xrandr can't open display

v43 · 2012-05-10 08:58:53

I've got a Eeepc 1101HA, with a screen resolution of 1366x768 (16:9).
but xrandr was set by default to 1024x768.

Playing with cvt I realized that the 1366x768 resolution is non standard.
So I tried to add a mode for the 1280x768 resolution the xrandr list. It refused to apply it, saying that the screen can't manage higher orizontal resolution than 1024px.

After rebooting the console was set to the right resolution (it looks like 1366x768, IDK how that's possible), but I had a different problem:
- launching xrandr returns: "Can't open display"
so it looks like there's no default display. but how can I set one? xrandr won't do anything at all
- launching X the image on display flickers and become distorted. it's like it's interlaced, and the rows are shifted with 3 different offsets (like there are 3 copies of the same image one over the other) and the lower half of the screen is black. In short, it's unusable.

So how can I restore xrandr to it's default settings, restore the default display, and then set everything to the proper resolution for my screen?

PS: my xorg.conf is empty.

Last edited by v43 (2012-05-10 14:33:14)

Gusar · 2012-05-10 09:07:13

Sounds to me like you haven't installed the proper X driver.

v43 · 2012-05-10 09:10:38

I installed the xf86-video-intel driver. Should be right. I even reinstalled it trying to solve these issues

illusionist · 2012-05-10 09:32:25

are you running X while doing xrandr ?
as far as i know xrandr only works while you are in X
try reinstalling xorg

Last edited by illusionist (2012-05-10 09:34:24)

v43 · 2012-05-10 10:20:06

i didn't know that.. i've been running it from the console, as i couldn't see a thing in my X enviromen

what part of the xorg group should I reinstall?

illusionist · 2012-05-10 10:27:40

#pacman -Rns xorg-server xorg-xinit

this may help you, then reinstall display driver and startx

karol · 2012-05-10 11:40:06

I think you have a notebook with the infamous Poulsbo.

Gusar · 2012-05-10 11:58:31

karol wrote:

I think you have a notebook with the infamous Poulsbo.

AAAAAAaa, you're right!

v43, you're screwed. Totally and royally screwed ! The easiest method is using the kernel gma500_gfx module and then xf86-video-fbdev or xf86-video-modesetting. Other methods that may or may give you some sort of acceleration require lots of chanting and sacrificing your first-born and the planets to align properly . And downgrading X.

Last edited by Gusar (2012-05-10 12:04:02)

v43 · 2012-05-10 14:30:44

oh... how fortunate! =/

Thank you very much guys.
The kernel module gma500_gfx and the xf86-video-fbdev drivers (with the 915resolution-static utility from AUR) fixed the problems with X.
I'm aware the performances will be scarce, but at least it's working.
Hopefully I'll get the backlight control to work too.

EDIT:
i spoke too early:

. quitting X (logging off)
. playing a video on youtube

causes the "interlaced" effect to occur again.
other encoded videos (like xvid, h264 etc) are not rendered (vlc shows a black screen while the audio plays)
it's no good..
but shouldn't this kernel module provide 2d acceleration?

Last edited by v43 (2012-05-10 14:43:00)

Gusar · 2012-05-10 14:53:39

No, the kernel module provides modesetting, and that's it. I suggest you use xf86-video-modesetting (it's in AUR) instead of xf86-video-fbdev. And video players must be configured to use X11 output, the usual XV and GL outputs won't work.

No idea in what way you're using 915resolution-static, because that one is made for proper intel graphics, not poulsbo. And modesetting makes it obsolete anyway, so it shouldn't be used even on proper intel.

v43 · 2012-05-10 15:08:30

ok..
i've uninstalled xf86-video-fbdev, v86d and 915resolution-static. restored the configuration files i changed as before, installed xf86-video-modesetting-git.
it's not working, same problems as the intel driver.

is there any documentation for this driver? something i should do to make it work?

Gusar · 2012-05-10 15:29:44

Post /var/log/Xorg.0.log. Thoguh I'm thinking you have some configuration files somewhere that you should not have. All you should have is xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf and xorg.conf.d/10-quirks.conf, and possibly xorg.conf.d/10-synaptics.conf

Last edited by Gusar (2012-05-10 15:50:00)

v43 · 2012-05-10 16:14:00

i cant post that log here, it's way too big and i don't know which parts you're interested in. i uploaded it here: http://www.zshare.ma/9lmviic1fr7l
anyway, it looks like X is using the VESA driver. is that good?

i've nothing more than those 3 conf files in that folder

Last edited by v43 (2012-05-10 16:15:41)

Gusar · 2012-05-10 17:23:30

You can very well post logs directly here, just use code tags. But otherwise, at least use pastebin, it's much better than using a file-sharing service.
Anyway, looking at the log I realized I made a common mistake - forgot to tell you to remove xf86-video-vesa and have *only* xf86-video-modesetting installed. Vesa clutters up the log with idk what, so it's not possible to get useful info out of it.

There's something else I forgot too: only vesa and fbdev get loaded automatically. So to use modesetting, create an /etc/X11/xorg.conf with this:

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "poulsbo crap"
    Driver      "modesetting"
EndSection

If that won't work, post /var/log/Xorg.0.log again, also lspci -nn

v43 · 2012-05-10 18:28:28

[    51.171] 
X.Org X Server 1.12.1
Release Date: 2012-04-13
[    51.172] X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
[    51.172] Build Operating System: Linux 3.3.1-1-ARCH i686 
[    51.173] Current Operating System: Linux eeeArch 3.3.5-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Tue May 8 05:10:33 UTC 2012 i686
[    51.175] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=6c65462f-56c7-481a-8bea-7b19f51de931 ro i915.modset=1 resume=/dev/sda5 quiet
[    51.177] Build Date: 14 April 2012  07:32:51AM
[    51.177]  
[    51.177] Current version of pixman: 0.24.4
[    51.178] 	Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
	to make sure that you have the latest version.
[    51.178] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
	(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
	(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[    51.181] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Thu May 10 22:14:08 2012
[    51.182] (==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
[    51.182] (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[    51.183] (==) No Layout section.  Using the first Screen section.
[    51.183] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.
[    51.183] (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen Section" (0)
[    51.183] (**) |   |-->Monitor "<default monitor>"
[    51.184] (==) No device specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
	Using the first device section listed.
[    51.184] (**) |   |-->Device "poulsbo de merda"
[    51.184] (==) No monitor specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
	Using a default monitor configuration.
[    51.184] (==) Automatically adding devices
[    51.184] (==) Automatically enabling devices
[    51.184] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/" does not exist.
[    51.184] 	Entry deleted from font path.
[    51.184] (==) FontPath set to:
	/usr/share/fonts/misc/,
	/usr/share/fonts/TTF/,
	/usr/share/fonts/Type1/,
	/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/,
	/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/
[    51.184] (==) ModulePath set to "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
[    51.184] (II) The server relies on udev to provide the list of input devices.
	If no devices become available, reconfigure udev or disable AutoAddDevices.
[    51.184] (II) Loader magic: 0x82215a0
[    51.184] (II) Module ABI versions:
[    51.184] 	X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
[    51.184] 	X.Org Video Driver: 12.0
[    51.184] 	X.Org XInput driver : 16.0
[    51.184] 	X.Org Server Extension : 6.0
[    51.186] (--) PCI:*(0:0:2:0) 8086:8108:1043:83ce rev 7, Mem @ 0xf3f80000/524288, 0xd0000000/268435456, 0xf3f40000/262144, I/O @ 0x0000c880/8
[    51.186] (WW) Open ACPI failed (/var/run/acpid.socket) (No such file or directory)
[    51.186] (II) LoadModule: "extmod"
[    51.187] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libextmod.so
[    51.188] (II) Module extmod: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    51.188] 	compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 1.0.0
[    51.188] 	Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    51.188] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    51.188] (II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[    51.188] (II) Loading extension XFree86-VidModeExtension
[    51.188] (II) Loading extension XFree86-DGA
[    51.188] (II) Loading extension DPMS
[    51.188] (II) Loading extension XVideo
[    51.188] (II) Loading extension XVideo-MotionCompensation
[    51.188] (II) Loading extension X-Resource
[    51.188] (II) LoadModule: "dbe"
[    51.188] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdbe.so
[    51.188] (II) Module dbe: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    51.189] 	compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 1.0.0
[    51.189] 	Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    51.189] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    51.189] (II) Loading extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
[    51.189] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[    51.189] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
[    51.189] (II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    51.189] 	compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 1.0.0
[    51.189] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    51.189] (==) AIGLX enabled
[    51.190] (II) Loading extension GLX
[    51.190] (II) LoadModule: "record"
[    51.190] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/librecord.so
[    51.190] (II) Module record: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    51.190] 	compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 1.13.0
[    51.190] 	Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    51.190] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    51.190] (II) Loading extension RECORD
[    51.190] (II) LoadModule: "dri"
[    51.191] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so
[    51.191] (II) Module dri: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    51.191] 	compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 1.0.0
[    51.191] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    51.191] (II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
[    51.191] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
[    51.192] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri2.so
[    51.192] (II) Module dri2: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    51.192] 	compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 1.2.0
[    51.192] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    51.192] (II) Loading extension DRI2
[    51.192] (II) LoadModule: "modesetting"
[    51.193] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/modesetting_drv.so
[    51.193] (II) Module modesetting: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    51.193] 	compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 0.3.0
[    51.193] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    51.193] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 12.0
[    51.193] (II) modesetting: Driver for Modesetting Kernel Drivers: kms
[    51.193] (--) using VT number 7

[    51.258] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
[    51.259] (II) UnloadModule: "modesetting"
[    51.259] (EE) Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.
[    51.259] 
Fatal server error:
[    51.259] no screens found
[    51.259] 
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
	 at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
[    51.259] Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[    51.259] 
[    51.421] Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

looks like the modesetting stuff is loaded properly, but:
Screen(s) found, but none have a usable configuration.

wait a moment for lspci.. since i cant run X i must save the output to file and read it in windows.
EDIT

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) [8086:8100] (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) Graphics Controller [8086:8108] (rev 07)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) HD Audio Controller [8086:811b] (rev 07)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:8110] (rev 07)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:8112] (rev 07)
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) USB UHCI #1 [8086:8114] (rev 07)
00:1d.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) USB UHCI #2 [8086:8115] (rev 07)
00:1d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) USB UHCI #3 [8086:8116] (rev 07)
00:1d.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) USB EHCI #1 [8086:8117] (rev 07)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) LPC Bridge [8086:8119] (rev 07)
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation System Controller Hub (SCH Poulsbo) IDE Controller [8086:811a] (rev 07)
01:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:002b] (rev 01)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8132 Fast Ethernet [1969:1062] (rev c0)

it's poulsbo alright

Last edited by v43 (2012-05-10 18:36:30)

Gusar · 2012-05-10 19:19:52

Hmm, it should've worked. Try this:

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "poulsbo crap"
    Driver      "modesetting"
    BusID      "PCI:00:02:0"
EndSection

If that won't work, remove xf86-video-modesetting and install xf86-video-fbdev. But it should work with modesetting too.

v43 · 2012-05-10 19:55:41

same error (no screens found). i googled but couldn't find a solution.

what's the advantage of modesetting over fbdev?

Gusar · 2012-05-10 20:39:38

Are you saying not even fbdev works now?

The advantage of modesetting over fbdev is exactly what the name says - modesetting. fbdev starts X at the resolution the framebuffer is currently at, and that's it. modesetting supports xrandr 1.2, which means resolution switching, including multi-monitor.

v43 · 2012-05-10 21:00:33

thanks for explaining to me..
then I guess I'll switch back to fbdev. hopefully I'll manage to resolve those problems concerning youtube videos and logging off..

EDIT:
good news. fbdev works fine without 915resolution, which was the culprit of all the issues I mentioned before.
bad news: the screen turns black for half a second, every time a video plays and in other occasions, seemingly at random.
performances are so bad it can't even play a video fullscreen.
mouse cursor disappears as it moves (refresh of the cursor is too slow).

Last edited by v43 (2012-05-10 21:40:03)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-05-10 08:58:53

xrandr can't open display

#2 2012-05-10 09:07:13

Re: xrandr can't open display

#3 2012-05-10 09:10:38

Re: xrandr can't open display

#4 2012-05-10 09:32:25

Re: xrandr can't open display

#5 2012-05-10 10:20:06

Re: xrandr can't open display

#6 2012-05-10 10:27:40

Re: xrandr can't open display

#7 2012-05-10 11:40:06

Re: xrandr can't open display

#8 2012-05-10 11:58:31

Re: xrandr can't open display

#9 2012-05-10 14:30:44

Re: xrandr can't open display

#10 2012-05-10 14:53:39

Re: xrandr can't open display

#11 2012-05-10 15:08:30

Re: xrandr can't open display

#12 2012-05-10 15:29:44

Re: xrandr can't open display

#13 2012-05-10 16:14:00

Re: xrandr can't open display

#14 2012-05-10 17:23:30

Re: xrandr can't open display

#15 2012-05-10 18:28:28

Re: xrandr can't open display

#16 2012-05-10 19:19:52

Re: xrandr can't open display

#17 2012-05-10 19:55:41

Re: xrandr can't open display

#18 2012-05-10 20:39:38

Re: xrandr can't open display

#19 2012-05-10 21:00:33

Re: xrandr can't open display

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