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Hello all!
I am facing a problem with my graphics card. It all started when I decided I would like to watch my dvds on my tv screen. I have an nvidia graphics card.
$lspci
.....
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] (rev a1)
$
I am using fedora core 2 with kernel 2.6.5-1.358. I installed the drivers for linux from the official site of nvidia, namely the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6111-pkg1.run. Everything went well on the installation. I edited my xorg.conf file. If I nsert the following lines on the screen section
#Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
#Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"
#Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
then when the box boots up everything is shown on my tv and not on my screen. What I would really like to do is configure the file so that I can have everything on both my display and the tv. I read about the nview. But do I have it? How do I check if I do? And if I do, how do I make the configuration so that I get what I want?
Besides thi, which is my major question I noticed something else. When I run the nvidia-settings program I see that the display device is A CTR-0. When I run the system-config-display program I see that the Monitor is L1711S Which is actually my monitor. I believe that the flat monitors are called LCD. So why this disagreement?
thanx to anyone that replies in advance
axelmang
PS I give my xorg.conf file, just in case I havent given you enough details
# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "single head configuration"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "Files"
# RgbPath is the location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
#Load "dri"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
# Option "Xleds" "1 2 3"
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
# Option "XkbDisable"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
# Option "XkbModel" "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
# Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# or:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
# Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps"
# Or if you just want both to be control, use:
# Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps"
#
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us,el"
Option "XkbOptions" "grp:ctrl_shift_toggle"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "L1711S"
DisplaySize 340 270
HorizSync 30.0 - 83.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
#Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
#Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"
#Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Group 0
Mode 0666
EndSection
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You're looking for TwinView, not nview... check here:
ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux … 336/README
and go to the section titled:"(app-i) APPENDIX I: CONFIGURING TWINVIEW"
This has an explaination of configuring TV-Out along side a monitor
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hey, Thanx for the reply. I've already read that. The question is do I nead anything else besides the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6111-pkg1.run? Is the twinview on my box and all I need is to configure the xorg.conf file?
axelmangr
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yes that is correct - twinview is part of the nvidia driver (well, and the card too, assuming it has dual outputs). As long as you can output to more than one device, the driver can use twinview.
All you have to do is configure the Device section in xorg.conf using the NVIDIA options. I've never tried it, but you really just have to specify multiple monitors and you can even specify TV out type (NTSC/PAL/whatever they're called)
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Something is not right. If I only output to my tv screen then the tv shows ok. Here is the section in my xorg.conf file
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Option "TwinView" "true"
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "CLONE"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV" EndSection
So if I use the above then only my tv shows output and in the correct position and shape.
But when I try to use my computer screen it down'd work so good. First let me give you the section of the xorg.conf and then explain
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Option "TwinView" "true"
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "CLONE"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "crt,TV"
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1152x864 @1280x960" EndSection
In the metamodes section regarding the second output if I use 1024x768 so
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1024x768"
then I get on the tv a clone of my computer screen but the image is "bigger" that the actual screen of the tv so I can only see 3/5 on the tv screen (I hope I was understandable)
If I use
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1152x864"
then nothing is displayed on the tv.
And If I use
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1024x768 @1280x960
then it is exactly as if I used 1024x768 for the tv.
I've used millions of combinations but nothing seems to make it work fine. Any hints?
Thanx
axelmangr
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I don't have TV out, so I don't know this exactly, but try outputting 800x600 to the TV - I thought TV output was only at 800x600.... I may be wrong
i found this:
Understanding Resolutions
You must understand that a computer monitor is capable of displaying a higher resolution than your standard TV. The NTSC standard calls for 525 scan lines which only 483 are active. The PAL standard has a slightly higher resolution at a lower refresh rate. Whether it is a NTSC or PAL they can barely display the lowest resolution your PC supports which is 640 x 480.
There are substantial limitations that are on TV output modes of your video card. It used to be that enabling TV output forced your desktop into a 640 x 480 at a fixed refresh rate. This is the first tradeoff you must make with your TV output, desktop resolution and refresh rate degradation. Most card manufacturers have made the tradeoffs less noticeable the methods that they use vary, so this is one of the first things you'll want to consider.
Unlike your desktop, higher resolution (800 x 600 vs. 640 x 480) displayed on your TV won't necessarily yield a more detailed picture. This is due entirely to the scan line or resolution limitations of both the NTSC/PAL standards. Going for a TV output feature on a video card simply because it supports a higher resolution won't produce a better picture. So 640 x 480 is fine for your desktop and even games but playing back DivX or DVD movies using software decoding may hurt the 640 x 480 limitation.
The manner in which a TV puts a picture on the screen is not all that dissimilar from how a monitor does the same, unfortunately there is a dividing line that provides manufacturers with another gap to bridge, flicker. In the earlier days of TV output, obtaining a flicker free picture was not the easiest thing to accomplish, since then manufacturers have included workarounds for maintaining a fairly flicker free image on your TV, however the quality of these methods varies as well, this is the second factor you'll want to consider when exploring TV output solutions on various graphics cards.
The clarity of text on your TV screen from a TV output on a video card is generally far from legible relative to what you see on your monitor. There are some manufacturers that have attempted to rectify this situation by offering software tweaks that supposedly increase the "sharpness" of displayed text, however the final decision is for your eyes only, making this the third factor to consider.
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Better late than never
About cloning to different resolutions: it's normal that tv screen will be only a "visible" window to larger virtual one that is a clone of crt (that should be quite logical since it's a clone, right?).
So, you can't really have two different resolutions in tweenview mode (at least they are not useful). I suggest to not use it at all :-).
Insead try to configure x using it's standard settings like this:
(it's from my config - I've cut part of the non-vidia settings to make it shorter):
Section "Module"
[cut - insert yours here]
EndSection
Section "Files"
[cut - insert yours here]
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
Option "DefaultServerLayout" "MonitorTV"
Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "true"
Option "BlankTime" "0" # I don't like it
Option "NoPM" "true" # I don't like it too :-)
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "LogitechCordlessDesktopMX"
[cut - insert yours here]
EndSection
Section "InputDevice" # PS/2 connector
Identifier "LogitechMX700" # 7 buttons enabled
[cut - insert yours here]
EndSection
# Now important things
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Philips109MP"
HorizSync 30-107
VertRefresh 50-160
# this is just for better font rendering - same setting in /etc/fonts/local.conf
DisplaySize 365 273 # 111dpi x 111dpi at 1600x1200
# DisplaySize 367 273 # measured manually (1in = 25.4mm)
# DisplaySize 340 260 # detected
# DisplaySize 369 295 # 88dpi x 88dpi at 1280x1024
# DisplaySize 342 273 # 95dpi x 95dpi at 1280x1024
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "SonyTv29"
HorizSync 30-50
VertRefresh 60
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "NvidiaGeForce4MX440"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
Screen 0
BusID "PCI:01:00:0" # This is something very important - find your nvidia bus id settings with lspci
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "NvidiaGeForce4MX440TvOut"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
Screen 1
BusID "PCI:01:00:0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "MonitorPhilips"
Device "NvidiaGeForce4MX440"
Monitor "Philips109MP"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "TvSony"
Device "NvidiaGeForce4MX440TvOut"
Monitor "SonyTv29"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "MonitorTV"
Screen 0 "MonitorPhilips"
Screen 1 "TvSony" LeftOf "MonitorPhilips"
InputDevice "LogitechMX700" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "LogitechCordlessDesktopMX" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
It should be pretty selfexplanatory. Why these settings are better than tweenview? Because they give you two separate screens with two "desktops" and two fullscreen but different resolutions. First screen (you can check with echo $DISPLAY) is :0.0 (crt - monitor philips in my case) and second is :0.1 (the tv). This also means that you can have different window/desktop managers on each screen (isn't that great?).
The rest depends on your window/desktop manager settings because some of them (with default settings) can use both screens (like kde, fvwm, windowmaker) and some (like xfce4) use only first one (:0.0 - the crt) leaving a second as a standard grey x window. So it's up to you how you want it. Everything should be possible. Personally I leave tv screen grey and use xfce4 (currently) on the crt. You don't need wm to start programs on the tv screen also. Check for your favourite program settings (manual) is should be possible to set display parameter like with mplayer/gmplayer it's:
gmplayer -display :0.1 -fs
or (IIRC)
DISPLAY=":0.1" gmplayer -fs
(this should work too).
It will start gmplayer on the tv in fullscreen mode. If you set it a nice theme (my favourite is OSX - Brushed) you don't need anything else. The bonus effect is that you can use your crt normally while you watch movies and gmplayer "open file" dialog will be opened on crt making it much easier to read and use. You can also set a nice wallpaper using some program like Esetroot or hsetroot etc.
I wrote this in a little hurry so sorry for the style :-)
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First of all thanx for all your help. I really apprciate it!. I modified the xorg.conf as you suggested and the thing "kind of" worked. I had a few minor problems which I think are easy to solve.
The first thing is that the output on my tv was not coloured but black and white. The first thought that came to my mind was that either the tv was not capable to receive colour input fro the tv or the cable was bad. But non of the above is true because previously, when I was cloning the image of the computer screen to the tv then I was able to see colour. So something is wrong with thesettings I did. So this is the first thing tha I need help with.
The second thing is that my session was not restored. When I turn on my computer I have a lot of thing running (3 terminals, 1 xterm, gkrellm, xmms etc) This didn't happen. I suppose that now that there are 2 X servers it doesn't know in which it should start the apps that were running. But this is just my stupid newbie suggestion. I hould really appreciate any help in this matter too.
Thirdly and lastly when I disconnect the cable that connects the computer to the tv X cannot start on the computer. A solution to that? Because I cannot always have the cable plugged in. I would like to connect it whenever I want to see a movie. And if the cable is not found then my computer should start normally. Am I talking science fiction here? Is this possible?
Anyway, these are my three questions and I would really appreciate any help!
Thanx again in advance
axelmangr
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The problem is I don't have these problems :-) But let's try...
B&W output: I guess this may be related to PAL type. Try to add
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
to NvidiaGeForce4MX440TvOut section.
I don't know what you are using for session management and how do you start your x so I'm not sure how can I help you with this.
Check for errors in your x log in /var/log. That should help diagnosing your problem with x starting without tv cable plugged in. One solution could be to have multiple serverlayout one for x with a tv and one without. You can choose preffered layout during x startup (check man startx) - but this also depends on your session management.
You can also find a lot of solutions on nvidia linux forums http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/forumdi … forumid=14
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I can't really tell you how much I appreciate your help. I added the two lines you said in the appropriate section and everything workd fine
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
I don't know what you are using for session management and how do you start your x
I don't know either. Excuse my ignorance but I am a bit newbie. How can I find that out?
One solution could be to have multiple serverlayout one for x with a tv and one without. You can choose preffered layout during x startup (check man startx) - but this also depends on your session management.
I think that althought this is a very god idea I won't use it. It starts getting too compliacated for me. Since the normal will be to start without the tv cable, and I will only connect it when I want to watch a movie, I figured that it is much simpler to switch xorg.conf files every time I want to watch a movie.
You can also find a lot of solutions on nvidia linux forums http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/forumdi … forumid=14
Well, Ive already asked there but it's been more than a week now and noone has replied to me. I've checked out the forum and I noticed a lot of complaints for not replying. I don't know...
Anyway I have a small question thought. When I sturt with the cable connected, and a cd is on the drive then konqueror starts displaying it's contents on the tv and not on the computer. Why is that?
thanx again for your help. I really appreciate it
axelmangr
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I don't know what you are using for session management and how do you start your x
I don't know either. Excuse my ignorance but I am a bit newbie. How can I find that out?
Ok. It looks like you are using kde. How do you log in to your system: you log while x is up or you are logging in from text mode and then you start x somehow?
In the first case you are probably using kdm as session and login manager. Your problem with konqueror showing contents of a cd on the tv instead of crt may be connected with session management too. Konqueror for some reason starts on the last display (:0.1) not the first one (:0.0). I'm not expert about kde so I'm not sure why this happens.
If you used my config from above you probably have two kdes one on the tv and one on crt right ? Since the one on the tv is not very useful and takes system resources I would turn it off (you don't need it really as I mentioned above).
And about layout vs switching x configs: the layouts are there to make it easier to switch configs for you without the need for separate files. You should be able to just copy server layout section, rename its id and change for crt without tv. The rest depends on the settings above so I can't give you a complete answer. Using different layouts are described for example in startx manual but I don't know much about using it with gdm/kde.
You'll do what you want or what you can do but reading more about configuring xorg.conf and kde/gdm should pay off soon. Start with these docs:
http://freedesktop.org/~xorg/X11R6.8.0/ … onf.5.html (for server layout)
http://docs.kde.org/en/3.3/kdebase/kdm/
http://docs.kde.org/en/3.2/kdebase/kdm/ … g-sessions (for session and display setup in kde)
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It looks like you are using kde.
Yes I am using kde. I don't know why but I prefer it from gnome
How do you log in to your system: you log while x is up or you are logging in from text mode and then you start x somehow?
I guess that the answer would be the first. When I choose from grub to boot on linux then services are started and X also starts, so I log in while x is already running. I don't log in to text mode and then use strtkde or startx. So I use the kdm. I didn't understand earlier because I thought that there were more managers like kdm and I asked you how do I know if its kdm or anotherone. Anyway, this is solved now, I got you. ..
If you used my config from above you probably have two kdes one on the tv and one on crt right ? Since the one on the tv is not very useful and takes system resources I would turn it off (you don't need it really as I mentioned above).
I am not sure I got you here. To start with I did use your xorg.config file. What do you mean that there are two kdes? And if I don't need the second one (I suppose the one for the tv) how do I turn it off? (We are talking about the case where both tv and monitor are used. So my newbie question comes again: If I turn off the kde for the tv how will I watch my movie there?
And about layout vs switching x configs: the layouts are there to make it easier to switch configs for you without the need for separate files. You should be able to just copy server layout section, rename its id and change for crt without tv.
So you mean in the xorg.conf file have something like the following:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "MonitorTv"
Screen 0 "MonitorLG"
Screen 1 "GrTv"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Monitor"
Screen 0 "MonitorLG"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
And now when I boot how do I start one layout or the other? I suppose that I should log in in text mode and then use something like :
$startkde -layout myChosenLaout
But since now it starts automatically how do I change that, so I og in in text mode?
http://freedesktop.org/~xorg/X11R6.8.0/ … onf.5.html (for server layout)
http://docs.kde.org/en/3.3/kdebase/kdm/
http://docs.kde.org/en/3.2/kdebase/kdm/ … g-sessions (for session and display setup in kde)
Thanx I 'll start reading as soon as possible. Meanwhile I am anxious to hear from you.
thanx
axelmangr
PS I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help....
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lanrat always pulls through - if this were a horse race, lanrat would get my bet.... 8)
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lanrat always pulls through - if this were a horse race, lanrat would get my bet.... 8)
TNX (sometimes I do feel like I'm in some crazy rat race :-))
@axelmangr
Two kdes - this means that the one on the tv is not a clone of the one on your crt. You can use them independently. To turn off the one on the tv you have to modify kdm session management - I'm 99.9% sure it's mentioned in kdm docs - you have to change something in some file but I used kdm/kde long time ago and I don't remember :-) I'm sure you will find it in the docs.
How to watch a movie on a tv screen without window manager? It's easy I already described it above (-display parameter or $DISPLAY variable). It should work for most if not all programs. I use this method for mplayer/gmplayer.
About switching layouts. Yes you get the idea. I'm not sure if startkde and kdm supports this syntax but there should be some way to set it up like this. Again - it must be described somewhere in the docs.
I don't know if it's possible to do it all just by changing something with gui wizards. I think you really should read carefully at least kdm docs to understand how it works and how it manages kde sessions. Unfortunatelly I don't have time to help you more now (I've got some urgent job to do) but let me know how the things are going.
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I can't thank you enough....
I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I finish reading and start mixing
trhanx again
axelmangr
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Thanks for this thread, I now can do what I've been trying for a few weeks without success until now, DFP and TV simultaneously.
Now all I have to figure is how to get Gnome Display Manager to see the DFP as the main display. Oh well, maybe Nvidia will get some decent nView support in the next driver release. Ultimately it would be great to configure devices to use Virtual screens within Xorg. Oneday.
Thanks again and are there any tips to get full edge of screen output on the TV?
Leave ones footprint not in the physical world but the in the world of the mind.
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It seems everything has already worked out fine for everyone, but I just felt I should mention nv-tv... quite nifty little app that with a keypress will switch the output to the TV and with another switch it back to the CRT. Changes resolution and everything without having to edit a line in X.
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