On Thursday 18 May 2006 16:57, Shawn Holland wrote:

Hi list,

I have just reciently installed SuSE 10 on a computer with a GeForce2 Ti. This card has an AV-Out option. I actually did the install with just a TV plugged into it.

Everything was working well (except for not being able to read much :) ) until it loaded into KDE.

When in KDE the desktop is not centered. It is shifted to the top right. Leaving me not able to see anything on the top right of the desktop.

I have followed a few examples on how to setup tvout / clone with modifying the xorg.conf file. But it didnt' make any difference. I have tried using SaX2 to adjust the possitioning but it doesn't shift at all when I try.

Can anyone offer any assistance on how to:

1. Adjust the possitioning 2. Adjust the resolution so its readable :)

Thanks in advance. -- Regards,

Shawn Holland

-- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com

What resolution/depth do you try to use now? What does the logs say? Any relevant errors or warnings? Is the display shifted in runlevel three? (Non X) Is it shifted with another manager (like twm or gonme) What happens if you change colour depth? What does your xorg.conf file look like? --          /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email   : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web     : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78  46 1C EE 56 >

On Friday 19 May 2006 17:06, Shawn Holland wrote:

On Thursday 18 May 2006 1:17 pm, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

What resolution/depth do you try to use now?

I'm currently using Desktop 768x576 (Pal) x24 And Monitor shows in SaX2 as --->Vesa 800x600x60khz

Sounds like a timing problem to me. Try looking for the right modelines for PAL online. --          /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email   : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web     : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78  46 1C EE 56 >

On Friday 19 May 2006 9:07 pm, Shawn Holland wrote:

On Friday 19 May 2006 7:16 pm, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

On Friday 19 May 2006 17:06, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

On Thursday 18 May 2006 1:17 pm, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

What resolution/depth do you try to use now?

I'm currently using Desktop 768x576 (Pal) x24 And Monitor shows in SaX2 as --->Vesa 800x600x60khz

Sounds like a timing problem to me. Try looking for the right modelines for PAL online.

Well I've read about as much as my brain could hold on modelines. I just can't find a matching modeline (if thats whats required) that will get it centered.

I've found several online calculators and where I'm in Canada I guess we use the NTSC standard. The picture size looks like it would be correct but its alwasy off center. For ever modeline i've entered. And always too far right and too far up.

I'm going to continue searching but does anyone have any other suggestions?

As a note I found a tool called NVTV and it works great to adjust my settings. I got it to fit perfectly on the screen. Would like to know how to do it in xorg.conf though. -- Regards, Shawn Holland Sandara Technologies Ltd. Ph. 1-902-405-3344 Fx. 1-902-405-3345

Shawn Holland wrote:

On Friday 19 May 2006 7:16 pm, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

On Friday 19 May 2006 17:06, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

On Thursday 18 May 2006 1:17 pm, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

What resolution/depth do you try to use now? I'm currently using Desktop 768x576 (Pal) x24 And Monitor shows in SaX2 as --->Vesa 800x600x60khz Sounds like a timing problem to me. Try looking for the right modelines for PAL online.

Well I've read about as much as my brain could hold on modelines. I just can't find a matching modeline (if thats whats required) that will get it centered.

I've found several online calculators and where I'm in Canada I guess we use the NTSC standard. The picture size looks like it would be correct but its alwasy off center. For ever modeline i've entered. And always too far right and too far up.

I'm going to continue searching but does anyone have any other suggestions?

Did you install the latest nVidia driver (not the one which comes with SuSE but the one from nVidia itself - the latest is 1-0-8756)? I had no end of problems with all my monitors (which behaved perfectly with all previous versions of SuSE) until I installed the latest driver after which all hassles disappeared. Cheers. -- All answers questioned here.

On Saturday 20 May 2006 18:28, Shawn Holland wrote:

On Saturday 20 May 2006 7:51 am, Basil Chupin wrote:

...

Did you install the latest nVidia driver (not the one which comes with SuSE but the one from nVidia itself - the latest is 1-0-8756)? I had no end of problems with all my monitors (which behaved perfectly with all previous versions of SuSE) until I installed the latest driver after which all hassles disappeared.

Cheers.

-- All answers questioned here.

I tried them today. I remember durring install when I did the online update the Download Nvidia drivers were there and I selected them. But now when I go into YOU they don't show up anywhere. Even in installed updates or all updates.

I tried to load nvidia for the driver in xorg.conf but it still shows driver nv in hwinfo.

So I tried downloading the run file from nvidia.com and when I tried to install it it failed durring compiling them for the kernel.

Its so frustrating when I know it will just work in Windows :) but I'll stick it out what ever it takes!

I'm starting to think I may just have problems with the video card as a whole. Cus I remember when it was in my older system it would lock up all the time in SuSE 9.2. And now that I've replaced the video in the older system it runs fine. And now this brand new box which I was just trying to setup as a multimedia box in the living room is locking up. And the only tv out card I had was this old gf2ti.

So I think I'll just go pick up a cheap nvidia with a composite out. See how that goes.

-- Regards,

Shawn Holland

-- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com Make sure you dont have a stale xorg.conf in your home directory. That one fooled me a few times when i was unattentive. It reads the "personal" one before any system wide confs. Also, look at the xorg logs to see what is loaded and not... --          /Rikard

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email   : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web     : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78  46 1C EE 56 >

On Saturday 20 May 2006 23:53, Carl Hartung wrote:

On Saturday 20 May 2006 14:17, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

Make sure you dont have a stale xorg.conf in your home directory. That one fooled me a few times when i was unattentive. It reads the "personal" one before any system wide confs.

Hi Rikard,

This one is news to me. Doesn't it have to, at the very least, 'live' under ~/.xorg or something?

Carl

-- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com

Not on my box... I had a system where i copied the /etx/X11/xorg.conf to /root to keep a original. And no matter how much i changed the /etc/X11 version it never fell through. After some 10 tries of editing i actually READ the logs that came out. And discovered that it reads the /root/xorg.conf first... and thus skip the one in /etc/X11 So i renamed the /root/xorg.conf version, and voila! All the new shiny settings i wanted suddenly worked... I dont know if its just me, but i felt kinda foolish at that point :) --          /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email   : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web     : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78  46 1C EE 56 >

Shawn Holland wrote:

On Saturday 20 May 2006 7:51 am, Basil Chupin wrote:

...

Did you install the latest nVidia driver (not the one which comes with SuSE but the one from nVidia itself - the latest is 1-0-8756)? I had no end of problems with all my monitors (which behaved perfectly with all previous versions of SuSE) until I installed the latest driver after which all hassles disappeared.

Cheers.

-- All answers questioned here.

I tried them today. I remember durring install when I did the online update the Download Nvidia drivers were there and I selected them. But now when I go into YOU they don't show up anywhere. Even in installed updates or all updates.

I tried to load nvidia for the driver in xorg.conf but it still shows driver nv in hwinfo.

You need to alter the "nv" to "nvidia" (without the quotes) under the Section "Device" in xorg.conf. But once you install the driver from nVidia you will be asked if you want to run sax2 and when you answer YES the xorg.conf file is automatically altered to the above.

So I tried downloading the run file from nvidia.com and when I tried to install it it failed durring compiling them for the kernel.

You need to install the kernel source and the glibc libraries in order for the compile to work. The simplest way to do is to go to the Utilities/Yast2 and then use the Selection option in the Software Management feature and tick the Kernel Development box - this will install everything required to be able to compile the nVidia driver. I assume that you know what you need to do to be able to have it compiled? Namely- * CTRL-ALT-F3 and login as root, * type in telinit 3 <Enter>, * login as root, then enter the directory where you have the nVidia run file sitting, * then sh NVIDIA.......run and answer the prompts, and the driver will be compiled, * the last question you will be asked is if you want to run sax2 to alter xorg.conf -- answer YES and the job is done, * finally type in telinit 5 and you will be taken back to the normal desktop environment from where you started after you booted into SuSE. Here you may go fiddling with the screen settings by using Personal Settings and/or the Yast2 utilities. A word of warning! IF you already have the nVidia driver installed installed by SuSE - and you will find out if this is so when you go to compile the driver and you get the message that the driver is already insalled and the compile cannot proceed - then you MUST uninstall the existing driver first before trying to compile the new one. To unistall the old driver type (without the quotes) - 'nvidia-installer --uninstall' <Enter> and the old one will be removed. Then compile the new one. (You do this also when a new driver becomes available from nVidia at a later date.) BTW, if you find that you get a nonsense screen after you install the new driver and SuSE is basically 'unavailable' to you 'cause you cannot read what's on the screen, reboot the computer and at the boot time prompt type in (without the quotes) 'init 3', login in as root and using mc (Midnight Commander) go and edit the xorg.conf file to replace 'nvidia' with the original 'nv' so that when you re-boot again you will at least get the original (readable) screen back. Cheers.

Its so frustrating when I know it will just work in Windows :) but I'll stick it out what ever it takes!

I'm starting to think I may just have problems with the video card as a whole. Cus I remember when it was in my older system it would lock up all the time in SuSE 9.2. And now that I've replaced the video in the older system it runs fine. And now this brand new box which I was just trying to setup as a multimedia box in the living room is locking up. And the only tv out card I had was this old gf2ti.

So I think I'll just go pick up a cheap nvidia with a composite out. See how that goes.

-- All answers questioned here.

On Sunday 21 May 2006 12:13 pm, Shawn Holland wrote:

WARNING: The NVIDIA GeForce2 Ti GPU installed in this system is supported through the NVIDIA legacy Linux graphics drivers. Please visit http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html for more information. The 1.0-8756 NVIDIA Linux graphics driver will ignore this GPU.

So I think that this may be the cause of all my problems in getting the nvidia drivers. Which will hopefully solve my possitioning problem :)

It's interesting that they would drop support for older video cards in newer drivers. But will see. So now to figure out what lagacy driver to get *sigh*

Ok well I've downloaded the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7676-pkg1.run which as per its readme file supports my card. Yet durring installation I get the same error that it does not support it and to use a legacy driver. I also get an error about nvidia.ko cannot be compiled because of an invalid kernel-source specified. I used both the sym link /usr/src/linux and the direct path /usr/src/linux-2.6.13-15/ I think I'm gonna start crying :P I've also downloaded 1.0-6111 which I remember using a while back successfully with this card. It failed. And the error for it is beyond me: make[4]: *** [/tmp/selfgz8388/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6111-pkg1/usr/src/nv/nv.o ] Error 1 make[3]: *** [_module_/tmp/selfgz8388/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-6111-pkg1/usr/src /nv] Error 2 make[2]: *** [modules] Error 2 NVIDIA: left KBUILD. nvidia.ko failed to build! make[1]: *** [module] Error 1 make: *** [module] Error 2 -> Error. ERROR: Unable to build the NVIDIA kernel module. ERROR: Installation has failed. Please see the file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for details. You may find suggestions on fixing installation problems in the README available on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com. I think I may be back to one of my original fixes. Buy a newer nvidia card. I'de like to think I'm not new to linux but man this is trying me. -- Regards, Shawn Holland

Ken Schneider wrote:

On Sun, 2006-05-21 at 12:38 -0300, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

On Sunday 21 May 2006 12:13 pm, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

WARNING: The NVIDIA GeForce2 Ti GPU installed in this system is supported through the NVIDIA legacy Linux graphics drivers. Please visit http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html for more information. The 1.0-8756 NVIDIA Linux graphics driver will ignore this GPU.

So I think that this may be the cause of all my problems in getting the nvidia drivers. Which will hopefully solve my possitioning problem :)

It's interesting that they would drop support for older video cards in newer drivers. But will see. So now to figure out what lagacy driver to get *sigh*

Ok well I've downloaded the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7676-pkg1.run which as per its readme file supports my card.

Yet durring installation I get the same error that it does not support it and to use a legacy driver.

I also get an error about nvidia.ko cannot be compiled because of an invalid kernel-source specified. I used both the sym link /usr/src/linux and the direct path /usr/src/linux-2.6.13-15/

I think I'm gonna start crying :P

Make sure that you also (as root):

cd /usr/src/linux make cloneconfig make prepare-all

before trying to compile the Nvidia driver.

I have a TNT2M64. You must use the 1.0-7174. http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-7174.html Read the SuSE NVIDIA Installer HOWTO ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/XFree86/nvidia-installer-HOWTO before downloading the driver.* ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/XFree86/nvidia-installer-HOWTO There is a scrip for creating the devices on the driver. Put it on /etc/rc.d/boot.local.

Ken Schneider wrote:

On Sun, 2006-05-21 at 12:38 -0300, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

On Sunday 21 May 2006 12:13 pm, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

WARNING: The NVIDIA GeForce2 Ti GPU installed in this system is supported through the NVIDIA legacy Linux graphics drivers. Please visit http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html for more information. The 1.0-8756 NVIDIA Linux graphics driver will ignore this GPU.

So I think that this may be the cause of all my problems in getting the nvidia drivers. Which will hopefully solve my possitioning problem :)

It's interesting that they would drop support for older video cards in newer drivers. But will see. So now to figure out what lagacy driver to get *sigh* Ok well I've downloaded the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-7676-pkg1.run which as per its readme file supports my card.

Yet durring installation I get the same error that it does not support it and to use a legacy driver.

I also get an error about nvidia.ko cannot be compiled because of an invalid kernel-source specified. I used both the sym link /usr/src/linux and the direct path /usr/src/linux-2.6.13-15/

I think I'm gonna start crying :P

Make sure that you also (as root):

cd /usr/src/linux make cloneconfig make prepare-all

before trying to compile the Nvidia driver.

Interesting. I've never had to do this. Is this necessary only because of the legacy driver involved? Cheers. -- All answers questioned here.

On Sunday 21 May 2006 3:04 pm, Alvaro Kuolas wrote:

I have a TNT2M64. You must use the 1.0-7174. http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-7174.html

Read the SuSE NVIDIA Installer HOWTO ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/XFree86/nvidia-installer-H OWTO before downloading the driver.* ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/XFree86/nvidia-installer-H OWTO

There is a scrip for creating the devices on the driver. Put it on /etc/rc.d/boot.local.

To all who was watching this thread. The above was the solution to compile the nvidia driver. As per the documentation found on SuSE's webpage you MUST use 1.0-7174: ...snip... 21. Support for legacy chipsets (GeForce2 and older) nVidia dropped support for legacy chipsets with release 1.0-7664. Currently these are the following: NVIDIA chip name Device PCI ID ------------------------------- ------------------------------- RIVA TNT 0x0020 RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro 0x0028 RIVA TNT2 Ultra 0x0029 Vanta/Vanta LT 0x002C RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro 0x002D Aladdin TNT2 0x00A0 GeForce 256 0x0100 GeForce DDR 0x0101 Quadro 0x0103 GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro 0x0150 GeForce2 Ti 0x0151 GeForce2 Ultra 0x0152 Quadro2 Pro 0x0153 If you're affected by this use release 1.0-7174 or older. --- I've treid older but none of them worked :) It would be great if YOU would be smart enough to understand the above and have the steps listed in the howto automated. But its not SuSE's fault. I blame this one on nvidia :) But after successful completion of the compile of 1.0-7174 I still could not get SaX2 to load the nvidia drivers. I used the SaX2 -m 0 nvidia. It loads SaX2 and the picture is all black (but looks centered :) ) but there is no image at all on it. I will try a little bit more today and review the logs and maybe do a fresh install and do all the steps listed in the howto incase I f'd something up with my constant adjusting this trying that.... etc... If I still can't get it to work I'll just stop and tomorrow first thing I'll buy a newer nvidia with composite out :) -- Regards, Shawn Holland Sandara Technologies Ltd. Ph. 1-902-405-3344 Fx. 1-902-405-3345

Shawn Holland wrote:

On Sunday 21 May 2006 3:04 pm, Alvaro Kuolas wrote:

...

I have a TNT2M64. You must use the 1.0-7174. http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_ia32_1.0-7174.html

Read the SuSE NVIDIA Installer HOWTO ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/XFree86/nvidia-installer-H OWTO before downloading the driver.* ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/supplementary/X/XFree86/nvidia-installer-H OWTO

There is a scrip for creating the devices on the driver. Put it on /etc/rc.d/boot.local.

To all who was watching this thread. The above was the solution to compile the nvidia driver. As per the documentation found on SuSE's webpage you MUST use 1.0-7174:

...snip...

21. Support for legacy chipsets (GeForce2 and older) nVidia dropped support for legacy chipsets with release 1.0-7664. Currently these are the following:

NVIDIA chip name Device PCI ID ------------------------------- ------------------------------- RIVA TNT 0x0020 RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro 0x0028 RIVA TNT2 Ultra 0x0029 Vanta/Vanta LT 0x002C RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro 0x002D Aladdin TNT2 0x00A0 GeForce 256 0x0100 GeForce DDR 0x0101 Quadro 0x0103 GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro 0x0150 GeForce2 Ti 0x0151 GeForce2 Ultra 0x0152 Quadro2 Pro 0x0153

If you're affected by this use release 1.0-7174 or older.

---

I've treid older but none of them worked :)

It would be great if YOU would be smart enough to understand the above and have the steps listed in the howto automated. But its not SuSE's fault. I blame this one on nvidia :)

But after successful completion of the compile of 1.0-7174 I still could not get SaX2 to load the nvidia drivers.

Forget about letting Sax2 to adjust the xorg.conf file - go in there manually and charge the driver to "nvidia".

I used the SaX2 -m 0 nvidia. It loads SaX2 and the picture is all black (but looks centered :) ) but there is no image at all on it.

I will try a little bit more today and review the logs and maybe do a fresh install and do all the steps listed in the howto incase I f'd something up with my constant adjusting this trying that.... etc...

If I still can't get it to work I'll just stop and tomorrow first thing I'll buy a newer nvidia with composite out :)

Cheers. -- All answers questioned here.

On Monday 22 May 2006 8:32 pm, Alvaro Kuolas wrote:

Shawn Holland wrote:

...

--- I've treid older but none of them worked :)

It would be great if YOU would be smart enough to understand the above and have the steps listed in the howto automated. But its not SuSE's fault. I blame this one on nvidia :)

But after successful completion of the compile of 1.0-7174 I still could not get SaX2 to load the nvidia drivers.

I used the SaX2 -m 0 nvidia. It loads SaX2 and the picture is all black (but looks centered :) ) but there is no image at all on it.

I will try a little bit more today and review the logs and maybe do a fresh install and do all the steps listed in the howto incase I f'd something up with my constant adjusting this trying that.... etc...

If I still can't get it to work I'll just stop and tomorrow first thing I'll buy a newer nvidia with composite out :)

Look the patches on the nV Forums. (especially for the kernel 2.6.16)

On SuSE 10.0 you must create the devices every time you boot the system. That's why moving the script for creating the devices to /etc/rc.d/boot.local it's a dirty hack... but works :)

I'm sorry but all this work to install a video card driver seems a bit excessive to me. Its a video driver. Its not rocket science but it sure seems to be just as hard to do. I've already bought a new nvidia card. And wouldn't my luck follow me. The svideo out to my tv is fuzzy. I think its time to do what all those commercials say. Give up my day job and become a trades person :) Good luck to anyone else trying to use a still usefull nv card that cost over $200 at the time on SuSE. Can you tell I'm getting bitter? -- Regards, Shawn Holland

On Tuesday 23 May 2006 12:05 am, Carl Hartung wrote:

Is the fuzzy image at least centered now? :-)

Well I havn't decided to install it in SuSE yet because I wanted to now figure out the fuzzy problem. But yes on POST its centered!

Do you have a diagnostics / calibration image available to confirm the display settings?

The display is fuzzy even durring POST. Its not an OS / Driver issue.

Do you have the right size and impedance cable?

Not knowing much about it I can't answer that. I did pay 30 bucks for it and its about 3 ft long and its svideo to av jack. With gold plated ends it says! Thats good right? Oxygen Free, Solid Copper Conductors, Multi-Shield Design .. as per the packaging.

Have you tried swapping out for new or shorter cables and/or removing any splitters, extenders, etc.?

The cord is brand new as is the video card. There are not splitters / extenders. Its one straight cord from svideo to av. Funny thing is the other card just had composate out and I was using a cheap $5 cable with a clear (but off center) image.

Have you tried mild soapy water on the screen? :-)

There is dust on the screen :)

...

Good luck to anyone else trying to use a still usefull nv card that cost over $200 at the time on SuSE.

I once stretched out the useful life of a $300(?)US rev. 1 14" NEC MultiSync (EGA) monitor to 15 years. That still worked out to twenty bucks a year. How old is the earlier card? Did you have it working correctly under 10.0?... under 9.3?

Well its a GForce2 TI Pro 64mb. I bought it about 4-5 years ago maybe. At 50 bucks a year I could have a whole family of gf4mx440's hooked up to all my tv's!

...

Can you tell I'm getting bitter?

At least you're not "gonna cry"... I hope? :-)

Carl

Me cry? Never. -- Regards, Shawn Holland

On Monday 22 May 2006 23:58, Carl Hartung wrote:

What's the model number of the card you bought?

Addendum concerning the 'sharp' but off-center older card: I searched Google for "GeForce2 TI Pro 64" to see if I could find some engineering documentation and located these similar/comparably named OEM cards: The MSI GeForce2 Ti Pro-VT(G) graphic card uses the nVidia GeForce2 Ti chipset. It includes 64 DDR memory. It is capable of delivering 1 billion pixels/sec. The card features TV-out and Video in. It connects through the 4xAGP port. ASUS GeForce 2 Ti 200, (64 MB) AGP Graphic Card Powered by the NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ti 200 graphics processing unit (GPU), the ASUS AGP video card delivers not only cutting-edge graphics performance but also image fidelity regardless of the CPU (central processing unit) your system is using. Experience high image quality for games and video with this excellent video card. According to this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_2 The possible NVidia brand model numbers are:

(Performance ranking, slowest to fastest) [1]

* GeForce2 MX100 [2] * GeForce2 Go * GeForce2 MX200 * GeForce2 MX * GeForce2 MX400 * GeForce2 GTS * GeForce2 GTS (64 MiB) [3] * GeForce2 Pro * GeForce2 Ti * GeForce2 Ultra

As you can see, there's a GeForce2 Pro and a GeForce2 Ti, but no "TI Pro". I'm not having much luck nailing down a card with the exact name you supplied and the distinction could be important. Is the older card an NVidia brand or other? I'd like to look up the engineering data on it, if possible. regards, Carl

On Tuesday 23 May 2006 12:58 am, Carl Hartung wrote:

On Monday 22 May 2006 23:16, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

Well I havn't decided to install it in SuSE yet because I wanted to now figure out the fuzzy problem. But yes on POST its centered!

What is the output during POST? I mean, how can you really tell it's 'fuzzy'? Is there a test/calibration grid or text and a logo or something? What are the odds that the card has to be calibrated with software before being put into service? Does it say anything in the manual about that?

Are you sure you're allowing enough time for the tubes to warm up? :-)

What's the model number of the card you bought?

Carl

I answered some questions in my other email. But as for manual it really didn't come with anything more then a windows install instruction manual :) The exact model is 3DFR4000. Its a BFG mx 4000 128meg 2/4/8x agp -- Regards, Shawn Holland Sandara Technologies Ltd. Ph. 1-902-405-3344 Fx. 1-902-405-3345

Shawn Holland wrote:

On Tuesday 23 May 2006 1:34 am, Carl Hartung wrote:

...

On Monday 22 May 2006 23:58, Carl Hartung wrote:

...

What's the model number of the card you bought?

Addendum concerning the 'sharp' but off-center older card:

I searched Google for "GeForce2 TI Pro 64" to see if I could find some engineering documentation and located these similar/comparably named OEM cards:

The MSI GeForce2 Ti Pro-VT(G) graphic card uses the nVidia GeForce2 Ti chipset. It includes 64 DDR memory. It is capable of delivering 1 billion pixels/sec. The card features TV-out and Video in. It connects through the 4xAGP port.

ASUS GeForce 2 Ti 200, (64 MB) AGP Graphic Card Powered by the NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ti 200 graphics processing unit (GPU), the ASUS AGP video card delivers not only cutting-edge graphics performance but also image fidelity regardless of the CPU (central processing unit) your system is using. Experience high image quality for games and video with this excellent video card.

According to this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_2

The possible NVidia brand model numbers are:

...

(Performance ranking, slowest to fastest) [1]

* GeForce2 MX100 [2] * GeForce2 Go * GeForce2 MX200 * GeForce2 MX * GeForce2 MX400 * GeForce2 GTS * GeForce2 GTS (64 MiB) [3] * GeForce2 Pro * GeForce2 Ti * GeForce2 Ultra

As you can see, there's a GeForce2 Pro and a GeForce2 Ti, but no "TI Pro". I'm not having much luck nailing down a card with the exact name you supplied and the distinction could be important. Is the older card an NVidia brand or other? I'd like to look up the engineering data on it, if possible.

regards,

Carl

I'm looking at the card right now and its a G2TiVX Pro-VT made by MSI.

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/vga/vga/pro_vga_detail.php?UID=51

The card was prety much top of the line when I bought it and still can perform quite exceptionally. It has S-Video out / in and composite out. Which is why I didn't want to just put it asside. But from all the emails / documentation I've read its been quite difficult to get the legacy nvidia drivers installed under suse 10.0. The nv SuSE drivers worked but obviously no GL and some think it may be the source of my off center image problem because it runs fine under any tty and durring POST just not in X. Again I was able to center the picutre just fine with NVTV in X. But this talks directly to the card and can cause some unwanted problems. And of course no GL.

The new one I bought was a BFG Gforce MX 4000 128meg 2/4/8x agp. And its clearly not a good picture. Its quite distorted. Fuzzy was the easiest thing to say about the picture. I see a bunch of noise in the picture. The picture quality of the Ti was much better. Just like normal TV. There was no noise in the picture at all. This one looks like its being put through a cable thats broken. Or sitting on a bunch of electrical wires :)

There are a few other things to consider as well. I tried to find out the voltage for the card and it seems to, from what I read, support a 1.5v. The motherboard I have is an asrock k8upgrade board which puts out only 1.5v. So I thought that the voltage may be whats messing it up. But I think its not.

You seem quite intent on fixing my problems. I'll have to send you a cookie or a beer if/when I finally get a simple media computer up and running.

I'm gonna read the mobo manual for voltage specs and find out more about the card. Do some more reading and try another new cable and maybe even a different TV to see what the problem is. Worse comes to worse. I'll just bring this card back and get a fx5200 and try that. I just got this mx4000 because I read it was better then the fx5200 and I just happen to find it for the same price.

You (and everyone) should look at this: ATI Knowledge Base https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=18872 737-18872: ATI AGP Graphics Cards - AGP Compliance Details It's really good explaining how AGP works.

On Tuesday 23 May 2006 10:03 pm, Carl Hartung wrote:

On Tuesday 23 May 2006 11:00, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

...I'm not looking for a massive gaming system. Just a simple media box that can play mame :) video / sound on my TV.

The manual for your original card suggests it uses a (Windows only, of course) "MSI Live VGA BIOS" Internet-based utility to keep the card's BIOS current. I don't see a separate flash utility or any downloadable BIOS images, so I'm sure that's the only way to update it. :-/ It would sure be nice to know the card is sporting the 'latest and greatest' BIOS.

I'll assume your questions / statements were made for my MSI G2TiVX Pro-VT.

Also, have you experimented with the command line based 'nvidia-settings' utility? From the .txt user guide (available from the driver download page):

" NVIDIA-SETTINGS USER GUIDE ... 1. Introduction

The `nvidia-settings` utility is a tool for configuring the NVIDIA Linux graphics driver. It operates by communicating with the NVIDIA X driver, querying and updating state as appropriate. This communication is done with the NV-CONTROL X extension.

Values such as brightness and gamma, XVideo attributes, temperature, and OpenGL settings can be queried and configured via nvidia-settings.

When nvidia-settings starts, it reads the current settings from its configuration file and sends those settings to the X server. Then, it displays a graphical user interface (GUI) interface for configuring the current settings. When nvidia-settings exits, it queries the current settings from the X server and saves them to the configuration file."

I wasn't aware this existed.

I haven't had time to study everything in detail but I'd be very surprised if there weren't a (DC offset) adjustment available to center the 'TV Out' (S-video) display. The M$ counterpart utility provides both an x and y axis centering adjustment using up and down arrows like those in SaX2.

Is my reading of the documentation correct that this card is designed to drive either a monitor /or/ a 'TV' but not both at the same time?

Carl

I have never tried to use both at the same time. I use to just switch between the two. And this card use to work just fine with the nvidia drivers back in 9.2 I honestly believe the problem is in the nv / SuSE driver. If I could get the legacy driver to install it most likely would work. As for my 'fuzzy' image on the new mx 4000 it may just be the cable. I'm going to try it on a different tv with a different cable that is known to work. I'll let you know how it goes. If the image is clear then I can stick with the mx 4000 to make my media computer. The G2TiVX Pro-VT will be used for a less discriminating computer :) -- Regards, Shawn Holland

On Wednesday 24 May 2006 2:58 am, Carl Hartung wrote:

1. From the 7174 README.txt file: Before beginning the driver installation, you should exit... X... [and] set your default run level so you will... not boot directly into X.

Q: Before you ran the installer, did you log out of your desktop, switch from the login greeter to a console (Ctl+Alt+F1) log in as root and drop the system to runlevel 3 to shut down X? Did you then edit /etc/inittab to reset the default runlevel to 3?

Yes I switched to runlevel 3. But no I did not change my inittab to runlevel 3.

2. Also from the 7174 README.txt file: The NVIDIA kernel module has a kernel interface layer which must be compiled specifically for the configuration and version of the kernel you are running...

Q: Do you know which kernel interface was selected for your system? Was it a precompiled one or did the installer have to custom compile it on your system?

The installer had to custom compile it for me.

3. From SUSE's nvidia-installer-HOWTO.html: On SUSE LINUX 10.0 you need to add the following entries to /etc/udev/static_devices.txt:

nvidia0 c 195 0 666 nvidia1 c 195 1 666 nvidia2 c 195 2 666 nvidia3 c 195 3 666 nvidia4 c 195 4 666 nvidia5 c 195 5 666 nvidia6 c 195 6 666 nvidia7 c 195 7 666 nvidiactl c 195 255 666

Q: Did you add these devices to /etc/udev/static_devices.txt? [Note for 10.1 users... there are newer requirements in this area spelled out in the same file.]

Yes

4. In re: compiling and installing the module... You wrote "... after successful completion of the compile of 1.0-7174 I still could not get SaX2 to load the nvidia drivers." Basil offered two comments: "Something not right here... I have NEVER had a problem with paths not being correct." and "Forget about letting Sax2 adjust the xorg.conf file - go in there manually and charge the driver to "nvidia"."

Q: Did you investigate the source of the path discrepancy you experienced and can you now explain it? Can you fill out my understanding (succinctly) of any problems you encountered while building this module? #5 also pertains to xorg.conf:

This has always been the case since I've used SuSE with the nvidia driver. I didn't think much of the path not being right as I've always had to supply the --kernel-source-path. When compiling the 7174 I didn't have any problems compiling it once I read the help files :)

5. From the 7174 README.txt file:

Find the relevant Device section [in xorg.conf] and replace the line

Driver "nv" (or Driver "vesa")

with

Driver "nvidia"

In the Module section, make sure you have:

Yes

Load "glx"

You should also remove the following lines:

Load "dri" Load "GLcore"

if they exist.

No, This I didn't check for.

There are also numerous options that can be added to the X config file to fine-tune the NVIDIA X driver. Please see Appendix D for a complete list of these options.

Q: Have you followed these steps exactly?... including examining Appendix D for any errata, workarounds or adjustments?

This step I didn't look at.

6. Alvaro wrote "Look the patches on the nV Forums. (especially for the kernel 2.6.16)".

Q: More a comment than a question: I don't know what patches Alvaro is referring to or exactly where the nV forums are, but I think it's worth some time investigating. If you *did* investigate, please elucidate. :-)

I had given up at this point :(

OK, I think that's enough for now. I'm really looking forward to learning how thoroughly you studied all this documentation! ;-)

regards,

Carl

I'm inclined to reload SuSE and follow the documentation throughly to see if it will work. I will do that today and let you know what my results are. -- Regards, Shawn Holland

On Wednesday 24 May 2006 11:53 am, Carl Hartung wrote:

Hi Shawn,

On Wednesday 24 May 2006 06:45, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

Yes I switched to runlevel 3. But no I did not change my inittab to runlevel 3.

This *could* just be a precaution against inconvenient "black screens" caused by loading an incorrect or wrongly configured module. It could /also/ be that dropping to runlevel 3 *after* incorrectly initializing the card may complicate the installation. Since the default runlevel becomes irrelevant after the module has been correctly configured and installed, I think the precaution is reasonable.

...

The installer had to custom compile it for me.

and

...

When compiling the 7174 I didn't have any problems compiling it once I read the help files :)

Did you see anything unusual at all during the build? Any warnings or error messages that you haven't seen during previous (and successful) installations? It isn't like there's an md5sum you can check to confirm the module is valid... do you know of any tests to verify the integrity of the module short of just loading and trying it out?

...

I had given up at this point :(

I don't blame you one bit! :-) Even with the excellent 'how-to' and 'readme' and many online resources the process still leaves one feeling like a detective in a board game picking up clues here and there to solve a story. Hopefully, I haven't overlooked anything in my last 'Q&A' style post... I can't test if it works without a board, so you get to be the guinea pig!

...

I'm inclined to reload SuSE and follow the documentation throughly to see if it will work. I will do that today and let you know what my results are.

Good luck!

Carl

Ok here's what I've done. Reloaded SuSE 10.0. Did all the online updates (excluding the nvidia driver) Installed the Kernel and C++ Dev packages. I set inittab to 3. Set the following: /etc/udev/static_devices.txt: nvidia0 c 195 0 666 nvidia1 c 195 1 666 nvidia2 c 195 2 666 nvidia3 c 195 3 666 nvidia4 c 195 4 666 nvidia5 c 195 5 666 nvidia6 c 195 6 666 nvidia7 c 195 7 666 nvidiactl c 195 255 666 Also as per SuSE's HowTo I've removed the following: /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia I then did: cd /usr/src/linux make cloneconfig make prepare-all Then I compiled the nvidia drivers using the --kernel-source-path /usr/src/linux And you can verifiy that is correct by using rpm -q kernel-source --scripts So the nvidia driver was successful :) Now the fun part. Setting up Xorg.conf I have made the following adjustments: Section "Device" ... Driver "nvidia" Option "RenderAccel" "True" Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV" Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M" Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "On" Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE" ... EndSection Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "true" EndSection Now it does start up just fine If I set it to run off of a monitor. hwinfo --gfxcard It showed nvidia for the X drivers. That was the first time I ran it. But now when I run it it always shows NV again ... argh... But using SaX2 -m 0=nvidia I get the nvidia splash page and all the nvidia options. But when I try to start X with the above Xorg.conf it goes to the composite diaplay but its just a black window there is nothing displayed. I know this is true because its on one of my AV ports which if there is no signal it will display AV1 at the top. I have it hooked up to a Monitor as well just to watch. And it boots off the monitor then when runlevel 5 is reached it switches over to the TV because the monitor turns off and the av1 shows there's a signal. But again just black (but its nice and centered :) ). I set it to load the monitor to try the nvidia-settings utility but It only detects the CRT for the connected displays. So I've almost taken a step backwards! I got the driver installed but now its not showing the driver in hwinfo and nothing displays to composite. As a note I also tried the SVidio out and its the same thing as Composite. What is interesting is that in SaX2 -m 0=nvidia it has all the options for tv standard and tvoutformat. But I'll have to do more reading to make sure I put the correct values in there and what does and doesn't need to be filled out. -- Regards, Shawn Holland Sandara Technologies Ltd. Ph. 1-902-405-3344 Fx. 1-902-405-3345

On Wednesday 24 May 2006 5:34 pm, Carl Hartung wrote:

First, I've gotta say "What a great effort!"... makes me wish I had the hardware.

Thanks, it was your modivation that made me try it again :)

Did you also:

in the Module section, insert:

Load   "glx"

and remove the following lines:       Load  "dri" Load  "GLcore"

if they exist?

Carl

Yes I forgot to mention I did those steps as well. -- Regards, Shawn Holland Sandara Technologies Ltd. Ph. 1-902-405-3344 Fx. 1-902-405-3345

On Wednesday 24 May 2006 10:04 pm, Carl Hartung wrote:

On Wednesday 24 May 2006 20:50, Shawn Holland wrote:

...

Thanks, it was your modivation that made me try it again :)

I suspect it was mostly already there... maybe just in need of a little nudge ;-) So, is it working now? (fingers crossed!) :)

Unfortunately no its not. Its where I last left it. I had to go out so I couldn't continue working on it. It now tries to go to composite (or svideo) but nothing displays on the output. Just a black box (thats centered!!!) but nothing.

If not, I'd be very interested in seeing the logs and your xorg.conf ... if you'd like you can send them direct.

Tomorrow I will review the logs and I will try some more -- Regards, Shawn Holland