WORKAROUND for Beta 2 Video Overscan

[pw44]

Hya,

before installing beta2 (latest), i was running the november version. In this version, i installed the restricted nvidia 180 module after apt-get dist-upgrade.
With that, applying the ugly hack, and setting the useEDID flag to true solved the overscan issue.

With this new beta, the 195.30 nvidia drivers where installed , and even with the useEDID flag setted to true, the overscan issue is back.

No matter what i've tryed, i could not solve the overscan issue.

So, searching, i've found that i could use the nvidia-settings utility to solve the ovescan issue.
Opening nvidia-settings under kde, GPU-0 -> DFP-0 (in my case, Philips 37_42 LCD TV) and playing with te Ovescan Compensation ruler, i've found that 64 solves my ovescan problem.
Now, under nvidia-settings Configuration, Saving the curent configution created the file .nvidia-settings-rc.
Browsing this file, i've found the following line: dcerouter:0.0/OverscanCompensation[DFP-0]=64
Searching and researching, i've found the /etc/pluto/X-PostStart.sh, and it contained the following:
#!/bin/bash
nvidia-settings -a "SyncToVBlank=1"
nvidia-settings -a "XVideoTextureSyncToVBlank=1"
nvidia-settings -a "XVideoBlitterSyncToVBlank=1"
So, i did the following modification:
#!/bin/bash
nvidia-settings -a "OverscanCompensation[DFP-0]=64"
nvidia-settings -a "SyncToVBlank=1"
nvidia-settings -a "XVideoTextureSyncToVBlank=1"
nvidia-settings -a "XVideoBlitterSyncToVBlank=1"
After rebooting the system, the overscan issue was gone.
My personal feeling is that the image quality with the 180 nvidia restricted driver was better than the 195.30 driver.
Maybe someone can tell me why or can tell me how to improve the image (fonts, etc..) quality.

[MDH1966]

What output are you using to connect to your television?  I have had trouble getting my component out to work with any drivers over 185.xx.  I would love to be able to use 190.xx or 195.xx so I can have the overscan slider.

[pw44]

I'm using the HDMI output on a Asus M3N78-VM mobo.

[MDH1966]

hmmmm...
That probably won't help with my component out issue. It seems that drivers 190.xx and newer have an issue with them.  When you try to use "TvStandard" in xorg, it causes X to crash.  I suppose that I am stuck with the 185.xx driver.

Oh well.
Thanks,

[pw44]

Try following (is what i am doing to test some issues).
If you have disk space, use another partition and install a fresh kubuntu 8.10 and update / upgrade it.
With the kubuntu only system, test it and if it works, save the xorg.conf file and copy it to the lmce partition.
Some of the issues i had with overscan and outputs, i solved that way.
I'm having a problem with raid 5 (very slow read performance) and i was able to detect that it is related with the raid 5 and not with lmce.
lmce is still beta, and bugs or problems appears, and having a stable system to test some issues helps to identify if they are related with lmce or with the os / utilities.

[MDH1966]

I'm going to try the EDID option that you said worked with the earlier version.  I don't think that it will work because there is no data being received by the computer from the TV on the component lines to tell it what it is. It can only sense that it is connected. The "TvStandard" issue with the 190.xx and higher drivers is suppose to be a documented nVidia bug.  I have tried it in Fedora, Ubuntu and OpenSuse with the same results.  I can't find the forum post that I read before but according to it, nVidia knows about it but they don't fix it.

I don't know much about HDMI but I suppose that you aren't using "TvStandard" in xorg to set the output.  The options for "TvStandard" seem to only effect the analog (composite, svideo, component) outputs.

[pw44]

The EDID option worked for me in the BETA 1 with the nvidia restricted drivers, but i think EDID will only work with digitally conected devices, like HDMI, DCI and VGA. I don´t think it will work with component lines, because the graphical card will not be able to "inquire"  your device (TV).