Arch Linux

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

[SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

Hi!

I've had this problem for some time now. First I'll try to describe what happens when I boot

- machine boots ...
- grub shows up, and ArchLinux boots with this kernel line:
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/74978fdb-b0b8-40ad-8658-b1da5fd03732 ro i915.modeset=1 quiet
- arch boots with Intel Graphics KMS enabled like normal, the resolution of the letters is like normal, but the "screen area" is reduced to some small area (80x24 i think) up in the left corner of my screen
- I log in, everything works, but I have just this small shrinked screen area to use for editing in vim and similar stuff
- I'm able to start at full resolution though, so it seems this is just a problem with the console though. (I start X bu issuing `startx' in the commandline.

It is worth noting that I have had similar problems in the past with the same computer, then running Ubuntu, on starting X at full resolution. Back then I think the problem was a conflict between the VGA port and the SPDIFF port. This was infact one of the reasons I switched to arch (as I do not use the SPDIFF port for anything yet).

I've tried editing the kernel line in grub on boot to
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/74978fdb-b0b8-40ad-8658-b1da5fd03732 ro quiet
(here I normally get the same result as above, but when I enable KMS again at the next reboot, I get full console resolution again. But on next boot things switch back again.)

and

kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/74978fdb-b0b8-40ad-8658-b1da5fd03732 ro i915.modeset=0 quiet
(here I just get the standard 80x24 fullscreen - really no different from having the little area,  as I have the same amout of text viewable)

What is recommended for solving this? Running the latest kernel?

The graphics card on the laptop is

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)

Edit (16th april): [SOLVED]

Last edited by rusma (2010-04-16 06:57:57)

dcc24

Member

Registered: 2009-10-31

Posts: 732

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I'm not sure, but manually specifying the framebuffer should help. http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRU … resolution

---

It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. (Mark Twain)

My AUR packages

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I'm not sure, but manually specifying the framebuffer should help. http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRU … resolution

Thanks for your answer, but I don't think this would solve my problem.

In the section for KMS in the Intel Graphics wikipage ([wiki]Intel#KMS_.28Kernel_Mode_Setting.29[/wiki]), it says that:

When using KMS, you must remove any references to "vga" or "video" from the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst

I suppose "vga" or "video" would conflict with "i915.modeset"; so I can't specify it.

I've counted characters (in vim) and found that my "new screen" fits 106x30 characters. In X my standard screen resolution is 1280x800.

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

Check with xrandr whether a phantom TV is detected, and how it's named. This is probably your issue, the console is filled as much as would fit on a TV. To deactivate this phantom TV, add this to the kernel command in grub (replace TV1 with whatever xrandr shows you):

video=TV1:off

Edit: Hmm, though if this is the case then X would not start at full resolution, it would start at the maximum resolution both screens support, 1024x768 in the case of a TV.

Last edited by Gusar (2010-04-10 21:24:50)

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

Check with xrandr whether a phantom TV is detected, and how it's named. This is probably your issue, the console is filled as much as would fit on a TV. To deactivate this phantom TV, add this to the kernel command in grub (replace TV1 with whatever xrandr shows you):

video=TV1:off

Edit: Hmm, though if this is the case then X would not start at full resolution, it would start at the maximum resolution both screens support, 1024x768 in the case of a TV.

Thanks for answering.

My xrandr output is like this:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 800, maximum 8192 x 8192
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
LVDS1 connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 303mm x 190mm
   1280x800       60.0*+   40.0  
   1024x768       85.0     75.0     70.1     60.0  
   832x624        74.6  
   800x600        85.1     72.2     75.0     60.3     56.2  
   640x480        85.0     72.8     75.0     59.9  
   720x400        85.0  
   640x400        85.1  
   640x350        85.1  
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
TV1 connected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
   848x480        59.9 +
   640x480        59.9 +   59.9  
   1920x1080      59.9  
   1400x1050      60.0  
   1280x1024      60.0     59.9  
   1280x960       60.0  
   1280x720       59.9  
   1024x768       60.0     59.9  
   800x600        60.3     59.9

I have no TV connected.

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I have no TV connected.

Yeah, but xrandr says one is connected. That's why I said "phantom" TV. It's false detection, the driver sees a TV that's not there. Have you tried putting video=TV1:off in grub? It should work.

owain

Member

Registered: 2009-08-24

Posts: 251

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I think this might be a similar problem to one I've mentioned here.

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I have no TV connected.

Yeah, but xrandr says one is connected. That's why I said "phantom" TV. It's false detection, the driver sees a TV that's not there. Have you tried putting video=TV1:off in grub? It should work.

Sorry at the time of writing I had not tried it out yet, but I have now. No difference. It seems the "phantom TV" wasn't disabled according to xrandr (almost the same output as above, where it's reporting as "connected"). Strange

I've also read through the thread owain linked to, and it seems we've got the same problem. A "cropped screen" is a very precise description

owain

Member

Registered: 2009-08-24

Posts: 251

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I don't suppose you could try downgrading kernel26, could you?  As I mentioned at the start of that thread, the problem first appeared for me with kernel26-2.6.32-6.  If the same is true for you, and 2.6.32-5 works OK, then it certainly would help narrow things down

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I don't suppose you could try downgrading kernel26, could you?  As I mentioned at the start of that thread, the problem first appeared for me with kernel26-2.6.32-6.  If the same is true for you, and 2.6.32-5 works OK, then it certainly would help narrow things down

I would certainly try that out. I'm not really used to downgrading packages, though.

In what a way do you recommend doing this; by a mirror, or by abs? Maybe not so many mirrors have exactly that verson of kernel26 for the x86_64.

owain

Member

Registered: 2009-08-24

Posts: 251

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

http://arm.kh.nu/core/os/x86_64/ has the necessary package - I've found it OK downgrading kernel26 alone, and leaving the rest untouched - YMMV though, so no promises!

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I've only rebooted a few times, but downgrading to 2.6.32-5 seems to be a wordaround. However, I think I upggrade back to latest, because broadcom-wl (wireless driver from aur for my wlan) did not build. It returned this:

==> Starting build()...
make: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.32-ARCH'
  CC [M]  /tmp/yaourt-tmp-rasmus/aur-broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/src/src/shared/linux_osl.o
In file included from /tmp/yaourt-tmp-rasmus/aur-broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/src/src/shared/linux_osl.c:19:
/tmp/yaourt-tmp-rasmus/aur-broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/src/src/include/linuxver.h:23:32: error: generated/autoconf.h: No such file or directory
make[1]: *** [/tmp/yaourt-tmp-rasmus/aur-broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/src/src/shared/linux_osl.o] Error 1
make: *** [_module_/tmp/yaourt-tmp-rasmus/aur-broadcom-wl/broadcom-wl/src] Error 2
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.32-ARCH'
==> ERROR: Build Failed.
    Aborting...
Error: Makepkg was unable to build broadcom-wl package

Does this mean I have to install the other kernel26-* packages corresponding to 2.6.32-5 (if I have to use this for some time)?

owain

Member

Registered: 2009-08-24

Posts: 251

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I'm not sure, but I think that yes, you'd need to downgrade kernel26-headers in order to build that.

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I reinstalled arch bottom up, because I changed the synaptic, no difference. I've also discovered that It's impossible to scroll in the cropped terminal.

davidgurvich

Member

Registered: 2010-02-11

Posts: 118

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

What is the hardware?  Have you tried with either nomodeset or i915.modeset=0 and then using the vesa driver or downgrading the intel driver to 2.9.1?

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I was reading this just now: http://intellinuxgraphics.org/documentation.html, and saw

Question: With the mode setting moved to Linux kernel, how can I explicitly disable or enable the output via kernel option?
Answer
The format for kernel option "video=" is -:[d|e], e.g. if you want to force LVDS off, add a kernel boot option "video=LVDS-1:d".

So I guess this is the right syntax:

video=TV1:d

Or maybe

video=TV-1:d

Edit: Found this: http://www.radeonhd.org/?page=archive_d … 2009-12-25, it says to look in /sys/class/drm for the correct name, in the case of my netbook I see card0-LVDS-1 and card0-VGA-1 in there. So if you see card0-TV-1 in there, 'video=TV-1:d' is the option to use.

Last edited by Gusar (2010-04-15 11:34:43)

owain

Member

Registered: 2009-08-24

Posts: 251

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

Edit: Found this: http://www.radeonhd.org/?page=archive_d … 2009-12-25, it says to look in /sys/class/drm for the correct name, in the case of my netbook I see card0-LVDS-1 and card0-VGA-1 in there. So if you see card0-TV-1 in there, 'video=TV-1:d' is the option to use.

Thank you!  'SVIDEO-1:d' has solved this problem for me.

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

Thanks for answering.

[rasmus@rpc /sys/class/drm]$ ls
card0@  card0-DisplayPort-1@  card0-DisplayPort-2@  card0-DisplayPort-3@  card0-HDMI Type A-1@  card0-HDMI Type A-2@  card0-LVDS-1@  card0-SVIDEO-1@  card0-VGA-1@  controlD64@  version

video=VGA:d did not work. I do not really know which of them is representing the TV; maybe the SVIDEO?

The phantom TV is enabled when the ttys are cropped, and disabled when normal.

A friend of mine suggested blowing some air into the VGA-port (like on old NES games).

I do not know really what is the point in diabling all of KMS by setting the i915 to 0.

@owain: I'm glad to hear it solved your problem.

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

[[SOLVED]]

video=SVIDEO-1:d solved it all. Thanks Gusar

Splex

Member

Registered: 2009-03-09

Posts: 33

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I also had this problem and added:
video=SVIDEO-1:d
to the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst
Problem solved, THANK YOU!

rusma

Member

From: Ås, Norway

Registered: 2009-11-01

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I also had this problem and added:
video=SVIDEO-1:d
to the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst
Problem solved, THANK YOU!

Good to hear!

Now I really have a problem with hal not recognizing myu keyboard, but that's another story ...

albertj

Member

Registered: 2014-12-19

Posts: 1

Re: [SOLVED] Intel KMS problem: Console area is shrinked to small area ...

I'm having this exact problem and the solutions here do not work. Is it okay to necrobump this since it's a specific issue? I wanted to post my xrandr/drm setup and get some advice.