Problems with Xorg i810 driver, laptop and external monitor, and MergedFB

[Marcelo Magno T. Sales]

Hi,

Em Dom 13 Mai 2007, Jonathan Underwood escreveu:
> Hi,
>
> I have a Dell XPs M1210 laptop with an intel video card. This works
> fine with the laptop's flat panel display (1280x800) using the i810
> driver once I've done a tweak with 915resolution.
>
> However, I'd also like to get it working properly with an external LCD
> display I have, and also with data projectors when I travel.
>
> So, I investigated the MergedFB extension. This seems to succesfuly
> send signals too the external monitor and the laptop display. However,
> the external display (1280x1024) display is set at a too low
> resolution, and the laptop display is just a mass of colours and
> unreadable.

There's no need of an extension for that. However, you probably won't be able 
to select the display output in X using the shortcut key on your notebook. 
Depending on the specific intel chipset you are using, it can be done using 
i810switch (available in FC repos) or both outputs will be enabled at boot 
without any special configuration.

However, you may need to change the following line in your xorg .conf:
#       Option      "MonitorLayout" "LFP,CRT"

Make it like this:
       Option      "MonitorLayout" "TV,LFP+CRT"

And add:
       Option "Clone" "On"

This will enable the display on the three outputs (s-video, VGA and internal 
display). Also, configuring LFP and CRT in the same head, framebuffer/overlay 
graphics will be displayed in both the internal monitor and VGA output. If 
you put them in separate heads, only the primary one will display such 
graphics with the i810 driver.

>
> My xorg.conf is:
> Section "InputDevice"
>         Identifier  "Keyboard0"
>         Driver      "kbd"
>         Option      "XkbModel" "pc105"
>         Option      "XkbLayout" "gb"
> EndSection
>
> Section "InputDevice"
>         Identifier  "Synaptics"
>         Driver      "synaptics"
>         Option      "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
>         Option      "Protocol" "auto-dev"
>         Option      "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
>         Identifier  "Videocard0"
>         Driver      "i810"
> #       Option      "MergedFB" "true"
> #       Option      "Clone" "true"
> #       Option      "MonitorLayout" "LFP,CRT"
> #       Option      "MetaModes" "1280x800-1280x1024 1280x1024-1280x1024"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Screen"
>         Identifier "Screen0"
>         Device     "Videocard0"
>         DefaultDepth     24
>         SubSection "Display"
>                 Viewport   0 0
>                 Depth     24
>                 Modes   "1280x1024" "1280x800"
>         EndSubSection
> EndSection
>
> Section "ServerLayout"
>         Identifier     "Default Layout"
>         Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
>         InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
>         InputDevice    "Synaptics" "CorePointer"
> EndSection
>
> With the lines relevant to MergedFB commented out, I can successfully
> fire up an X display on either the laptop of the external monitor by
> switching to console mode and pressing Function-F8 (the CRT/LCD key on
> this laptop). Pressing Function-F8 while looking at the Xsession
> doesn't change the display, oddly.
>
> Anyway, if I uncomment the MergedFB lines, the symtoms described above
> are seen, and in the Xorg.o.log I see:
>
> (II) I810(0): <default monitor>: Using default hsync range of 31.50-37.90
> kHz (II) I810(0): <default monitor>: Using default vrefresh range of
> 50.00-70.00 Hz (II) I810(0): Not using mode "1280x1024" (no mode of this
> name)
> (II) I810(0): Not using mode "1280x800" (no mode of this name)
> (II) I810(0): MergedFBMonitor: Using default hsync range of 31.50-37.90 kHz
> (II) I810(0): MergedFBMonitor: Using default vrefresh range of 50.00-70.00
> Hz (II) I810(0): Not using mode "1280x1024" (no mode of this name)
> (II) I810(0): MergedFB: Generating mode list
> (WW) I810(0): Mode "1280x800" is not a supported mode for First
> (WW) I810(0):   (Skipping metamode "1280x800-1280x1024")
> (WW) I810(0): Mode "1280x1024" is not a supported mode for First
> (WW) I810(0):   (Skipping metamode "1280x1024-1280x1024")
> (EE) I810(0): No modes. Disabling MergedFB.
> (II) I810(0): Increasing the scanline pitch to allow tiling mode (800 ->
> 1024). (--) I810(0): Virtual size is 800x600 (pitch 1024)
> (**) I810(0):  Built-in mode "800x600"
> (**) I810(0):  Built-in mode "640x480"
> (II) I810(0): Attempting to use 60.32Hz refresh for mode "800x600" (852)
> (II) I810(0): Attempting to use 60.00Hz refresh for mode "640x480" (850)
> (==) I810(0): DPI set to (75, 75)
>
> Any ideas as to why X is not finding the correct modes? X is bizarrely
> refusing to use either 1280x800 or 1280x1024 mode.
>
> Is MergedFB actually meant to work with i810?

I don't know this extention, but it's not needed for what you want.

[]'s
Marcelo