Vizio VU42L (1080p) vs. my xorg.conf

Poetics · 01-12-2009, 11:25 PM

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone! I've seen a number of related threads over the years, but now that I need to find the same solution, I'm finding the answers that work for others aren't doing so for me. My setup is as follows:

* Dell Inspiron 700m -- Intel i810 chipset with integrated 1280x800 display.
* Slackware 12.1 (xorg and related packages upgraded to what was in -current)
* Visio VU42L 1080p-enabled LCD equipped with RGB connector

I am attempting to get the external display, which functions correctly when plugged into a projector, secondary monitor, or the like (cloned desktop mode), functional while using the LCD. I am unable to get any sort of secondary display to appear on the LCD television. A signal is being sent (the TV automatically shuts off in RGB mode if it doesn't detect a signal), but a floating "Not Support!" is the only message I see outputted on the LCD.

When I change my xorg.conf file to present an extended desktop via Xinerama, as suggested with several other changes, I receive errors which I will post below, and X fails to start. Here is the "updated" xorg.conf file:

Code:

Section "Module"
    Load        "dbe"
    SubSection  "extmod"
      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"
    EndSubSection
    Load        "freetype"
    Load       "glx"
    Load       "dri"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "700m"
    HorizSync   30-60
    VertRefresh 50-100
    Modeline "1280x800" 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680
    800 801 804 848 -hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "VGA Out"
    ModelName "Visio"
    Option "DPMS"
    HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0
    VertRefresh 59.9 - 60.1
    ModeLine "1920x1200" 154.0 1920 1968 2000 2080 1200 1203 1209 1235
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier    "VGA Out"
    Driver        "i810"
    BusID        "PCI:0:2:0"
    Screen        1
    Option        "MonitorLayout" "CRT,LFP"
    Option        "DevicePresence" "yes"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "700m"
    Driver      "i810"
    Screen    0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen 1"
    Device      "700m"
    Monitor     "700m"
    DefaultDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes       "1280x800" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "1280x800" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1280x800" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier    "External Screen"
    Device        "VGA Out"
    Monitor        "VGA Out"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth        16
        Modes        "1920x1200" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth        24
        Modes        "1920x1200" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier    "Dual"
    Screen 0    "Screen 1" 0 0
    Screen 1    "External Screen" RightOf "Screen 1"
    Option        "Xinerama" "On"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard1" "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
    Mode 0666
 EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
   Option "AIGLX" "false"
EndSection

So there we have it. The error is seemingly common: intel(0): [dri] DRIScreenInit failed. Disabling DRI. I am returned to my prompt and my television goes dark for lack of signal.

The AIGLX and 'CRT,LFP' were both suggested for users on other forums, which in some cases did work, in others didn't.

I greatly appreciate any ideas!

-- Poetics

avarus · 01-14-2009, 09:47 AM

Hi,

Leaving aside the configuration of Xinerama, (on which I am no expert) and DRI (which should not stop the display working) it looks like your LCD is complaining about being unable to display the requested resolution and/or refresh rate.

In the old CRT days, you would choose a display format that was a good compromise between resolution, display clarity, refresh rate and memory footprint. With LCDs, there is one correct setting and you should try to use that (others may work but will be sub-optimal).

Does your version of Slackware support the 'xrandr' command? If so, this allows you to modify display settings without restarting X, and also tries to remove some of the guesswork. If xrandr looks to be in place, I'd proceed as follows:

1 - go back to an original xorg.conf that just makes the builtin screen work (you may also need to load the randr module)
2 - plug in your LCD and boot up
3 - type: 'xrandr'
4 - try: 'xrandr --display VGA --output --auto' or 'xrandr --display VGA --output --mode 1024x768'

(edit: this won't work - see my next comment down)

Any joy? If not, please post the results from 3.

Cheers,

TIM

Poetics · 01-14-2009, 08:57 PM

Much obliged! That was a command I was unfamiliar with. The results from 3 are as follows:

Code:

poetics@poetics:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 800, maximum 1280 x 1280
VGA connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1280x960       60.0
   1280x800       58.6*
   1152x768       54.8
   1024x768       70.1     60.0
   832x624        74.6
   800x600        85.1     72.2     75.0     60.3     56.2
   640x480        85.0     72.8     75.0     59.9
   720x400        85.0
   640x400        85.1
   640x350        85.1
LVDS connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 261mm x 163mm
   1280x800       65.3*+
   1024x768       60.0
   800x600        60.3
   640x480        59.9
TMDS disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

I was unable to test the other settings (--output --auto and the like) due to the TV currently being in use but will attempt those later. As an HD TV I expect it to use 1920×1080 for a native resolution, though I am still looking up some information regarding its refresh/sync rate.

Edit: The following was returned:

Code:

xrandr -d LVDS -o normal --output --auto
Can't open display LVDS

I had assumed the display was 'LVDS' due to the former output.

Poetics · 01-15-2009, 06:19 PM

I was doing some thinking today and I wonder if xrandr requires the display listed in xorg.conf as an argument. In that case, I will have to add a new display section specifically for the external LCD. It seems there aren't many good tutorials on using the program, but I am continuing to play around with it. From what I hear urandr seems to be a very easy way to auto-configure, but some missing Python libs are preventing it from running on my machine.

avarus · 01-27-2009, 10:18 AM

Hi,

I don't know if you are still fiddling with this two weeks down the line, but for anyone reading this thread, I apologise as I see I got the commands above totally wrong.

-d or -display refers to the X display - ie. what you see if you do "echo $DISPLAY", probably ":0.0".

--output refers to the randr named output (VGA, LVDS, etc.), so my command 4 should have read:

4 - try: 'xrandr --output VGA --auto' or 'xrandr --output VGA --mode 1024x768'

TIM