7.0.5 video problem

[piecat]

Hi,

I'm having difficulty upgrading from 6.7.1 to 7.0.5. My PC is a Shuttle XS35V3, and I boot Knoppix from USB using YUMI. The PC has dual screen support, one screen uses DVI and the other HDMI. Both are connected to 1280x1024 monitors but the HDMI monitor is normally not powered on.

This configuration works fine with 6.7.1. It boots up on the DVI monitor in 1280x1024 mode. However there is a video problem with 7.0.5. It starts booting up on the DVI monitor in 1280x1024, but then switches to the HDMI monitor in 1024x768 mode. The last text I see on the DVI monitor is "Starting DRM".

I'm just a Knoppix user, and am not familiar with its installation details. However I tried a few things. On the 2nd line of isolinux.cfg, just after APPEND, I added nodrm. That didn't help. I also tried video=1280x1024, but that didn't help either. I also tried replacing the entire 7.0.5 isolinux directory with the one from 6.7.1. That fixed the video problem, but prevented Knoppix from finding my internet connection.

I would appreciate your help. I would like to configure 7.0.5 to boot up in 1280x1024 mode on the DVI monitor. I suspect this is possible since 6.7.1 is doing that.

Thanks,
piecat

[klaus2008]

I also tried video=1280x1024

Try

screen=1280x1024

I also tried replacing the entire 7.0.5 isolinux directory with the one from 6.7.1.

If you replace the Linux kernel of Knoppix 7.0.5 with an older one you also need the kernel modules included in the huge KNOPPIX file of the old Knoppix.

I would like to configure 7.0.5 to boot up in 1280x1024 mode on the DVI monitor.

Knoppix comes with a utility called ARandR in the 'Preferences' menu. How many output devices are identified by this program?

I think you have to create a special configuration file /etc/X11/xorg.conf which describes the default monitor.

There should be a log file /var/log/Xorg.0.log with a line describing the driver used by the Xserver. If you know the name of the driver you can find out which options it provides to define the default output device.

[piecat]

There should be a log file /var/log/Xorg.0.log with a line describing the driver used by the Xserver. If you know the name of the driver you can find out which options it provides to define the default output device.

Thank you for your prompt response. The Xorg.0.log files look like they could be helpful. I compared the Xorg.0.log files for 7.0.5 and 6.7.1. They use different versions of X.Org Video Driver (version 12.1 vs. 11.0) . I do not have permission to attach the log files but have quoted some relevant lines below. Is this information useful to describe the desired default monitor in the xorg.conf file? If so, is there documentation for xorg.conf that would help?

Knoppix 7.0.5

[ 19.812] vesa: Ignoring device with a bound kernel driver
[ 19.812] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for vesa
[ 19.812] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[ 19.812] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[ 19.815] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[ 19.820] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 19.820] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 0.0.2
[ 19.820] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 12.1
[ 19.820] (**) FBDEV(1): claimed PCI slot 0@0:2:0
[ 19.820] (II) FBDEV(1): using default device
[ 19.820] (==) FBDEV(1): Depth 24, (==) framebuffer bpp 32
[ 19.820] (==) FBDEV(1): RGB weight 888
[ 19.820] (==) FBDEV(1): Default visual is TrueColor
[ 19.820] (==) FBDEV(1): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[ 19.820] (II) FBDEV(1): hardware: psbfb (video memory: 6144kB)
[ 19.821] (II) FBDEV(1): checking modes against framebuffer device...
[ 19.821] (II) FBDEV(1): checking modes against monitor...
[ 19.821] (--) FBDEV(1): Virtual size is 1024x768 (pitch 1024)

Knoppix 6.7.1

[ 25.905] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[ 25.906] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[ 25.908] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[ 25.908] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[ 25.910] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[ 25.911] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 25.911] compiled for 1.11.0, module version = 0.0.2
[ 25.911] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 11.0
[ 25.918] (EE) open /dev/fb0: No such device
[ 25.918] (II) Loading sub module "vbe"
[ 25.918] (II) LoadModule: "vbe"
[ 25.920] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libvbe.so
[ 25.925] (II) Module vbe: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 25.925] compiled for 1.11.0, module version = 1.1.0
[ 25.925] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 11.0
[ 25.925] (II) Loading sub module "int10"
[ 25.925] (II) LoadModule: "int10"
[ 25.926] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libint10.so
[ 25.935] (II) Module int10: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 25.935] compiled for 1.11.0, module version = 1.0.0
[ 25.935] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 11.0
[ 25.935] (II) VESA(0): initializing int10
[ 25.936] (II) VESA(0): Bad V_BIOS checksum
[ 25.936] (II) VESA(0): Primary V_BIOS segment is: 0xc000
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA BIOS detected
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Version 3.0
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Total Mem: 7872 kB
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM: Intel(R)XX Graphics Chipset Accelerated VGA BIOS
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Software Rev: 1.0
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Vendor: Intel Corporation
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product: Intel(R)XX Graphics Controller
[ 25.937] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product Rev: Hardware Version 0.0
[ 25.958] (==) VESA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
[ 25.958] (==) VESA(0): RGB weight 888
[ 25.958] (==) VESA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[ 25.958] (==) VESA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[ 25.958] (II) Loading sub module "ddc"
[ 25.958] (II) LoadModule: "ddc"
[ 25.958] (II) Module "ddc" already built-in
[ 25.961] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC supported
[ 25.962] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC Level 2
[ 25.962] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC transfer in appr. 1 sec.
[ 26.171] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC read successfully
[ 26.171] (II) VESA(0): Manufacturer: NEC Model: 6662 Serial#: 16843009
[ 26.171] (II) VESA(0): Year: 2004 Week: 48
[ 26.171] (II) VESA(0): EDID Version: 1.3

[klaus2008]

I think you should try to create a new xorg.conf automatically. Boot Knoppix 7.0.5 into runlevel 2 while both displays are switched on. At the boot prompt issue

knoppix 2

The setup ends in a shell. Issue

Xorg -configure
cd /etc/X11
mv xorg.conf xorg.conf.knoppix
cp /xorg.conf.new xorg.conf
init 5

What output do you get if issue the command

xrandr -q

in an LXTerminal?

You can find a lot of documentation at http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.7/doc/ but I think the basics are described at http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Xorg_RandR_1.2

[pgradone]

In Knoppix 7.2 the graphic utility arandr does not work for me anymore.
Every time I want to configure my two monitors (DVI + extended desktop to HDMI) now I need to use "KDE System Settings" (systemsettings -caption "%c" %i).

Here is the output of arandr I see when I execute it on a command line:

root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix# arandr
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/arandr", line 42, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/screenlayout/gui.py", line 318, in main
force_version=options.force_version
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/screenlayout/gui.py", line 159, in __init__
self.filetemplate = self.widget.load_from_x()
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/screenlayout/widget.py", line 93, in load_from_x
self._xrandr.load_from_x()
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/screenlayout/xrandr.py", line 150, in load_from_x
o.modes.append(Size(int(a) for a in d.strip().split(" ")[0].split("x")))
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/screenlayout/auxiliary.py", line 53, in __new__
arg = tuple(arg)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/screenlayout/xrandr.py", line 150, in <genexpr>
o.modes.append(Size(int(a) for a in d.strip().split(" ")[0].split("x")))
ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: '1080i'

How to make arandr work again?