Need new graphics card.

IsaacKuo · 04-29-2008, 08:54 PM

What do you mean by "didn't work"? What are the symptoms?

phantom_cyph · 04-29-2008, 09:01 PM

Same thing as before, Signal Input out of Range.

IsaacKuo · 04-29-2008, 09:07 PM

Are you sure about your model of monitor? If so, then its recommended resolution is 1440x900. It probably supports 1024x768 resolution (either stretched and ugly or with black borders all around). It probably does NOT support 1280x1024 resolution--that resolution won't fit unless it's scaled down. The monitor MIGHT accept 1280x1024 resolution, but probably not.

You shouldn't have any resolutions listed other than 1440x900, unless you also want lower resolutions for some particular reason.

IsaacKuo · 04-29-2008, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantom_cyph

Same thing as before, Signal Input out of Range.

I thought at one point you had a visible graphical display. Is that right?

I have no idea why you think 1280x1024 would be a good idea, seeing as the monitor doesn't have 1024 lines of pixels. 1024x768 may work, but it won't be the ideal resolution. You can try to start with 1024x768 to at least get something working.

If you never had a working graphical display, then there is the possibility that you have a bad video card. I have a bad Matrox card which works fine in vanila text mode but the vga modes are all messed up (including any console mode other than the default).

farslayer · 04-29-2008, 09:14 PM

the refresh rates for that monitor are (from the windows .inf file)

Quote:

HKR,"MODES\1440,900",Mode1,,"30.0-80.0,49.0-75.0

HorizSync 30-80
VertRefresh 49-75

the matrox cards DO have 3D acceleration, they have for years. whether it's supported in Linux or not I couldn't say. they are also 2D accelerated cards.. the mga driver is listed on the dri project page so it should be possible to enable it by adding the load line I mentioned earlier (I see in your config you already did this. )

if the refresh values don't correct your problem you should try using a modeline generator to create a mode line for 1280x1024 @ 60 hz or whatever res / refresh rate you are looking to accomplish.

Code:

XFree86 Modeline
Put the following modeline in your XF86Config in the Monitors section, 
and add it to your active modes in the Screen section. 
Use this modeline at your own risk.

Modeline "1280x800@75" 111.50 1280 1312 1728 1760 800 815 825 841

Horizontal sync frequency: 63.35 kHz

due to the widescreen layout of your monitor the generator opted for 1280x800 to get the 16:10 aspect ratio listed in the specs for your monitor

I would agree with the above though.. a LCD does look best at it's native resolution . in this case 1440 x 900

Modeline "1440x900@75" 146.10 1440 1472 2024 2056 900 917 928 946
Horizontal sync frequency: 71.05 kHz

phantom_cyph · 04-29-2008, 09:24 PM

Well, i changed the Horiz and Vert to what Farslayer gave. Then changed the resolution in xorg to 1440x900. Now, I'm in 1152x864, with the Input Signal Out Of Range in the middle of my screen. I'm using it right now, I can see my browser, background, toolbars, etc, but the dumb sign is in the middle of the screen. I tried setting the resolution to 1440x900 in Gnome, but it went black and said it was out of signal. Should I try KDE by any chance?

..and I'm still lagging like crazy.

farslayer · 04-29-2008, 09:28 PM

Give the modeline a shot.. changes in BOLD

Code:

# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of monitor sections may be present

Section "Monitor"

    Identifier  "My Monitor"

# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.
# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

HorizSync   30 - 80.0

#    HorizSync	30-64         # multisync
#    HorizSync	31.5, 35.2    # multiple fixed sync frequencies
#    HorizSync	15-25, 30-50  # multiple ranges of sync frequencies

# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

 VertRefresh 49-75

# modelines

Modeline "1440x900@75" 146.10 1440 1472 2024 2056 900 917 928 946

Option "DPMS"

EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of graphics device sections may be present

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "MGA Framebuffer"
    Driver      "mga"
    Busid       "PCI:01:00:00"
    #VideoRam    4096
    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen 1"
    Device      "MGA Framebuffer"
    Monitor     "My Monitor"

# If your card can handle it, a higher default color depth (like 24 or 32)
# is highly recommended.

#   DefaultDepth 8
   DefaultDepth 16
#   DefaultDepth 24
#   DefaultDepth 32

# "1024x768" is also a conservative usable default resolution.  If you
# have a better monitor, feel free to try resolutions such as
# "1152x864", "1280x1024", "1600x1200", and "1800x1400" (or whatever your
# card/monitor can produce)

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes "1440x900"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes "1440x900@75"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes "1440x900@75"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       32
        Modes "1440x900@75"
    EndSubsection

EndSection

Provided the model number of the monitor is correct that 'should' work

moxieman99 · 04-29-2008, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantom_cyph

The biggest reason I'm trying to get a new card is because of the lag. When I move my windows, they kinda "tile" or something of the sorts.

How much RAM do you have, and what do you have open and what are you running in the background when your windows "kinda" tile?

IsaacKuo · 04-29-2008, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantom_cyph

I tried setting the resolution to 1440x900 in Gnome, but it went black and said it was out of signal. Should I try KDE by any chance?

You're using GNOME? That will cause problems trying to troubleshoot. If you log in to GNOME or KDE, then it may try to set the resolution to whatever you set your resolution preferences to. I've had this problem with GNOME, and not KDE, but I'll bet it can be a problem in KDE also (I've never set resolution in KDE's GUI due to my bad experiences with setting a pref resolution in GNOME).

Are you using a graphical login manager like gdm? If so, then just start gdm so no resolution preferences confuse matters. Alternatively, install icewm or fluxbox, since neither will attempt to change the resolution upon login.

After you get 1440x900 resolution working, then you can work on getting GNOME's resolution setting corrected. I'm not familiar enough with GNOME to know how to erase the resolution preference setting, but that's the most desirable solution. That way, the resolution will be set by xorg.conf alone, and it will be easy to reconfigure for any future monitor you use.

farslayer · 04-29-2008, 09:40 PM

Interesting.. Matrox DOES have a Linux Driver available for that card... There is a n install script included..

phantom_cyph · 04-29-2008, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moxieman99

How much RAM do you have, and what do you have open and what are you running in the background when your windows "kinda" tile?

1GB RDRAM, with the ECC modules (see sig).

All I'm running right now is Firefox and a terminal.

phantom_cyph · 04-29-2008, 09:49 PM

Just tried to log into KDE, but I didn't get anything, just the blank screen with Input Signal Out of Range. I don't use a graphical login of an sort. I also tried XFCE and Fluxbox, same as KDE.

phantom_cyph · 04-29-2008, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farslayer

Interesting.. Matrox DOES have a Linux Driver available for that card... There is a n install script included..

Downloaded, tried to install, got the following:

Code:

========================================
   Matrox Linux Driver Install Script   
========================================

ERROR: The X server drivers included in this installation package
       do not support the current version of your X server.

IsaacKuo · 04-29-2008, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantom_cyph

Just tried to log into KDE, but I didn't get anything, just the blank screen with Input Signal Out of Range. I don't use a graphical login of an sort. I also tried XFCE and Fluxbox, same as KDE.

Good. Stop using GNOME for now, and just log in to fluxbox. The fact that you got some sort of display in GNOME but not any of the others is proof that GNOME is overriding the xorg.conf default resolution settings. Therefore, if you keep using GNOME we'll never figure out what's wrong.

Now, go back and comment out the modeline for now. Leave the HorizSync and VertRefresh as suggested by farslayer (although I'd personally reduce the top of VertRefresh to 60 just to be on the safe side). Then put ONLY 1440x900 in the resolution listings.

Don't mess with Matrox's driver for now. The mga driver should at least get you a usable display.

phantom_cyph · 04-29-2008, 10:12 PM

OK, changed all those, still got same error. Back in Gnome now. One nice thing is that the error I saw in Gnome before is no longer there. After trying to start fluxbox, I got an error (seen after I killed X):

Code:

XIO:     Fatal IO error 11 (resource temporarily unavailable) on Xserver
         ":0.0" after 6464 requests (6464 known processed) with 0 events
         remaining

xinit:   connection to xserver lost.