Quadro 4000 & Apple 30" Cinema Display

[tmwg]

I have a Quadro 4000 in a PC running Linux. Just bought an Apple 30" Cinema Display (which uses DVI). I expected it to work at the monitor's highest resolution.

But, during boot, the display shows the right background color and fuzzy lines instead. I can see it changing until it gets to the prompt that lets me select an O/S. But it is just a squished (vertically) bunch of fuzzy lines near the top of the monitor.

I haven't tried actually booting the O/S.

Should I expect this to work, or not? If it should work, I need to find out what's wrong. If it shouldn't work, what graphics card would drive the monitor in a PC running Linux?

[nukem]

It should work make sure you have the offical nvidia closed source drivers installed. You can find these at http://nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp or find a package that comes with your distro. Remember to edit your x.org file or xfree86-4 file in /etc/X11 to tell it to use the nvidia driver(by default most distros use nv as the drive it should be nvidia). Then search around for an Apple Cinema Display 30" X.org config file.

Also an admin should move this to the Linux forum.

[tmwg]

I don't understand this response. The O/S has not even been loaded yet, as I said: this is all from the BIOS. What do drivers have to do with it?

I've been using that card for several years with a CRT that just broke. The drivers are installed and working fine.

[TierMann]

Some ideas...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but apple cinema display doesn't have a built-in scaler does it? That may account for the wierd screen you're getting. Also, the driver will have something to do with it when you get into your OS so make sure you have the correct modelines for an apple cinema display in your config.

The max resolution for your card should be 2 dual-link dvi displays at 3840x2400 each, and the optimal resolution for your monitor is 2560x1600. So that shouldn't be a problem.

[tmwg]

I'm not sure what a scaler is. I have decided that the problem is that the BIOS doesn't use any modes the monitor has available. I have a feeling that's what you're saying, if I just knew what a scaler is. Once Linux boots and runs X11, everything displays properly, at the 2560x1600 resolution.

If I ever want to use the computer before Linux boots, I'll need to attach a CRT.

[TierMann]

Yup. That's what I'm saying pretty much. A scaler is what fits the image to the supported resolution of the monitor. If I'm not mistaken, the lowest res of that monitor is 1024x640 so an 800x600 or 640x480 bios screen might not work. Any other res besides those supported would need display adapter scaling.

A small inconvenience I'd say, compared to the awesome picture you must be getting at 2560x1600 :).
By the way, are you getting a linux console screen while it's booting or is it only visible when X starts?

[tmwg]

Thanks very much. I'm glad to hear that my deduction is correct, and can put this to rest.

You're right about the "small price." I rarely use the BIOS screens, anyway. I would like to see if I can modify the bootloader to use a different resolution -- but that's for later.

So far the monitor is great. Used to have a 24" Sony CRT @ 2304x1440, until it just recently died. The LCD is much crisper. But some fonts look strange to me. That probably just needs tweaking.

[tmwg]

Rudely didn't answer your question.

No, the Linux console isn't usable until after X runs. That's another thing I'd like to look into. There may be a mode that I can set for the console that would make it useable without X. Assuming that the nVidia driver doesn't do something that Linux doesn't do to initialize things.

Once X runs, switching to a console is now readable. All the boot messages are suddenly readable ;)

[TierMann]

If you're using vesafb in the kernel you should be able to add "vga=791" to lilo or grub's kernel line. That's 1024x768 and maybe that'll give you "something" to look at. I havn't been keeping up with vesafb progress, but from what I remember it only supports 4:3 resolutions :(. If you end up worse off than you were before you can always take the line back out once you're in X, but worth a shot.

Hopefully someone here had the same problem before and has a known solution, but atleast now you're up and going. ;)