DFP resolution problem

[d.sailer]

I have a Sony TV I'm trying to connect via DVI/HDMI. I get a picture but only at 1920x1080. I would like to have lower resolutions to choose from because this is too high for a tv. I'm using the 1.0.8774 driver. Attached is my Xorg.log file with X started as...

startx -- -logverbose 6

I noticed the warnings under "Validated Modes", but I'm not sure what to do about it. I also attached my xorg.conf, which you'll have to excuse - might be a bit of a mess after trying various things.

Note: I also have a lot of flicker. I'm hoping a lower resolution will help with that, but if there are any other ideas to resolve that lemme know.

[netllama]

I'm really not clear on what the exact problem is here. You're not requesting any modes in your X configuration, so the driver is providing the 'best' mode that gets validated (1920x1080). If you want something else, you need to request that mode.

Thanks,
Lonni

[d.sailer]

sorry, your right. I was unclear, and I'm sure I just don't understand how it works. I was expecting that the driver would allow for several resolutions and those would show up as selections in gnome (which I'm assuming just passes thru to X). Is that incorrect?

[netllama]

I'm honestly not sure how Gnome populates its list of available resolutions. My guess is that its from the resolutions that the X server has in its mode pool. In your case, that's a single mode since you didn't request any.

[d.sailer]

hmm. If this isn't possible I guess I can just configure larger fonts and that would get me close to what I want. I still have the lingering flicker though.

[netllama]

If what isn't possible? Are you not able to edit your X configuration to request additional modes?

As for the flicker, are you using a dual link TMDS capable DVI cable? By flicker is the entire picturing going dark, or is the luminosity of the picture just not stable?

-Lonni

[d.sailer]

Yea, I had the Modes section commented out because I got no picture with that configuration. However, I was just now able to fix it. I noticed in the Xorg.log that I had some modes the nvidia driver didn't like. There was a warning message in Xorg.log that those modes were being thrown out, so I didn't think it was a problem. But as soon as I populated the modes section with modes that the driver indicated were valid, it worked.

As far as the cable, I will need to look into that. It is possible that is the problem because the cable is about 30 feet long (computer is in the basement). I may look into buying/borrowing a short cable and test it that way.

There are two other issues I have noticed at this point. One, on the edges of the screen, there is some distortion. For example, the edge of the firefox window right now is kinda squigly. This is pretty minor. Two, when I ctr-alt-f2 to a virtual terminal, the whole screen blinks wildly (pulses about 1-2 times a second). It's really painful to look at !


btw, the flickering seems to have improved some. I did notice one other detail on this. If you move a window around and watch the top border, sometimes it flickers and sometimes it does not. I'ts as if it depends on which vertical "row" it lands on. Could this have something to do with interlacing?

[netllama]

All of those problems sound like they're a result of your 30ft long cable. You should retest with a cable under 10ft long.

Thanks,
Lonni

[d.sailer]

I''ll do that. Thanks for all your help.