[Solved] video issue

Welcome to Mepis.

Your video resolution is a minor issue and is well covered in the docs project. You can find the link in the titlebar above.

Specifically, the page you need is
http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Monitor_and_Display_Setup

Mike P

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Life may not be the party we thought, but while we're here, we may as well dance.
Break M$'s shackles from your feet and free yourself with Mepis

if you have the linux format dvd, there are particular steps needed to get to different video resolutions.
if this is the case, I'll drag out the later magazine and retype the instructions

I tried booting off the live disc and the video was downright crispy! So, I copied the xorg.conf file and emailed it to myself and copied it into my current xorg.conf. I took the old part out and rebooted. Unfortunately, there was no change when booting off of HDA1(my only hard drive). If it helps, here is the relevant section of the file:

Section "Monitor"
  Identifier "Monitor0"
  VendorName "unknown"
  ModelName "unknown"
 #Option "DPMS" "true"
  HorizSync    30.0 - 75.0 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors
  VertRefresh  50.0 - 75.0 # Very conservative. May flicker.
  Modeline "640x480"     25.175 640  664  760  800   480  491  493  525 #60Hz
  Modeline "800x600"     40.12  800  848  968 1056   600  601  605  628 #60Hz
  Modeline "1024x768"    75    1024 1048 1184 1328   768  771  777  806 -hsync -vsync
  Modeline "1024x768"    85    1024 1056 1152 1360   768  784  787  823
  ModeLine "1152x864"    65    1152 1168 1384 1480   864  865  875  985 Interlace
  Modeline "1152x864"    92    1152 1208 1368 1474   864  865  875  895
  Modeline "1152x864"   110    1152 1240 1324 1552   864  864  876  908
  Modeline "1152x864"   135    1152 1464 1592 1776   864  864  876  908
  Modeline "1152x864"   137.65 1152 1184 1312 1536   864  866  885  902 -HSync -VSync
  Modeline "1280x768"    80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680   768  769  772  795
  ModeLine "1280x800"    80.58 1280 1344 1480 1680   800  801  804  827 -HSync -VSync
  Modeline "1280x1024"   80    1280 1296 1512 1568  1024 1025 1037 1165 Interlace
  Modeline "1280x1024"  110    1280 1328 1512 1712  1024 1025 1028 1054
  Modeline "1280x1024"  126.5  1280 1312 1472 1696  1024 1032 1040 1068 -HSync -VSync
  Modeline "1280x1024"  135    1280 1312 1456 1712  1024 1027 1030 1064
  Modeline "1280x1024"  135    1280 1312 1416 1664  1024 1027 1030 1064
  Modeline "1280x1024"  157.5  1280 1344 1504 1728  1024 1025 1028 1072 +HSync +VSync
  Modeline "1280x1024"  181.75 1280 1312 1440 1696  1024 1031 1046 1072 -HSync -VSync
  Modeline "1440x900"   106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904   900  901  904  932 +HSync +VSync
  Modeline "1400x1050"  129    1400 1464 1656 1960  1050 1051 1054 1100 +HSync +VSync
  Modeline "1600x1200"  162    1600 1664 1856 2160  1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync
  Modeline "1600x1200"  189    1600 1664 1856 2160  1200 1201 1204 1250 -HSync -VSync
  Modeline "1600x1200"  202.5  1600 1664 1856 2160  1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync
  Modeline "1600x1200"  220    1600 1616 1808 2080  1200 1204 1207 1244 +HSync +VSync
  Modeline "1680x1050"  147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256  1050 1051 1054 1087
  ModeLine "1800x1440"  230    1800 1896 2088 2392  1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync
  ModeLine "1800x1440"  250    1800 1896 2088 2392  1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync
  Modeline "1920x1200"  230    1920 1936 2096 2528  1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync
EndSection


Section "Monitor"

  Identifier  "ATIMonitor"

  VendorName "unknown"

  ModelName "unknown"

 #Option "DPMS" "true"

  HorizSync    30.0 - 75.0 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors

  VertRefresh  50.0 - 70.0 # Very conservative. May flicker.

EndSection

Section "Device"

  Identifier  "Card0"

  Driver "vesa"

  BoardName "unknown"

 #BusID  "PCI:1:0:0"

 #Option "sw_cursor" # needed for some ati cards

 #Option "hw_cursor"

 #Option "NoAccel"

 #Option "ShowCache"

 #Option "ShadowFB"

 #Option "UseFBDev"

 #Option "Rotate"

  Option "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"

# savage special options, use with care

 #Option "NoUseBios"

 #Option "BusType" "PCI"

  Option "DmaMode" "None"

# nvidia special options, use with care

  Option "CursorShadow" "1"

  Option "CursorShadowAlpha" "63"

  Option "CursorShadowYOffset" "2"

  Option "CursorShadowXOffset" "4"

  Option "FlatPanelProperties" "Scaling = native"

  Option "NoLogo" "false"

  Option "IgnoreEdid" "true" # needs to be true for some nvidia cards

EndSection

Section "Screen"

  Identifier "Screen0"

  Device "Card0"

  Monitor "Monitor0"

  DefaultColorDepth 16

  

  SubSection "Display"

  Depth 8

  Modes "1024x768"

  EndSubSection

  SubSection "Display"

  Depth 15

  Modes "1024x768"

  EndSubSection

  SubSection "Display"

  Depth 16

  Modes "1024x768"

  EndSubSection

  SubSection "Display"

  Depth 24

  Modes "1024x768"

  EndSubSection

  SubSection "Display"

  Depth 32

  Modes "1024x768"

  EndSubSection

  

  # Only the official NVIDIA driver supports twinview

  # these setting are an example

  Option "TwinView" "false"

  Option "SecondMonitorVendorName" "unknown"

  Option "SecondMonitorModelName" "unknown"

  Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-75"

  Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50-70"

 #Option "MetaModes" "1024x768, 1024x768"

  Option "TwinViewOrientation" "RightOf"

  Option "ConnectedMonitor" "dfp,dfp"

EndSection

Section "Screen"

  Identifier "ATIScreen"

  Device "Card0"

  Monitor "ATIMonitor"

  DefaultColorDepth 24

  

  SubSection "Display"

  Depth 24

  Modes "1024x768"

  EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "DRI"

  Mode 0666

EndSection

Thanks for any help to this stubborn and frustrating issue.

"Where a man can live, he can also live well."

-Marcus Aurelius

It looks to me like the main problem is that Mepis did not correctly identify your video chipset.

The section in your xorg.conf file that reads:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "vesa"
BoardName "unknown"

should be corrected to:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "i810"
BoardName "Intel 852"

The Intel 852 chipset uses memory "shared" with (read "taken from") main memory. The vesa driver can't see the shared memory properly & so doesn't think it has enough to display the resolution you want. The i810 driver knows how to handle it.

One other change is recommended. I would change the VertRefresh in this section:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "unknown"
ModelName "unknown"
#Option "DPMS" "true"
HorizSync 30.0 - 75.0 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors
VertRefresh 50.0 - 75.0 # Very conservative. May flicker.

to read:

VertRefresh 59.0 - 61.0 # 60hz only flat panel

That's because your display is only recommended to run at 60 hz refresh. The old setting will allow 72hz or 75hz which could possibly damage it if that refresh rate is somehow selected.

This last is a matter of personal preference as most people get along OK the way it you have it, but I would also delete all 28 of those modelines. I've never needed them in an xorg.conf file and have had trouble with them blocking a resolution I wanted to use. For example, if your 1024x768 modeline is one generated for 75hz refresh and your monitor will only do 60hz then xorg won't allow 1024x768 to display at all. Xorg is pretty good at figuring out modes without the modelines if your monitor's horizontal and vertical frequency ranges are correctly set.

Good Luck!

Upon solving this problem, my initial impression was realized. This is a simple problem and I am an utter newbie. It was indeed misidentifying the chipset. I can now enjoy MEPIS in 1024x768!!
Awesome!! MEPIS rulez M$ sucks!!!

"Where a man can live, he can also live well."
-Marcus Aurelius

I'm glad we got you going.

It occurs to me that this problem likely affects a LOT of Dell notebooks. To make sure the next version of Mepis runs correctly on these "out of the box", it's probably worthwhile for you to send an e-mail to Warren <dev@mepis.org>.

He'll need a brief description of the problem & solution and the output of the command lspci -v run from a Konsole window on your machine. That will give him the numbers Dell uses to identify the video hardware so it can be detected correctly.

Have Fun!