nVidia problems

[dhavalbbhatt]

Hi all -
I recently assembled a new PC for my home. I used to have Widows and Ubuntu 6.10 before on my older PC, but on the new one, I have decided to dump Windows altogether and instead install Ubuntu 7.04. The install and everything went well, however, a couple of days later I bought a new monitor (Acer AL1917W) and a new video card (Leadtek WnFast PX7300 GT TDH). After I had installed my new video card and monitor,I had no reason to believe that there would be issues with the new hardware / software (dumb!). However, I ran into resolution issues. After tweaking around the xconf file and enabling the nvidia drivers through the command prompt, I was finally able to get the resolution right. However, now when I restart my computer, i get an error message saying that it won't recognize the monitor and i have to manually change the driver from nvidia to vesa (which I am guessing disables the nvidia driver and hence takes me back to the old resolution, making me go through the process of enabling nvidia drivers all over again). I am really frustrated with the whole experience. Any help to resolve the issue is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
DB

[overdrank]

Hi just a thought, you can try and setup your nvidia settings using the command
gksudo nvidia-settings
This will allow you to save your settings to your xorg. Hope this helps good luck!

[dabl]

Hi just a thought, you can try and setup your nvidia settings using the command
gksudo nvidia-settings
This will allow you to save your settings to your xorg. Hope this helps good luck!

Further to this -- on the "X Server Configuration" tab is a "detect displays" button, that you might want to use, and then "save EDID", then in the lower right corner "Save to X Configuration File", and on the window that opens there, "merge" and "save". :)

[dhavalbbhatt]

Thanks to both of you - I did try both the methods, unfortunately, none of those seemed to have worked. Apparently, someone else suggested that I change the driver from "nvidia" to "nv". That apparently works fine (I don't have to reset my xorg.conf file after restart to get the best possible resolution that my screen supports). However, there are others on various forums that have suggested that if I don't set the driver to "nvidia", I am might not be utilizing the power of my video card the way it was intended to be used. BTW, the restricted nvidia drivers have not been enabled (if I set the driver to nv on the xorg.conf file).

Any thoughts on that?

Thanks,
DB

[Grinnz]

After trying to get this same issue resolved a long time ago, and just now for about half a day, I finally have a 1440x900 75Hz resolution on my Acer 1917W, using the nvidia driver.

Add to the "Device" section of your xorg.conf:
Option "ExactModeTimingsDVI"
Option "ModeValidation" "NoDFPNativeResolutionCheck"
Apparently, even though the EDID correctly reports the resolution, it seems to be getting the wrong Native resolution, so doesn't think the monitor can handle the actual resolution. The second line tells it to not check for the native resolution. Not entirely sure what the first line does to help, but it doesn't seem to hurt.

Also, if you don't get an option for a higher refresh rate your monitor supports (such as 75Hz) add:
Option "DynamicTwinView" "False"
Dynamic TwinView messes up the refresh rates it'll allow. Note that with this set to False, though, you can not access/set the items on the "X Server Display Configuration" section of nvidia-settings, through the GUI anyway.

Not sure if this is the monitor or nvidia screwing up, but in any case, it's working for me now :)

[andresconrado]

Hello
Same problem, but now everything is OK. I have 1440x900 with nvidia drivers and Acer AL1917W. This is my xorg.conf:

khunrath@univac:~$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "es"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "nVidia Corporation G72 [GeForce 7300 SE]"
Driver "nvidia"
Busid "PCI:7:0:0"
Option "AddARGBVisuals" "True"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
Option "ExactModeTimingsDVI"
Option "ModeValidation" "NoDFPNativeResolutionCheck"
Option "DynamicTwinView" "False"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Acer"
ModelName "Acer AL1917W"
HorizSync 31.0 - 84.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
modeline "800x600@56" 36.0 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync
modeline "800x600@72" 50.0 800 856 976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync
modeline "800x600@75" 49.5 800 816 896 1056 600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync
modeline "800x600@60" 40.0 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x768@60" 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x720@60" 74.48 1280 1336 1472 1664 720 721 724 746 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x800@75" 107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x768@75" 102.98 1280 1360 1496 1712 768 769 772 802 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1280x800@60" 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1440x900@75" 136.49 1440 1536 1688 1936 900 901 904 940 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1440x900@60" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1600x1024@60" 136.36 1600 1704 1872 2144 1024 1025 1028 1060 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1680x1050@60" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1680x1050@75" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096 -hsync +vsync
modeline "1920x1200@60" 193.16 1920 2048 2256 2592 1200 1201 1204 1242 -hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "nVidia Corporation G72 [GeForce 7300 SE]"
Monitor "Monitor0"
Defaultdepth 24
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen "Default Screen"
Inputdevice "Generic Keyboard"
Inputdevice "Configured Mouse"

# Uncomment if you have a wacom tablet
# InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
# InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
# InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection


I think the trick is in the Section "Monitor", I take the modelines from the description of an Acer AL1916W an mixed it up with the settings of Grinnz's post.
I can't understand very well why it doesn't recognize the correct resolution, but now it seems to be right. I restarted the x-server, and everything is ok.

... hope this may help.