xf86-video-geode: unable to use non-default resolutions with GX2 on XFCE

[Stephen Taylor]

Hi, just installed 8.04 Xubuntu -- running Xfce -- my machine is a DECTOP -- it supports screen resolutions up to 1600x1200 -- I am using a 1280x1024 screen, but the install was not able to discern that higher than 800x600 was available and is using the default in the display preferences and doesnt give me any higher resolutions I can pick. Tried changing xorg.conf -- no luck, also tried menu.lst (ok during boot) switches back to 800x600 when the splash screen comes up.

I had previously installed 6.06 LTS from the ALT disk and it worked just fine at 1280x1024.
[lspci]
00:01.1 VGA compatible controller [0300]: National Semiconductor Corporation Geode GX2 Graphics Processor [100b:0030]
     Subsystem: National Semiconductor Corporation Geode GX2 Graphics Processor [100b:0030]

[Thomas Kluyver (takluyver)]

Hi Stephen

Can you tell us more about your graphics card, drivers (proprietary or free, if you have an ATI or NVidia graphics card), and monitor?

You may also want to try doing 'dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg'--follow through the prompts to give it another shot at detecting your monitor. You'll need to restart to see the effect (technically just restart X, but it's probably easiest to restart entirely).

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

The machine is a DECTOP that uses an AMD geode with integrated graphics. It appears that the xorg.config is not being autoconfigured -- I checked that both xserver-xorg-video-geode and -amd are loaded and that looks ok but the xorg.config doesnt appear to recognize the geode at all and just uses all the generic default settings. Tried the dpkg-recofigure + restart -- didnt do anything.

AMD Geode GX processor
4 USB 1.1 ports (2 front/2 rear)
support printers, Flash memory, disk drives, and network adapters
LAN interface- external 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
Modem - internal 56 Kbps ITU v.92 Fax/Modem
10GB 3.5" internal hard disk (MINE HAS 180GB)
Stereo headphone/microphone jacks
VGA port - supports resolutions up to 1600x1200 at 85 Hz
Sound - AC'97 audio with stereo in/out jacks
Size - 8.5" x 5.5" x 2.5"
Weight - approx. 3 pounds
128MB RAM -- (MINE HAS 500MB)

I tried three different screens: Samsung SyncMaster 150MP, A dell 1707FPf, and a Dell 1702FP -- the samsung works the best but only at 800x600. Both dells dont appear to be recognized either.

Thanks, Steve

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

One more thing... I found a 2.9 version of xserver-xorg-video-geode (the currentversion in the 8.04 release is 2.8) it was supposed to fix an autoconfig issue but that didnt work either.

[Thomas Kluyver (takluyver)]

Hi Steve

I've done a quick search, I think your problem may be the same as in bug 219630. Can you try the xserver-xorg-core from the hardy-proposed repository (should be this one, I think, but probably better to add the repository and tell your package manager to get it: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/x/xorg-server/xserver-xorg-core_1.4.1~git20080131-1ubuntu9.1_i386.deb ).

Hope this helps

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Didnt seem to help... still defaults to 800x600

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

I tied installing the standard ubuntu-hardy with gnome -- same problem....

[Thomas Kluyver (takluyver)]

OK, let's mark this as belonging to the graphics drivers, and hope someone there knows more.

I wouldn't have expected changing to GNOME to help--resolution configuration is to do with X, which sits below both KDE and GNOME.

[Jordan Crouse (jordan-crouse)]

Wait, are you talking about the splash screen, or X itself? You talk about it not finding the -geode driver, yet you also talk about it defaulting to 800x600, which seem to be conflicting problems.

If you are talking about the splash screen running at 800x600, then this is a known problem. Blacklist the lxfb module.

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Actually, I notice that you are using an old Media GX. This chipset is covered by the xserver-xorg-video-cyrix and xserver-xorg-video-nsc driver. However, some PCI ID conflicts might prevent this from working as intended. Please add my PPA to the sources.list in the LTSP chroot, then do a full-upgrade using aptitude, followed by rebuilding your LTSP boot image. Then, let us know how this worked out.

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

To retrace my steps and verify that this indeed solves the Geode issues, some people might find either of the two following methods suitable:

http://q-funk.blogspot.com/2008/06/howto-make-geode-thin-clients-work-on.html

http://q-funk.blogspot.com/2008/06/howto-build-clean-ltsp-boot-image-that.html

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Hi -- gave up on hardy and reinstalld 6.-06 instead.... found that the screen works much better (no black distortions on the top) so its workable but still only 800x600 -- if I can get a soln for 6.06 on the geode then I will try again on hardy when I get some more time... it apperas that the above links have a hardy and gutzy implementation but not a dapper ... also the line

ltsp-build-client --copy-sourceslist --accept-unsigned-packages

gave me command not found.... do I need to install some package to get it??

THanks again....
Steve

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Please try either of the methods show below to upgrade to the latest packages from hardy-proposed:

http://q-funk.blogspot.com/2008/06/howto-build-clean-ltsp-boot-image-that.html

http://q-funk.blogspot.com/2008/06/howto-make-geode-thin-clients-work-on.html

Please let us know whether this resolves the issue.

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Please note that all required package updates have now entered Hardy-updates and are already present in Intrepid. Can you please test them by following the above procedure and confirm whether this fixes the issue you reported?

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Stephen, does the experimental package in my PPA for Hardy resolve the issue for you?

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Sorry, haven’t had time to get back to that... will trying it out this weekend.

-------------------
Professor Stephen Taylor
Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College
2000 Cummings Hall, Hanover, NH 03755-8000
Office: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of Martin-Éric Racine
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 2:25 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 234898] Re: unable to change screen resolution....

Stephen, does the experimental package in my PPA for Hardy resolve the
issue for you?

--
unable to change screen resolution....
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/234898
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of the bug.

Status in “xserver-xorg-video-geode” source package in Ubuntu: New

Bug description:
Hi, just installed 8.04 Xubuntu -- running Xfce -- my machine is a DECTOP -- it supports screen resolutions up to 1600x1200 -- I am using a 1280x1024 screen, but the install was not able to discern that higher than 800x600 was available and is using the default in the display preferences and doesnt give me any higher resolutions I can pick. Tried changing xorg.conf -- no luck, also tried menu.lst (ok during boot) switches back to 800x600 when the splash screen comes up.

I had previously installed 6.06 LTS from the ALT disk and it worked just fine at 1280x1024.

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Hey martin,

Trying again to resolve the geode graphics issues.

I am not using an LTSP client.... I am just trying to get a xubuntu-desktop running.

I did the purge: apt-get --purge remove xserver-xorg-video-amd
I included your repository into my sources.list, did aptitude update, upgrade, clean and autoclean
I saw your respository accessed but noticed that during my reboot that there was a message:

My display is now completely messed up and unusable-- looks like the display and the computer are talking completely different resolutions -- just a bunch of colored lines and dots all over it.

Am I missing something?

Thanks, Steve

-------------------
Professor Stephen Taylor
Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College
2000 Cummings Hall, Hanover, NH 03755-8000
Office: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of Martin-Éric Racine
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 2:25 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 234898] Re: unable to change screen resolution....

Stephen, does the experimental package in my PPA for Hardy resolve the
issue for you?

--
unable to change screen resolution....
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/234898
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of the bug.

Status in “xserver-xorg-video-geode” source package in Ubuntu: New

Bug description:
Hi, just installed 8.04 Xubuntu -- running Xfce -- my machine is a DECTOP -- it supports screen resolutions up to 1600x1200 -- I am using a 1280x1024 screen, but the install was not able to discern that higher than 800x600 was available and is using the default in the display preferences and doesnt give me any higher resolutions I can pick. Tried changing xorg.conf -- no luck, also tried menu.lst (ok during boot) switches back to 800x600 when the splash screen comes up.

I had previously installed 6.06 LTS from the ALT disk and it worked just fine at 1280x1024.

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Hi -- some more info.... while watching a reboot I saw the following errors:

 gxfb 0000:00:01.1: failed to map frame buffer or controller registers
 gxfb: probe of 0000:00:01.1 failed with error -16

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Could the people affected by this bug please upgrade to Hardy and try the GEODE package that is in hardy-proposed (2.9.0-1ubuntu2.5). Alternately, the bug should also be fixed on Intrepid.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Hi stephen-taylor-comcast,

Please attach the output of `lspci -vvnn`, and attach your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file from after reproducing this issue. If you've made any customizations to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf please attach that as well.

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Hi -- I tried installing the intrepid release from CD but wasnt able to because it cant detect my hard drive -- I ended up reporting this separately at https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/291757

However, what I was able to do is install 6.06 Alternate Server, then upgrade to Hardy, then upgrade to intrepid. At this point I was able to boot and log in. Then I installed intrepid, and during a reboot, the screen goes black and I get nothing. Tried all different vga settings 771/791 etc... nothing works.... also tried to install xfce and xdm -- still nothing works. I attach the log files for you. THANKS!!!!

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Here is the other file you asked for....

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

One more thing, I did not make any changes to /etc/X11/xorg.conf -- what is installed is exactly what you get when you install the system.

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Stephen, does the bug still apply to Hardy and Intrepid releases?

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Yes it does.

Here is some more info for you....

I still get the following message during boot:

"xfb: 0000:00:01:1 failed to map frame buffer or controller registers"

If I install Intrepid server, then just my normal minimal working
system... xorg, xdm, xfce4 -- with all the latest patches -- it crashes
X and I posted all the files --- this happens on both Hardy and Intrepid.

I recently installed xubuntu-desktop and was able to get the desktop
working on Intrepid, using a 1280x1024@60hz screen resolution (the
default). X crashes about 4 or 5 times, then I get a message the says
"Ubuntu is running in low-graphics mode" <OK>
Clicking OK I get another message that asks me to choose low
graphics/reconfigure/troubleshoot -- choosing low graphics it restarts
the display again and this time manages to bring up xfce4. (Then I
spent a day removing everything get back to xorg/xfce4 but have to use
gnome -- never got xdm to work.

I use these systems so that students can install LINUX / play around and
not have to worry about screwing up -- so it would be nice to iron out
these issues in the standard release. Thanks!

Professor Stephen Taylor
Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College
2000 Cummings Hall, Hanover, NH 03755-8000
Office: [phone]
Cell: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Martin-Éric Racine wrote:
> Stephen, does the bug still apply to Hardy and Intrepid releases?
>

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Stephen, can you try logging in with GNOME, instead of XFCE4, and see if it crashes the same way?

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Looking at the X.org log, it appears that your display is correctly probed. However, the driver fails at matching its available modes with any of those supported by your display.

Did we understand correctly that the driver works as expected under Hardy (8.04) and that it only fails if you upgrade to Intrepid (8.10)?

If that's the case, it might point to an issue involving the X server core upgrade from 1.4 to 1.5 - which would need to be inestigated separately.

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

One comment recently added by Warren Togami of Red Hat on the X.org wiki states that:

GX2: AccelMethod "XAA" is needed in the Device section of xorg.conf

Can you check if this solves your issue?

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Please try the test package xserver-xorg-video-geode_2.11.3~git20090818-1_i386.deb (or newer) as found in my PPA at https://launchpad.net/~q-funk/+archive/ppa and let us know if this fixes the issue or not.

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

I have uploaded version 2.11.3-2 in Karmic a couple of days ago. Can you please try and see if this fixes it?

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Please try the latest package from my personal PPA:

https://launchpad.net/~q-funk/+archive/ppa

Does it resolve the issue?

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

Hi Racine,
I will not be back at work and able to do this till late sept. and
reading email very infrequently over the summer.
Steve

On Aug 31, 2009, at 4:51 PM, Martin-Éric Racine wrote:

> Please try the latest package from my personal PPA:
>
> https://launchpad.net/~q-funk/+archive/ppa
>
> Does it resolve the issue?
>
> --
> xf86-video-geode: unable to use non-default resolutions with GX2 on
> XFCE
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/234898
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “xserver-xorg-video-geode” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> Hi, just installed 8.04 Xubuntu -- running Xfce -- my machine is a
> DECTOP -- it supports screen resolutions up to 1600x1200 -- I am
> using a 1280x1024 screen, but the install was not able to discern
> that higher than 800x600 was available and is using the default in
> the display preferences and doesnt give me any higher resolutions I
> can pick. Tried changing xorg.conf -- no luck, also tried menu.lst
> (ok during boot) switches back to 800x600 when the splash screen
> comes up.
>
> I had previously installed 6.06 LTS from the ALT disk and it worked
> just fine at 1280x1024.
> [lspci]
> 00:01.1 VGA compatible controller [0300]: National Semiconductor
> Corporation Geode GX2 Graphics Processor [100b:0030]
> Subsystem: National Semiconductor Corporation Geode GX2 Graphics
> Processor [100b:0030]
>
>

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Stéphane Graber reports in bug #270912 that Geode 2.11.4.1 (currently in my PPA) resolves this issue for him.

FYI, maximum resolutions supported by the GX2 "Red Cloud" Geode are:

CRT: 1600x1200
TFT: 1280x1024

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Fixes for GX2 support probably need to be backported to Jaunty and Intrepid, maybe even Hardy. However, I have no GX2 hardware to test with (I only have GX1 and LX hardware on hand), so I'm unable to verify which Ubuntu releases need this fix backported.

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Stephen, have you been able to verify whether what's in Karmic or in my PPA restores operation on your DECTOP?

[Stephen Taylor (stephen-taylor-comcast)]

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!
I finally (very sorry it took this long) managed to get back to this and re-install Xubuntu 9.10 --- it worked beautifully right out of the box and is able to use my 1260x1024 throughout the boot as well as after the install. This is really beautiful!!
Thanks very much for fixing it.
Regards, Steve

[Martin-Éric Racine (q-funk)]

Thank you for confirming that newer Ubuntu releases fixed this issue.