Re: Nvidia problems... again

[David Liontooth <liontooth@cogweb.net>]

James Titcumb wrote:

> > I would ask on the nVidia Linux Forum 
> > http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=14
>
>
> They don't seem to be very responsive, unlike here :)
>
> > That said, if you're trying to troubleshoot, why not use the nv 
> > driver? It's
> > excellent for 2D work.
>
>
> I would use nv driver (I am using it now actually), but I have two 
> monitors, and its pointless having 2 LCD screens, when you can only 
> use one of them! AFAIK, the only driver that supports dual screens is 
> the nvidia and ATI ones... if you know different, let me know how to 
> do it! I don't really do graphic intensive stuff (I might occasionally 
> play Baldur's Gate, but that's not exactly video-hungry!), so if its 
> not a high-performance driver, I'm not hugely bothered. As long as I 
> get smooth standard usage, I'm ok :)


Well, nv supports dual screens using the xinerama option in XFree86. 

It's not clear the driver supports "dual head" where you have two VGA 
ports on one video card -- Alex Deucher claimed a year ago it was not 
supported 
(http://lists.freedesktop.org/pipermail/xorg/2004-May/000685.html).

But it does support the "xinerama" option where you have two video 
cards. See for example 
http://krampus.phys.uconn.edu/computers/FAQ/xinerama.html

> The thing that's strange, is that previous to building the 2.6.11 
> kernel up (when i was on 2.6.10), the nvidia driver built + installed 
> fine, but now it doesn't... perhaps it's a disagreement with the 
> 2.6.11 kernel??

I don't think that sounds particularly farfetched -- the nvidia drivers 
routinely fail to work on new kernels, and need patches.

But what about the framebuffer driver? I was amazed to discover that 
it's perfectly happy driving x-windows, including dual monitors, but I 
haven't tried it on an amd64.
It would be great if you could find out if it works there -- though I 
can't promise you it'll be worth your time! Here's what you need:

* Compile framebuffer support in the kernel

I was using rivafb, which is likely all you have also in the 2.6.11 
kernel. In 2.6.12-rc there's a new one called nvidiafb, looks promising.

* After booting, remove the nvidia module (it's not compatible with 
rivafb) and load

rmmod nvidia && modprobe fbcon && modprobe rivafb && fbset fullscreen 
(see below for setup)

Contacts:

   * rivafb is maintained by Ani Joshi and lately worked on by Antonino
     A. Daplas (who also wrote the new nvidiafb)
   * linux-fbdev-users@lists.sourceforge.net
     <http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linux-fbdev-users>
   * linux-fbdev-devel@lists.sourceforge.net

Commands:

   * more /proc/fb   list current frame buffer device information
   * fbset -i   shows current framebuffer configuration
   * fbset -x  shows xfree configuration
   * mplayer -vo directfb <moviename>
   * fbxine <moviename>
   * fbi *.jpg -t 5 -autozoom -edit
   * Snapshot of the frame buffer content: cp /dev/fb0 myfile
   * man fb.modes
   * modeline2fb (for creating entries in /etc/fb.modes)

To create the correct modeline, issue

       modeline2fb /etc/X11/XF86Config

I edited /etc/fb.modes, adding

#  Generated using modeline2fb, 1280x854, 85.266 MHz dotclock

mode "fullscreen"
 geometry   1280 854   1280 26201   8
 timings    11728   240 16   31 0   256 7
 hsync low
 vsync low
endmode

This is activated by the "fbset fullscreen" command.

In XF86Config-4 use

   Driver      "fbdev"

Worked for me. For dual monitors, you'll have to use the xinerama 
option, as with nv.

The framebuffer stuff is very cool, but fiddley still. The quality is 
excellent.
Keep us posted if you try this on amd64.

Dave