getting 1280x1024 with Radeon 9200 and xorg

kramtoad · 07-26-2008, 08:43 PM

Three days ago I upgraded my ATI Radeon 9200SE drivers to the latest release. (BIG mistake) After that Xorg didn't want to use 1280x1024, it uses 1280x768. After three days of searching and tinkering I'm stumped. Any ideas on what trivial little detail I'm missing?

Using Debian Sarge, AfterStep, Viewsonic VP930b flatscreen and last remaining brain cell.

Here is the xorg.conf I've ended up with:

Code:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	RgbPath      "/etc/X11/rgb"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
	FontPath     "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "GLcore"
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "record"
	Load  "xtrap"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse0"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "auto"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/mouse"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "radeon"
	VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"
	BoardName   "RV280 [Radeon 9200 SE]"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Viewsonic VP930b"

	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     16
		Modes      "1280x1024"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport    0 0
		Depth       24
  	        Modes       "1280x1024" 
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier     "Viewsonic VP930b"
	ModelName      "LCD Panel 1280x1024"
EndSection

tronayne · 07-27-2008, 01:08 PM

First off, can your hardware actually do 1280x1024? Might want to check to monitor manual and see just what-by-what it wants to be able to do.

Second, in your Screen section, try putting
DefaultDepth 24
between the Monitor line and the first Subsection "Display" line.

And, check your monitor manual and find the horizontal sync range and the vertical refresh rate and stick those in your Section "Monitor" after the ModelName, something like
ModelName "Viesonic VP920b"
HorizSync 30.0 - 85.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "DPMS"
(Don't use these values, they're just an example).

Having the HorizSync and VertRefresh values will go a long way to make it do what you want, usually.

Hope this helps some.

kramtoad · 07-27-2008, 01:37 PM

Thanks for your reply!

The monitor was do 1280x1024 before the driver upgrade so I see no reason it shouldn't be able to do it now.

As per the manual I'm using:
Horizsync 30-82
Vertrefresh 50-85

Added Option "DPMS".

Still no 1280x1024.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

carolinason · 07-28-2008, 09:19 PM

I would have thought putting the refresh rates into xorg would have worked. It's happened to me before. xorg in Sarge??

And I'm sorry I'm gonna say this, but I would back it all up and upgrade to etch. I know that's a weak way out, but Debian has dropped support for Sarge. I can't remember what version of x86free is in Sarge and if it supported the 9200. I would assume so at least the ATI Driver should handle the 2d stuff, but I'm assuming.

Synaptic should do all the work for you. Just change the repo's refresh and let it rip.

kramtoad · 07-30-2008, 07:49 PM

A reinstall would be a major pain that I'm not yet ready to face.

I did upgrade the xorg server and that fixed the 1280x1024 problem. But, now there are vertical bands of shimmering characters in text, it is a minor problem and I can live with it for now.

Maybe I'll switch from the Radeon card to Nvidia.