Proprietary NVidia drivers...

FTIO · 01-12-2021, 04:19 PM

Hi gang,

I tried a search for this question/problem, but only got something really old (2011 and older) and something that didn't help at all.

I have an older ViewSonic monitor, model VX2276SMHD. It's supposed to support video refresh rates up to 75Hz.

When I install the proprietary nvidia drivers, everything seems to go just fine (14.2 x86_64), but when I get to the desktop (KDE) and look at the nvidia settings, it only shows the monitor using 60Hz for 1920x1080 (I'm using a 1.4 display port connection to an NVidia GTX960).

I got on a search engine and found an xrandr trick, but it does nothing.

When I look at /etc/X11 xorg.conf I have this:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "ViewSonic VX2276 Series"
    HorizSync       15.0 - 82.0
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 960"
EndSection

Section "Screen"

# Removed Option "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0 {ForceCompositionPipeline=On}"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-1"
    Option         "metamodes" "1920x1080 +0+0 {ForceCompositionPipeline=On, ForceFullCompositionPipeline=On}"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

and in xorg.conf-vesa I have this:

Code:

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   24-82

#    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 50-75

EndSection


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

# Any number of graphics device sections may be present

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "VESA Framebuffer"
    Driver      "vesa"
    #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      "VESA 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 "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       32
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection

EndSection

Again, I'm just not sure what to change/do in these files and what I should do *after* changing something...like reboot or whatever.

Does anyone have any hints they could give me to try and get my monitor to use 75Hz instead of 60Hz at 1920x1080? I'd surely appreciate it, as this dummy is just too slow to figure this one out on his own it seems, heh.

enorbet · 01-13-2021, 01:40 AM

I think it is highly likely that software (at least in your operating system) is not your obstacle to 75Hz IF you are using the HDMI input on your monitor. I'm pretty sure You will need to use the Display Port to get more than 60Hz at 1080p.

FTIO · 01-13-2021, 08:08 PM

I did say in my OP that I was using display port (a 1.4 cable to be exact, just got it the other day too, heh).

I need to mark this thread as 'DONE' or whatever anyway...with the display port cable, I get no sound in Mplayer nor SMplayer, I get sound in VLC but no video, and Xine is the only one that gives me both. With the HDMI cable I *was* using (before trying the display port cable) I had no troubles at all with any of those media players.

Looks like this monitor just isn't going to give me better than 60Hz no matter what I want to do. Oh well, maybe some year in the future I'll be able to afford something a little newer and hope for better video.

Thanks for answering the post even if you missed that I said I was using a DP cable, heh heh.

chris.willing · 01-13-2021, 09:20 PM

You could also look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log which will show what happened when card & screen were detected and what settings ended up being used. That may give some clue about how to better configure your xorg.conf.

chris

kingbeowulf · 01-14-2021, 01:13 AM

Indeed. Look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log to see what's reported when X.org fires up. HDMI "can" run at >60Hz but may be configured not to. You're Viewsonic has a "game mode" that you may need to set (monitor settings, not X.org or driver). DP is the way to go however, since refresh is not limited at 1080p, but can challenging to get alsa/pulse to route the audio (driver dependent). on the X.org log you should see were it reads the monitor EDID. Could be a bad EDID (not unusual). Use

Code:

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 960"
    Option "UseEdid" "False"
EndSection

to see if that helps. You can also edit and load a custom EDID. Also worth noting:

Code:

Option         "metamodes" "1920x1080_75 +0+0 {ForceCompositionPipeline=On, ForceFullCompositionPipeline=On}"

to force the refresh rate.

Don't forget about using xrandr to see what the settings are. Note too the the KDE display settings applet will override xorg.conf.

I don't use the monitor speakers with DP since my monitors do not have audio. Silly to have monitor speakers. A cheap set of external speakers on the motherboard sound chip is better. If you insist, go into BIOS/UEFI and diable motherboard audio. That may help with autodetection. use "alsamixer" "aplay -L" and "speaker-test" to see what audio channels are active and set players accordingly.

DP and HDMI video work fine with VLC here. There may be a weird VLC setting incompatible with your video stream.

(BTW, xorg.conf-vesa is an antique sample file)

Or just do what I did: throw your hands up, tossing the Nvidia GPUs and install a Radeon RX 5700 XT. Since switching to amdgpu and Slackware-current I do a lot less yelling "wtf" at Nvidia.

keefaz · 01-14-2021, 05:05 AM

Recommended resolution is 1920x1080@60 Hz
It can do 75Hz at 1440x900

https://www.viewsonicglobal.com/publ...mhd_UG_ENG.pdf

enorbet · 01-14-2021, 08:41 AM

Really decent post kingbeowulf but, just FTR, KDE Display Settings do not override settings from "nvidia-settings". There one can also extract EDID or override it and then save those settings to an .nvidiarc file. If you use "kdesu nvidia-settings" you can set a global config. I haven't bought an AMD (formerly Ati) graphics card since the ISA All-In-Wonder card I bought with DOS v3, but AFAIK, AMD cards do not have the wide-ranging (and powerful) customizable settings in Linux that the proprietary nvidia driver has. Mine autostart in ~/.config/autostart with this...

Code:

###nvidia-control.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Comment[en_US]=
Comment=
Exec=nvidia-settings -c :0 -a "[gpu:0]/GPUFanControlState=1" -a "[gpu:0]/GPUPowerMizerMode=1" -a "[fan:0]/GPUTargetFanSpeed=80"
GenericName[en_US]=
GenericName=
MimeType=
Name[en_US]=nvidia-fan-speed
Name=nvidia-fan-speed
Path=
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=false
TerminalOptions=
Type=Application
X-DBUS-ServiceName=
X-DBUS-StartupType=
X-KDE-Autostart-enabled=true
X-KDE-SubstituteUID=false
X-KDE-Username=enorbet

Besides a higher default fan speed for my GTX 1070 Ti, that upgrades performance from base maximum graphics clock of 607 MHz to 1911 MHz and a memory transfer rate base of 810 MHz to 8008 MHz. The performance gain is just short of staggering AND officially safe clock tweaking from nvidia. I really haven't suffered any wtf moments with nvidia but as always YMMV.

ReFracture · 01-14-2021, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keefaz

Recommended resolution is 1920x1080@60 Hz
It can do 75Hz at 1440x900

https://www.viewsonicglobal.com/publ...mhd_UG_ENG.pdf

Was gonna say.. I've only heard of 60hz LCD panels being able to do higher at much lower than native resolutions. I had an Acer that was 1680x1050 native but could do 75hz at 1280x800.

Fortunately higher refresh rate monitors have been getting cheaper.. I spent about $550 on my first one like 6 years ago. :O

enorbet · 01-14-2021, 10:20 AM

Monitors are getting crazy good and still crazy priced IMHO. I walked into a Best Buy recently and my jaw literally dropped at the graphics quality even in monstrous sized panels and it's not like I don't visit that store quite regularly. I've been using a 35 inch SmartTV (it was just me that was sorta dumb getting fooled by Vizio's ridiculous refresh rate claims) and it really wasn't bad for so cheap (180 bux IIRC) and does 1080p @60Hz, but now it's my weakest link. Now, I want a real gaming capable monitor, preferably REAL 120Hz refresh, but I am quite spoiled by the 35 inch size. I toyed with the idea of the Asus ROG Series which is almost 10 years old now but still grabs top honors just about everywhere. However I can't bring myself to spend anywhere from 520 bux - 2400 bux for a 27 inch monitor. A lot of folks seem to really like 4K but kriminy that's a lotta cheddar for a little cheese.

Lately I'm lusting for a 1440p Acer Predator 34 inch but it's almost 900bux! Where is this OLED price revolution I keep hearing about? If Vizio can sell a 35 inch Smart TV for under 200bux why can't I get a simple dumb monitor doing 1440p at that size @120Hz for, say, twice that?

Sorry for the OT and being all "whiny moany" but the Monitor thing is heavy on my mind lately.

FTIO · 01-14-2021, 08:42 PM

I came to the same conclusion about the refresh rate and resolution for my monitor. I honestly do appreciate all the assistance with this, but it seems my monitor just isn't up to the task of better refresh rates at 1920x1080, so, as I said earlier too, I guess I'll just wish for a better monitor to fall out of the sky into my lap some day far in the future that will look better for movies and games and reading and...

keefaz · 01-15-2021, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FTIO

I'll just wish for a better monitor to fall out of the sky into my lap some day far in the future that will look better for movies and games and reading and...

1920x1080@60Hz is fine for movies (and reading!), at least in my experience I don't notice any issue with this resolution, I don't do games though. Text sharpness depends more on settings and font used, YMMV of course

enorbet · 01-15-2021, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keefaz

Text sharpness depends more on settings and font used, YMMV of course

That's almost 100% true these days if one has at least a reasonably modern GPU which of course 1080p@60Hz can't be accomplished on old stuff. However GPU does, or at least did at one time, contribute heavily to font clarity. Way back in ancient history but so profound I will never forget the moment when I replaced a generic (read pretty crappy S3) PCI card with a Matrox MGA. The first time I booted OS/2 my jaw literally dropped how the exact same resolution was so amazingly clearer and better just because of new and better 2D instructions with the hardware to support them. So don't be surprised if, even today, a GPU and driver upgrade improves readability even at the same resolution. IMHO and since vision is a huge percentage of computing experience, it's rarely wise to skimp on GPU and the bang for bucks just gets better all the time.

In that vein, I must say I was rather shocked that a 40 dollar card was substantially better than a 200 dollar card I'd bought just 6 years prior. This year after supplies of newer hardware by both AMD and Nvidia start to flow more normally, we should see some major reductions in lower/older cards and it will be a good year to upgrade. This is likely especially true for those having so many problems with Intel i915.