resolution problems after login

[chip79]

I'll start off by saying that i'm new to linux, but not new to computers or programming. I recently installed FC 7 (64bit) on and intel box i have at work. Most things are working fine. I have a Gforce FX5500 (256MB) video card in it with two monitors hooked up. After some issues i was able to get both monitors working, but i'm having problems getting the LCD working at it's native resolution.

It's plugged in through the vga (d-sub) connector.
it's a Dell 2405FPW, native resolution of 1920x1200

When Fedora gets to the graphical log in page, the resolution and refresh are correct. However, when i log in the resolution kicks back to 1600x1200. If i use the nvidia control panel i can switch it back to 1920x1200 and apply it, and it works.

I think this is a simple problem, but i just don't know what is causing it. At the end of the xorg.0.log nvidia switches the resolution to 1600x1200.

It looks like something is telling the nvidia driver to switch the resolution to 1600x1200, but i can't figure out what. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

the xorg.conf follows--------------------------------------------------------------

# Xorg configuration created by livna-config-display

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "glx"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
Option "AIGLX" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from data in "/etc/sysconfig/keyboard"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "DELL 2405FPW"
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
ModeLine "1920x1200" 154.0 1920 1680 1440 1280 1200 1050 900 800
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "True"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce FX 5500"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "True"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "LoadKernelModule" "True"
# Option "ExactModeTimingsDVI" "True"
Option "AllowDDCCI" "False"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "True"
Option "ConstantDPI" "True"
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "metamodes" "CRT-0: 1920x1200 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last bit of the log looks like this---------------------------------------------

(II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "CRT-0:1920x1200+0+0"
(II) Loading extension NV-GLX
(II) NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA 3D Acceleration Architecture Initialized
(II) NVIDIA(0): Using the NVIDIA 2D acceleration architecture
(==) NVIDIA(0): Backing store disabled
(==) NVIDIA(0): Silken mouse enabled
(**) Option "dpms"
(**) NVIDIA(0): DPMS enabled
(II) Loading extension NV-CONTROL
(==) RandR enabled
(II) Initializing built-in extension MIT-SHM
(II) Initializing built-in extension XInputExtension
(II) Initializing built-in extension XTEST
(II) Initializing built-in extension XKEYBOARD
(II) Initializing built-in extension XC-APPGROUP
(II) Initializing built-in extension XAccessControlExtension
(II) Initializing built-in extension SECURITY
(II) Initializing built-in extension XINERAMA
(II) Initializing built-in extension XFIXES
(II) Initializing built-in extension XFree86-Bigfont
(II) Initializing built-in extension RENDER
(II) Initializing built-in extension RANDR
(II) Initializing built-in extension COMPOSITE
(II) Initializing built-in extension DAMAGE
(II) Initializing built-in extension XEVIE
(II) Initializing extension GLX
(**) Option "CoreKeyboard"
(**) Keyboard0: Core Keyboard
(**) Option "Protocol" "standard"
(**) Keyboard0: Protocol: standard
(**) Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
(**) Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
(**) Keyboard0: XkbRules: "xorg"
(**) Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
(**) Keyboard0: XkbModel: "pc105"
(**) Option "XkbLayout" "us"
(**) Keyboard0: XkbLayout: "us"
(**) Option "CustomKeycodes" "off"
(**) Keyboard0: CustomKeycodes disabled
(**) Option "Protocol" "auto"
(**) Mouse0: Device: "/dev/input/mice"
(**) Mouse0: Protocol: "auto"
(**) Option "CorePointer"
(**) Mouse0: Core Pointer
(**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
(**) Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
(**) Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
(**) Mouse0: ZAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
(**) Mouse0: Buttons: 9
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Mouse0" (type: MOUSE)
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Keyboard0" (type: KEYBOARD)
(--) Mouse0: PnP-detected protocol: "ExplorerPS/2"
(II) Mouse0: ps2EnableDataReporting: succeeded
(II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "1600x1200"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Add higher resolution in Modes line of xorg.conf file.

SubSection "Display"
		Depth     24
		Modes    "1920x1200" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

[chip79]

I dropped into work to see if this would work, I thought i had tried that, but it seems that nvidia interface takes out that line or something. Anyway i put the "1920x1200" back in the modes line. Same thing. The log in screen is at 1920x1200, but after i login the screen goes black (displays the nvidia symbol on the CRT monitor) then opens up gnome/x at 1600x1200.

I'm curious, what is the option 'metamode'?

Is there any other file that specifies a resolution to use besides xorg.conf? I guess the other question is if the graphical login screen is part of X or not? In other words, is x where the problem is starting? I have read a lot of posts by people that were having problems getting wide format monitors working, I pulled the user manual for the monitor and it specifically states that it can handle

"vesa 1920x1200 Horz 74kHz vert 60Hz pixel clock: 154 Horz/Vert polarity +/-"

it has a note that at "1680x1200 and 1920x1200 require vertical refresh to be 60Hz"

I know the card supports it, since it is running at 1920x1200 when displaying the login screen. The "Option "AllowDDCCI" "False"" should stop the driver from using the EDID (if i read the nvidia manual correctly), although it says:

(II) NVIDIA(0): Display Device found referenced in MetaMode: CRT-0
(II) NVIDIA(0): Assigned Display Device: CRT-0
(II) NVIDIA(0): Validated modes:
(II) NVIDIA(0): "CRT-0:1920x1200+0+0"
(II) NVIDIA(0): Virtual screen size determined to be 1920 x 1200
(--) NVIDIA(0): DPI set to (93, 92); computed from "UseEdidDpi" X config
(--) NVIDIA(0): option


So it looks like it is using the EDID anyway.

I think i'll have to write a how too for FC7 and the Dell 2405FPW if i ever get it working.

[chip79]

I have a possible fix for my own problem, but i need to know how to implement it.

I can manually open up the "nvidia-settings" application, change the resolution to 1920x1200 hit 'apply' and it works. So, all i have to do is have a script that runs that same command after gnome starts up.

Problem 1: Where would i put that command? It looked like rc.d would be the place, so i tried putting just "exec nvidia-settings" to see if it would pop up at start, but that didn't work.

Problem 2: Although "nvidia-settings" will take command line arguments, i can't find one that refers to the resolution. I would assume it has one since the gui for it does. I've read the man page on it, but can't find anything for resolution.

[chip79]

After at least 10 hours of working on this i got fixed. On the bright side i learned a lot about how Fedora starts, but in case anyone else has the same issue, i'll post my solution.

The issue actually stems from gnome. I found a vague reference on one of the ubuntu forums to ~/.gconf/desktop/gnome/screen/0/ in my case it was:

file:///root/.gconf/desktop/gnome/screen/Tank/0/%25gconf.xml
this is the root account, and 'Tank' is the computers name. I think the '0' is for the screen (0 is the first screen, 1 is the second).

In that xml file a default refresh rate and resolution are specified. I changed the refresh to 60 (has to be for the Dell 2405FPW at 1920x1200) and the resolution to 1920x1200. I'm guessing that i'll have to make sure this file is set up correctly for each user, but at least i got it fixed.

If someone has the same problem, hopefully they will find this post.

[devils casper]

Well Done !
Thanx for posting solution.