Cannot set correct monitor resolution for Iiyama Vision Master Pro 455 using displayconfig-gtk

[Raptor Ramjet]

I have an Iiyama Vision Master Pro 455 monitor (a.k.a IVM MM904U) which has an optimal display resolution of 1280x1024 @ 85Hz.

However try as I might I cannot get these display settings configured under Gutsy. I have tried many things including autodetection, editing xorg.conf manually to add the settings (which worked under all previous releases of Ubuntu) and using the new displayconfig-gtk "Add" facility to import the settings from the Windows .INF file.

However the best that I can achieve is 1280x1024 @ 75Hz which I can now use after importing the .INF file. Although this is now usable (previously the best I could get was 1280x1024 @ 50 Hz which was horrible !) I am reporting this as the settings are not correct and, as I said, I used to be able to get the correct settings under previous versions of Ubuntu !

[Raptor Ramjet (ramjet)]

Wouldn;t it be nice to be able to add more than one file at once (if you can then apologies but I couldn't see how... and I've not had breakfast yet ;)

[Raptor Ramjet (ramjet)]

As I have been using the same setup for several years I'm afraid I completely forgot to mention something potentially significant.

I have two computers which are both connected to a KVM switch. When I boot them up my Windows (music production) box is connected to the first KVM connection, and my Ubuntu machine is connected to the second connection). When the first machine is powered on the KVM "wakes up" and defaults to using connection 1 and I then manually switch to machine 2 when I wish to use it.

As I said in my original bug report since I manually edited xorg.conf (probably back at about 5.04) X has worked perfectly on this system. It has only been broken since Gutsy.

Following investigations it would appear that when the Ubuntu box is powered up with the focus on KVM connection 2 it starts X using a refresh rate of 76 Hz (instead of 85 Hz) However when it is powered up either with the monitor powered off or with the "KVM focus" on connection 1 (the Windows machine) X is started using a refresh rate of 50hz (which to all intents and purposes makes the monitor unusable - it feels like it's strobing)

After further investigation I have also been able to get a second system not to detect the it's monitor properly by not having the monitor switched on during boot up. In this case its my crappy old 200Mhz machine which is currently attached to a dying 15" monitor. If I start the machine with the monitor connected it gets 800x640@50hz whereas with the monitor attached it gets a more usable 1024x768@75hz. Admittedly though this system is very old and the monitor is on its last legs anyway (vertical hold intermittently gives up) so this might not be a valid test.

Even so this tends to suggest that when X is starting it is probing the monitor and is ignoring the values set up in xorg.conf.

I would suggest this is incorrect behaviour. The X server should use the values in xorg conf and should only attempt to autodetect monitor characteristics either:

1 During initial install or

2 When the user requests it (either via the "Screen Resolution" dialogue, when the "Ctrl+Alt+Backspace" X server "panic" keys have been pressed etc.)

Once xorg.conf is set up properly the X server should respect the values entered in there (especially if they have been hand edited)

Currently getting a 50Hz refresh rate on my monitor has made my Ubuntu desktop unusable so it is now basically only ever powered up once a week (or so) to run Update Manager in the vain hope that this will have been fixed. Having become used to using it on a daily basis this is dissapointing to say the least.

Still, thanks to Samba it at least it makes a good file server :)

[Raptor Ramjet (ramjet)]

My monitor still doesn't work under Hardy (8.04)

It is better in that the monitor is now being driven at 1280x1024@85Hz but the display is off centre. The only way I can correct this is by running xvidtune and clicking the left button 4 times. I have to do this every time I log in which is tedious in the extreme.

The modeline (generated by xvidtune) is as follows:

 ModeLine "1280x1024" 157.50 1280 1368 1528 1728 1024 1025 1028 1072 +hsync +vsync

I have tried adding this to the "Monitor" section in xorg.conf but it seems to be ignored. As I said I now have to manually run xvidtune after every login.

As a secondary issue it is also obvious that, when the box boots, the monitor is being driven at an incorrect resolution as the fonts etc. on the GDM screen are tiny and when the GNOME splash screen is displayed it is rather small and is displayed towards the bottom right hand corner of the monitor.

I therefore guess that the new xorg is using too high a resolution.

Finally when I drive the same monitor from my other machine, which has an identical VGA card but which runs Windows, the picture is perfectly sized and perfectly centred so it is not a matter of altering the monitor controls. When I run a knoppix live CD on my Ubuntu box this also drives the monitor correctly so it is definitely either an Ubuntu or a xorg configuration issue.

After the Hardy upgrade the relevant portions of xorg.conf file are as follows:

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "Configured Monitor"
        # 2008/04/26 - Manually added ModeLine (hsync & vsync lines were also added for reference).
 # hsync range 0: 30.00 - 96.00
 # vsync range 0: 50.00 - 160.00
 ModeLine "1280x1024" 157.50 1280 1368 1528 1728 1024 1025 1028 1072 +hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Monitor "Configured Monitor"
 Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
 Identifier "Default Layout"
 Screen "Default Screen"
EndSection

Ho hum.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Thank you for reporting this bug and for your efforts to make
Ubuntu better. As Xorg has improved this past year, an unfortunate side
effect of these improvements is that it has rendered several design
assumptions in displayconfig-gtk obsolete. So, starting with Hardy we
are no longer putting displayconfig-gtk forth as a primary configuration
tool, and are putting our development focus into the Screen Resolution
applet. As a result, we do not plan to fix this bug and thus are closing
it.

For more background on this change, please see this page:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/DisplayConfigGtk