Widescreen episode 2

Boot into a Live CD. Select F3 at the boot menu and select your desired resolution from the table that will pop up.

After you have the Live CD loaded, select the MEPIS X-Windows Assistant and use the reinstall X feature to resintall X using current settings.

By default, it will use the nv driver with an Nvidia monitor.

I'd get that working first.

Then, if you want to use one of the accelerated Nvidia drivers instead, select the Nvidia new driver using the X-Windows Assistant and install it.

Jim C.

Thanks,

I tried all that. My first effort was to choose 1680x1050 and the NVidia option. This gave me 1400x1050 which didn't fit the screen. Tried a few times with the CD and by chosing 1680x1050 forcing a lower refresh rate I eventually got the screen running in 1680x1050. Looked great. Trouble was, after a few minutes I noticed artifacts (snow) on the screen. Then it the screen started to go blank and return.

So, it is the card? Is it the screen? Is it Linux? The only way I can think to answer this is to try all this with Windows XP, perhaps on another machine.

I find it strange to have to force a refresh rate. BTW, tried editing xorg.conf with the correct Modeline for the screen but I think the snow was worse. How does one know which of the multitude of monitors referred to in xorg.conf refers to the one in use? Why is the whole thing so complicated?

Thanks once more for the help. I've tried Ubuntu, Freespire and now Mepis and am getting pushed towards XP. A shame as the friend I have set this up for is quite happy with Mepis as a user,

Norman

Let's try this again (and my assumption is that mepis has already been installed to your hard disk).

Boot into a Live CD, press F3 at the boot prompt (do not select the opt in Nvidia driver) and select your desired resolution.

Get everything working using the NV driver first (which is what it will use by default with your FX5200). Then, worry about trying the Nvidia accelerated drivers *after* you get the nv driver working.

After you boot into a Live CD, go to the MEPIS X-Windows Assistant.

Under the monitor tab, try putting this for your monitor.

Vertical: 56-76
Horizontal: 30-82

Click Apply

Then, to to the main X-Windows assistant tab, use the reinstall X function to update your hard disk installation.

Do not change to one of the Nvidia drivers under the Nvidia tab yet. Leave it at the default nv driver for now.

After setting up your monitor with the right sync frequencies, Reboot and see if everything is working right.

If so, then load the X-Windows Assistant from the (hopefully working) hard disk install, select the Nvidia new driver, apply and see if it works (reboot again to find out).

Jim C.

The desired goal here is to get a working hard drive installation with the correct resolution and refresh rate (which plugging in the specs for your mnonitor and reinstall X from a LIve CD will do).

Chances are, the distro is not recognizing your monitor. So, you need to give it some more information. That's what reinstalling X will do for you once you have the correct horizontal and vertical frequency ranges entered.

Then, only after you get a hard drive installation that you can boot into with everything correct, install the Nvidia new driver with the X Windows Assistant.

It's been my experience with my FX5200 that trying to make changes to these types of things is better done using the default nv driver to get a working config with it first.

Jim C.