[SOLVED] Mint 19 - switching from VGA CRT to VGA LCD

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xGuy
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Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:56 pm

[SOLVED] Mint 19 - switching from VGA CRT to VGA LCD

Post by xGuy »

I've been using a LaCIe 22" CRT @ 1600x122 & 85Hz but am considering changing to a good quality LCD - ideally 1920 x 1200 with the option of VGA or DVD-D connection. I like the idea of VGA as a backup because I know it works with my existing kit. The graphics card is an nVidia GT630 and the onboard Intel graphics is disabled in the BIOS.

So I thought I would try a rehearsal with a couple of LCD VGA monitors I already have to see how they might fare with my main system. One is an AOC 18.5" at 1366x768 and 60 Hz, the other is a 24" TV which can manage 1920x1200 at 60 Hz.

Before shutting down to make the connections I changed the resolution/refresh rate on the CRT monitor to a much lower one which I was sure the LCDs could cope with. Crucially I only asked the nVidia utility to Apply the changes, I didn't notice the Save to X Configuration File button. I also mirrored the changes in the Cinnamon Display utility.

At first neither LCD would work. I have quiet splash disabled so I can see when the GUI login is reached and at that stage both monitors went blank apart from No Signal or Out of Range messages.

I have Windows 8.1 on a different HDD so booted that and at first it was the same but on the third reboot Windows went into automatic safe mode in a very low resolution/refresh rate. This allowed me to claw my way up to an appropriate resolution so it was clear the hardware was good.

I also booted Mint 17.3 on the same PC and with the AOC (didn't try the TV) it logged it in GUI mode OK. So something is different in Mint 19.

I booted Mint 19 in recovery mode and started a root terminal session. Remounted the root partition read write and, having backed up, with some trepidation made a simple edit to /etc/X11/xorg.conf. I was working without really knowing what I was doing so I just changed one line :-

Option "metamodes" "1600x1200 +0+0"
to
Option "metamodes" "800x640 +0+0"

and that was enough to get me the GUI login. Although the resolution was too low I was able to change it upwards and both TV and AOC then worked at their desired resolutions.

Subsequently, I saw the option to save to xorg.conf in the Nvidia Server Settings window and realised this was maybe what I should have done first off.

Yet there is another little mystery. The Cinnamon Display utility seems independent of xorg and I think stores the resolution and refresh rate in file ~/.config/monitors.xml. So you need to use both the Nvidia and Cinnamon display utilities. If the xorg.conf file settings are too high for the monitor then you won't get as far as Cinnamon.

I've found all this very confusing but I hope I've learned enough to be able to risk spending a fair bit of cash on a new monitor.

I'd really appreciate it if someone more expert than myself could confirm if what I've done is along the right lines and perhaps point me at some reading that might make give me a clearer understanding.

I've included the hardware details below :-

System: Host: PegasusMint19 Kernel: 4.15.0-32-generic x86_64
bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.8 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1)
Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine: Device: desktop System: ASUS product: All Series serial: N/A
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: Z87-PRO v: Rev 1.xx serial: <filter>
BIOS: American Megatrends v: 1802 date: 01/28/2014
CPU: Quad core Intel Core i7-4770 (-MT-MCP-)
arch: Haswell rev.3 cache: 8192 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 27184
clock speeds: max: 3900 MHz 1: 1184 MHz 2: 1157 MHz 3: 1082 MHz
4: 1210 MHz 5: 1000 MHz 6: 1093 MHz 7: 1023 MHz 8: 1315 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA GK208 [GeForce GT 630 Rev. 2] bus-ID: 01:00.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: nvidia
Resolution: 1600x1200@85.00hz
OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GT 630/PCIe/SSE2
version: 4.4.0 NVIDIA 340.106 Direct Render: Yes
Audio: Card-1 Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Def. Audio Controller
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Card-2 Creative Labs CA0110 [Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio]
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 06:00.0
Card-3 NVIDIA GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-32-generic
Network: Card-1: Intel Ethernet Connection I217-V
driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: f040 bus-ID: 00:19.0
IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter
driver: ath9k bus-ID: 04:00.0
IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 7501.5GB (4.3% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST2000DM001 size: 2000.4GB temp: 37C
ID-2: /dev/sdb model: ST2000DM001 size: 2000.4GB temp: 37C
ID-3: /dev/sdc model: WDC_WD10EZEX size: 1000.2GB temp: 35C
ID-4: /dev/sdd model: ST2000DM001 size: 2000.4GB temp: 39C
ID-5: /dev/sde model: WDC_WD5000ABYS size: 500.1GB temp: 41C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 196G used: 24G (13%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
ID-2: swap-1 size: 16.11GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
fs: swap dev: /dev/sde2
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 32.5C mobo: 34.0C gpu: 0.0:35C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 0 fan-1: 824 fan-2: 1252 fan-3: 484 fan-4: 0 fan-5: 468 fan-6: 0
Info: Processes: 289 Uptime: 42 min Memory: 1564.2/15975.9MB
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
xGuy
Level 3
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Posts: 113
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:56 pm

Re: Mint 19 - switching from VGA CRT to VGA LCD

Post by xGuy »

Traced to faulty VGA cable.

Sorry for any inconvenience.
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