1680*1050 etc. cannot be set in spite of 915resolution - DDC failure over DVI(-ADD)?

[TEN]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-driver-i810

High resolutions of recent TFTs cannot properly be set for DVI, let alone have the monitor's capacities autodetected, with this driver in Ubuntu 6.10 (limiting the resolution to 1024*768), cf. these excerpts from /var/log/Xorg.0.log:

(II) I810(0): Display Info: CRT: attached: FALSE, present: FALSE, size: (0,0)
(II) I810(0): Display Info: TV: attached: FALSE, present: FALSE, size: (0,0)
(II) I810(0): Display Info: DFP (digital flat panel): attached: FALSE, present: FALSE, size: (0,0)
(II) I810(0): Display Info: LFP (local flat panel): attached: FALSE, present: FALSE, size: (0,0)
(II) I810(0): Display Info: Second (second CRT): attached: FALSE, present: FALSE, size: (0,0)
(II) I810(0): Display Info: TV2 (second TV): attached: FALSE, present: FALSE, size: (0,0)
(II) I810(0): Currently active displays on Pipe A:
(II) I810(0): DFP (digital flat panel)
(II) I810(0): No display size information available for pipe A.
(==) I810(0): Display is using Pipe A
(--) I810(0): Maximum frambuffer space: 65368 kByte
(II) Loading sub module "ddc"
(II) LoadModule: "ddc"
(II) Reloading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libddc.so
(II) I810(0): VESA VBE DDC supported
(II) I810(0): VESA VBE DDC Level none
(II) I810(0): VESA VBE DDC transfer in appr. 0 sec.
(II) I810(0): VESA VBE DDC read failed
(--) I810(0): A non-CRT device is attached to pipe A.
        No refresh rate overrides will be attempted.
(--) I810(0): Maximum space available for video modes: 12288 kByte
Mode: 30 (640x480)
[...]
Mode: 3a (1680x1050)
[...]
Mode: 4b (1680x1050)
[...]
Mode: 5a (1680x1050)
[...](II) I810(0): Generic Monitor: Using hsync range of 28.00-84.00 kHz
(II) I810(0): Generic Monitor: Using vrefresh range of 43.00-60.00 Hz
(II) I810(0): Not using mode "1680x1050" (no mode of this name)
(--) I810(0): Virtual size is 1024x768 (pitch 1024)
(**) I810(0): *Built-in mode "1024x768"
(**) I810(0): *Built-in mode "800x600"
(**) I810(0): *Built-in mode "640x480"
(==) I810(0): DPI set to (75, 75)
(II) Loading sub module "fb"

There are similar failure reports for EDID over conventional VGA:
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/2006-November/019499.html with the subsequent http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/2006-November/019626.html and http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/2006-November/019648.html - as well as http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1376 and http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/2006-December/020728.html

The "intel" alternative ("modesetting" branch) will not currently compile anymore on Ubuntu 6.10, though, cf. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2451577#post2451577

[TEN (launchpad-20-ten)]

In Ubuntu 7.04 "Feisty Fawn" finally this problem can be overcome by entering
apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-intel
which will replace the default xserver-xorg-video-i810 (with broken EDID/DDC) and properly auto-detect at least 1680*1050 DVI TFTs.

This comes with a plethora of (ignored) warnings on install, though (that the next user to try out this driver is asked to post here for everyone to "enjoy"), and somewhat confusingly leaves the original /etc/X11/xorg.conf (still mentioning the removed driver) in place:

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller"
        Driver "i810"
        BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

In other words, the default (including Live CD) configuration is not usable at physical resolution with standard widescreen monitors on integrated Intel graphics, and even now that there is a workaround (alternate driver), this is hard to find for the average user.

[TonyS (tony-unreal)]

I spent half of yesterday wasting time on this problem till I stumbles on teh solution outlined above.

Shouldn't xserver-xorg-video-intel be bumped out as an upgrade? Sure saves a LOT of pain!

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

No, it's not fully functional for every intel chip. It will be fixed for 7.10.

[TEN (launchpad-20-ten)]

Can we expect anyone to at least acknowledge the issue for package xserver-xorg-driver-i810 on Ubuntu 7.04 "Feisty Fawn" - seems to be way beyond "Unconfirmed - Undecided"...

[unggnu (unggnu)]

This problem should be fixed in Gutsy.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Fixed in gutsy