"Out of Range" message when I startx on Slackware 10.2 krnl 2.4.31

Lahru · 07-13-2006, 04:38 PM

I've installed Slackware 10.2 with the 2.4.31 kernel and during install I selected the KDE interface.

I'm fairly new to Linux.

When I do startx my monitor goes blank then pops up a message in the center saying out of range.

I'm guessing I chose a resolution that the monitor can't handle, but I don't know where I might change this without re-installing, which I'd rather NOT do if I don't have to.

Does that sound correct? How would I set this to a lower resolution if that is indeed the problem?

I looked in the xorg.conf file but 95% of the stuff is preceded by # doesn't that equate to a remark line and thus not processed? And those parts not preceded by a # symbol are resolutions that my monitor should be able to handle.

Lahru · 07-13-2006, 05:08 PM

just tried and got the following I don't know if this gives any relevant info that could help in figuring out the problem :

root@systemname:/etc/X11/Xinit#./xinitrc.kde*
xsetroot: Unable to open display ' '
xset: Unable to open display ""
xset: Unable to open display ""
xset: Unable to open display ""
xsetroot: Unable to open display ' '
startkde: Starting up...
ksplash: cannot connect to Xserver
kdeinit: ABorting $dISPLAy is not set
Warning: connect () failed::no such file or directory
Error: Can't contact kdeitint!
Startkde: running shutdownscripts
Startkde: done
Root@systemname:/etc/X11/xinit#

syg00 · 07-13-2006, 06:53 PM

Try asking this in the Slack forum - perhaps just open a new thread there referecncing this to save re-typing.

Been too long since I tried Slack, I don't even recall what flavour of X Pat ships. Folks over there will be able to advice specific to the version involved.

Chromezero · 07-13-2006, 07:12 PM

This looks like a problem with your xorg.conf file. It appears that no monitor is defined, and therefore, it refuses to continue. If you could post the portion of xorg.conf that pertains to displays, that might get us in the right direction.

Lahru · 07-14-2006, 02:47 PM

ok this was a pain in the **** to retype because I can't figure out how to get this file to a floppy from the command line and opened on a M$ box but here is the relevant part of the Xorg.conf file ... I think.

Code:

#************************************************************************
# Monitor Section
#************************************************************************

# Any number of monitor sections may be present.

Section "Monitor"

	"My Monitor"
	
#horizsync is in khz unless units are specified
#horizsync may be a comma seperated list fo dscrete values, or a
#coma seperated list of ranges of values.
#NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITROR'S
#USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

	horizsynch	31.5 - 50.0

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

#Vertsync is in khz unless units are specified
#Vertsync may be a comma seperated list fo dscrete values, or a
#coma seperated list of ranges of values.
#NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITROR'S
#USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

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

# Any number nof graphics device sections may be present

Section "device"
	Identifier 	"VESA Framebuffer"
	driver		"vesa"
	#Videoram	 4096
	# Insert Clocks lines here if apporpriate
EndSection

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

# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen.  Asingle specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
Section "Screen"
	Identifier 	"Screenl"
	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 "800x600" "640x480"
	Endsubsection
	Subsection "display"
		depth 16
		modes "800x600" "640x480"
	Endsubsection
	Subsection "display"
		depth 24
		modes "800x600" "640x480"
	Endsubsection
	Subsection "display"
		depth 32
		modes "800x600" "640x480"
	Endsubsection

EndSection

J.W. · 07-14-2006, 05:33 PM

I think the basic problem is that you do not have a vertical refresh rate specified. What kind of monitor (make and model) do you have, and what kind of video card?

As for the hash marks at the beginning of a line, Yes, that means they are commented out. Lastly, you can try rerunning just the xorg configuration routine, no reinstallation necessary. IIRC, just become root then

Code:

xorgconfig

(or maybe its just xorgconf ? sorry, it's been a while and I'm having a brain freeze)

Chromezero · 07-14-2006, 06:02 PM

Not defining a Vertical refresh can certainly cause some problems. It will need to be changed, based on your monitor's specs, but it should look something like...

Quote:

horizsynch 31.5 - 50.0

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

#Vertsync is in khz unless units are specified
#Vertsync may be a comma seperated list fo dscrete values, or a
#coma seperated list of ranges of values.
#NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITROR'S
#USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

Vertsync 48-120

While you're editing your xorg.conf, you may want to add in some extra resolutions if you want to use something higher then 800x600...

Quote:

Subsection "display"
depth 24
modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
Endsubsection

Lahru · 07-14-2006, 10:12 PM

Thank you, I'll look into that, basically the system is at work and since its the weekend I'll have to wait until Monday to do so. I do know its an off-brand 17" LCD GEM I think ... kind of odd that this didn't get taken care of at install I think since this is my 2nd install, but then its a different PC, but same monitor, the videocard is an integrated Intel 82815 ... so I'll look into editing that part of the xorg.conf file (which it took me a while to find again at /etc/X11/xorg.conf) when I get back to work and let you all know if editing that in took care of it!

Lahru · 07-17-2006, 04:08 PM

ok the Monitor I have is an LCD display, a 17" GEM GM-170B looks like it has a response time of 30ms. Is this the refresh rate? How do I figure what the sync rates need to be set to? kinda lost here

Lahru · 07-17-2006, 05:14 PM

i've added that line for the vertsync also tried vertrefresh to no avail, still says out of range. =\ I'm getting some other odd behavior so I am trying a format and re-install to see if this might correct my issues

rkelsen · 07-17-2006, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lahru

I am trying a format and re-install to see if this might correct my issues

No. This ain't Windows.

Run xorgconfig or xorgcfg. Either of these will generate an /etc/X11/xorg.cfg file which should work on your machine.

Are you trying a non-standard driver? I got this error with a particular version of the NVidia drivers once. I fixed it by going back to an older version.

Wim Sturkenboom · 07-18-2006, 07:27 AM

your monitor specs
Adjust horizsync to 31.5 - 80 and vertrefresh to 60,75. You might have to do this anyway after running the setup utility.

Further you can try the i810 driver instead of the vesa driver in the device section.

And to copy to floppy:

Code:

mount /mnt/floppy
cp filethatiwanttocopy /mnt/floppy
umount /mnt/floppy

You might need to be root to be able to mount it, not sure.

Lahru · 07-18-2006, 01:25 PM

well I have it working now and I am not entirely sure why. The system is an HP Vectra VL400 MT the onboard Graphics card seems to have been causeing the problem. I say this because I found a 16 MB Nvidia card lieing around and plugged it in, let it Boot, and now it looks ok and I've been able to startx ok.

I'd still kind of like to know what the problem was. The card I was using is integrated into the MoBo and is an Intel 82815 when I look on an identical system that has windows installed on it I see that it has 32MB of video memory and is configured currently to use a 24 bit color depth with a resolution of 1280x1024. The new card has only 16 Mb of video memory and seems to be running better ... the monitor has not changed. And incidentally the xorg.conf file shows the following :

Code:

# File generated by xf86config.

#
# Copyright (c) 1999 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
# 
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
# 
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
# 
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the
# XFree86 Project.
#

# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the XF86Config(4/5) man page for details about the format of 
# this file.
# **********************************************************************

# NOTE:  This is a NEW IMPROVED version of XF86Config-fbdev that uses the vesa
# driver instead of the fbdev driver.  Thanks to Kenneth Fanyo who pointed
# this out to me. :)

# This XF86Config file is designed for use with the VESA framebuffer.
# This generic interface should work with nearly all video cards
# (although not every card will support every resolution).

# With the new driver, it should no longer be required to have frame buffer
# support in the kernel, or to run it on the console.
#
# Enjoy! :)
# -- volkerdi@slackware.com
#

# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
Section "Module"

# This loads the DBE extension module.

    Load        "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension

# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
    SubSection  "extmod"
      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
    EndSubSection

# This loads the font modules
    Load        "type1"
    Load        "freetype"
    #Load        "speedo"

# This loads the GLX module
    Load       "glx"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Files section.  This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally
# no need to change the default.

    RgbPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)
# 
# If you don't have a floating point coprocessor and emacs, Mosaic or other
# programs take long to start up, try moving the Type1 and Speedo directory
# to the end of this list (or comment them out).
# 

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/"

# ModulePath can be used to set a search path for the X server modules.
# The default path is shown here.

#    ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"

# Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal is
# received.  This may leave the console in an unusable state, but may
# provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in debugging

#    Option     "NoTrapSignals"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><Fn> VT switch sequence
# (where n is 1 through 12).  This allows clients to receive these key
# events.

#    Option     "DontVTSwitch"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence
# This allows clients to receive this key event.

#    Option     "DontZap"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode switching
# sequences.  This allows clients to receive these key events.

#    Option     "DontZoom"

# Uncomment this to disable tuning with the xvidtune client. With
# it the client can still run and fetch card and monitor attributes,
# but it will not be allowed to change them. If it tries it will
# receive a protocol error.

#    Option     "DisableVidModeExtension"

# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local xvidtune client.

#    Option     "AllowNonLocalXvidtune"

# Uncomment this to disable dynamically modifying the input device
# (mouse and keyboard) settings.

#    Option     "DisableModInDev"

# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local client to
# change the keyboard or mouse settings (currently only xset).

#    Option     "AllowNonLocalModInDev"

# Set the basic blanking screen saver timeout.

#    Option      "blank time"    "10"    # 10 minutes

# Set the DPMS timeouts.  These are set here because they are global
# rather than screen-specific.  These settings alone don't enable DPMS.
# It is enabled per-screen (or per-monitor), and even then only when
# the driver supports it.

#    Option      "standby time"  "20"
#    Option      "suspend time"  "30"
#    Option      "off time"      "60"

# On some platform the server needs to estimate the sizes of PCI
# memory and pio ranges. This is done by assuming that PCI ranges
# don't overlap. Some broken BIOSes tend to set ranges of inactive
# devices wrong. Here one can adjust how aggressive the assumptions
# should be. Default is 0.

# Option   "EstimateSizesAggresively" "0"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Input devices
# **********************************************************************

# **********************************************************************
# Core keyboard's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier	"Keyboard1"
    Driver	"kbd"
# For most OSs the protocol can be omitted (it defaults to "Standard").
# When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris),
# uncomment the following line.

#    Option     "Protocol"      "Xqueue"

# Set the keyboard auto repeat parameters.  Not all platforms implement
# this.

#    Option     "AutoRepeat"    "500 5"

# Specifiy which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1)).

#    Option     "Xleds" "1 2 3"

# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.

#    Option     "XkbDisable"

# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a European
# keyboard, you will probably want to use one of:
#
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc102"
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc105"
#
# If you have a Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "microsoft"
#
# If you have a US "windows" keyboard you will want:
#
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc104"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#
#    Option     "XkbLayout"     "de"
#
# or:
#
#    Option     "XkbLayout"     "de"
#    Option     "XkbVariant"    "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#
#    Option     "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:swapcaps"


# These are the default XKB settings for X.Org
#
#    Option     "XkbRules"      "xorg"
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc101"
#    Option     "XkbLayout"     "us"
#    Option     "XkbVariant"    ""
#    Option     "XkbOptions"    ""

EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Core Pointer's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver

    Identifier	"Mouse1"
    Driver	"mouse"

# On platforms where PnP mouse detection is supported the following
# protocol setting can be used when using a newer PnP mouse:

#    Option     "Protocol"      "Auto"

# The available mouse protocols types that you can set below are:
#    Auto BusMouse GlidePoint GlidePointPS/2 IntelliMouse IMPS/2
#    Logitech Microsoft MMHitTab MMSeries Mouseman MouseManPlusPS/2
#    MouseSystems NetMousePS/2 NetScrollPS/2 OSMouse PS/2 SysMouse
#    ThinkingMouse ThinkingMousePS/2 Xqueue
    Option "Protocol"    "PS/2"

# The mouse device.  The device is normally set to /dev/mouse,
# which is usually a symbolic link to the real device.

    Option "Device"      "/dev/mouse"
#   Option "Device"      "/dev/psaux"
#   Option "Device"      "/dev/ttyS0"
#   Option "Device"      "/dev/ttyS1"

# When using XQUEUE, comment out the above two lines, and uncomment
# the following line.

#    Option "Protocol"	"Xqueue"

# Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some Logitech mice. In
# almost every case these lines should be omitted.

#    Option "BaudRate"		"9600"
#    Option "SampleRate"	"150"

# Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button Microsoft mice
# Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)

#    Option "Emulate3Buttons"
#    Option "Emulate3Timeout"    "50"

# ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice

#    Option "ChordMiddle"

EndSection

# Some examples of extended input devices

# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball"
#    Driver     "magellan"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball2"
#    Driver     "spaceorb"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen0"
#    Driver     "microtouch"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "1412"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "15184"
#    Option     "MinY"          "15372"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "1230"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen1"
#    Driver     "elo2300"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "231"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "3868"
#    Option     "MinY"          "3858"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "272"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonThreshold"       "17"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# 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   31.5 - 50.0

#    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 40-90

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

# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes
# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout
# section may be specified from the X server command line with the
# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.
# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section
# is used alone.

Section "ServerLayout"

# The Identifier line must be present
    Identifier  "Simple Layout"

# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally
# the relative position of other screens.  The four names after
# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right
# of the primary screen.  In this example, screen 2 is located to the
# right of screen 1.

    Screen "Screen 1"

# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection

Wim Sturkenboom · 07-19-2006, 12:03 AM

You still have a generic videocard selected as the driver in the device section is vesa. Make a backup of the xorg configuration file and run xorgsetup. It might detect the card or give you the option to select the proper card.

Further the vertrefresh does not match with your monitor. I suggest that you change it to the values that I gave before.

Code:

    VertRefresh 60,75

Your monitor is an LCD/TFT. These are optimized for a specific resolution (in your case 1280x1024 I guess). You can add this resolution at the beginning of the modes line in the subsection display for the 24bit depth.

Code:

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

After the changes, restart X. If you did start X from the commandline, just quit the GUI and start it again. If it's started due to the selected runlevel, use <ctrl><alt><backspace>.

The integrated video should work, although not optimal. You might have to allocate some more memory for it in the BIOS. I had a Dell that just sets away 1MB in the BIOS. Changed it to 4MB and it was happy. You need at least 1280*1024*3 = 3932160 bytes.
Further you can try to use the i810 driver in the device section. And last, you can find drivers on the Intel website by searching for linux graphics or lunux 82815.
I have never been successful with them, but I did not care as my boxes are usually servers. Others might be able to help.

A last point: X writes log information to a file in /var/log. It can give very usefull information.