Re: Maybe I need a better video card? Editing xorg.conf?
Hello,
On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 06:42:28PM -0700, Ming-Ching Tiew wrote:
>
>
> --- On Wed, 9/28/11, Andrew <knoppix@rngresearch.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > I think I will give an Intel or Radeon card a try, but if I
> > can't reduce
> > the the number of tasks on the task bar to only those on
> > the current
> > viewport, I will probably go "no3d", anyway.
>
> I use an intel but it is not problem free either. I can't say my problem is unique to me or it's also seen by others, because it might be a unique hardware problem which I have, or a unique customized combination of software which I have loaded.
Which card, running which xserver-xorg-core version, may I ask?
One REALLY problematic "intel" chipset, which is not even from intel
even that it bears the intel "vendor id", is the "GMA500" (or
"poulsbo"), which needs a completely different set of drivers and does
not work with the currentmost xorg server versions:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsVideoCardsPoulsbo
I'm using the emgd module on an Asus 1101HA, which works, but
installation and configuration with a patched xorg server is uneasy and
cannot be installed in parallel with "normal" drivers, therefore I don't
include the emgd modules on Knoppix.
> Basically from time to time the graphics will go dead. Sometimes I could go to text by ctrl-alt-F2 but sometimes I can't do it. I am pretty sure the kernel is still running because when I hit power button the notebook will go into shutdown sequence.
Could this be related to the "3d screensavers" which turn on
occasionally, or compiz?
Another thing could be failing powersave modes (i.e. the chipset goes to
sleep and does not wake up again). In this case, it may be helpful to
disable xorgs powersave functions using the "noapm" cheat code, which will set
Option "NoPM" "true"
in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
> Also I switch monitor a lot. At work, I connect an external monitor to the notebook and it has higher resolution. At home I use back the internal LCD screen. Switching displays (different resolutions) without rebooting often gives me all kind of display mis-behavior. Often I have to resort to rebooting.
This is probably an xorg bug. I know what you are talking about:
Sometimes when starting with a second monitor connected, and then
switching back to the internal display, the "dpi" setting for fonts
stays at the higher resolution, and all button labels and menus look
"oversized". A solution could be hardcoding the "dpi" value to 96 or 120
for xorg, so you get "too small" fonts on the high resolution, and
"correct" ones on the smaller resolution. Sometimes, wildly switching
resolutions with xrandr kind of "fixes" the problem, too. Not a good
behaviour of the "unstable" xorg version, but I had to make a choice for
for newer hardware support (which means "unstable") here, and just go
with all glitches in the "less tested" xorg version. :-/
Regards
-Klaus
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