Weird Start Issues

[matt4914]

Hi--

I recently updated my NVIDIA drivers for a 9400 GT to the most recent and my hybrid looked MUCH better.  In an effort to fix my resolution issues (I wasnt able to use my 1280x1080's full resolution), I tried to restart it in the setup scenerio.  Now every time I boot, it looks normal but after it finishes loading the orbiter interface, the screen goes black and my monitor says "NO DVI INPUT."  Ive checked the cables and tried a VGA one as well but nothing seems to work.  Advice/help/suggestions for what I can do?

--Matt

[colinjones]

use pastebin.com and link here to your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file

it should tell you what is going on... sounds like xorg is selecting the wrong output port (note: the new AV Wizard allows you to switch between multiple DVI/VGA ports if they exist...)

[matt4914]

not to be ignorant but i have no clue how to do what you just suggested.  how can i see my /var/log/xorg.0.log file?

i tried booting into the recovery mode of the same kernel and it now starts up to a point and then comes up with a "Prompt user window" that says "Orbiter failed to setup the transparency.  Please check if the transparency manager is running!"

[colinjones]

Can you boot into KDE desktop? (or even boot from a Kubuntu Live CD temporarily) Then browse to /var/log/Xorg.0.log in the file system and double click it. If you then select the entire contents, you can copy and paste it into www.pastebin.com.... then copy the link it produces and paste it here (this is the correct way of posting large volumes of text in a way that doesn't make the forums very untidy).

You can read the file in a terminal (either on the machine itself by switching to another terminal screen - press ALT-F1/2/3/4/etc and log in - or by using Putty (or another ssh program) on a remote computer and connecting to the LMCE machine via its IP address, then logging in.....

Now, type

less /var/log/Xorg.0.log (note the X is capital) and use page up and down to read through it. It is a long file, and you should read through it carefully. But if you post a pastebin link to it here we can take a look, too.

[matt4914]

Thanks Colin--

I only have so many hours each week to work on this as a student but I'm working through it.  The pastebin.org link is www.pastebin.org/18536.  I dont really know what Im looking for....Can you help me out in finding the issue/working through it?

Thanks so much,
Matt

[matt4914]

Actually, I've decided to simply re-install 810 for simplicity's sake.  After re-installing, I will update the NVidia drivers cleanly and hope that this issue does not repeat itself.  I realized that I think I tried to resize the video output to fit my full screen resolution (1920 x 1080) without really knowing what I was doing.  I think if I reinstall and update the drivers it will work properly.  If you know of a way to resize the output resolution so that I might be able to use the whole screen, that would be great.

Thanks again,
--Matt

[phenigma]

Your Xorg log file indicates that the 'vesa' graphics driver is loading instead of the nvidia driver.

# (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//vesa_drv.so
# (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
#         compiled for 1.5.0, module version = 1.3.0
#         Module class: X.Org Video Driver
#         ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 4.1
# (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa

You will need change a line in the Xorg config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.  The line which reads:

Code: [Select]

           Driver      "vesa"

should be changed to:

Code: [Select]

           Driver      "nvidia"

There is an application which can do this for you, I believe it is executed like this:

Code: [Select]

$ sudo nvidia-xconfig

You will be asked for your password for the application to run.  Afterwords you should be able to reboot into the AVWizard and select your desired resolution properly.

Even though you are re-installing you may find this issue happens again.  Select the default resolutions in AVWizard until you have updated your drivers and made sure your xorg.conf file is set for the nvidia driver.  After you are sure that the nvidia driver is loading reboot into the AVWizard and then you should be able to select your desired resolution.  This is the procedure I usually follow when installing and upgrading nvidia drivers.

J.

[colinjones]

Yes, the fundamental issue here is that it finds your 9400 chipset (id 0x0641) but doesn't think it has a driver that supports it, so loads the vesa driver instead.

That seems strange if it is the latest drivers you have installed. If you type:

modinfo nvidia

You should see it matching against pretty much any nvidia product:
alias:          pci:v000010DEd*sv*sd*bc03sc02i00*
alias:          pci:v000010DEd*sv*sd*bc03sc00i00*

The 10DE is nVidia, and your chipset should say this as well with:

lspci -s 1:0 -vv -n

01:00.0 0300: 10de:0393 etc....

You could just try forcing it by making the edit that phenigma suggests and we can pick it up from there....

[matt4914]

Okay--

Thanks guys, indeed it did do the same thing after a re-install.  Im going to try that fix later tonight or tomorrow.

Ill post again once I try and fix that.

Matt

[phenigma]

I just remembered there had been a change in procedure on the wiki for the alpha installation:

nVidia Restricted Driver

The installer will now automatically choose and install the correct restricted driver during setup.It will be installed after selecting "OpenGL" on your Media Director in web admin page.

Have you tried selecting OpenGL on the Media Director web admin page? 

[matt4914]

I tried doing the nvidia-config in recovery mode but I now get the "Prompt user window" that says "Orbiter failed to setup the transparency.  Please check if the transparency manager is running!" again.  Should I reinstall to get rid of this or is there a way around doing that?

After I get around that I should be able to get onto the admin website, then try to switch to OpenGL on the webpage.  Presently, I cant even get to my KDE desktop or to a place where I can run that.  How can I boot into the KDE desktop straight from the recovery console?

I CAN reinstall the OS again but it does take some time and is kind of a pain....

Thanks again for all the help,
Matt


(P.S. this wouldnt be such a big deal except that the VESA driver makes my video card sound like crap due to improper fan control--It just runs the fan at the highest possible speed regardless of usage, therefore outputting a very annoying high-pitched sound whenever the machine is on.)

[colinjones]

you don't need to access the web admin from the core itself, its a web site! browse to it from another machine. Let the core start normally.... it doesn't matter that it doesn't start up properly as the web site will still start. Then browse to it from another computer and make the change. Now reboot..

[matt4914]

Hey again guys--

I tried doing that via the web admin off of a laptop and got nowhere    Im still getting the "Failed to start transparency" message.  Where would ya'll recommend I proceed from here?

--m

[colinjones]

Run the AV Wizard again and go to UI1... start by getting that working first, and we can confirm that all is good in the log file. Then progress to UI2

[totallymaxed]

Hi--

I recently updated my NVIDIA drivers for a 9400 GT to the most recent and my hybrid looked MUCH better.  In an effort to fix my resolution issues (I wasnt able to use my 1280x1080's full resolution), I tried to restart it in the setup scenerio.  Now every time I boot, it looks normal but after it finishes loading the orbiter interface, the screen goes black and my monitor says "NO DVI INPUT."  Ive checked the cables and tried a VGA one as well but nothing seems to work.  Advice/help/suggestions for what I can do?

--Matt

Depending on your version of the 9400GT it will try to output to the HDMI-1 connector...unfortunately that is not the connector exposed on the rear of the card - so use the new 'Q'  key to swap to the HDMI-2 connector in the AVwizard. Do this by forcing the AVwizard to run at boot up by pressing the 'Shift' key repeatedly just after the rising beeps...when you hear the extra beep you know the AVwizard has been triggered. If instead of seeing the initial AVwizard screen you see a black screen with "NO DVI INPUT." then use 'Q' key to swap HDMI/DVI connectors...you should now see the AVwizard...finish the setup you wish to configure as normal and you should be done.

All the best

Andrew