Ubuntu
xserver-xorg-driver-i810 package

640x480 only available resolution on Intel 82845G

Asked by Patrick Goetz

I have a Dell Optiplex SX260 with a 1702FP display (Intel 82845G integrated video) and installed Ubuntu 6.06 final. The only resolution I can get is 640x480, even though xorg.conf appears to be set up correctly, with appropriate modes, etc. (output from ddcprobe and xresprobe listed below), and the agpgart module appears to be properly loaded.

I am almost certain that the problem is that the driver seems to be unable to find any system memory, and is consequently constrained to run in less than 1MB of VRAM. I tried setting VideoRam in the driver section to something like 32000, but then the server refused to start. (The system has 1GB of RAM, so a shortage of system memory is not the problem.)

This really appears to be a driver bug; I'm just shocked that no one else has run into this yet; there must be a gazillion systems out there with 82845G video.

administrator@navi:~$ sudo xresprobe i810
id: DELL 1702FP
res: 1024x768 800x600 720x400 640x480
freq: 30-80 56-76
disptype: crt
depth: 16

administrator@navi:~$ sudo ddcprobe
vbe: VESA 3.0 detected.
oem: Intel(r)845G/845GL/845GE/845GV Graphics Chip Accelerated VGA BIOS
vendor: Intel Corporation
product: Intel(r)845G/845GL/845GE/845GV Graphics Controller Hardware Version 0.0
memory: 832kb
mode: 1280x1024x256
mode: 1280x1024x64k
mode: 1280x1024x16m
mode: 1024x768x256
mode: 1024x768x64k
mode: 1024x768x16m
mode: 640x480x16m
mode: 800x600x64k
mode: 800x600x16m
mode: 132x25 (text)
mode: 132x43 (text)
mode: 132x50 (text)
mode: 132x60 (text)
mode: 640x480x256
mode: 800x600x256
mode: 640x480x64k
edid:
edid: 1 3
id: 3007
eisa: DEL3007
serial: 41353151
manufacture: 50 2001
input: sync on green, analog signal.
screensize: 34 27
gamma: 2.400000
dpms: RGB, active off, suspend, standby
timing: 720x400@70 Hz (VGA 640x400, IBM)
timing: 640x480@60 Hz (VGA)
timing: 640x480@75 Hz (VESA)
timing: 800x600@60 Hz (VESA)
timing: 800x600@72 Hz (VESA)
timing: 800x600@75 Hz (VESA)
timing: 1024x768@87 Hz Interlaced (8514A)
timing: 1024x768@75 Hz (VESA)
dtiming: 1280x1024@70
monitorserial: 8G1521CAA51Q
monitorname: DELL 1702FP
monitorrange: 30-80, 56-76

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Ubuntu xserver-xorg-driver-i810 Edit question
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Patrick Goetz
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Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#1

This only appears to be a problem with the 82845G -- i.e. the integrated graphics controller in a Dell SX260. I just installed Ubuntu 6.06 on a Dell SX270, which has an Intel 82865G graphics controller, and all resolutions supported by the monitor are working out of the box with no problems.

Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#2

Resolved. Only 1MB of video memory was reserved in the BIOS. I changed this to 8MB (the max), which resolved the problem.

The Dell SX270 install was a red herring. When I checked the video memory reserved in the BIOS on this machine, it was already set to 8MB.

Revision history for this message
john (barney-liv) said : 		#3

thanks a lot for posting this. i was struggling for so long before i read this. i have the same machine and had exactly the same problem. i made the 1 to 8 MB change and it worked for me too. thanks again.

Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#4

john wrote:
> Support request #1040 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+ticket/1040
>
> Comment:
> thanks a lot for posting this. i was struggling for so long before i read this. i have the same machine and had exactly the same problem. i made the 1 to 8 MB change and it worked for me too. thanks again.

glad to help! <:)

Revision history for this message
jas (john-sward) said : 		#5

I have an ACER TravelMate laptop which I installed Ubuntu and all I'm getting is 640x480 available resolution. Are there drivers which allow me to change my resolution?
Thanks for your help.
jas

Revision history for this message
williamts99 (williamts99) said : 		#6

jas,

Would you please consider opening your own support request as it gets very confusing having more then one problem per support request. You can easily follow the link below and start your own personal support request.
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addticket

Best Regards,

Williamts99

Revision history for this message
williamts99 (williamts99) said : 		#7

Patrick,

Could you please mark this support request as answered as it seems that you have solved your issue.

Best Regards,
Williamts99

Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#8

williamts99 wrote:
>
> Could you please mark this support request as answered as it seems that
> you have solved your issue.
>

Hi -

Am I missing something? It seems to be already marked as "Answered",
although I know I didn't do this. I agree that new questions on other
equipment should go into a separate thread. The support forum chaos is
relatively overwhelming.

Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#9

williamts99 wrote:
>
> Could you please mark this support request as answered as it seems that
> you have solved your issue.
>

Um, I tried clicking on "I Solved my Problem" at the bottom of the page,
and now the Status is marked as "Open" again instead of "Answered". How
Orwellian of them.

Revision history for this message
williamts99 (williamts99) said : 		#10

Well, answered is when someone has replied to you, open is when you have replied back without marking the support request as solved. A little bit confusing eh.

https://help.launchpad.net/SupportTrackerTour contains useful information about managing your support request.

If you are still having problems, let us know and we'll keep working on them.

Best Regards,

Williamts99

Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#11

> williamts99 proposed the following answer:
> Well, answered is when someone has replied to you, open is when you have
> replied back without marking the support request as solved. A little
> bit confusing eh.
>
> https://help.launchpad.net/SupportTrackerTour contains useful
> information about managing your support request.
>
> If you are still having problems, let us know and we'll keep working on
> them.
>

OK, I read the entire SupportTrackerTour document, and it appears that
the way to "close" a case is by clicking on the "I Solved my Problem"
button at the bottom. After logging in, I've done this twice, and all I
get is a red box at the bottom of the screen with header "There is 1
error." Apparently I'm not able to close my case?

Revision history for this message
williamts99 (williamts99) said : 		#12

Interesting, did you enter any text into the text field before clicking
on the solved button?

On Mon, 2007-02-19 at 18:48 +0000, Patrick Goetz wrote:
> Support request #1040 on xserver-xorg-driver-i810 in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-driver-i810/+ticket/1040
>
> Status: Answered => Open
>
> Patrick Goetz is still having a problem:
> > williamts99 proposed the following answer:
> > Well, answered is when someone has replied to you, open is when you have
> > replied back without marking the support request as solved. A little
> > bit confusing eh.
> >
> > https://help.launchpad.net/SupportTrackerTour contains useful
> > information about managing your support request.
> >
> > If you are still having problems, let us know and we'll keep working on
> > them.
> >
>
> OK, I read the entire SupportTrackerTour document, and it appears that
> the way to "close" a case is by clicking on the "I Solved my Problem"
> button at the bottom. After logging in, I've done this twice, and all I
> get is a red box at the bottom of the screen with header "There is 1
> error." Apparently I'm not able to close my case?

Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#13

williamts99 wrote:
> Your support request #1040 on xserver-xorg-driver-i810 in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-driver-i810/+ticket/1040
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> williamts99 proposed the following answer:
> Interesting, did you enter any text into the text field before clicking
> on the solved button?
>

No, since it was actually resolved a long time ago, and I posted the
solution as a comment on the case near the beginning of the thread.

Revision history for this message
williamts99 (williamts99) said : 		#14

Not really sure, you could try typing something into the box, even something as simple as 'solved' and then try clicking on the solved button.

Revision history for this message
Best Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#15

This problem has been solved -- see my comment on 2006-06-13 21:26:10 UTC.

I believe it's called user error. <:)

The moral is always check that your BIOS is properly configured before looking to blame software when something is not working properly.

Revision history for this message
Patrick Goetz (pgoetz) said : 		#16

williamts99 wrote:
> Your support request #1040 on xserver-xorg-driver-i810 in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-driver-i810/+ticket/1040
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> williamts99 proposed the following answer:
> Not really sure, you could try typing something into the box, even
> something as simple as 'solved' and then try clicking on the solved
> button.
>

That did the trick. It only accepts "solved" if there is some message
text entered at the same time.

Now I know a little more about how to use this thing -- thanks.

Revision history for this message
jas (john-sward) said : 		#17

I never have opened a ticket, I had added that I had a similar problem with
trying to adjust the resolution.

On 2/19/07, Patrick Goetz <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> Support request #1040 on xserver-xorg-driver-i810 in ubuntu changed:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-driver-i810/+ticket/1040
>
> Status: Answered => Open
>
> Patrick Goetz is still having a problem:
> williamts99 wrote:
> > Your support request #1040 on xserver-xorg-driver-i810 in ubuntu
> changed:
> >
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-driver-i810/+ticket/1040
> >
> > Status: Open => Answered
> >
> > williamts99 proposed the following answer:
> > Interesting, did you enter any text into the text field before clicking
> > on the solved button?
> >
>
> No, since it was actually resolved a long time ago, and I posted the
> solution as a comment on the case near the beginning of the thread.
>

--
jas

Revision history for this message
Intel-845G (omran78m) said : 		#18

mr Patrick Goetz told :" This problem has been solved -- see my comment on 2006-06-13 21:26:10 UTC."
and this comment on that time was:
"Resolved. Only 1MB of video memory was reserved in the BIOS. I changed this to 8MB (the max)"
 but I:
1) upgrate my bios version to A32
2) change the share ram to 8MB
3) remove the compiz
4) change splash to nosplash in grub/menu.lst
5) try any xorg.conf that I find by google (more than 10)
and now I have this problem my resolution is 600*800
dell inspiron 1100 -intel 82845G/GL =ubuntu8.10

Revision history for this message
jas (john-sward) said : 		#19

Hi! Baby, you are to try this unreal stuff!.
http://ar43.com/bestsite.php?kyhotmailID=21e6

--
jas