MacBook Intel GMA950 w/ Dell 2407WFP monitor - display problems

I'm experiencing some display problems when using the latest
version  
of X.org on Gentoo with my MacBook. I've followed the
Gentoo-MacBook  
Wiki Talk page on how to get DRM working by compiling the
kernel  
without DRM support, and then installing x11-drm with
portage. I've  
also installed the xf86-video-i810 driver, and I must have
done  
something right, because glxinfo reports direct rendering as
on. But  
that's one of the few things that /is/ working correctly.
Here are  
the relevant sections of my xorg.conf file:

Section "Device"
         Identifier      "Built-in Device"
         Driver          "i810"
         Screen          0
         Option          "MonitorLayout"
"CRT,LFP"
         BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
         Identifier      "External Device"
         Driver          "i810"
         Screen          1
         Option          "MonitorLayout"
"CRT,LFP"
         #BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
         BusID           "PCI:0:2:1"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
         Identifier      "Built-in Monitor"
         Option          "DPMS"
         HorizSync       28-64
         VertRefresh     43-60
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
         Identifier      "External Monitor"
	VendorName	"DEL"
	ModelName	"DELL 2407WFP"
         Option          "DPMS"
         HorizSync       30.0-83.0
         VertRefresh     56.0-76.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
         Identifier      "Built-in Screen"
         Device          "Built-in Device"
         Monitor         "Built-in Monitor"
         DefaultDepth    24
         SubSection "Display"
                 Depth           24
                 Modes           "1280x800"
"1024x768" "800x600"
         EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
         Identifier      "External Screen"
         Device          "External Device"
         Monitor         "External Monitor"
         DefaultDepth    24
         SubSection "Display"
                 Depth           24
                 Modes           "1920x1200"
"1600x1200" "1680x1050"  
"1024x768" "800x600"
         EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
         Identifier "Dual Layout"
         Screen 0 "Built-in Screen"
         Screen 1 "External Screen" Above
"Built-in Screen"

         Option "Clone" "On"
         #Option "Xinerama" "On"

         InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
	InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

When I start X using this configuration, I get the following
output:

X Window System Version 1.3.0
Release Date: 19 April 2007
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 1.3
Build Operating System: UNKNOWN
Current Operating System: Linux localhost
2.6.22-gentoo-r9-mactel #4  
SMP PREEMPT Sat Dec 1 04:56:41 PST 2007 i686
Build Date: 28 November 2007
         Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
         to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default
setting,
         (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II)
informational,
         (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented,
(??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sat
Dec  1 21:34:48 2007
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
(WW) intel: No matching Device section for instance (BusID
PCI:0:2:1)  
found
(II) Module already built-in
(II) Module already built-in
(II) Module already built-in
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/TTF/,
removing from  
list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/OTF,
removing from  
list!

X displays on both monitors in clone mode, with my built-in
screen at  
1280x800, while my external monitor is at some really low
resolution  
(I'm not exactly sure, but it's probably somewhere around
1024x768).  
And that's my main problem: no matter what resolutions I
enter into  
my xorg.conf file, my monitors don't change their
resolutions (even  
if I put 640x480 as the only option). In fact, I get the
same result  
if I don't use any xorg.conf file at all.

Using xrandr is bit more promising. Running it without any
arguments  
produces the following output:
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 864, maximum
1920 x 1920
VGA disconnected (normal left inverted right)
LVDS connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right)
286mm x 178mm
    1280x800       59.9*+
    1024x768       60.0
    800x600        60.3
    640x480        59.9
TMDS-1 connected 1152x864+0+0 (normal left inverted right)
0mm x 0mm
    1920x1200      60.0 +
    1600x1200      59.9
    1680x1050      60.0
    1280x1024      75.0     59.9
    1152x864       74.8*
    1024x768       75.1     60.0
    800x600        75.0     60.3
    640x480        75.0     60.0     59.9
    720x400        70.1

I can successfully change my resolution on the Dell monitor
to  
1680x1050 -- definitely an improvement. But when I try to
change to  
1920x1200 or 1600x1200, my monitor goes blank, and then
displays the  
following:
"Out of range signal.
Cannot display this video mode,
change computer display input to 1920x1200 
60Hz"

Those display modes work fine on OS X and Windows XP, so
there's  
nothing wrong with the monitor or graphics card. I'm really
a newbie  
in this stuff, so yeah... I would appreciate any help on
this. Thanks  
in advance.
-- 
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On 19:42 Sat 01 Dec     , Joe wrote:
> I'm experiencing some display problems when using the
latest version of 
> X.org on Gentoo with my MacBook. I've followed the
Gentoo-MacBook Wiki Talk 
> page on how to get DRM working by compiling the kernel
without DRM support, 
> and then installing x11-drm with portage. I've also
installed the 
> xf86-video-i810 driver, and I must have done something
right, because 
> glxinfo reports direct rendering as on. But that's one
of the few things 
> that /is/ working correctly. Here are the relevant
sections of my xorg.conf 
> file:
>
> Section "Device"
>         Identifier      "Built-in Device"
>         Driver          "i810"
>         Screen          0
>         Option          "MonitorLayout"
"CRT,LFP"
>         BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
>         Identifier      "External Device"
>         Driver          "i810"
>         Screen          1
>         Option          "MonitorLayout"
"CRT,LFP"
>         #BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
>         BusID           "PCI:0:2:1"
> EndSection

With the new randr-1.2 that's in all of the 2.x intel
drivers, multiple 
monitors are handled a bit differently. You just have a
single device 
section that refers to both of them. Take a look at 
http:
//www.intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html for details.

> X displays on both monitors in clone mode, with my
built-in screen at 
> 1280x800, while my external monitor is at some really
low resolution (I'm 
> not exactly sure, but it's probably somewhere around
1024x768). And that's 
> my main problem: no matter what resolutions I enter
into my xorg.conf file, 
> my monitors don't change their resolutions (even if I
put 640x480 as the 
> only option). In fact, I get the same result if I don't
use any xorg.conf 
> file at all.

Probably because it's ignoring those obsolete settings and
using the 
defaults, just as it would without an xorg.conf.

> Using xrandr is bit more promising. Running it without
any arguments 
> produces the following output:
> Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 864,
maximum 1920 x 1920
> VGA disconnected (normal left inverted right)
> LVDS connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted
right) 286mm x 178mm
>    1280x800       59.9*+
>    1024x768       60.0
>    800x600        60.3
>    640x480        59.9
> TMDS-1 connected 1152x864+0+0 (normal left inverted
right) 0mm x 0mm
>    1920x1200      60.0 +
>    1600x1200      59.9
>    1680x1050      60.0
>    1280x1024      75.0     59.9
>    1152x864       74.8*
>    1024x768       75.1     60.0
>    800x600        75.0     60.3
>    640x480        75.0     60.0     59.9
>    720x400        70.1
>
> I can successfully change my resolution on the Dell
monitor to 1680x1050 -- 
> definitely an improvement. But when I try to change to
1920x1200 or 
> 1600x1200, my monitor goes blank, and then displays the
following:
> "Out of range signal.
> Cannot display this video mode,
> change computer display input to 1920x1200 
60Hz"
>
> Those display modes work fine on OS X and Windows XP,
so there's nothing 
> wrong with the monitor or graphics card. I'm really a
newbie in this stuff, 
> so yeah... I would appreciate any help on this. Thanks
in advance.

You might need to explicitly note that the high-resolution
mode requires 
reduced blanking by adding 'Option
"ReducedBlanking"' in your Monitor 
section. I couldn't find any documentation for this option,
so if you 
didn't already know what reduced blanking was, the
postinstallation 
notice for xorg-server probably wouldn't help.

The 'cvt' tool installed with xorg-server can help you
generate a 
reduced-blanking modeline by hand, if you need to do that.
You can then 
add that modeline to xorg.conf or dynamically add it for
that X session 
only using xrandr.

Thanks,
Donnie
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On 1-Dec-07, at 10:44 PM, Donnie Berkholz wrote:

> With the new randr-1.2 that's in all of the 2.x intel
drivers,  
> multiple
> monitors are handled a bit differently. You just have a
single device
> section that refers to both of them. Take a look at
> http:
//www.intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html for details.

Thank you so much for your help. However, I'm slow at this.
Sorry. :- 
( Here's my updated xorg.conf file:

Section "Device"
         Identifier     "Intel 945G "
         Driver         "intel"

	Option "monitor-LVDS" "Builtin"
	Option "monitor-TMDS-1" "External
Monitor"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"
         Identifier      "Builtin"
         Option "PreferredMode"
"1280x800"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
         Identifier      "External Monitor"
	VendorName	"DEL"
	ModelName	"DELL 2407WFP"

	Option "PreferredMode" "1920x1200"
	Option "ReducedBlanking"
EndSection

Section "Screen"

         Identifier    "Default Screen"
         Device        "Intel 945G"
         Monitor       "Builtin"

         DefaultDepth  24

         SubSection "Display"
                 Depth         24
                 Modes         "1280x800" 
"1024x768"   "640x480"
                 Virtual       2048 2048
         EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "Screen"

         Identifier    "External Screen"
         Device        "Intel 945G"
         Monitor       "External Monitor"

         DefaultDepth  24

         SubSection "Display"
                 Depth         24
                 Modes         "1920x1200"
"1600x1200" "1680x1050"  
"1024x768"   "640x480"
                 Virtual       2048 2048
         EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
         Identifier "Dual Layout"
         Screen 0 "Default Screen"
         Screen 1 "External Screen" Above
"Built-in Screen"

         Option "Clone" "On"
         #Option "Xinerama" "On"

         InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
	InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

And this is the output:

(WW) intel: More than one matching Device section found:
Intel 945G
(WW) intel: No matching Device section for instance (BusID
PCI:0:2:1)  
found

I get the same default screen resolutions, although xrandr
now  
reports that screen 0 has a maximum size of 2048x2048. I
think I'm on  
the right track... and thanks again for replying to my
question.
-- 
gentoo-desktopgentoo.org mailing list

On 23:58 Sat 01 Dec     , Joe wrote:
>
> On 1-Dec-07, at 10:44 PM, Donnie Berkholz wrote:
>
>> With the new randr-1.2 that's in all of the 2.x
intel drivers, multiple
>> monitors are handled a bit differently. You just
have a single device
>> section that refers to both of them. Take a look
at
>> http:
//www.intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html for details.
>
> Thank you so much for your help. However, I'm slow at
this. Sorry. :-( 
> Here's my updated xorg.conf file:
>
> Section "Device"
>         Identifier     "Intel 945G "
>         Driver         "intel"
>
> 	Option "monitor-LVDS" "Builtin"
> 	Option "monitor-TMDS-1" "External
Monitor"
>
> EndSection
>
> Section "Monitor"
>         Identifier      "Builtin"
>         Option "PreferredMode"
"1280x800"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Monitor"
>         Identifier      "External Monitor"
> 	VendorName	"DEL"
> 	ModelName	"DELL 2407WFP"
>
> 	Option "PreferredMode"
"1920x1200"
> 	Option "ReducedBlanking"
> EndSection

This part looks mostly good, except you haven't set the
relative 
relationships of the two screens (left, right, etc). That
belongs in the 
monitor sections now, according to the link I posted last
time.

> Section "Screen"
>
>         Identifier    "Default Screen"
>         Device        "Intel 945G"
>         Monitor       "Builtin"
>
>         DefaultDepth  24
>
>         SubSection "Display"
>                 Depth         24
>                 Modes         "1280x800" 
"1024x768"   "640x480"
>                 Virtual       2048 2048
>         EndSubSection
>
> EndSection
>
> Section "Screen"
>
>         Identifier    "External Screen"
>         Device        "Intel 945G"
>         Monitor       "External Monitor"
>
>         DefaultDepth  24
>
>         SubSection "Display"
>                 Depth         24
>                 Modes         "1920x1200"
"1600x1200" "1680x1050" 
> "1024x768"   "640x480"
>                 Virtual       2048 2048
>         EndSubSection
>
> EndSection
>
> Section "ServerLayout"
>         Identifier "Dual Layout"
>         Screen 0 "Default Screen"
>         Screen 1 "External Screen" Above
"Built-in Screen"
>
>         Option "Clone" "On"
>         #Option "Xinerama" "On"
>
>         InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
> 	InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
> EndSection

You've still got a mixed combination of old and new setups.
You should 
only have one screen section, and your serverlayout section
should not 
have two screens or anything related to dual screens in it
(clone 
option). After making that change, I suppose you'll need to
list all the 
modes you care about for either monitor in the single screen
section.

Thanks,
Donnie
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On 2-Dec-07, at 10:03 PM, Donnie Berkholz wrote:

> On 23:58 Sat 01 Dec     , Joe wrote:
>
>> Section "Screen"
>>
>>         Identifier    "Default Screen"
>>         Device        "Intel 945G"
>>         Monitor       "Builtin"
>>
>>         DefaultDepth  24
>>
>>         SubSection "Display"
>>                 Depth         24
>>                 Modes         "1280x800" 
"1024x768"   "640x480"
>>                 Virtual       2048 2048
>>         EndSubSection
>>
>> EndSection
>>
>> Section "Screen"
>>
>>         Identifier    "External Screen"
>>         Device        "Intel 945G"
>>         Monitor       "External Monitor"
>>
>>         DefaultDepth  24
>>
>>         SubSection "Display"
>>                 Depth         24
>>                 Modes         "1920x1200"
"1600x1200" "1680x1050"
>> "1024x768"   "640x480"
>>                 Virtual       2048 2048
>>         EndSubSection
>>
>> EndSection
>>
>> Section "ServerLayout"
>>         Identifier "Dual Layout"
>>         Screen 0 "Default Screen"
>>         Screen 1 "External Screen" Above
"Built-in Screen"
>>
>>         Option "Clone" "On"
>>         #Option "Xinerama"
"On"
>>
>>         InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
>> 	InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
>> EndSection
>
> You've still got a mixed combination of old and new
setups. You should
> only have one screen section, and your serverlayout
section should not
> have two screens or anything related to dual screens in
it (clone
> option). After making that change, I suppose you'll
need to list  
> all the
> modes you care about for either monitor in the single
screen section.
Thanks again. Looks like I'm getting close, because now
dualscreen  
works correctly! Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to
get the  
monitor to use 1920x1200 mode with the reduced blanking
option turned  
on. I even tried using cvt like you recommended in your
first reply:

cvt -r 1920 1200 60hz
# 1920x1200 59.95 Hz (CVT 2.30MA-R) hsync: 74.04 kHz; pclk:
154.00 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200R"    154.00  1920 1968 2000
2080  1200 1203 1209  
1235 +hsync -vsync

and then did a xrandr newmode/addmode, but I still get the
"out of  
range signal" error when I try to switch to 1920x1200R.
Thanks again  
for your help,

Joe
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gentoo-desktopgentoo.org mailing list

On 23:30 Mon 03 Dec     , Joe wrote:
> Thanks again. Looks like I'm getting close, because now
dualscreen works 
> correctly! Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to
get the monitor to 
> use 1920x1200 mode with the reduced blanking option
turned on. I even tried 
> using cvt like you recommended in your first reply:
>
> cvt -r 1920 1200 60hz
> # 1920x1200 59.95 Hz (CVT 2.30MA-R) hsync: 74.04 kHz;
pclk: 154.00 MHz
> Modeline "1920x1200R"    154.00  1920 1968
2000 2080  1200 1203 1209 1235 
> +hsync -vsync
>
> and then did a xrandr newmode/addmode, but I still get
the "out of range 
> signal" error when I try to switch to 1920x1200R.
Thanks again for your 
> help,

Hmmm. If you try a slightly lower-resolution mode (say the
1600x1200 you 
tried earlier), or the same mode with a lower refresh rate
(50Hz 
maybe?), does that work? The other OS's could be cheating
their refresh 
rate a bit. Also, do you have the manual for your monitor?
That may have 
details on the precise numbers. You could verify that the
vertical 
refresh and horizontal rates are correctly detected, or
specify them 
manually in xorg.conf.

Thanks,
Donnie
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On 4-Dec-07, at 1:06 PM, Duncan wrote:

> Donnie Berkholz <dberkholzgentoo.org> posted
> 20071204200451.GK29076supernova, excerpted below,
on  Tue, 04 Dec  
> 2007
> 12:04:51 -0800:
>
>> Hmmm. If you try a slightly lower-resolution mode
(say the  
>> 1600x1200 you
>> tried earlier), or the same mode with a lower
refresh rate (50Hz
>> maybe?), does that work? The other OS's could be
cheating their  
>> refresh
>> rate a bit. Also, do you have the manual for your
monitor? That  
>> may have
>> details on the precise numbers. You could verify
that the vertical
>> refresh and horizontal rates are correctly
detected, or specify them
>> manually in xorg.conf.
>
> More practically for those (such as myself) who often
buy used
> monitors... Google! =8^)  Put in the make and model
number, and  
> I've yet
> to have Google fail to find at least /one/ site with
the frequencies
> listed.
Okay, I got the following specifications directly off the
Dell page:

Dell 2407WFP

Horizontal Scan Frequency kHz
30 kHz to 81 kHz (automatic)

Vertical Scan Frequency Frequency kHz
56 Hz to 76 Hz (automatic) ), exception 1920 x 1200 at 60 Hz
only

Optimal Resolution
1920 x 1200 at 60 Hz

Preset Display Modes

     * VESA, 720 x 400 - 31.5 kHz Horizontal, 70.0 Hz
Vertical, 28.3 MHz
     * VESA, 640 x 480 - 31.5 kHz Horizontal, 59.9 Hz
Vertical, 25.2 MHz
     * VESA, 640 x 480 - 37.5 kHz Horizontal, 75.0 Hz
Vertical, 31.5 MHz
     * VESA, 800 x 600 - 37.9 kHz Horizontal, 60.3 Hz
Vertical, 40.0 MHz
     * VESA, 800 x 600 - 46.9 kHz Horizontal, 75.0 Hz
Vertical, 49.5 MHz
     * VESA, 1024 x 768 - 48.4 kHz Horizontal, 60.0 Hz
Vertical, 65.0  
MHz
     * VESA, 1024 x 768 - 60.0 kHz Horizontal, 75.0 Hz
Vertical, 78.8  
MHz
     * VESA, 1152 x 864 - 67.5 kHz Horizontal, 75.0 Hz
Vertical, 108 MHz
     * VESA, 1280 x 1024 - 64.0 kHz Horizontal, 60.0 Hz
Vertical, 108  
MHz
     * VESA, 1280 x 1024 - 80.0 kHz Horizontal, 75.0 Hz
Vertical, 135  
MHz
     * VESA, 1600 x 1200 - 75.0 kHz Horizontal, 60.0 Hz
Vertical, 162  
MHz
     * VESA, 1920 x 1200 - 74.0 kHz Horizontal, 60.0 Hz
Vertical, 154  
MHz

I tried using lower refresh rates (~50Hz) at 1600x1200, but
that  
didn't do anything.

> Also, I don't know what reduced blanking is all about,
but I do  
> know know
> I've had very good luck generating custom modelines
using Kolas'  
> custom
> modeline generator.  There's several sites on the net
running the  
> script
> and it can be googled if one goes down, but here's the
one I've got  
> in my
> bookmarks:
>
> http
://koala.ilog.fr/cgi-bin/nph-colas-modelines

I'm a little bit confused as to what I should input there.
Since I  
want a 60Hz vertical refresh rate, that means I enter '60'
as my max  
and min refresh rate, correct? Does the same also apply to
the  
horizontal scan frequency? What about the bandwidth?

I tried entering the following information:

Max Bandwidth: 154 Mhz
Min Bandwidth: 154 Mhz
Max Vertical Frequency: 60 Hz
Min Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
Max Horizontal Frequency: 74 Khz
Min Horizontal Frequency: 74 Khz

And got the following results:
'# RESOLUTION TOO LOW: 1920 x 1200'

I also got the same results when I set the horizontal scan
frequency  
to 30-81 Khz.

Thanks,

Joe
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