LinuxQuestions.org
Visit Jeremy's Blog.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie
User Name
Password
Linux - Newbie This Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question? If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 06-19-2011, 12:58 AM   #1
Knightron
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: openSUSE
Posts: 1,465
Blog Entries: 6

Rep: Reputation: 200Reputation: 200Reputation: 200
drivers, where to start.


Hi guys, i'm trying to set up my Slackware and Debian Squeeze partitions. yesterday i noticed that my resolution in Debian is out of whack and i searched the net to find the answer. I haven't done any driver configurations yet, and being new, have no idea what to do.
 
Old 06-19-2011, 01:14 AM   #2
catkin
LQ 5k Club
 
Registered: Dec 2008
Location: Tamil Nadu, India
Distribution: Debian
Posts: 8,578
Blog Entries: 31

Rep: Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208Reputation: 1208
Can you give more detail on "my resolution in Debian is out of whack"?
 
Old 06-19-2011, 02:45 AM   #3
cascade9
Senior Member
 
Registered: Mar 2011
Location: Brisneyland
Distribution: Debian, aptosid
Posts: 3,753

Rep: Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935
I'd guess that it means that instead of getting 1920x1080 or 1444x900 or 1600x1200 (etc) the resulution is stuck at 800x600 or 640x480.

@ Knightron- some more info would really help. Hardware setup in particular, so posting the lshw/lspci output would be a good idea.
 
Old 06-19-2011, 09:13 AM   #4
onebuck
Moderator
 
Registered: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida 20 minutes from Disney World
Distribution: Slackware®
Posts: 13,922
Blog Entries: 44

Rep: Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158
Hi,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightron View Post
Hi guys, i'm trying to set up my Slackware and Debian Squeeze partitions. yesterday i noticed that my resolution in Debian is out of whack and i searched the net to find the answer. I haven't done any driver configurations yet, and being new, have no idea what to do.
FYI: I suggest that you look at 'How to Ask Questions the Smart Way' so in the future your queries provide information that will aid us in diagnosis of the problem or query.



Rather hard to aid someone without information!
 
0 members found this post helpful.
Old 06-19-2011, 10:31 AM   #5
theNbomr
LQ 5k Club
 
Registered: Aug 2005
Distribution: OpenSuse, Fedora, Redhat, Debian
Posts: 5,399
Blog Entries: 2

Rep: Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908
KDE and Gnome provide desktop tools for selecting screen resolutions. xorg.conf (man xorg.conf for details) specifies in the 'Monitor' section any number of ModeLine entries that define the various possible resolutions available.
--- rod.
 
Old 06-20-2011, 05:05 AM   #6
Knightron
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: openSUSE
Posts: 1,465

Original Poster
Blog Entries: 6

Rep: Reputation: 200Reputation: 200Reputation: 200
Hey guys, sorry if you thought my questions wasn't 'smart', i just simply don't know what's involved and how to go about getting the appropriate drivers for my system.
More info: ok, i just checked the resolution in Slackware and it's fine. My screen resolution should be 1366x768 pixels, but in Debian, it displays 1024x768 pixels, and there is no other options available. I looked on the net, and someone else suffering a similar problem was told to adjust there xorg.conf file. I looked in the X11 directory and there isn't one; then i read that Debian has been doing an auto config type of thing for the x server that doesn't need a xorg.conf file.

I tries them commands, lshw and lspci, and lshw didn't work, 'unknown command'
the results of lspci were,


00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge DRAM Controller (rev 09)

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Sandy Bridge Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)

00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point HECI Controller #1 (rev 04)

00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Cougar Point High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b4)

00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b4)

00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b4)

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Cougar Point LPC Controller (rev 04)

00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Cougar Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 04)

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Cougar Point SMBus Controller (rev 04)

01:00.0 3D controller: nVidia Corporation Device 1050 (rev a1)

02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01)

03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)

04:00.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)




This computer is a Samsung laptop. I know very little in reference to computer hardware. If there's any other information i need to give, i haven’t, simply because i'm oblivious to what information is relivant to this situation.

on another note, could you please tell me what those commands do?
 
Old 06-20-2011, 06:05 AM   #7
cascade9
Senior Member
 
Registered: Mar 2011
Location: Brisneyland
Distribution: Debian, aptosid
Posts: 3,753

Rep: Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935
Silly, me, I should have remembered that lshw isnt installed on debian by defualt. 'lshw' is LiSt HardWare. It just 'lspci' is 'LiSt PCI devices and busses'.

Since you are using 'sandy bridge' and are using the intergrated video, I'm not suprised that things arent working prefecty. The 2.6.32 kernel was relased before 'sandy bridge' was. I'm not sure that your video problem is from sandy bridge video, it could just be a dodgy EDID. But I'd try a bit of updating, even though sandy bridge will run OK with earlier kernels you really want a far newer kernel than you get with squeeze.

So I'd start with either getting the Liquorix kernel, or backporting 2.6.38 to squeeze-
http://backports-master.debian.org/

Liquorix kernel-
http://liquorix.net/

You may also need to get a newer server-xorg version as well.

BTW, that is a 'optimus' laptop right?
 
Old 06-20-2011, 08:01 PM   #8
Knightron
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: openSUSE
Posts: 1,465

Original Poster
Blog Entries: 6

Rep: Reputation: 200Reputation: 200Reputation: 200
hi, thanks cascade9, I haven't checked out your links yet, as any downloads i'll have to do will be done on an area where i receive better reception. So you don't think this is a driver issue?
When you say "optimus", is that a brand? if so, then no, this is a samsung laptop.
 
Old 06-22-2011, 01:47 AM   #9
cascade9
Senior Member
 
Registered: Mar 2011
Location: Brisneyland
Distribution: Debian, aptosid
Posts: 3,753

Rep: Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935
Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightron View Post
When you say "optimus", is that a brand? if so, then no, this is a samsung laptop.
Optimus is a power saving video display system, using nVidia and intel video chips.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html

Its a real pain with linux, nVidia has no offical support for opptimus and linux. There are people working on getting optimus working with linux, but its not going to be easy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightron View Post
So you don't think this is a driver issue?
I think it probably is a driver issue, I'm just not 100% sure it is. Thats why I think that you should try updating the kernel, a lot of drivers are in the kernel. If thre kernel updating doesnt fix the problem, then updating xorg-xserver should.
 
Old 06-23-2011, 04:04 AM   #10
Knightron
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: openSUSE
Posts: 1,465

Original Poster
Blog Entries: 6

Rep: Reputation: 200Reputation: 200Reputation: 200
Hi,ok, i just pulled out the old box so i could find out if it is an optimus laptop. It's a Samsung SF311 and yes it does.
Here's my computer specs, p.s. i have no idea what some of these things mean.

CPU Intel core i5 2410M
LCD 13.3"Led HD(300nit Gloss)
VRAM Nvidia GT520M gDDR3 512MB_HBR
Memery 4GB
HDD 320 GB "(I changed this though)"
ODD SuperMulti Dual eyer (9.5mm)
WIRED 1GB LAN
COMMUNIC 802.11bgn + BT3.OHS

Hey i've just been on the back port websight, and i'm not sure which kernel to get, i've found the 2.6.38.2 kernel, avaliable for weezy(testing) and sid. but i'm not sure which architecture i use. I know this sounds dumb, but this is why. I bought the i386 dvds off the internet, however when i go into the /boot directory it says i'm using the amd64 kernel. So do i go for the amd64-di (weezy) testing? I'm using squeeze by the way.

Last edited by Knightron; 06-23-2011 at 05:38 AM.
 
Old 06-23-2011, 09:19 AM   #11
cascade9
Senior Member
 
Registered: Mar 2011
Location: Brisneyland
Distribution: Debian, aptosid
Posts: 3,753

Rep: Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935
Pity its an optimus laptop, if it was just a standalone nVidia GPU you could just install the nVidia drivers. That is not really an option though....

Once you've got the resolution sorted out, to get maximum battery life you would need to turn off the nVidia GPU. I wouldnt worry about that at the moment.
 
Old 06-26-2011, 04:31 AM   #12
Knightron
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: openSUSE
Posts: 1,465

Original Poster
Blog Entries: 6

Rep: Reputation: 200Reputation: 200Reputation: 200
um, hi again, i still haven't changed the kernel. I wanted to try updating the xorg-xserver first. How do i do that?
 
Old 06-26-2011, 10:26 AM   #13
theNbomr
LQ 5k Club
 
Registered: Aug 2005
Distribution: OpenSuse, Fedora, Redhat, Debian
Posts: 5,399
Blog Entries: 2

Rep: Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908Reputation: 908
Before you do that, it would probably make sense to see what version it is at already. When X starts, it creates a log file, usually /var/log/Xorg.0.log. In there, the first line will be the version of the X server. The many following lines will provide information about the state of the X server as it starts up. You should be able to see information about how the incorrect resolution was created. Especially, you should be able to compare it with the logfile created by the X server that does work properly. It is likely that all you need to change is the configuration of your existing installation.
Since you are using Debian Squeeze, you may find a user-specific X configuration in ~/.config/monitors.xml. For each attached monitor, there should be entries for most of the usual video configuration parameters, including width & height resolution. There is also the tool gnome-display-properties, which is probably installed by default on your Debian system, or can be installed easily. This should provide you with some help.

--- rod.
 
Old 06-27-2011, 02:37 AM   #14
cascade9
Senior Member
 
Registered: Mar 2011
Location: Brisneyland
Distribution: Debian, aptosid
Posts: 3,753

Rep: Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935Reputation: 935
Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightron View Post
um, hi again, i still haven't changed the kernel. I wanted to try updating the xorg-xserver first. How do i do that?
Backports-

http://backports-master.debian.org/Instructions/

I'd try the kernel before xorg though.
 
Old 07-07-2011, 03:25 AM   #15
Knightron
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jan 2011
Location: Australia
Distribution: openSUSE
Posts: 1,465

Original Poster
Blog Entries: 6

Rep: Reputation: 200Reputation: 200Reputation: 200
Quote:
Originally Posted by cascade9 View Post
to get maximum battery life you would need to turn off the nVidia GPU. I wouldnt worry about that at the moment.
Why do you say don't worry about this at the moment? how do i turn the GPU off?
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Need to remove Nvidia Drivers, and start over! Budman21901 Ubuntu 1 12-16-2006 11:48 PM
I don't know how to start looking for drivers tm2383 Linux - Hardware 1 10-27-2006 03:27 PM
cant start x with nvidia 6629 drivers Niflheim Linux - General 8 01-26-2005 10:28 PM
Where to start seachig for drivers graeme_m_wigg Linux - Laptop and Netbook 1 09-12-2004 07:50 PM
Nvidia drivers at installation start JandB Linux - Hardware 4 09-14-2003 03:54 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:33 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration