Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux

desperadus · 06-27-09, 04:45 PM

Hello World,

I am running Linux Open-SuSE 11.1 on my TP-W700ds with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M Open GL GPU /w 1GB Ddicated Video Memory.
The unit has two build in LCD screens and at first it took me a while to get it all working all right, as TwinView isn't usable on this system.

Because of its configuration the display on the 2nd LCD screen must be tilted 90 degrees and TwinView can not do that for only one display (as it insists on treating them both as parts of one big "virtual" display).
So I ended up using Xinerama, but now I only get VESA resolution (800x600) and VESA speed/color depth on the 2nd display.

The 2nd display could do almost twice as high a resolution, but I just can't figure out how to get it there.

I tripple checked all my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file settings (resolution, modes, etc) and I am not getting any error messages here.

Anyone knows how to fix this?

**AaronP** · 06-28-09, 01:26 PM

Please see the forum sticky posts about how to report a problem.

desperadus · 06-28-09, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AaronP

Please see the forum sticky posts about how to report a problem.

I'm not allowed to ask for help in this forum?!???
Are there other NVIDIA+Linux web sites available?

thefirstm · 06-28-09, 06:22 PM

You can ask for help, but you just need to post a few other pieces of information, like the Nvidia bug report log.

desperadus · 06-28-09, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefirstm

You can ask for help, but you just need to post a few other pieces of information, like the Nvidia bug report log.

But I don't get an error message - otherwise I would have already debugged the problem myself.
All I know is from comparing the resolution on my 2nd LCD between my Linux and my Windoze install, is that under Windows the 2nd LCD screen can be set all the way up to 768x1200.

But under Lunix with Xinerama the 2nd Display only operates in 800x600 mode and from speed & other tests I have confirmed that it is indeed working in VESA mode only.

Now I can post my xorg.conf in here, if that helps...

Otherwise I'm not even sure if its an error with NVIDIA or Xinerama.
All I know for sure is that I can't controll the backlight intensity on my primary Display. Sometimes it boots up bright, sometimes its rather dim. And none of the standard Linux NVIDIA backlight tools can communicate with my driver.

Ah, and "/usr/bin/nvidia-settings" is close to useless. It can't detect my HW correctly and only properly updates a very tiny subset of options.

Here my xorg.conf file:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "TwinView Configuration"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" 1920 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
Option "Clone" "off"
# Option "Xinerama" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection

Section "Files"
InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata"
InputDevices "/dev/input/mice"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/local"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/URW"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/xtest"
FontPath "/opt/kde3/share/fonts"
EndSection

Section "Module"
# Load "freetype"
# Load "type1"
Load "dbe"
Load "glx"
Load "extmod"
# Load "bitmap"
# Load "ddc"
# Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AIGLX" "on"
Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
Option "IgnoreABI" "on"
Option "ZapWarning" "on"
Option "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "Protocol" "Standard"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Name" "TPPS/2 TrackPoint"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
Option "Vendor" "IBM"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Lenovo"
ModelName "DFP-0"
DisplaySize 1920 1200
HorizSync 61.0 - 73.2
VertRefresh 50.0 - 60.0
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
Option "DPMS"
Option "PreferredMode" "1920x1200"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Lenovo"
ModelName "DFP-1"
DisplaySize 1280 768
HorizSync 61.0 - 73.2
VertRefresh 50.0 - 60.0
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
Option "DPMS"
# Image on Sidekick monitor must be rotated 90 degrees to be right side up (-> "768x1280")
Option "PreferredMode" "1280x768"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "VideoCard0"
# VESA Frame Buffer FailSafe Driver
# Driver "fbdev"
# End Of -> VESA Frame Buffer FailSafe Driver
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "Quadro FX 3700M"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "VideoCard1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "Quadro FX 3700M"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "VideoCard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "NoLogo" "1"
Option "HWcursor" "1"
Option "RenderAccel" "1"
Option "CursorShadow" "1"
Option "Coolbits" "1"
Option "NoPowerConnectorCheck"
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "RightOf"
Option "NoTwinViewXineramaInfo"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP, DFP"
#-> Metamode Parameters: PhysicalScreenResolution @VirtualPanningResolution +X-Offset+Y-Offset
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "UseEdidFreqs"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "UseEdidFreqs"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: 1920x1200 @1920x1200 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1024x768" "800x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "VideoCard1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
# Image on Sidekick monitor must be rotated 90 degrees to be right side up (-> "768x1280")
# Option "metamodes" "DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +1920+0"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-1: 1280x768 +1920+0"
Option "Rotate" "CCW"
# Disable probing of Extended Display Identification Data for this monitor (it lies about itself) - this may be dangerous!!!
# Option "IgnoreEDID" "1"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x768" "1024x768" "800x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
Option "RANDR" "Enable"
EndSection

**AaronP** · 06-29-09, 11:17 AM

Please attach an nvidia-bug-report.log.gz file (use the "attach a file" button on the forum), which contains detailed information about your system configuration, including any error messages that might be occurring.

desperadus · 06-29-09, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AaronP

Please attach an nvidia-bug-report.log.gz file (use the "attach a file" button on the forum), which contains detailed information about your system configuration, including any error messages that might be occurring.

I already wrote 1000+1 times in here that I DON'T HAVE AN NVIDIA BUG LOG!
Heck, I don't even have an error message (I wrote that one in here as well).
Listen folks, if you don't want to help me out with this one, then just tell me if there are other NVIDIA forums in existence, which are less stringent about their requirements for help and information exchange.

It makes no sense for me to keep repeating myself here:
NO BUG REPORT - NO ERROR LOG - JUST THE WRONG RESOLUTION ON THE 2ND DISPLAY

I even went through the X11 startup log, and there was no error listed in that one either.
Please stop asking me for info that I don't have!!!

conky · 06-29-09, 03:21 PM

You need to generate the nvidia-bug-report.log.gz using the instructions in this post: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=46678
This will provide information about your configuration so that you can be helped. We need more information to help you with your problem.

**AaronP** · 06-29-09, 03:23 PM

As the README and the forum sticky posts state, you need to run nvidia-bug-report.sh to generate the log file. Even if you don't see an error message anywhere doesn't mean one doesn't exist, or that there is no useful information in the system log files that are collected by the nvidia-bug-report.sh script.

desperadus · 07-05-09, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AaronP

As the README and the forum sticky posts state, you need to run nvidia-bug-report.sh to generate the log file. Even if you don't see an error message anywhere doesn't mean one doesn't exist, or that there is no useful information in the system log files that are collected by the nvidia-bug-report.sh script.

That file is 200kb large.
I tried to attach the file to this thread, but I'm not sure that it worked out right.

And that script "nvidia-bug-report.sh" was not mentioned in the repository descritpion for the NVIDIA driver in SuSE - so I had no clue what you folks were talking about all the time.

**AaronP** · 07-06-09, 12:34 PM

Thank you, desperadus, that's very helpful. It appears that the driver is unable to read the EDID if your "sidekick" monitor, so it's using the refresh ranges in your "Monitor1" section. You'll need to start X with "startx -- -logverbose 6" as described in the sticky post to tell for sure, but I would suspect that either there is no built-in 1280x768 mode, or it's getting rejected because it has a hsync frequency of around 47 kHz and the valid range you specified is 61 - 73.2. Also, the +1920 is not necessary in the MetaModes line unless you're using TwinView. You should be able to just remove the "metamodes" option from the "Screen1" section, because the Modes line in the Display subsection should take care of selecting the modes for that screen.

adamk75 · 07-06-09, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desperadus

And that script "nvidia-bug-report.sh" was not mentioned in the repository descritpion for the NVIDIA driver in SuSE - so I had no clue what you folks were talking about all the time.

That's why AaronP first asked you to read the sticky thread about reporting problems... If you had read that, you would have seen:

Quote:

Please always include a copy of an nvidia-bug-report.log file, which can be generated with the `nvidia-bug-report.sh` script shipped with the NVIDIA Linux/FreeBSD graphics drivers and installed in your PATH

Adam

06-27-09, 04:45 PM	#1
desperadus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 36	Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux Hello World, I am running Linux Open-SuSE 11.1 on my TP-W700ds with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M Open GL GPU /w 1GB Ddicated Video Memory. The unit has two build in LCD screens and at first it took me a while to get it all working all right, as TwinView isn't usable on this system. Because of its configuration the display on the 2nd LCD screen must be tilted 90 degrees and TwinView can not do that for only one display (as it insists on treating them both as parts of one big "virtual" display). So I ended up using Xinerama, but now I only get VESA resolution (800x600) and VESA speed/color depth on the 2nd display. The 2nd display could do almost twice as high a resolution, but I just can't figure out how to get it there. I tripple checked all my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file settings (resolution, modes, etc) and I am not getting any error messages here. Anyone knows how to fix this?

06-28-09, 01:26 PM	#2
AaronP NVIDIA Corporation Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,487	Re: Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux Please see the forum sticky posts about how to report a problem.

06-28-09, 06:22 PM	#4
thefirstm Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 226	Re: Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux You can ask for help, but you just need to post a few other pieces of information, like the Nvidia bug report log.

06-29-09, 11:17 AM	#6
AaronP NVIDIA Corporation Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,487	Re: Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux Please attach an nvidia-bug-report.log.gz file (use the "attach a file" button on the forum), which contains detailed information about your system configuration, including any error messages that might be occurring.

06-29-09, 03:21 PM	#8
conky Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 70	Re: Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux You need to generate the nvidia-bug-report.log.gz using the instructions in this post: http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=46678 This will provide information about your configuration so that you can be helped. We need more information to help you with your problem.

06-29-09, 03:23 PM	#9
AaronP NVIDIA Corporation Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,487	Re: Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux As the README and the forum sticky posts state, you need to run nvidia-bug-report.sh to generate the log file. Even if you don't see an error message anywhere doesn't mean one doesn't exist, or that there is no useful information in the system log files that are collected by the nvidia-bug-report.sh script.

07-06-09, 12:34 PM	#11
AaronP NVIDIA Corporation Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,487	Re: Issues with Dual Screen on Thinkpad W700ds & Linux Thank you, desperadus, that's very helpful. It appears that the driver is unable to read the EDID if your "sidekick" monitor, so it's using the refresh ranges in your "Monitor1" section. You'll need to start X with "startx -- -logverbose 6" as described in the sticky post to tell for sure, but I would suspect that either there is no built-in 1280x768 mode, or it's getting rejected because it has a hsync frequency of around 47 kHz and the valid range you specified is 61 - 73.2. Also, the +1920 is not necessary in the MetaModes line unless you're using TwinView. You should be able to just remove the "metamodes" option from the "Screen1" section, because the Modes line in the Display subsection should take care of selecting the modes for that screen.