new monitor and other problems

[fatbloke]

the head ferret wants to decorate the "office", fine.

I have to move the PC and kit into the dining room, fine.

No, I can't continue to use the nice 22" philips monitor - it's too big/heavy/waste of space, fine.

So, I had a quick look around and it seemed that an IIYAMA Prolite E2202WS, should do the job, was reasonably priced, reasonably spec'd (a direct replacement for the philips would have been IRO £1000 for a 3:4 ratio flatscreen model).

It's my first foray into the world of wide screen monitors. Yes, it works, but I found that it wouldn't let me set the max resolution - which should be 1680 x 1050 (baring in mind that I'm used to 1600 x 1200 on the philips).

To make matters worse, I was using Sidux for my distro and I couldn't suss it with that, so I've downloaded and installed Kubuntu (hardy 8.04) in the hope that it will detect the monitor make/model/etc better. It doesn't seem to have made any difference.

It also seems that my BB connection is playing up and seems to be very slow, at all times of the day/night.

So I'm currently struggling to make the system change the res (from 1280x1024 to 1680x1050), change the format view setting from 4:3 standard, to 16:9 widescreen, install all the updates necessary, add some programmes (I really hate adept as a package manager - synaptic is IMV, so much better), install the nvidia driver for my graphics card (a 5200 - which has worked fine with the latest driver under sidux until now).

Any guidance you might have on these problems would be gratefully received, as well as any links to idiot guides on changing the repo's so that I can get at the full debian ones as well as the K/Ubuntu ones (there's some apps that don't seem to be in the *buntu ones like GNUBG).

regards

fatbloke

p.s. yes, of course I'll keep struggling on to see if I can get any of these issues sorted, but who knows eh!

[Rog131]

Re: new monitor and other problems

It's my first foray into the world of wide screen monitors. Yes, it works, but I found that it wouldn't let me set the max resolution - which should be 1680 x 1050 (baring in mind that I'm used to 1600 x 1200 on the philips).

How it should work / How it is working here:

Current xorg in Hardy usually autodetects your monitor, it's resolution, dpi, etc. and everything just magically works. This happens because modern monitors can be queried for 'EDID' data, that returns all the necessary info to configure things properly.

BUT there are bugs

However, there are cases where the monitor fails to report EDID. These exhibit themselves as a variety of symptoms, often including incorrect resolution selection, strange font dpi settings, inability to select resolutions other than 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and sometimes other odd issues. To determine if you have this issue, simply run `sudo ddcprobe` or `sudo get-edid | parse-edid`, and you will see 'EDID fail' in the output.

More of this > Bug#194760 / EDID fail

I really hate adept as a package manager - synaptic is IMV, so much better

Adept is the default but you can use whatever you want to > FAQ: Package Managers

changing the repo's so that I can get at the full debian ones as well as the K/Ubuntu ones (there's some apps that don't seem to be in the *buntu ones like GNUBG).

Mixing Debian and Ubuntu repositories is not recommended. It is possible BUT sooner or later package manager(s) will get itself confused...


GNUBG ?

Do you mean this: gnubg

GTK or console backgammon program with analysis

GNU Backgammon is a strong backgammon program (world-class with a bearoff database installed) usable either as an engine by other programs or as a standalone backgammon game. In addition to supporting simple play, it also has extensive analysis features, a tutor mode, adjustable difficulty, and support for exporting annotated games.

GNU Backgammon is still under initial development and should be considered beta software.

> Ubuntu Packages

This site provides you with information about all the packages available in the Ubuntu Package archive.

Links:

> Repositories

A Quick, Tongue-in-cheek Description of the Ubuntu Repositories

• $release: Don’t touch it, I like consistency, even with my bugs.
• $release-security: I’ll accept patches to existing versions (and very rare version upgrades if absolutely necessary) in the process of keeping my system secure.
• $release-updates: Okay, some bugs are worth fixing, and I trust you this much (holds up two fingers like Maxwell Smart).
• $release-backports: I have something akin to technology ADHD, needing the latest of everything I can possibly get, but I can’t handle running the development branch.
• $devel: I can take it. Seriously. If you break my X, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. I’ll file and maybe even fix the bugs and I’ll do it even if power management is not so much ‘managed’ as vomited all over the wall. Come get some.
• Debian: We do the work so you don’t have to.

> UbuntuBackports

What are Backports

Ubuntu releases a new version of its OS every 6 months. After a release, the version of all packages stays constant for the entire 6 months. For example, if Ubuntu ships with OpenOffice.org 2.0.x, it will remain at OpenOffice.org 2.0.x for the entire 6-month release cycle, even if a later version gets released during this time. The Ubuntu team may apply important security fixes to 2.0.x, but any new features or non-security bugfixes will not be made available.

This is where Ubuntu Backports comes in. The Backports team believes that the best update policy is a mix of Ubuntu's security-only policy AND providing new versions of some programs. Candidates for version updates are primarily desktop applications, such as your web browser, word processor, IRC client, or IM client. These programs can be updated without replacing a large part of the operating system that would affect stability of the whole system.

Backports is an official Ubuntu repository and maintained by knowledgeable Ubuntu developers who are often present on IRC and other communications media. But note that software in backports will not receive review or updates from the Ubuntu security team itself...

+ lot of stuff


> RepositoriesKubuntu
- Kubuntu repositories = Ubuntu repositories


> PPA

Personal Package Archives (PPA) allow you to upload Ubuntu source packages to be built and published as an apt repository by Launchpad. You can find out more about PPAs and how to use them in our quick-start guide.

[fatbloke]

Re: new monitor and other problems

Thankyou very much Rog131,

I'm not sure why I haven't managed to hit some of those links myself - probably using the wrong search terms/criteria.

It gives me something to get my teeth into too see if I can sort this problem/issue (which, in truth, is bugging the hell out of me - the monitor is alledged to be "plug 'n play" so it should "just work").

Either way, I'll post back whatever I can find/cure/solve as others might be in a similar position.

Again, many thanks for the links and guidance.

regards

fatbloke

[fatbloke]

Re: new monitor and other problems

Well the first issue is sorted.

I initially tried the suggested

sudo ddcprobe` or `sudo get-edid | parse-edid

but "it" said that it didn't recognise the first command and then it said that I didn't have the "read-edid" package installed.

The command sudo apt-get install read-edid then told me that it couldn't find the package, so I guess that there's either other packages that need to be installed into the system or I need different repositories.

Anyway, one thing with this monitor that's also new to me is a DVI plug (there's also the corresponding socket on the nvidia 5200 graphics card). I figured (yesterday) that as it's a digital in/output it should be better. I figured wrong as I've just changed over to the "normal" D-Sub lead/plugs and rebooted the system (I should have switched it off but got carried away).

It's restarted displaying the resolution as the native 1680x1050 of the monitor. The font's are nice an sharp and everything else i.e. icons etc are also clear/sharp.

Don't know why it might be like that, I'm just happy that it seems to be ok.

I've also managed to grab the gnubg packages but it doesn't want too start at the moment - something else to investigate!

Thankyou for your assistance thus far, I may (read that as "probably") have more questions as I try to get my head round kubuntu again (for the first time in 2 years or so )

regards

fatbloke