Low screen resolution, black border

Problems and successes with specific brands/models of computer video hardware
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Nexus

Low screen resolution, black border

#1 Post by Nexus »

Hi all,

I am refurbishing an ancient Fujitsu-Siemens S Series Lifebook. I have installed Slacko 6.3.0 on a separate partition, leaving the original Windows on the other.

My problem is that the default screen resolution is 800x600 pixels, leaving an inch-wide black border at the edges of the screen. I should be able to get 1024x768 because Windows manages that. Unfortunately, these dimensions are not available in Puppy Setup -> Graphics/Screen -> Change Screen Resolution. There, I can only get 800x600 and (shudder) 640x480.

According to sys-info, the video chip is a "Trident Microsystems Cyber 9525". The output of xrandr on the command line is:

Code: Select all

xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 800 x 600, maximum 800 x 600
default connected 800x600+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   800x600        73.0*
   800x600        73.0
Is there anything I can do to get the rest of the screen real estate back?

jp734
Posts: 119
Joined: Sat 29 Mar 2014, 17:59

#2 Post by jp734 »

Give us more info. What's the video card? what driver if being used? What does /var/log/Xorg.0.log say?

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Burn_IT
Posts: 3650
Joined: Sat 12 Aug 2006, 19:25
Location: Tamworth UK

#3 Post by Burn_IT »

Edit XORG.CONF to include the extra settings.

You may need a different frequency to 73 though. That depends on what your screen will support.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett

Nexus

#4 Post by Nexus »

What's the video card?
The output of lspci is

Code: Select all

VGA Compatible controller: Trident Microsystems Cyber 9525 (rev 49)
Is this what you needed, or is there more information about the video card that you need? If so, how do I find that?
what driver is being used? What does /var/log/Xorg.0.log say?
The driver is /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/trident_drv.so, or at least it should be. There's a line in the log file about it not being able to load due to "undefined symbol: TRIDENT_Sync" and I think this is probably the cause of the problem. Here are the lines mentioning the trident business (the forum won't allow me to attach the whole logfile)

Code: Select all

[    59.408] (==) Matched trident as autoconfigured driver 0
[    59.408] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 1
[    59.408] (==) Matched modesetting as autoconfigured driver 2
[    59.408] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 3
[    59.408] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
[    59.408] (II) LoadModule: "trident"
[    59.410] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/trident_drv.so
[    59.527] (EE) Failed to load /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/trident_drv.so: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/trident_drv.so: undefined symbol: TRIDENT_Sync
[    59.527] (II) UnloadModule: "trident"
[    59.527] (II) Unloading trident
[    59.527] (EE) Failed to load module "trident" (loader failed, 7)
Edit XORG.CONF to include the extra settings. You may need a different frequency to 73 though. That depends on what your screen will support.
My xorg.conf already includes "1024x768x16" as its preferred mode, I think, but I don't understand xorg configuration files well enough to really understand what it is doing. But I suspect the problem is that the driver just isn't loading properly due to that undefined symbol.

jp734
Posts: 119
Joined: Sat 29 Mar 2014, 17:59

#5 Post by jp734 »

I think if you change the driver from trident to VESA, you will get the resolution you want. Try it!

Edit your Xorg.conf and search for driver "trident" under section "device"

If after changing and reboot and still will not work, post your configuration file. Good luck!

Nexus

#6 Post by Nexus »

No luck, I'm afraid. There was no line like >driver "trident"< in my xorg.conf, so I added a new one saying >driver "VESA"< and rebooted, but X did not start at all. I restored my backed up conf file, and tried it also with >driver "trident"<, but no success either. If I go into xorgwizard, I see a 1024x768x16 option under the VESA listings but, again, X will not start under that setting.

Here is my current xorg.conf file:

Code: Select all

#barry Kauler 2011
#pre-constructed xorg.conf, for use by /usr/sbin/xorgwizard-automatic
#110627 working on mageia1 build, this needs fixing.
#111029 Terryphi reported 1cm screen displacement, changed vert freq range from 56-76 to 59-76.
#120329 more placemarkers for xorgwizard-automatic script.
#121013 change depth from 16 to 24. note, some arm boards need 16.

# Choices Code Desktop File-Sharing Pictures Pictures_original Startup Web-Server ftpd my-applications my-documents network pets puppy-reference spot xorg.conf
# Module section -- this section is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# Choices Code Desktop File-Sharing Pictures Pictures_original Startup Web-Server ftpd my-applications my-documents network pets puppy-reference spot xorg.conf
#
Section "Module"
Load "synaptics" #loadsynaptics

# This loads the DBE extension module.

Load "dbe" # Double buffer extension

# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
SubSection "extmod"
Option "omit xfree86-dga" # don't initialise the DGA extension
EndSubSection

# This loads the font modules
# Load "type1"
# Load "freetype"

# This loads xtrap extension, used by xrandr
# Load "xtrap"

# This loads the GLX module (if present). xorg 7.4/5, need explicit disable to disable... change "Disable" to "Load" if reqd...
# Disable "glx" #LOADGLX

# This loads dri module (if present). 7.4 loads it by default, have to disable... change "Disable" to "Load" if reqd...
# Disable "dri" #LOADDRI

EndSection

# Choices Code Desktop File-Sharing Pictures Pictures_original Startup Web-Server ftpd my-applications my-documents network pets puppy-reference spot xorg.conf
# Files section. This allows default font paths to be set
# Choices Code Desktop File-Sharing Pictures Pictures_original Startup Web-Server ftpd my-applications my-documents network pets puppy-reference spot xorg.conf

Section "Files"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)

#FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc/"
#FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/liberation/"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/TTF/"

EndSection

# Choices Code Desktop File-Sharing Pictures Pictures_original Startup Web-Server ftpd my-applications my-documents network pets puppy-reference spot xorg.conf
# Server flags section.
# Choices Code Desktop File-Sharing Pictures Pictures_original Startup Web-Server ftpd my-applications my-documents network pets puppy-reference spot xorg.conf

Section "ServerFlags"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><Fn> VT switch sequence
# (where n is 1 through 12). This allows clients to receive these key
# events.

# Option "DontVTSwitch"

# Enables mode switching with xrandr
# There is a report that this can cause Xorg not to work on some
# video hardware, so default is commented-out...
# but i want to use it in xorgwizard so leave on...

Option "RandR" "on"

# With this, Xorg won't talk to HAL to add evdev devices and you'll be back
# with the old Xorg behavior (pre-7.4)...

Option "AutoAddDevices" "false"

# For no-Hal, kirk also suggests this...

# Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "true"

# Xorg 7.4, Ubuntu Jaunty, CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE is disabled by default...

Option "DontZap" "false"

EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
InputDevice "Synaptics Mouse" "AlwaysCore" #serverlayoutsynaptics
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
    Option         "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc102"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "de" #xkeymap0
#Option "XkbVariant" "" #xkbvariant0
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" #mouse0protocol
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
#Option "Emulate3Buttons"
#Option "Emulate3Timeout" "50"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" #scrollwheel
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Mouse"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
HorizSync 35-81
VertRefresh 59-76
#UseModes "Modes0" #monitor0usemodes
Option "PreferredMode" "1024x768x16" #monitor0prefmode
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes0"
#modes0modeline0
EndSection

#110627 remove...
##server can find BusID automatically, comment out...
#Section "Device"
# Identifier "Card0"
# Driver "vesa" #card0driver
# VendorName "Unknown Vendor"
# BoardName "Unknown Board"
## BusID "PCI:0:2:0" #card0busid
#EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
# Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
#Option "metamodes" "1280x800_60 +0+0" #METAMODES_0
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768x16" #screen0modes
EndSubsection
EndSection
#PuppyHardwareProfile=Copyright_1997_TRIDENT

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Ted Dog
Posts: 3965
Joined: Wed 14 Sep 2005, 02:35
Location: Heart of Texas

#7 Post by Ted Dog »

ancient Fujitsu-Siemens S Series Lifebook 1997.. me thinks the newer kernels have left support even for backward compatibility you may have one of the two that can still show life :twisted:
Xwindows and driver support has been a 'issue' for puppylinux unique way of trying to remove the bloat and max support with a small footoprint. And it still continues today with the spin-offs.
You would be better served to try much older versions what seem to work for most every one.
v0.98-v1.03 ish I recall stable xwindows
v2.16-17
v4.16-4.20 * best bet to find best of old support and 'new' stable
v5 and beyond best to avoid we started using other distros files as a base for puppylinux and added those issues with our own. There was a few in this series that shined so other could recall those.

jp734
Posts: 119
Joined: Sat 29 Mar 2014, 17:59

#8 Post by jp734 »

I remember back then when I tried configuring my xorg.conf and puppy always commented out the settings I put. I forgot what I had to do to stop puppy from doing it.

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Burn_IT
Posts: 3650
Joined: Sat 12 Aug 2006, 19:25
Location: Tamworth UK

#9 Post by Burn_IT »

I seem to remember putting a copy in a folder that is higher in the search sequence and does not get overwritten on each run.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett

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