Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

Dr.U · 2009-09-08 20:20:48

I hope that I have posted this in the correct forum -- but I think that the problem I'm having is related to some new updates.

I keep my Arch system (which runs on my MSI notebook with an NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100 graphics card) very up-to-date. I also have been using it regularly in my classroom presentations: I connect the VGA output to a beamer (projector), and (with both turned on) press the "Fn" key together with another key to send the LCD picture to the beamer.

Until summer vacation (Aug. 1, 2009) I had no problems at all: the beamer and the LCD showed the same screen image (which is 1280x800). It is absolutely crucial that this be the case for the presentations to be of any use! This worked on at least three different models of beamers that the school owns (I forget the different manufacturer names, but that is not relevant since everything WAS working fine).

Now I return from vacation (on Sept. 2, 2009), update my Arch system to the latest packages, go to school and the beamers all show a smaller "cutout" of the desktop that I see displayed on the LCD! I think that they are all showing 1024x768. No matter what I change in the beamer's menu, the result is not the full desktop. So I'm sure that the problem is in my software updates (also: no one had been using the beamers during the vacation, so nothing changed in their settings).

I noticed that my updates included some new xorg-server and other X-related packages. I assume that this is the source of this new and problematic behavior. When I run Window$ Vista (which I ONLY tried out of DESPERATION) the beamer showed my complete desktop! I do NOT want to start my students thinking that I now prefer Window$ or that Linux is "crap"!!! In fact, since starting the use of Arch and making these presentations, several students have decided to start using Linux distros of various sorts!

So does anyone have an idea what I can do to remedy this problem? I read some other postings and then the xrandr man-page and think that it might be possible to try connecting everything and then running

xrandr --fb 1280x800 --output VGA --mode 1280x800 --pos 0x0

but I have not yet tried this and do not want to screw up things so that I cannot use my notebook (if such a disaster is even possible).

But why must I resort to such a step at all? Everything was working fine and now after updating it seems to be screwed up?!?!

Any QUICK help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Regards,

-- Dr.U

Last edited by Dr.U (2009-09-21 15:54:23)

thn81 · 2009-09-08 21:08:56

I don't know what the exact cause of this problem could be, but maybe the update installed a new xorg-server which behaves differently when selecting the screen resolution for the connected devices. The beamer may have a "preferred" resolution of 1024x768, so the x-server selects it. Perhaps the older xserver just ignored this preferred resolution. Anyway, I have installed this program http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=20849 and bound it to the Fn key, so I can select the resolution and position of each connected display device. If this works for you, it would be the quickest solution because tracing and debugging mode selections of the x-server can be a nightmare.

Hope this helps. Bye,
thn81

Dr.U · 2009-09-09 09:50:02

Thanks for the quick reply!

I installed zarfy but nothing has changed. When I run zarfy I see the icon in the upper left corner that is named 'default' and (when the mouse cursor is on it) shows a little pop-up that says 'Click to select' -- but when I click on it nothing happens. This occurs with or without the beamer showing the 'cutout' of my desktop.

When I run xrandr I get this out put:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 240, current 1280 x 800, maximum 1280 x 800
default connected 1280x800+0+0 0mm x 0mm
1280x800    50.0*
1024x768    51.0
800x600      52.0    54.0

etc. down to the last line: 320x240 58.0

Now shouldn't I be seeing something about my VGA output (or whatever it is called) where I have the beamer cable plugged?? Do I now need to add something about this output into my xorg.conf before xrandr will show it??

Thanks for any help,

-- Dr.U

thn81 · 2009-09-09 17:47:46

I just noticed that your notebook has a NVIDIA graphics chip. If you are using the NVIDIA binary xorg driver, then "zarfy" won't work properly because the nvidia driver does not support XRANDR 1.2 as far as I know. XRANDR 1.2 is required for switching outputs. Instead, you can try and use the NVIDIA control panel (nvidia-settings) application.

Dr.U · 2009-09-09 18:58:58

thn81:

Thank you for the tip!! I am using the nvidia proprietary driver, so I will give your suggestion a try tomorrow morning before my next class.

Best regards,

-- Dr.U

Dr.U · 2009-09-10 18:47:11

Hmm ... that was a strange result today! When I arrived at school the only beamer available was one that I had not used for at least 3 months (from BenQ). When I plugged it in and hit the usual key-combination to send the output to the beamer, everything was perfect! The complete desktop from my notebook was also visible in the beamer's projected image!

Now until I can get my hands on one of the other beamers (which will only be possible on Monday of next week) I won't know whether this is a beamer-related problem (which, in any case, did not occur before my updates; that is, the other beamers had also been working perfectly before updating) or whether I perhaps have an intermittent, internal hardware problem.

I'll check the other beamers out next week and report back...

Regards,

-- Dr.U

Dr.U · 2009-09-15 16:30:23

OK, I tried the other beamers (Hitachi and Canon models) and they still do not work properly. However, the BenQ beamer is working perfectly. So this seems to me to be some sort of problem with the interaction of the beamers with my system.

I suppose that they are somehow reporting themselves but that the reports are not being correctly interpreted except in the case of the BenQ beamer. On the other hand, it could also be a problem with the signals sent to the beamers. They have apparently changed somehow and only the BenQ model seems to be capable of correctly understanding them.

Since I have no idea how to solve this, I guess I will start using Window$ again during classroom presentations that are made with the majority of our beamers (and try to always get my hands on the BenQ model so that I can use Arch or Ubuntu -- preferably Arch, of course ).

If anyone has an idea about how I can resolve the problem, then let me know. I am thinking about trying the --scale option with xrandr since the output of the entire Desktop is being sent to the beamers, but they are only showing a "zoomed in" part of it (i.e. by moving the mouse to the left or right side of the projected image, it immediately "pans" the displayed image to show the "missing" parts of the Desktop). If this works then I'll report it for anyone else having this problem -- although it seems that only I am having it...

Regards,

Dr.U

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"I'm so smart I make myself sick." -- unknown

s3kt0r · 2009-09-15 18:36:22

Did you tried nvidia-settings like thn81 suggested? Xinerama could also be involved, why not checking that out.

Dr.U · 2009-09-21 15:52:55

Well, I finally seem to have things more or less worked out. I am using the nvidia-settings (as suggested) to get the complete desktop to appear in the image projected by the beamer (without having to scroll around with the mouse cursor).

As mentioned previously, the BenQ beamer works great without having to do anything, but the Canon and other manufacturer beamers require that I start nvidia-settings and make adjustments there.

Thanks for the time and tips! I'm sure that I would never have thought of the nvidia-settings app (since I didn't even know that it existed)

Regards,

Dr.U

Arch Linux

#1 2009-09-08 20:20:48

Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#2 2009-09-08 21:08:56

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#3 2009-09-09 09:50:02

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#4 2009-09-09 17:47:46

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#5 2009-09-09 18:58:58

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#6 2009-09-10 18:47:11

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#7 2009-09-15 16:30:23

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#8 2009-09-15 18:36:22

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

#9 2009-09-21 15:52:55

Re: Updated Arch and now have beamer problems! [SOLVED]

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