIA driver (my mobo has an on-board GeForce 7025 graphics chip) in EnvyNG and rebooting, I have only 640x480 screen resolution under NVIDIA settings, which is even lower than the 800x600 resolution I got from VESA while the live CD was running. I didn't have this problem under Mint 5 XFCE — I rebooted after installing the NVIDIA driver, and was able to go into NVIDIA settings and choose my monitor's native resolution (1280x1024).

Anybody have any ideas? Anything I can do to get the NVIDIA settings to give me my full resolution back?

Thanks for any help.

Thomas

[Husse]

This is an irritating problem that surfaces now and then
Check in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf that you have
Driver "nvidia"
in
Section "Device"
To get better performance also add
Option "DynamicTwinView" "False"
to Section "Device"
Reboot and use the Screen Resolution tool to set the right resolution (I hope it works now)

[Losgann]

Hej Husse

Thanks for the response. Things are slightly better now, but still not right. I removed the NVIDIA drivers, and followed McLovin's advice in another thread (I missed the fact that there was a separate thread for graphics/display issues, so please feel free to move my post there if need be) which was to run Mint update first, then install the NVIDIA drivers through EnvyNG. I did this and rebooted, and my screen resolution now appears to be 1024x768.

Check in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf that you have
Driver "nvidia"
in
Section "Device"
To get better performance also add
Option "DynamicTwinView" "False"
to Section "Device"
Reboot and use the Screen Resolution tool to set the right resolution

I did this; now changing screen resolution in NVIDIA X Server Settings is disabled. However, when I go to Settings > Display Settings, the highest resolution on offer is only 800x600@72! Either that or the "default", which is what I currently have it set to, which appears to be 1024x768 (I don't know what refresh rate). Very strange!

Is there any other way to set screen resolution in Mint 6 XFCE CE? Is there a command to change screen resolution at the terminal, or something else I could try?

In case it helps figure out what the problem is, here is the complete xorg.conf file which was generated when EnvyNG installed the NVIDIA drivers, plus the edit you suggested:

Code: Select all

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
	DefaultDepth	24
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"glx"
	Disable	"dri2"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
	Driver	"nvidia"
	Option 	"DynamicTwinView" "False"
EndSection

[viking777]

Blimey! If that is all you have got in your xorg.conf, I am not surprised your graphics don't work properly, in fact I am surprised they work at all!
My own file is three times that size and contains (amongst other things) a set of display modes that look something like this:

Code: Select all

Subsection "Display"
        Depth 8
        Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240"
    EndSubsection
      Subsection "Display"
        Depth 15
        Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240"
    EndSubsection
    
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth 16
        Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240"
    EndSubsection
    
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth 24
        Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "480x360" "320x240"
    EndSubsection
EndSection

I am pretty sure that without these you will not have working graphics. Of course, copying chunks out of my file is not likely to work that well, (although you can try it if you like !) so you need to rebuild xorg.conf. I don't know anything about EnvyNG so it may be possible with that tool, but given what you have already it doesn't look like it. The only way I know of to rewrite xorg.conf is to use 'nvidia-settings'. You should have this already, but if not I am sure you can get it via synaptic (If you have the necessary repos enabled). If you already have it this is what you do:

Open a terminal and type:

Code: Select all

sudo nvidia-settings

After a few seconds this will launch a graphical interface (if it does nothing then you don't have it installed). In the menu on the left highlight "X Server Display Configuration" and this section will open up on the right. In the 'Layout' window you should see your screen defined. In the section below it you will see a drop down box entitled 'resolution' - hopefully here you should be able to set the resolution you want. All you do now is to click on the button labelled "Apply" and it will give your new settings a test run, if they work click on the save button, if they don't they will time out back to your old settings. Assuming this works you then click on the button labelled "Save to X Configuration File" which will then rewrite xorg.conf with the required resolution and also save your old file as a backup.

This always works for me I hope it does for you too.

NB if it does work then straight away make a backup of xorg.conf and if anything goes wrong in the future all you need do is replace the faulty file with your backup and you will be back in business. This even works if you switch distros, since the file is specific to the machine not the distro.

[Husse]

Please check facts before posting - xorg.conf is "almost empty" in Felicia - the new X is very much self configured.
Modes/modelines and the like are not supposed to be used but is supported. Should be used only as a last resort
But you may have success with nvidia settings (use gksudo to start nvidia-settings)

[Losgann]

So should I go in and add some of these modes? I'm dual booting Mint and Windows XP; the Windows NVIDIA settings menu gives me a long list of screen resolutions and refresh rates, I could look there to get modes that my video chip supports, and then reboot into mint and add them to my xorg.conf. Or is that not a good idea?

[viking777]

It obviously depends who you ask. I wouldn't argue for one moment that I know more about Mint (or Linux in general) than Husse - I don't. But if your system isn't working properly you aren't going to do any harm by using nvidia-settings and you don't need to look in windows for different modes, just choose the correct resolution for your monitor from the list presented to you in nvidia-settings - you only need to choose one the rest is done automatically. Nothing bad is going to happen so just give it a try.

[Losgann]

I removed the "Option 'DynamicTwinView' 'False'" line that Husse suggested from xorg.conf and rebooted, so I can use nvidia-settings to set the screen resolution now. However, the highest available resolution it offers me is 1152x864. Which is better than 1024x768, but still, my monitor's native resolution is 1280x1024 — why would that option not even be listed? (Not to mention higher resolutions like 1600x1200, which I don't want to use myself, but which are quite common.)

[viking777]

I don't know the answer to that but perhaps you would be better off with a slightly later driver. The present Mint installs version 177 by default but if you search in synaptic for 'nvidia-glx-180' right click it and select 'Mark for installation' it will remove the 177 driver and install the 180 driver instead.

You are best off rebooting afterwards if you decide to try this.

I do not claim that this is the definitive answer, I am simply offering suggestions not necessarily solutions.

Having said that I have just done this on my own system and it is perfectly safe.

[Losgann]

So I don't have to remove the 177 driver first? If I mark the 180 driver for installation it will automatically remove the 177 driver first? I'm away from home at the moment (checking the forum on my lunch break!) but when I get home tonight I'll try that. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Husse]

This is really strange and irritating - some people can't get a decent resolution and I honestly don't know what the difference is between these computers and the majority....
@ viking777
I responded to your statement

If that is all you have got in your xorg.conf, I am not surprised your graphics don't work properly, in fact I am surprised they work at all!

With the present X xorg.conf is almost empty by default, but as I wrote you can use modelines and whatnot that used to be there
In fact it is the only solution at times
@ Aquern
I don think Option 'DynamicTwinView' 'False' stops you from using nvidia-settings (but I'm not sure - have ATI in my prime computer now) but nvidia-settings will surely remove that option
I don't know which version envyng installs but check it before you take the synaptic option
(You start envyng from the terminal with envyng -t there was not room for the GUI on the live CD)

[Losgann]

Well, I tried using the version 180 NVIDIA driver, I tried adding "Modes" lines to my xorg.conf, and nothing made any difference. I did a lot of googling and ploughing through the Ubuntu forums yesterday. Apparently there are a quite a few people having various issues with NVIDIA cards and Ubuntu 8.10. In the end I did find one thread which contained the following:

There is a beta driver, version 96.43.09, which supports the kernel and X server
shipped with Ubuntu 8.10. There is an Ubuntu package for it, but it's currently
in intrepid-proposed, which means you won't get it automatically unless you
enable the "proposed updates" checkbox in the "software sources" control panel.

So it looks as though this is not a Mint 6 issue, but an Ubuntu 8.10 issue. Just to test, I tried installing Xubuntu 8.10, and also Crunchbang 8.10 (another unofficial Ubuntu derivative), and had the exact same problem, no resolution higher than 1152x864. I enabled the "intrepid-proposed" repository, but I couldn't find the beta version of the 96.43.09 driver mentioned in that Ubuntu forum thread. So I don't know what to do.

[viking777]

If you are happy testing beta drivers you can go here:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

and see what Nvidia have to offer for your card. Realise though that you may make the situation worse with Beta drivers rather than better, it is a bit of a lottery.