low screen resolution after live cd installation

[pwabrahams]

I just did a live CD installation of Karmic Koala (9.10) on a new machine, and the screen resolution is stuck at 800x640. That's the maximum that System Settings makes available. I tried using Hardware Drivers to install Nvidia drivers, but apparently the available drivers via that route (version 185) isn't the right one, since it doesn't provide the needed resolution of 1280 x 1024 and maxes out at the weird resolution of 1360x1768.

What do I need to do to activate the correct screen resolution?

[DERG]

Re: low screen resolution after live cd installation

Just to understand, you can install v185 but it has a max rez of 1360x1768 but 1280x1024 isn't offered? All I can say is I use v185 & it offers 26 different screen configs including 1280x1024.
I don't know if I can offer much help. Perhaps reinstall v185 & make sure it is the one that's activated. My hardware offers v173 which I know goes up to 1920x1200. It would seem that that would be offered as well. I think even v96 goes up to at least 1280x1024.
BTW I just installed 9.10 on my computer & had some nVidia issues. Maybe a full update, this worked for me, would help, too.
Sorry I could be of more help.

[pwabrahams]

Available resolutions

Here's the list of available resolutions that I found in the NVidia X Server Settings:
1360x768
1152 x 864
1024 x 768
800 x 600
plus a bunch of lower ones that probably no one uses any more. Not only is the one that I really want -- 1280 x 1024 -- not there, but the even higher ones like 1600 x 1200 aren't there either. I'm running other OS's on the same system, so I know that the hardware is up to the task. This is with the 185 version.

I'm surprised that more people haven't encountered this problem. 1280 x 1024 is pretty much a standard resolution for LCD monitors.

[rfakhrai]

Re: low screen resolution after live cd installation

I don't want to condone you totally screwing up your X config so make a backup first. But can't you just manually enter the resolution in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf? I think there is a list of available resolutions so you can just add 1280x1024. Would seem to be a benign fix.

[pwabrahams]

No explicit xorg.conf

Apparently xorg.conf doesn't exist any more in the usual way (locate xorg.conf doesn't find it), but it's supposed to be possible to edit it with sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Here's the file pre-edit:

Section "Screen"
    Identifier   "Default Screen"
    DefaultDepth  24
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals"   "True"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load  "glx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier   "Default Device"
    Driver "nvidia"
    Option "NoLogo"    "True"
EndSection

What puzzles me about this is that there's no explicit list of resolutions, even wrong ones. So I wonder how adding a resolution can help.

I'm puzzled as to why this isn't a more common problem. Certainly people have complained about the low resolution when booting up the Live CD.

[rfakhrai]

Re: low screen resolution after live cd installation

Have you run

sudo nvidia-xconfig

?

Are you attached to the 185 driver? I don't know if 173 is available for your card but it's a tried and true driver.

[pwabrahams]

Failed to query NoScanOut for Screen 0

I tried switching to v173 and got the message from NVidia Server Settings: "Failed to query NoScanOut for Screen 0". Weirdly, I got the same message from v96 and again from v185 when I switched back to that one. Meanwhile my screen resolution is stuck at an even worse value: 640 x 480.

There are some major problems, it seems, with 9.10 and NVidia.

[rfakhrai]

Re: low screen resolution after live cd installation

Yeah, it was not fun trying to get my card to work. (http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3110406.0).

One important thing that I noticed is that System Settings does not play nice with Nvidia. Therefore, all adjustments to screen resolution must be made from nvidia-settings.

Have you checked to see if the 'nvidia' module is even running? My dilemma (as linked above was solved by this troubleshooting step).

Ctrl+Alt+F1 out of X and login at the tty terminal. type:

sudo service kdm stop

then run the installation file again and have Nvidia create you a new xorg.conf file. then:

lsmod

and look for the nvidia module to ensure it's loaded. Take note of whether or not it is. then:

sudo modprobe nvidia

should invoke an error of some sort. Post that error here.

Also, have you looked at the log generated at /var/log/Xorg.0.log? Toward the end of the file, look for lines beginning with "[EE]".

It's a long shot but we might be able to get some errors together and search for bugs.

[pwabrahams]

It works in OpenSuSE 11.1

I intend to follow up on your suggestions, but meanwhile (since I'm not at the problematic machine at the moment) here's an interesting clue: I have OpenSuSE 11.1 running in a different partition on the same machine, with no resolution problems at all. So perhaps there's a way to transplant something from OpenSuSe to Kubuntu. They are, after all, both Linux systems running NVidia drivers even if they're different distributions.

[dibl]

Re: It works in OpenSuSE 11.1

So perhaps there's a way to transplant something from OpenSuSe to Kubuntu.

Sure the "cp" command will copy whatever you want -- but it's a bad idea. Whatever is wrong with your setup, it is not a missing file from the other Linux system.

If you intend to use the proprietary Nvidia driver, then you need to leave System Settings entirely alone, with regard to video. You need to reveal the mystery of which Nvidia GPU you have, and then this site will show you which driver version is appropriate:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=122606

[pwabrahams]

Experiments

Have you checked to see if the 'nvidia' module is even running? My dilemma (as linked above was solved by this troubleshooting step).

Yes, lsmod | grep nvidia indicates that it is.

Ctrl+Alt+F1 out of X and login at the tty terminal. type:

sudo service kdm stop

then run the installation file again and have Nvidia create you a new xorg.conf file. then:

lsmod

and look for the nvidia module to ensure it's loaded. Take note of whether or not it is. then:

sudo modprobe nvidia

should invoke an error of some sort. Post that error here.

I again ran the installation file I downloaded from Nvidia:
NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-190.53-pkg2.run.
At that point the nvidia module wasn't loaded. I loaded it using modprobe, and then it was found by lsmod.

Also, have you looked at the log generated at /var/log/Xorg.0.log? Toward the end of the file, look for lines beginning with "[EE]".

There are no EE errors in the log.

Here's some more information:

The graphics processor is GEForce 7025 / nForce 630a.
The installed nvidia packages are:
nvidia-190-modaliases
nvidia-190-kernel-source
nvidia-glx-190
From NVidia X Server Settings:
Systems Info:
NVidia Driver Version 190.532
Server version 11.0
NV-Control Version 1.2.0
Maximum resolution available in X Server Display Configuration: 640 x 480
I also tried inserting the "1280x1024" screen resolution in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. That didn't help either.

[pwabrahams]

A weird but clean solution

I've finally managed to get the 1280x1024 resolution that I need, though in a weird way. I copied xorg.conf from my working OpenSuSE installation on the same machine into /etc/X11 and then used nvidia-xconfig to install it. The only problem now is that the font is much too small, but I haven't worked on that yet (suggestions, anyone)?

A lot of people have had the same problem with Kubuntu 9.10 and have torn out their hair over it. I wish there was some way to propagate the solution so people don't keep creating new threads on the subject out of desperation!

For the record, here is my xorg.conf. It's full of SuSE-isms, of course.

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder58) Wed Dec 9 16:34:26 PST 2009

# /.../
# SaX generated X11 config file
# Created on: 2010-03-06T13:44:12-0500.
#
# Version: 8.1
# Contact: Marcus Schaefer <sax@suse.de>, 2005
# Contact: SaX-User list <[url]https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/sax-users>[/url]
#
# Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier   "Layout[all]"
  Screen     "Screen[0]" 0 0
  InputDevice  "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
  Option     "Clone" "off"
  Option     "Xinerama" "off"
EndSection

Section "Files"
  InputDevices   "/dev/gpmdata"
  InputDevices   "/dev/input/mice"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/local"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/URW"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled"
  FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/xtest"
  FontPath    "/opt/kde3/share/fonts"
EndSection

Section "Module"
  Load      "extmod"
  Load      "type1"
  Load      "glx"
  Load      "freetype"
  Load      "dbe"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
  Option     "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Identifier   "Keyboard[0]"
  Driver     "kbd"
  Option     "Protocol" "Standard"
  Option     "XkbLayout" "us"
  Option     "XkbModel" "microsoftpro"
  Option     "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Identifier   "Mouse[1]"
  Driver     "mouse"
  Option     "Buttons" "5"
  Option     "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
  Option     "Name" "ImPS/2 Generic Wheel Mouse"
  Option     "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
  Option     "Vendor" "Sysp"
  Option     "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
  Identifier     "Modes[0]"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
  Identifier   "Monitor[0]"
  VendorName   "--> VESA"
  ModelName   "1280X1024@60HZ"
  UseModes    "Modes[0]"
  DisplaySize   370  301
  HorizSync    31.0 - 64.0
  VertRefresh   50.0 - 60.0
  Option     "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
EndSection

Section "Device"
  Identifier   "Device[0]"
  Driver     "nvidia"
  VendorName   "VESA"
  BoardName   "Framebuffer Graphics"
  Screen     0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
  Identifier   "Screen[0]"
  Device     "Device[0]"
  Monitor    "Monitor[0]"
  SubSection   "Display"
    Modes   "default"
  EndSubSection
  SubSection   "Display"
    Depth    16
    Modes   "default"
  EndSubSection
  SubSection   "Display"
    Depth    24
    Modes   "default"
  EndSubSection
  SubSection   "Display"
    Depth    8
    Modes   "default"
  EndSubSection
EndSection

[oshunluvr]

Re: low screen resolution after live cd installation

If you're going to edit your xorg.conf manually, you should learn a couple of things:

1) Keep a working backup xorg.conf file in the /etc/X11 directory so if you crash your X you can get back to the GUI by simply renaming two files.

2) Learn how to use "vi" - a console file editor - so you can edit xorg.conf from the console.

3) Start reading your log file -> /var/log/Xorg.0.log. This is where you'll find information on what went wrong. WW are warnings and can generally be ignored, although they might point to a problem. EE are errors and generally cause X to fail and should be repaired.

4) In a console - these commands will tell you your current state of affairs:
xdpyinfo |grep resolution --> tells you DPI setting
xdpyinfo |grep dimensions --> tells you screen size setting

5) Attach a copy of your xorg.conf and/or Xorg.0.log file(s) when asked for them rather than cut-and-paste into a post. This will keep your posts more readable and has the side benefit of allowing someone to edit your xorg.conf for you and sending it back to you. To attach a file, click on the "Additional Options..." button below the posting text box.

To your issues:
Start by listing your exact model of video card, monitor and exactly which driver you currently have installed and the method in which you installed it.

You should know that LCD monitors only perform well at their native resolution and refresh rates. You'll get a much better looking display if you set your monitor at those settings and adjust fonts and window sizes to accommodate it.

[kyonides]

Re: low screen resolution after live cd installation

Or take a look here. It's a workaround...

[pwabrahams]

Healing xorg.conf

If you're going to edit your xorg.conf manually, you should learn a couple of things:

<snip>

2) Learn how to use "vi" - a console file editor - so you can edit xorg.conf from the console.

<snip>

For my money, nano is a command-line editor that's far easier to learn and use. I know there's a community of folks out there who love and treasure vi, and it has a 35-year history. In its early days it was far better than anything else around (like Unix ed). Suffice it to say that for those who don't like vi, there now are alternatives.

Side note: The term "console' goes back to the early days of computing, when machines were immense. Consoles often had many switches, buttons, and indicator lights (like the sense switches on the IBM 704 memorialized in Fortran). I guess that the people who coined the computing usage of the term had organ consoles in mind, which the computer consoles resembled.

In any event, I seem to have solved my problem, though cleaner versions of xorg.conf that support high resolutions undoubtedly exist.