Interesting Display Driver Problem in 8.10

Ack. I forgot to mention my monitor. It's a Samsung SyncMaster 712N with a native resolution of 1280x1024. It's connected by 15-Pin D-Sub.

--eisudiem

I'm having a hard time understanding the question, can you simplify it?
If your not able to start Xorg please paste /var/log/Xorg.0.log along with /etc/X11/xorg.conf here.
Oh ya, and what video card (I'm guessing some sort of Nvidia)

lol, Chris :) "to download nVidia drivers for my cards" so i hope it is an nVidia card! heheheh (i just did exactly the same in another question)

Xorg.conf from /etc/X11 would be useful to see and its worth saving a copy of it as xorg.050209 so that if we make changes that don't work then at least you have a backup to return to.

I was curious, are you using 32bit or 64bit Ubuntu? Even on my 64bit machine the 32bit version is much better and does plenty of multi-threading etc. Of course it only sees 2Gb of my Ram but rarely even actually needs 1Gb of that! lol

Good luck with this
Regards from
Tom :

Yes Chris and Tom, I have two MSI "NX7900GS" video cards, GeForce 7 Series - overclocked editions.

Tom, I'm using 64-bit for two reasons. One, because I have 4 GB of RAM (one of the sticks is being warranty-replaced), and two, because 64-bit websurfing has completely spoiled me. Yes, I know I'm only using a fraction of the RAM, and none of the Swap, but it's still fun to have. I'll have to try the 32-bit version and see if the problem still exists.

Ubuntu DOES boot and run, I just can't get a resolution higher than 800x600 without those drivers. I'm not totally command-line run until I attempt to install those restricted drivers.

Here's /var/log/Xorg.0.log

GeForce 410 Go 16M, GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8x, GeForce 4 MX 440 SE with AGP8x, GeForce4 MX 420 with AGP8x, Quadro4 700 XGL, GeForce 4 Ti 4800, GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8x

Here's /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "Device"
             Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
             Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

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

I hope this helps! Thanks again!

--eisudiem

Ok, this may well not work so make sure you create a copy of xorg.conf called something useful like xorg.050209. Now open xorg from a command line (Applications - Accessories - Terminal), type in

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

If it asks for a password try your normal user one, not the SuperUser/Root one. In the section "Screen" please add this sub-section.

             DefaultDepth 24
                 SubSection "Display"
                 Modes "1280x1024"
                 EndSubSection

This should make the section look a bit like

Section "Screen"
             Identifier "Default Screen"
             Monitor "Configured Monitor"
             DefaultDepth 24
                 SubSection "Display"
                 Modes "1280x1024"
                 EndSubSection
             Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

I don't think that the position of the added text matters, as long as it's somewhere in that section. I copied this answer from somewhere else so i'm not certain it'll work. Make sure you have a LiveCd distro (eg the Ubuntu Cd) handy to fix the hard-drives xorg.conf if it goes wrong.

Good luck with this
Regards from
Tom :)

Sorry, Tom. It did absolutely nothing.

I tried it before installing the display drivers, and then afterwards. Of course, afterwards, in the command line Ubuntu, I couldn't open gedit.

I think that in the meantime, I'll install 8.04, take a look at its xorg.conf, and see if I can't copy the thing into the 8.10 config.

You need the restricted nvidia drivers, that should get your resolutions up higher.

In xorg.conf the device section should look like this:

Section "Device"
             Identifier "Configured Video Device"
             Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Before you do this you'll need to download the restricted drivers. Here's a good link
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedDrivers

Welcome back, Chris!

To bring you up to date, upon enabling of these Restricted Drivers and rebooting, I am given only the command prompt version of Ubuntu. No GUI whatsoever, which makes gedit-ing the xorg.conf impossible.

I have read the Restricted Drivers section quite a few times, and I have followed their instructions to the letter. Rather unfortunately, making your suggested changes before I install the drivers does nothing, and the changes don't mean anything after I install the drivers.

And now, everyone, here's another update that will completely confound you.

Now, my 800x600 resolution conundrum has spread to my 8.04 installation of Ubuntu. The only difference between Hardy and Intrepid is that Hardy actually maintains the GUI after I install the Restricted Drivers. I still don't get better than 800x600, though.

I know that this isn't my monitor's doing - my XP Pro partition not only runs perfectly, but the SLI configuration is giving me Quake 4 at best quality at 80 FPS. When I go and look at my perfectly functioning Intrepid on my Fujistu Lifebook, the xorg.conf looks exactly like the xorg.conf on my tower before I install any updates. Granted my Lifebook A1110 has a shared video card, but even still.

I have checked all my connections, and they are solid. I moved my monitor cable to another output - the result was the same. I took my monitor, keyboard, and mouse out of the KVMP I use, and plugged them directly into my tower - the result was the same. As mentioned before, I keep my monitor up and running during installation so that no drivers could be missed.

The only thing I haven't done yet is installed WINE, and then run the driver disc for the monitor. Considering the Plug-N-Play nature of my monitor, and the fact that my previous installations of Hardy worked perfectly without any further drivers - leads me to believe that this would be either futile or a waste of time.

Sorry about the grammar and the hastily typed update. The frustration is getting to me.

According to the FAQs, most forum questions about drivers, the official setups and helps - none of what is happening to me should be happening.

Should I report this as a bug? Granted, I would have no idea what to call it!

--eisudiem

Okay, in order to see what's happening I need to see /var/log/Xorg.0.log and in order for you to be able to post this you'll need to reapply the nvidia driver as stated in my last post and then try to login. When it fails, login from the console and type this
sudo cp /var/log/Xorg.0.log ~/Desktop
When that file gets moved do what you need to do to log back into the gui (I'm guessing your deleting /etc/X11/xorg.conf or using the nv driver) and post ~/Desktop/Xorg.0.log here. Previously you posted this

"Here's /var/log/Xorg.0.log

GeForce 410 Go 16M, GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8x, GeForce 4 MX 440 SE with AGP8x, GeForce4 MX 420 with AGP8x, Quadro4 700 XGL, GeForce 4 Ti 4800, GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP8x"

This is not from /var/log/Xorg.0.log unfortunately so please post ~/Desktop/Xorg.0.log in it's entirety. If you need to see an example of what this log file looks like you can see mine here http://paste.ubuntu.com/114531/ . The reason why I need you to copy this file to another location is because it changes each time Xorg starts(or doesn't start) and I need the one with the errors in it. Thank you

Actually, Chris, I have yet to be able to get back to a GUI after I install the drivers. I've tried to rm the conf, but that doesn't do anything. I've also tried to boot using a previous version of Intrepid - doesn't work.

I've done the sudo cp, but I can't get back to the desktop.

--eisudiem

From the console you can use a text editor like nano, or my personal favorite vim, to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf .
Under the device section just change the driver to nv so that you can log back into the gui

Section "Device"
             Identifier "Configured Video Device"
             Driver "nv"
EndSection

Just keep in mind that you have to use sudo to edit these configurations and even to remove them.
ala
sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
sudo rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Sorry Chris. I used nano, and I saved xorg.conf with the line 'Driver "nv"' just like you wrote, and nothing happened. I'm still in... what is it? Bash?

And yes, I do know about sudo. I have tried all three of your suggestions, with a reboot after each, and still nothing has changed.

Boot from (hd0,4) ext3 ef963195-5e71-432b-9c0a-a25470fb80fa
Starting up ...
Loading, please wait ...
19+0 Records in
19+0 Records out
kinit: name_to_dev_t(/dev/disk/by-uuid/983dd321-b53d-4612-9185-f06f76ea6f99) = dev(8,6)
kinit: trying to resume from /dev/disk/by-uuid/983dd321-b53d-4612-9185-f06f76ea6f99
kinit: No resume image, doing normal boot ...
Ubuntu 8.10 "my name"-desktop tty1
"my name" login:

--eisudiem

Have you tried booting a Live Cd of a tiny distro such as Wolvix?
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=wolvix

Does this produce the same type of problem? or do you get to a proper desktop with that?

Regards from
Tom

Hey! Great idea, Tom.

I have some SuSE disks, and I can see if the Mint distro's done anything to improve themselves.

I originally thought this whole thing was brought on by my SLI configuration in my Windows partition. You know, a possibility of a residual set of commands in the graphic RAM that would prevent proper calibration. But, I tried to install Ubuntu on another person's computer, using my monitor, and it still only came out as 800x600.

I'll try out all three! Praise be to Linux for only taking about fifteen minutes to install.

--eisudiem

lol, i think Mint uses the same base as Ubuntu? I was really trying to see if a distro from a totally different fork would work and i went for a good solid distro that's always managed to install fine for me (even on some slightly strange & quirky systems). I thought a tiny distro would be better as it would install faster into less space! lol, good luck with OpenSuse tho :)

Regards from
Tom :)

Well, here's the results:

Wolvix - Swing and a miss. I didn't even get a GUI, I got solid text, pretty similar in verbiage to what I get after installing the drivers for Ubuntu.

Mint - Yes, it does use the same base, but in the previous versions, they messed around with the code enough so that it didn't work too well! I thought that maybe they had something extra or different. In any case, at best - 800x600.

openSuSE 11.1 - Ah ha! We have a smidgen bit of progress - 1024x768. It went up a step.

In all cases, they said that my monitor was "unknown."

It's crazy how these systems can't see my monitor. The first installations I had with Linux all immediately recognized my resolution. And then I take my computer and monitor apart so I can bring them to a LAN party and they worked then. When I came back to upgrade to 8.10... well, then we come to the beginning of this thread.

I know I might just be rambling, but I'm hoping that someone might recognize something I did or ask a question about something I did that I may not have realized.

--eisudiem

lol, my Dell screen is alo 'unknown'! It is giving me 1024x768 tho. I think when they say 'unknown' they just mean 'generic'. Wolvix not even getting a gui is a first for me! OpenSuse giving 1024x768 is interesting because i thought that distro was difficult to configure. What is the screen section of xorg.conf saying at the mo? Are you dual-booting between OpenSuse and Ubuntu? Anyway, good luck with reposting this in brief
Regards from
Tom :)

Yeah, I was pretty surprised at Wolvix. It loaded fast, the files seemed right and then (to quote Emeril) BAM! Text-only.

OpenSuSE started in 1024x768 to begin with, which is what surprised me. And the xorg.conf for them both read pretty much the same - it's as if there isn't anything wrong with the installation, but rather the installation having a problem with my monitor.

Section "Device"
             Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
             Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

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

What's really frustrating is that XP Pro is working just fine with my monitor. Which brings me back to what the problem could possibly be. My SLI? My monitor cord? I've installed Ubuntu too many times for this to be a simple fluke. Looks like I'm going to have to scavenge around for another monitor. Maybe there's a firmware update or repair executable for my monitor? I'll take a look.

Thanks again Tom and Chris for staying with me!

--eisudiem

Hmmm, hunt around the answers forum cos there have been quite a few resolution issues lately. I suspect it might also be worth hunting around the launchpad bugs forums too :(

Someone was saying that if you have a flat panel and if it has a DVI socket that using a DVI lead can help greatly. Hmm, firmware for a monitor? Have you tried the manufacturers website?

Good luck with this
Regards from
Tom :)

Click on where it sas "xorg pacakage" on a grey tab at the top of this thread and you'll see what i mean

Click on where it sees "xorg pacakage" on a grey tab at the top of this thread and you'll see what i mean

If you are still having trouble with this then please post it as a new question. Only the most recent questions tend to get looked at so posting/reposting a question just before america arrives online after work/school gives the best chance of getting a good few answers.
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion

If the problem has been resolved then please follow the link to the forum thread and mark it as Solved.

Good luck and many regards from
Tom :)

Sorry about the delay. I couldn't get my xorg to work at all, no matter what I do. The biggest mystery is how Intrepid works flawlessly on my laptop, and not at all with my tower.

Just so that the admins and helpful people aren't pestered by this question, I'm just going to mark it as solved.

Thank you Tom and Chris, you've been extremely helpful, and I am really grateful. Something is just messed up with either my cards or my monitor. I will be trying again and again, referring back to this thread for clues. And I will try until 9.04 comes out.

Thank you all once again!

--eisudiem

Thank you for getting back to us with this. I can't remember if we tried different distro's to see if they had the same problem. lol, it's usually the laptops that have the problems and the towers that are easy going.
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=wolvix

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

Ah yes, Tom, we did try other distros. I tried Wolvix, which didn't show me a GUI at all. openSUSE 11.1 not only gave me a GUI, but it also immediately allowed me to get my ideal resolution. I scrapped it because I was having a lot of trouble with YaST, and the distro also ruined my XP partition. I tried Mint, but that's just Ubuntu with an "Andes Mint" theme.

I tried version 8.04, which had worked for before, and worked repeatedly. Sometimes I had to reinstall four or five times to get it right. And each time there was no question as to what my monitor resolution was. But at the end of January, after I went to a LAN party, 8.04 and 8.10 both could not see my native resolution.

A number of things are going to happen. One, I'm getting kind of tired of my SLI configuration - there's just more problems than benefits. And secondly, I'm enjoying 8.10 on my laptop, and I can wait for 9.04.

The new development is that I'm working on a friend's computer, and I'm installing 8.04 on his. If his installation comes up roses, especially since I will be using my monitor - then I can come to the conclusion that it has something to do with my video card. And vice versa will be true as well - he has a 8800 nVidia card - without SLI, and if I can't get the native resolution with his computer (which worked fine before), then it's my monitor.

Whew! No matter the volume of these troubles, I'm still sticking with Ubuntu. It does seem to be the most user-friendly distro I've played with.

Hear from you all later!

--eisudiem

That's all good to hear. Thanks for letting us know. I hope your card works better with a different monitor and that the monitor works better with a slightly different graphics card ;)

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

It's not possibly a firmware issue? I don't know enough about monitors to even know if they have firmware! Shocking i know.

Good luck and regards again from
Tom :)

Why thank you Tom.

As it turns out, I'm something of an idiot, and at least *my* monitor doesn't have firmware. One of the monitors I want to get will have firmware. But there will be something close to a six year difference in technology between the two.

I'll let you know the results of the other computer!

--eisudiem

Sweet.
Mother.
Of.
Corn.

Tom, Chris, I've done it!

Okay, here's the long, convoluted story. By chance, I happened to have 7.10 x64 AMD Desktop in my collection. I decided that I had nothing to lose, and installed that. It sort of worked - I got all the driver resolutions, including the ones that were higher than my monitor's native resolution. Which is where it stayed, regardless of my desire to bump down the resolution from 1680x1050 to 1280x1024.

Then I got greedy. I decided to install the graphic card driver. After the nvidia drivers were installed and I restarted, I got bumped down to "very low resolution." It was here where I first was asked what graphics cards and monitor I was using. I picked out my Samsung 712N, and then restarted. My computer worked for a long time, and then restarted. I got the graphics to come back, but at 1024x768. I copied the xorg.conf, and it was completely different that what's on my laptop and what I had been getting earlier. Feeling the heady rush of success, I then went and installed all of the updates. There I noticed that I could upgrade to 8.04 through the update manager. I clicked it and then left for work.

By the time that I had come back, it was all done, and in need of restart. When it restarted, I finally got my 1280x1024! I didn't have my special effects though. I got even more greedy and installed the graphic drivers. At first, I selected version 177, but after being bumped back down to 1024x768, I deactivated it, and tried the 173. That worked perfectly!

Here's the victory - I got super greedy, and looked up how to upgrade from 8.04 LTS to 8.10. And after enabling the update, I tried it again.

Now, not only am I running 8.10, but I'm also running with full graphics with all the effects, and at 1280x1024!!

"Left 4 Dead," here I come!

By the way, this is what my xorg.conf looked like after all was said and done.

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
# Driver "kbd"
# Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
# Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
# Option "XkbLayout" "us"
#EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Configured Mouse"
# Driver "mouse"
# Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
#EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "monitor1"
 Vendorname "Samsung"
 Modelname "Samsung SyncMaster 711N/712N"
 Horizsync 30-81
 Vertrefresh 56-85
 modeline "640x480@60" 25.2 640 656 752 800 480 490 492 525 -vsync -hsync
 modeline "640x480@72" 31.5 640 664 704 832 480 489 491 520 -vsync -hsync
 modeline "640x480@75" 31.5 640 656 720 840 480 481 484 500 -vsync -hsync
 modeline "640x480@85" 36.0 640 696 752 832 480 481 484 509 -vsync -hsync
 modeline "800x600@56" 36.0 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "800x600@72" 50.0 800 856 976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "800x600@75" 49.5 800 816 896 1056 600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "800x600@85" 56.3 800 832 896 1048 600 601 604 631 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "800x600@60" 40.0 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "832x624@75" 57.284 832 864 928 1152 624 625 628 667 -vsync -hsync
 modeline "1024x768@85" 94.5 1024 1072 1168 1376 768 769 772 808 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "1024x768@75" 78.8 1024 1040 1136 1312 768 769 772 800 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "1024x768@70" 75.0 1024 1048 1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -vsync -hsync
 modeline "1024x768@60" 65.0 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -vsync -hsync
 modeline "1152x864@75" 108.0 1152 1216 1344 1600 864 865 868 900 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "1280x1024@75" 135.0 1280 1296 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "1280x960@60" 102.1 1280 1360 1496 1712 960 961 964 994 -hsync +vsync
 modeline "1280x1024@60" 108.0 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "1280x960@75" 129.86 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1002 -hsync +vsync
 modeline "1400x1050@60" 122.61 1400 1488 1640 1880 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
 modeline "1600x1200@65" 175.5 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
 modeline "1600x1200@60" 162.0 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
 Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "monitor2"
 Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Device "Configured Video Device"
 Monitor "Configured Monitor"
 DefaultDepth 24
 SubSection "Display"
  Modes "800x600"
 EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "screen1"
 Device "device1"
 Defaultdepth 24
 Monitor "monitor1"
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 24
  Modes "1280x1024@75" "1280x960@60" "1152x864@75" "1280x1024@60" "1024x768@60" "1280x960@75" "1024x768@70" "1400x1050@60" "1024x768@75" "1600x1200@65" "1024x768@85" "1600x1200@60" "832x624@75" "800x600@60" "800x600@85" "800x600@75" "800x600@72" "800x600@56" "640x480@85" "640x480@75" "640x480@72" "640x480@60"
 EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "screen2"
 Device "device2"
 Defaultdepth 24
 Monitor "monitor2"
EndSection

Section "Module"
 Load "glx"
 Load "v4l"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
 Identifier "Default Layout"
 screen 0 "screen1" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
 Driver "nvidia"
 Option "NoLogo" "True"
EndSection

Section "Device"
 Identifier "device1"
 Boardname "NVIDIA GeForce 7 Series"
 Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
 Screen 0
 Vendorname "NVIDIA"
 Driver "nvidia"
 Option "NoLogo" "True"
EndSection

Section "Device"
 Identifier "device2"
 Boardname "NVIDIA GeForce 7 Series"
 Busid "PCI:5:0:0"
 Driver "nv"
 Screen 0
 Vendorname "NVIDIA"
EndSection

Long and tenuous was my journey, but now I know how to get Ubuntu to work with my particular computer and monitor, even though I really don't understand how I came to this end. My only guess is what when I was asked about my monitor in 7.10, the information was passed on through 8.04 and 8.10. Before I installed 7.10 and upgraded, those were the two installations that when booted down to "very low graphics" mode, never asked me what monitor or cards I was using.

Well, thank you again Tom and Chris - I leave you now, a very happy Ubuntu user.

--eisudiem

Wow, brilliant. Nicely fixed!! Welcome to Ubuntu :)
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)