Major Problem with Monitor...Please Help!!!
 

I'm a new Linux user. Just installed SuSe yesterday and am having a problem. It detected all my hardware except my monitor. I have a 15" Benq (v551). It was shown us unknown monitor. I had set the initial resolution as 800x600 and after setup, it went into the graphical login screen without a problem. After a reboot all I got after the console screen was a Black Screen. I somehow managed to get into the GUI with the 'vga=ask' command. I then changed my monitor to Vesa (800x600) and since then all I've been getting is the Blank Screen. Nothing I've tried works!!! The monitor doesn't go into stanby or anything. The screen is Black as soon as I go into the GUI!! Please help!!!!!

:(

your problem is a simple one.
get a console - it seems you know how to do this but using 'vga=sane' I recall is helpful when you boot, if you have a GUI hit ctrl+alt+f1.
having got a console, log in as root and run yast
using yast from the console needs ncurses, so you might have to install this by mounting the cdrom and using the 'yast -i location/package.rpm'
with yast go to hardware and change monitor, textmode yast is done mostly with the alt key if your mouse doesn't work.
when asked to select your monitor use the 'driver disk' option, and pop in a floppy with the 'fp551.inf' file you downloaded from benq.com
select you moitor, exit yast, then restart X.

uhm, I am not a suse guy (Slackware, hate tilities love configs) , but it is rather obvious, If you could somehow send me the contents of /etc/X11/XF86Config and /var/log/X*.log I could probably send you a file that will work, that is if the problem is with x, otherwise it is a frambuffer issue, if using lilo edit the /etc/lilo.conf file and change the vga= to vga=normal there are other ways to, but I need more information to help

Still having problem...
 

Hey Guys...thanks for replying...

utopicdog...'vga=sane' does not seem to work...I put the command in at the GRUB screen, but it gives an error message...then another screen asks me what I want to boot again (linux, windows, floppy, failsafe).

I did manage to get into yast, but as soon as I go into Hardware -> Graphic Card & Monitor-> and hit change (Alt+h), the screen goes black again!!!

:(

Any other options? :(

Re: Still having problem...
 

i have been exactly there... very frustrating indeed. i am sure the gurus will get ya past that. i myself am waiting to see how the issue gets resolved ! - k.

sorry it was vga=normal

well, looking at the fp551.inf file from benq, edit your XF86Config file (found in /etc/X11 if using version 4 of X, in /etc otherwise), and in the section "Monitor" change HorizSync and VertRefresh to

HorizSync 31.5-60.0
VertRefresh 56.0-75.0

should work.
other remidies, continue with yast, but make sure its is from the console. the graphic version of yast needs X to be woking in order to change things. Again from the console try SaX2, but this sometimes needs a gui to startx, it kinda depends, there are lots of ways to get X going, all have their nuances. The trick is to have had that disk with the inf file on when you first install.

you could also try the Acer home page, as they make the monitor.

The good news is (probably) that it is a new monitor and you can't really damage it by putting random Hsync + Vsync ranges in your XFConfig file.

tried that...
 

below is my section "Monitor"


HorizSync 31.5-60.0
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "Unknown"
Option "DPMS"
VendorName "Unknown"
VertRefresh 56.0-75.0
UseModes "Modes[0]"


Same Problem...Blank Screen

I'm not sure which monitor inf file you looked at, but the V551 inf file I had was

Horizontal Sync 30.0-54.0 and Vertical Sync 50.0-120.0


Changed it to the above values and still no luck!!!!!!


even yast goes to the blank screen once I attempt to change the video card/monitor!!!!


Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!


why is this happening????

i don't know why.
I have installed linux on maybe 8 machines and once X gets it ito its head that it is not happy you have to get the settings just right before it goes on. I had buckets of problems with a hewlet packard monitor which I knew woked, as it was fine with windows, if I remember right I just kept editing my XF86Config file until it worked, then about two years later SuSE released yast2, which could read the windows .inf files, and then all the installs with that monitor were fine.

If it were me in your shoes I would start the install again with a dos formatted floppy that only contained the fp551.inf file downloaded from benq, and when you are asked to chose the monitor, click on the 'have disk' bit and give the machine the said floppy. the have disk bit only works if the inf file is on the root dirctory of the floppy, not in a folder.

have a quick look at the log file, which is in /var/x11 somewhere (ish) and it will (may) tell you what X could and could not find.

another thing to do is to change the file /etc/inittab - there is a line in this that sets the default runlevel. if the runlevel is set to 5 you have a graphical login, mine is generally set to 3, and it is the files in the home directory (like .bashrc or .initrc) that tell the os whether to go to a graphical login or not. you can do this manually by getting a console (hopefully by pressing alt+ctrl+f1), logging in as root and typing 'init 3', then, logged in on another console (alt+f2) as another user -shaj maybe- try 'startx'. if it goes wrong press ctrl+alt+backspace and you are back to the console.
one advantage of starting from runlevel 3 is when you finish X the error messages are still on screen. if it says "no modes found" then your problem mabye that you are trying to start X on a resolution not supported by the monitor, but then again it can fail on a 640x480, if the virtual resolution is too high.

I have the patience of a saint and I have found a few monitors a little testing. they do all work now though, so hang on in there.

good luck
derek.

thanx...
 

Thanx mate...

will experiment...

hey utopicdog...
 

Hey man, I was just going thru my XF86Config file and found the Section Modes part blank...it had no modes listed...

so I ran xmode and generated a mode for 640x480

even after adding those lines to the config file, no luck...

you think it could be the config file? cause this happened right after I changed the monitor to vesa 800x600 or something like that. It was listed as unknown monitor before that.

Some particular line I need to look at maybe? or can I send you my Xconfig file? How do I copy it onto my floppy? :|

Damn! Damn! Damn!
 

I re-installed all of it! All over again! Loaded the inf file from the Disk and the thing is after the install it goes to the KDE screen fine! I even logged in! But as soon as the first restart is done, the screen goes blank as soon as it tries to 'startx'. I can manually get into '3' from GRUB, login and type 'startx' but same thing again!

I don't understand!! Why is it that it was perfect after the SuSE install and only screwy after the restart?? I tried connecting a Philips monitor and exact same thing!

Please help!

:(

feel free to send me your XF86Config file, together with /var/log/XFree86.0.log - this is the one that tells you what happens when X starts.
attach it to an email and send it to robert.hawkin@9online.fr

Bonafide Miracle!!!
 

Thanks to everyone...especially utopicdog...got it sorted!!!!

First thing I did was update the Motherboard Bios...then removed an entry in the monitor section of the config file that had something to do with 'Geometry' and then changed the Horizontal Frequency Range (it was supposed to be 30-50, but somehow it had changed to 28-50). Ran startx and now everything is fine!


Thanx to everyone again. Appreciate it!


1 question utopicdog...from KDE (SuSE), how do I get to the part where I can check for online updates/patches etc...

Great thread!
 

I am a new linux user also. I have had quite a few hurdles (including a MAJOR learning curve) installing Suse 8.2 on a machine I just put together.

I could not do a graphical install. Whenever I would try I would get 'Out of Range 67.3KHz 62.0 Hz' on my old CTX PL5 15" monitor & system locked up. So, I got through the text install and found Video Card not supported! I took my machine to work, put it on the LAN with no problem, got the NVIDIA drivers installed, looked like a thing of beauty. Took it home, hooked it back up. No GUI! Same error across monitor as before I'd installed the drivers.

I put it aside and searched for a week. I came across this site and this thread. Starting Sax2 would give me the same error & so would going into Yast2 and trying to change the monitor configuration. I learned a lot and got my old monitor working by performing the following:

1. Downloaded Ctx2000VER3_1.inf from http://www.ctxintl.com/download/driv.../CRT/index.htm to find HorizSync (30-55) and VertRefresh (50-100).

2. Changed XFConfig in /etc/X11 (Monitor section) using vi

Resolution 600X800@60Hz (Found Hz range on back of monitor)
HorizSync 30-55
VertRefresh 50-100

3. Rebooted & went right into GUI without a problem!

Thanks for this thread. It was very helpful. Next up, MODEM TRAUMA....but that will be a new topic...

glad...
 

glad this thread was helpful...

:)