On Precise retro 571 and Slacko 5.6, both distros fail to report the max resolution with the xrandr command. This is running on a P3 driving a new 1080p, 60Hz display via vga. The max reported is usually 1600x900, or sometimes 1680x1050 after some creative editing of xorg.conf. An old version of parted magic automatically detects the correct display resolution and outputs a video signal of 1920x1080@60Hz, so there is no hardware limitation. Does anyone have an idea of how to output the right video mode in the distros I mentioned?
Thanks...
Max resolution n/a in Slacko, Precise (solved,superficially)
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TyroBGinner
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Max resolution n/a in Slacko, Precise (solved,superficially)
Last edited by TyroBGinner on Thu 22 Dec 2016, 18:46, edited 1 time in total.
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TyroBGinner
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Wed 30 Mar 2016, 20:18
Well, I tried the addmode option in xrandr pretty early on, but it insists on maintaining the 1600x900 maximum as it reports when running xrandr. I assume the addmode option is what is meant by changing the tables - the mode tables, that is.
I am using an old pentium with 810xx integrated graphics on an hp 27es display over vga. I looked through parted magic for an Xorg.conf file but could not find one...odd, I know. There is a log file associated with Xorg starting up, but it would be inconsiderate to put here as it is too long.
I am using an old pentium with 810xx integrated graphics on an hp 27es display over vga. I looked through parted magic for an Xorg.conf file but could not find one...odd, I know. There is a log file associated with Xorg starting up, but it would be inconsiderate to put here as it is too long.
I think?? I modified xorg.conf to include the settings I needed.
But as I said, that was many years ago and on a different machine that I no longer have.
You need to find where the tables are and change them and make sure you pick up the changes.
But as I said, that was many years ago and on a different machine that I no longer have.
You need to find where the tables are and change them and make sure you pick up the changes.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett
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TyroBGinner
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Wed 30 Mar 2016, 20:18
Interesting update, all...
I was tinkering with using some old pups on a flash drive. It was the first time in many weeks that I have run a pup other than the precise retro 571 and slacko 5.6 mentioned above. This was mainly due to my hard drive having space for only those two, and my flash drive installs were inaccessible due to wireless keyboard weirdness with grub4dos.
Anyway, I happened to choose puprescue precise 2.5, and I ran xorgwizard per the usual approach to startup. The menus were different and reminiscent of somewhat older puppies - the first set of options included probing the hardware, among other things. Then a fairly full list of video modes was presented, including 1920x1080x16 and 1920x1080x24. I picked the former which produced a pixel perfect display. Later, I tried the latter which caused a spontaneous reversion to some weird resolution or a crash to the virtual terminal. Presumably there is a memory limitation on that second video mode. I am running on 256 megs here!
The xorgwizard in slacko 5.6 presents a different set of menus to the user. It asks first to choose a driver - intel, modesetting, or kms. Then, on choosing intel, a rather limited choice of video modes is given with no color depth options. In this instance, it seems that some wizards produce a better xorg.conf file. I simply copied the the puprescue file to the slacko install and got the pixel perfect result.
I was tinkering with using some old pups on a flash drive. It was the first time in many weeks that I have run a pup other than the precise retro 571 and slacko 5.6 mentioned above. This was mainly due to my hard drive having space for only those two, and my flash drive installs were inaccessible due to wireless keyboard weirdness with grub4dos.
Anyway, I happened to choose puprescue precise 2.5, and I ran xorgwizard per the usual approach to startup. The menus were different and reminiscent of somewhat older puppies - the first set of options included probing the hardware, among other things. Then a fairly full list of video modes was presented, including 1920x1080x16 and 1920x1080x24. I picked the former which produced a pixel perfect display. Later, I tried the latter which caused a spontaneous reversion to some weird resolution or a crash to the virtual terminal. Presumably there is a memory limitation on that second video mode. I am running on 256 megs here!
The xorgwizard in slacko 5.6 presents a different set of menus to the user. It asks first to choose a driver - intel, modesetting, or kms. Then, on choosing intel, a rather limited choice of video modes is given with no color depth options. In this instance, it seems that some wizards produce a better xorg.conf file. I simply copied the the puprescue file to the slacko install and got the pixel perfect result.
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TyroBGinner
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Wed 30 Mar 2016, 20:18
Maybe I should have mentioned the memory limitation earlier, but I thought I gave a fair amount of detail at the time. It was my guess that the resolution to the problem lay in the thicket of how the xorg.conf file is constructed and the content of the file itself. Clearly, though, the low memory problem was a central issue here.
As to swap space, I don't have any. My hard drive is almost full and likely couldn't take much thrashing anyway, as it is the original hard drive on this 2000 vintage computer. Besides, swap is so very slow; it seems much slower than in other operating systems. I really do appreciate the suggestion, but I consider this little issue sufficiently resolved. It is no big deal at any rate. My display looks pretty good now, and I plan on junking this computer rather soon in favor of a new, casual-use machine. I am picking through pcpartpicker a lot these days.
The only reason for the follow-up is that I just hoped that maybe this might help someone, if but a little bit, down the road.
And for you environment hawks out there, I am not actually going to junk my computer...it has sentimental value. It is on "permanent loan" from my former girlfriend.
<snif>
As to swap space, I don't have any. My hard drive is almost full and likely couldn't take much thrashing anyway, as it is the original hard drive on this 2000 vintage computer. Besides, swap is so very slow; it seems much slower than in other operating systems. I really do appreciate the suggestion, but I consider this little issue sufficiently resolved. It is no big deal at any rate. My display looks pretty good now, and I plan on junking this computer rather soon in favor of a new, casual-use machine. I am picking through pcpartpicker a lot these days.
The only reason for the follow-up is that I just hoped that maybe this might help someone, if but a little bit, down the road.
And for you environment hawks out there, I am not actually going to junk my computer...it has sentimental value. It is on "permanent loan" from my former girlfriend.
<snif>
Hi Tyro.
Do you have a xrandrindex file in /etc? It should be one line with screen
res. at the beginning plus the Hertz rate at the end, without spaces.
I have in mine: 1920x1080@60.00
I use it to activate a wide screen connected to my laptop. On boot-up
the regular laptop screen is used, but when X kicks in, the wide screen
lights up with the Puppy desktop, and the laptop screen is deactivated.
I turn my wide screen on when the boot-up gets to choosing the pupsave
file.
I created a dummy pupsave file so the process can stop at this choice. I
then turn my wide screen on, press the number of the pupsave file to use
and hit Return, and the boot-up continues.
This works for me on the Slim-6 and Puduan-6 32-bit Pups.
Note: Untested on the Puppies you mention.
If not, you may want to create one such file:The Hertz rate is added automatically, IIRC.
Then restart X.
As to the swap partition, you could create one 750 Mb or 1 Gb in size on
a USB stick that you insert just before boot. It doesn't matter where this
swap partition is, as long as you have one: Puppy will detect it.
Keep us posted? IHTH.
Do you have a xrandrindex file in /etc? It should be one line with screen
res. at the beginning plus the Hertz rate at the end, without spaces.
I have in mine: 1920x1080@60.00
I use it to activate a wide screen connected to my laptop. On boot-up
the regular laptop screen is used, but when X kicks in, the wide screen
lights up with the Puppy desktop, and the laptop screen is deactivated.
I turn my wide screen on when the boot-up gets to choosing the pupsave
file.
I created a dummy pupsave file so the process can stop at this choice. I
then turn my wide screen on, press the number of the pupsave file to use
and hit Return, and the boot-up continues.
This works for me on the Slim-6 and Puduan-6 32-bit Pups.
Note: Untested on the Puppies you mention.
If not, you may want to create one such file:
Code: Select all
echo "1920x1080" > /etc/xrandrindexThen restart X.
As to the swap partition, you could create one 750 Mb or 1 Gb in size on
a USB stick that you insert just before boot. It doesn't matter where this
swap partition is, as long as you have one: Puppy will detect it.
Keep us posted? IHTH.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)
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TyroBGinner
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Wed 30 Mar 2016, 20:18
Hey, I found my message....
Well, I have not deliberately created an xrandrindex file...I doubt I ever had one in either distro. A month ago, I played with xrandr on the command line and tried to add video modes in that way. I also tried doing similar things with direct editing of the xorg.conf file, but none of this helped. These things seem similar to what you suggest.
The (older, I think) xorgwizard in puprescue served well in guiding me to the right choice by providing a more detailed list of video modes. It also produced a cleaner, more uniform xorg.conf file. Surely the most important point here is that the reduced bit depth demands less video memory, which of course comes out of system ram. There is no video card here!
As stated above, the display is working fine now...getting a signal in its native resolution, so no problems.
I don't think I am going to run a swap file or partition as this computer is on its way out and for other reasons already mentioned. As slow as hard drive swap is, I can scarcely fathom running swap space on a flash drive. Those damn things are slow enough when writing ordinary files, unless you want to pay a premium of perhaps fifty cents a gig or so. The final nail here is that I am using an ancient computer...with a USB 1.1 controller. Imagine the hell of that!
But, to my mind, all is well on this topic. I am reasonably satisfied. Thanks for the ideas and advice.
Well, I have not deliberately created an xrandrindex file...I doubt I ever had one in either distro. A month ago, I played with xrandr on the command line and tried to add video modes in that way. I also tried doing similar things with direct editing of the xorg.conf file, but none of this helped. These things seem similar to what you suggest.
The (older, I think) xorgwizard in puprescue served well in guiding me to the right choice by providing a more detailed list of video modes. It also produced a cleaner, more uniform xorg.conf file. Surely the most important point here is that the reduced bit depth demands less video memory, which of course comes out of system ram. There is no video card here!
As stated above, the display is working fine now...getting a signal in its native resolution, so no problems.
I don't think I am going to run a swap file or partition as this computer is on its way out and for other reasons already mentioned. As slow as hard drive swap is, I can scarcely fathom running swap space on a flash drive. Those damn things are slow enough when writing ordinary files, unless you want to pay a premium of perhaps fifty cents a gig or so. The final nail here is that I am using an ancient computer...with a USB 1.1 controller. Imagine the hell of that!
But, to my mind, all is well on this topic. I am reasonably satisfied. Thanks for the ideas and advice.