0710B3 black screen issues after install

[dthrock]

The install seemed to have gone ok,  I get the kubuntu logo and progress bar, then it seems to go into the AVWizard and I can hear the girl tell me  "When you can see and hear me" but just have a black screen.  I read the Avwizard section and tried to hit 1 (dvi) & 7 (resolution) and press enter, but I still get nothing,  she just keeps talking.  I have an Nvidia Evga 7950 GX2 card in this machine with 2 DVI outputs.  I tried switching to the other dvi connect and reboots (ctl-alt f1) login and reboot) with the same results.  Do the instructions in the AVwizard still apply to 0710?  My monitor is a Dell 24" flat screen LCD. The capture card is hauppauge WinTV-350 .  Would the install try to run the video out of that card instead of my nvidia card??  These may be simple questions, but when doing a first time install and never having seen how it is supposed to work there just isnt any documentation I could find that tells you this stuff.

  Or maybe I need a different driver for this card.  If so could someone point me to a section that gives details on how to install it from a terminal window?

On a side note I had Ubuntu 0710 and MythTv running on this machine with no problems.  The default Ubuntu install found my video and monitor and gave me video right from the start.

[rrambo]

The install seemed to have gone ok,  I get the kubuntu logo and progress bar, then it seems to go into the AVWizard and I can hear the girl tell me  "When you can see and hear me" but just have a black screen.  I read the Avwizard section and tried to hit 1 (dvi) & 7 (resolution) and press enter, but I still get nothing,  she just keeps talking.  I have an Nvidia Evga 7950 GX2 card in this machine with 2 DVI outputs.  I tried switching to the other dvi connect and reboots (ctl-alt f1) login and reboot) with the same results.  Do the instructions in the AVwizard still apply to 0710?  My monitor is a Dell 24" flat screen LCD. The capture card is hauppauge WinTV-350 .  Would the install try to run the video out of that card instead of my nvidia card??  These may be simple questions, but when doing a first time install and never having seen how it is supposed to work there just isnt any documentation I could find that tells you this stuff.

  Or maybe I need a different driver for this card.  If so could someone point me to a section that gives details on how to install it from a terminal window?

On a side note I had Ubuntu 0710 and MythTv running on this machine with no problems.  The default Ubuntu install found my video and monitor and gave me video right from the start.

The "When you can see and hear me" dialogue with the girl talking is not the avwizard...  it's the house/media setup wizard... the number keys for setting the output connector and resolution are only for the avwizard...  are you sure you have gone through the avwizard at all?

[dthrock]

I guess I havent.  This is the first thing that came up after the install.  Did I skip a step somehow? Maybe I hit enter at the wrong time and skipped the avsetup if it comes before this.  Ill try holding the shift key at reboot and see if thats it.

[dthrock]

Ok I did a reboot and held shift down at the Kubuntu screen.  The screen goes black but no girl talking this time.  Now I hit 1 and the screen flashes and at the top it says Reloading /etc/....../samba then goes back to black.  Just for fun I tried 1-5 with the same effect. Im a little stumped here.  Maybe Ive screwed the install up and need to reinstall?  I guess I could reboot the cd and reinstall now that I know where I might have gone wrong. 

[rrambo]

Ok I did a reboot and held shift down at the Kubuntu screen.  The screen goes black but no girl talking this time.  Now I hit 1 and the screen flashes and at the top it says Reloading /etc/....../samba then goes back to black.  Just for fun I tried 1-5 with the same effect. Im a little stumped here.  Maybe Ive screwed the install up and need to reinstall?  I guess I could reboot the cd and reinstall now that I know where I might have gone wrong. 

You definitely haven't gone through the avwizard..  you'd know it..  it's basically green and white screen with step 1 being output connector, resolution and frequency...  then it will come back with a screen set in the selected aforementioned choices and ask you if it's ok and if you want to keep these settings (kinda like in windows or other OS when you change the resolution) next you pick which UI you are going to use... then it goes on to pick the sound output and whether or not dolby digital and dts works with your setup..  only after this wizard is completed will it go on to the house/media setup wizard..  the one you were describing...

try this...  if you are definitely using dvi... reboot, holding the shift key...  once the beeps are done and you're at the black screen..  choose 1..  wait for the screen flicker where x is trying to start...  and then if it goes to black....  try 6-0..  each time, giving it a chance to start x...  6-0 is your resolutions..  maybe your video card can't handle the default resolution of the avwizard..  (it's low)

what video card are you using??  it may be incompatible or need some work to get it going with lmce

[dthrock]

As I mentioned in my first post it is a Nvidia Evga 7950 GX2  with 2 dvi outputs.  Im doing a reinstall now to see if that will get any better results.
   Is there a way to change the freq with the keys?  If it defaults to 50hz maybe thats the problem.  I know this monitor has to be at 60

Dave

[RichardP]

On a side note I had Ubuntu 0710 and MythTv running on this machine with no problems.  The default Ubuntu install found my video and monitor and gave me video right from the start.

Press Ctrl-Alt-F2 to get another login. If you do, then at least you know your output is being routed to the right connector. If this does not work, swap connectors.

If you're comfortable working with Linux, check your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to see what it contains. I never seem to be able to get LMCE to start up on first install, as I use the SVideo connector, and the X installation seems to default to VGA. This is what the numbers 1-5 do - they change the lines in the xorg.conf to use different outputs. In your case, though, it may be changing the output DVI-0, and you may be on DVI-1.

Best Regards,
Richard.


I

[rrambo]

As I mentioned in my first post it is a Nvidia Evga 7950 GX2  with 2 dvi outputs.  Im doing a reinstall now to see if that will get any better results.
   Is there a way to change the freq with the keys?  If it defaults to 50hz maybe thats the problem.  I know this monitor has to be at 60

Dave

sorry, missed that entirely... not sure about the freq but here are the steps from the wiki:

What to do if A/V Wizard does not start.
P
ress the number 1 through 5 on the keyboard or the remote control to switch to the connector that is active. Wait about 15 seconds, and you will hear that same sequence of beeps telling you that A/V Wizard has now restarted using the connector you specified. If you don't hear the beeps after 15 seconds, press the number for your connector again.

 Keys for choosing a connector:

1: DVI
2: VGA
3: Component
4: Composite
5: S-Video

If you do hear the beeps, but you still don't see a picture, it's possible that the display you're using cannot handle 640x480. If so, then press the number 6-9, and 0, and shown below to select a resolution. Again, 15 seconds later, you'll hear the beeps when A/V Wizard is running. If you need to choose a connector besides the default VGA, press the 1-5 key and wait until you hear the beeps again before choosing another connector or resolution.

Keys for choosing a resolution:

6: 640x480
7: 1024x768
8: 720p
9: 1080i
0: 1080p

Once you have a picture you can proceed to complete the A/V Wizard and resize your user interface to fit your screen, choose your audio outputs and so on.


If I had read more closely and caught your video card and the fact that it has has 2 dvi-out I would have also said to try switching connectors.

[Zaerc]

As I mentioned in my first post it is a Nvidia Evga 7950 GX2  with 2 dvi outputs.  Im doing a reinstall now to see if that will get any better results.
   Is there a way to change the freq with the keys?  If it defaults to 50hz maybe thats the problem.  I know this monitor has to be at 60

Dave

Tried the "other" output as well?

[RichardP]

   Is there a way to change the freq with the keys?  If it defaults to 50hz maybe thats the problem.  I know this monitor has to be at 60

Dave

You shouldn't need to worry about the freq. DVI will talk to the monitor to determine what it can handle. If you can have a look at the xorg.conf, make sure search for "EDID" and check that UseEDID is set to true.

Also read carefully through the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log - it will tell you in great detail what is happening.

Best Regards,
Richard.

[colinjones]

Don't forget, Richard, the xorg.conf defaults to "UseEDID" "False", so it probably won't probe the monitor, perhaps going into a console session as you suggested before and editing it first (and hoping that av wizard doesn't overwrite it!)

BTW - I am almost 100% certain that the default 640x480 is at 60Hz.

[Zaerc]

Don't forget, Richard, the xorg.conf defaults to "UseEDID" "False", so it probably won't probe the monitor, perhaps going into a console session as you suggested before and editing it first (and hoping that av wizard doesn't overwrite it!)

BTW - I am almost 100% certain that the default 640x480 is at 60Hz.

If your xorg.conf gets overwritten you can neuter the Xconfig script: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Display_Drivers#LinuxMCE_keeps_reconfiguring_my_display_settings

[colinjones]

Thanks Zaerc - actually I meant overwritten normally as a part of the av wizard, just a little too prematurely in this case! But the link is handy, because separately I am having occasional instances of it getting overwritten...

[jgaffney]

Any luck with this dthrock?

I have the same problem with an Nvidia 8400GS, but I am using a VGA connection.
If I change the "Driver" in my xorg.conf to vesa it works. (in UI1 onyl).  Once I change it back to the nvidia driver all I get is a black screen. 

[RichardP]

Any luck with this dthrock?

I have the same problem with an Nvidia 8400GS, but I am using a VGA connection.
If I change the "Driver" in my xorg.conf to vesa it works. (in UI1 onyl).  Once I change it back to the nvidia driver all I get is a black screen. 

Exactly the same issue we had with our cards, although I find it surprising you should be having the issue with a VGA connection (my problem was with SVideo). Simply turning on UseEDID may be your solution - you'll see the option turned off if you go through the file. Below are a number of options that may be significant - compare with yours and make changes as necessary:

Section "Device"
   Driver      "nvidia"
   Option      "UseDisplayDevice" "CRT"
   Option "renderAccel" "true"
   Option "UseEDID" "true"


Best Regards,
Richard.