Nvidia TV-out

how do i get my tv to show the same as on my crt monitor? i have connected the gfx card to my tv, but no picture is showing on the tv. i have SuSE 9.1 and GeForce4 MX440.

also, when i want to run 'nvidia-installer --update' i have to stop the x server. the only way i know how to to that is to run 'init 1'...but when i do that the screen get filled with lost of small colored squares! how can i fix that??

I would like to do the exact same thing on Debian; I have a nvidia personal cinema fx 5200. I have managed to get it working while I am on tty, but if I change to X, the image goes blank on the tv

i have now tried to configure my XF86Config file, with the help by the Nvidia readme...the only thing i have not set up is the frequency for the TV...cuz i dunno what it is. I have a Panasonic 32" 100Hz Widescreen...anyone know what i should use?

Section "Device"
BoardName "GeForce4 MX 440"
BusID "1:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Option "CursorShadow"
Option "HWcursor"
Option "NoLogo"
Option "TwinView"
Option "UseEdidFreqs"
Option "CursorShadowAlpha" "64"
Option "CursorShadowXOffset" "4"
Option "CursorShadowYOffset" "2"
Option "NvAGP" "3"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-B"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Screen 0
Option "Rotate" "off"
VendorName "NVidia"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
Screen "Screen[0]"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group "video"
Mode 0660
EndSection

You can try to add this to either XF86Config or Xorg.conf. Just replace NTSC with PAL-B as needed.

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "HP D5259A Pavilion M70 Monitor"
DisplaySize 320 240
HorizSync 30.0 - 70.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 120.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "PNY VERTO"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (generic)"
Option "NoLogo"
Option "CursorShadow" "on"
Option "TwinView"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
Option "MetaModes" "1024x768, 1024x768"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT, TV"
Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
VideoRam 65536
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection

SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group 0
Mode 0666
EndSection

thanks, i will try that...but first i want to ask something.

i have a 100Hz tv, not a normal 50Hz...so will these frequency settings be correct?

Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"

If the TV can accept S-Video or Composite signals, it should accept the signals from the TV out from your video card with out any problems.

The 100Hz TV is internal processing in the TV.

It still takes standard video signal as Electro said.

I'll have to test it when i get back from work

thanks


ZaphyR

now, i didnt want to just copy/paste your config file, so i extracted what i thought looked important and used it in my config.
POW!! i got the picture on my tv...only one problem though...it is much too large! only 1/4 of the desktop shows...

is there an automatic resize option, or somthing??


Section "Monitor"
DisplaySize 320 240
HorizSync 30-70
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "SYNCMASTER 710(M)S (CHB7707*)"
Option "DPMS"
VendorName "SAMSUNG"
VertRefresh 50-160
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
Modeline "1280x1024" 117.45 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1062
Modeline "1024x768" 73.89 1024 1080 1192 1360 768 769 772 799
Modeline "1024x768" 86.18 1024 1088 1200 1376 768 769 772 803
Modeline "1024x768" 94.39 1024 1088 1200 1376 768 769 772 807
Modeline "800x600" 44.13 800 840 920 1040 600 601 604 624
Modeline "800x600" 51.73 800 840 928 1056 600 601 604 628
Modeline "800x600" 58.73 800 840 928 1056 600 601 604 632
Modeline "800x600" 66.71 800 848 936 1072 600 601 604 635
Modeline "800x600" 73.30 800 848 936 1072 600 601 604 639
Modeline "640x480" 27.74 640 664 728 816 480 481 484 500
Modeline "640x480" 32.64 640 672 736 832 480 481 484 503
Modeline "640x480" 36.97 640 672 736 832 480 481 484 505
Modeline "640x480" 42.22 640 680 744 848 480 481 484 508
Modeline "640x480" 46.80 640 680 744 848 480 481 484 511
Modeline "640x480" 51.43 640 680 744 848 480 481 484 514
Modeline "640x480" 57.18 640 680 752 864 480 481 484 517
Modeline "640x480" 59.19 640 680 752 864 480 481 484 519
EndSection

Section "Screen"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
Device "Device[0]"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
EndSection

Section "Device"
BoardName "GeForce4 MX 440"
BusID "1:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Option "CursorShadow"
Option "HWcursor"
Option "NoLogo"
Option "TwinView"
Option "CursorShadowAlpha" "64"
Option "CursorShadowXOffset" "4"
Option "CursorShadowYOffset" "2"
Option "NvAGP" "3"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024, 800x600"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-B"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Screen 0
Option "Rotate" "off"
VendorName "NVidia"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
Screen "Screen[0]"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group "video"
Mode 0660
EndSection

If you include additional modes to your XF86Config file, its going to zoom in or out. You can use only one resolution and this will not let it zoom in or out of the resolution. If you want to still go at 1280x1024 for normal use, you can set up another virtual terminal on vt8 that only outputs 800x600 so you can use it for a projector or a TV. Then you can switch back and forth using CTL+ATL+F1....F8.

BTW, I thought nVidia's 6106 driver can not output 1024x768.

hey, ZaphyR...

as I said, I was trying to do exactly the same thing and I have managed to get it going as much as you did (i too get only a part of the monitor on the TV). I hadnt checked back here so I didnt know there had been this many replies to your post... but that's ok I found all the info I needed....

Anyway.. about the resize thing.... Considering you are cloning the desktop into two different devices, there is no way you could get simultaneous full screen on both (considering different resolutions, that is). It would be impossible for X to know how to place stuff on your desktop.... I mean, suppose you put your mouse on the bootom-right corner.... at wich pixel would it be?? 800x600 or 1600x1200 (In my case, this is the res of my monitor)

A tool to shrink different resolutions into 800x600 on the tv-out signal, no matter what it originally is would be great, but I dont think the nvidia driver does that (btw, I havent seen anything like that while googling these things)

all in all, I found it easier not to start a new X session on ctrl-alt-F8 because I dont mind resizing the window to 800x600 and placing it at the top-left corner to get it on the tv.... now I just leave the cable connected to it, and anytime I wanna watch a movie, all I have to do is turn the tv on...

good luck...

hmmm... i have just noticed a small glitch..... I am using those options:

Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"

and they are leading to a strange thing.... my screen saver opens in the smaller resolution, so I only get the 800x600 first pixel on my monitor "saved"

any ideas??

well, i dunno about that screensaver problem, but when i press ctrl+alt+f8 my screen goes black...and that just ain't right either...

Can I say dah! You have to edit the Xserver file in /etc/X11/xdm and add a few lines in XF86Config to make vt8 work. I do not use a screen saver because today's monitors minimizes screen burning and I just turn off my monitor if I'm not going to use the computer for longer than an hour.

you could also, from tty1... 6 run:

xinit /usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -- :1 &

this will open xterm on a new display (1, since display 0 is been used on vt7). Then switch to it (crtl-alt-F8), log as a regular user (not root) and:

gnome-session -display :1

this should work nicely, but I dont know how to make the new session have a different resolution from the first (there DEFINETLY IS AN EASY WAY OF DOING THIS) but you could always change XF86Config before starting the new session (remember to switch it back to what it was before reboot, thgough, or your default session (the one on vt7) will be loaded with the wrong settings).

As for the screensaver, I changed my settings so that after 30 min my monitor is put in sleep mode, and this works ok!