[SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

bbatten · 2017-07-28 20:14:58

Hi,

I upgraded my Wheezy installation to Devuan Jessie using the instructions at

https://lists.dyne.org/lurker/message/2 … 10.en.html

I now have a largely functional Devuan configuration except that xfce4 does not allow me to specify a screen resolution finer than 1280x1024, even though my monitor has 1920x1080 capability, and works fine with Wheezy.

Mobo: Asus M5A78L-M LX
Graphics:AMD/ATI RS780L Radeon HD 3000 VGA controller
Monitor: AOC 2243W

My Wheezy configuration is mostly standard with the exceptions that I download kernels from kernel.org and build from source. Kernels are the same on both Devuan Jessie and Wheezy configurations, and I currently use either 4.9.39 or 4.12.3.

Network-manager is not installed. I use a custom network configuration and wicd instead. My boot manager is lilo. Grub is not installed.

I use a shell login with .bash_profile modified to call the startx script which brings up my desktop.

When I logged into my upgraded xfce4 desktop, I found that it was set at 1280x1024. Running "xfce4-display-settings" from a terminal window did not allow me to increase the resolution above 1280x1024, even though the former "Default" Resolution continued to show as 1920x1280 in displays.xml.

Attempting "xrandr" also failed as follows:

[1] bryan: xrandr
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 400, current 1280 x 1024, maximum 1280 x 1024
default connected 1280x1024+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   1280x1024      0.00* 
   1024x768       0.00  
   800x600        0.00  
   640x480        0.00  
   720x400        0.00  
[2] bryan: xrandr -s 1920x1080
Size 1920x1080 not found in available modes
[3] bryan: xfce4-display-settings
[4] bryan: #only showed 1280x1024 max.
[4] bryan: exit

Running xrandr in Wheezy works as expected:

[42] bryan: xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 1920 x 1920
VGA-0 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 477mm x 268mm
   1920x1080      60.0*+   60.0  
   1680x1050      60.0  
   1280x1024      75.0     60.0  
   1440x900       59.9  
   1280x960       60.0  
   1024x768       75.0     70.1     60.0  
   832x624        74.6  
   800x600        72.2     75.0     60.3     56.2  
   640x480        75.0     72.8     66.7     59.9  
   720x400        70.1  
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
[43] bryan:

Running xfce4-display-settings from the command line under Wheezy brings up a GUI box displaying resolution as 1920x1080, with a set of smaller values available from the drop down menu.

Log files are a little confusing. Under Wheezy, log data from the startx script has messages with the word FATAL in them, while the Devuan startx output does not. I have the expected resolution under Wheezy, but not under Devuan Jessie.

The .xsession-errors file for Devuan has this message:

Unable to launch "xfce4-settings-helper" ...

even though xfce4-settings helper is not part of xfce4 4.10, and does not appear in the Wheezy version of the file.

Xorg log files show Wheezy has several EE messages even though the actual desktop works as expected. However, the Xorg log file for Devuan has this line:

(EE) systemd-logind: failed to get session: The name org.freedesktop.login1 was not provided by any .service files

Also under Wheezy, version 2.0.0-3.1 of the read-edid package shows Mode 1920x1080 is available. Under Devuan read-edid ver. 3.0.1-2, there are a set of lines of the form:

	#Not giving standard mode: 1280x960, 60Hz
	#Not giving standard mode: 1280x1024, 60Hz
	#Not giving standard mode: 1440x900, 60Hz
	#Not giving standard mode: 1680x1050, 60Hz
	#Not giving standard mode: 1920x1080, 60Hz

I've provided links to eight log files:
xsession-errors.devuan .xsession-errors from the last time I tried Devuan.
xsession-errors.wheezy .xsession-errors from my current Wheezy session.
Xorg.3.log.devuan from /var/log Devuan Jessie
Xorg.3.log.wheezy from /var/log Debian Wheezy
startx3.log.devuan from redirected output of startx script Devuan
startx3.log.wheezy from redirected output of startx script Wheezy
readedid.devuan redirected output get-edid|parse-edid Devuan
readedid.wheezy redirected output get-edid|parse-edid Wheezy

This problem has me stumped. So if any brave soul has the temerity to plough through this stuff, any assistence will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Last edited by bbatten (2017-09-17 16:43:02)

golinux · 2017-07-28 21:47:31

Do you login with slim? Maybe try lightdm? Or possibly set the resolution in xorg.conf? I haven't had to do any of that in years but can remember when it was necessary.

PeteGozz · 2017-07-29 02:06:36

Thanks for the well researched report !

As golinux suggests perhaps trying to set the resolution in xorg.conf (or one of the .d/files )
May help. If it does ? Bingo!
I saw those logs popped a few clues around kernel modules and possibly udev.

The video driver appears to be getting "bad parameters" from earlier tools.
(but yeah you knew that)
Its notable though that the screen resolution tools can not see or set the correct known good resolution...

So _*maybe*_ its a driver thing or even a kernel module:
(less likely but simpler to fix)

grep KMS /boot/config-$(uname -r)

If hand loading (insmod modprobe) those and
startx >> xfce-resolution thing now allows access to the modes
then add the appropriate modules to /etc/modules

Its not likely but this is video driver world there are plenty of weird dragons about.

So when neither of those above work:
Its time to look:
harder at the actual driver itself.
at what (assumptions) udev maybe throwing in the way.

As a benchmark or simple comparison force the vesa driver
((and see/compare how everything behaves
(at least you can then eliminate the xorg-video-foo driver))

man xorg says: (lots and lots)
But this may help.

xorg -configure

(see roots home)

I guess what I'm saying is try going the other way down the tool chain given you have reached higher levels of abstraction than the tools can use.
At this point, after a couple of days, I normally notice the auto button on the monitor and the reset the thing, which makes me feel a little better.

bbatten · 2017-08-06 22:48:03

I'm beginning to think this may be more of an installation than a desktop problem (see Post Install Config Problems).
Since my window manager (fvwm) and desktop (xfce4) both depend on the X server, I restored my wheezy disk image and tried to install just Devuan xorg with the idea of finding the minimum error causing configuration. Doing just that still pulls in a boatload of packages, but nevertheless seemed to be as minimal as I could get.

I did the install as root using a virtual terminal. The install seemed to go OK, but trying to use either the desktop or just fvwm, I ended up still being stuck with a max 1280x1024 resolution. Trying to do "X -configure" per PeteGozz's suggestion resulted in X segfaulting:

...
EE) Backtrace:
(EE) 0: X (xorg_backtrace+0x56) [0xc25a9b3e06]
(EE) 1: X (0xc25a7fd000+0x1bafe9) [0xc25a9b7fe9]
(EE) 2: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x7f65f6350000+0x350e0) [0x7f65f63850e0]
...

Here's the full output:

bash(root)# X -configure
_XSERVTransSocketOpenCOTSServer: Unable to open socket for inet6
_XSERVTransOpen: transport open failed for inet6/Pentium90:0
_XSERVTransMakeAllCOTSServerListeners: failed to open listener for inet6

X.Org X Server 1.16.4
Release Date: 2014-12-20
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 4.9.0-3-amd64 x86_64 Debian
Current Operating System: Linux Pentium90 4.12.3 #5 SMP Sun Jul 23 14:40:26 PDT 2017 x86_64and line: BOOT_IMAGE=4.12 ro root=805 resume=/dev/sda2 console=tty8 rootfstype=ext4 July 2017  01:40:19PM
xorg-server 2:1.16.4-1+deb8u1+b1 (http://www.debian.org/support) 
Current version of pixman: 0.32.6
        Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
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: Sun Aug  6 12:08:01 2017
List of video drivers:
        nouveau
        tdfx
	ati
        neomagic
        intel
        sisusb
        vesa
        fbdev
        modesetting
(++) Using config file: "/root/xorg.conf.new"
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
        intel
        sisusb
        vesa
        fbdev
        modesetting
(++) Using config file: "/root/xorg.conf.new"
(==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
(II) [KMS] drm report modesetting isn't supported.
(EE) 
(EE) Backtrace:
(EE) 0: X (xorg_backtrace+0x56) [0xc25a9b3e06]
(EE) 1: X (0xc25a7fd000+0x1bafe9) [0xc25a9b7fe9]
(EE) 2: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x7f65f6350000+0x350e0) [0x7f65f63850e0]
(EE) 
(EE) Segmentation fault at address 0x0
(EE) 
Fatal server error:
(EE) Caught signal 11 (Segmentation fault). Server aborting
(EE) 
(EE) 
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support 
         at http://wiki.x.org
 for help. 
(EE) Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
(EE) 
(EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.
Aborted
bash(root)#

~root/xorg.conf.new exists, but is basically garbage. /var/log/Xorg.0.log basically reproduces the information already shown.

As far as I can tell from my script output, libc6 does get pulled in as a dependency of Xorg. But possibly because of disturbances in the force caused by GUI interaction(s) contained therein, I don't see exactly libc6:amd64 among the various libc6 flavors getting installed.

[rant]It's a little hard to tell what the contents of Devuan packages are supposed to be. You have a package browsing facility, but it doesn't seem to have the capability to see what files are contained therein a la Debian and Ubuntu. I basically look at Debian Jessie packages and SWAG it from there.[/rant]

As previously posted, xrandr and read-edid fail as described therein. I think those failures are effects of the basic xorg problem on my system.

Again, thanks for any assistance anyone can provide,

demifiend · 2017-09-13 01:12:03

Hi. I know nobody has replied to your post in over a month, but were you able to fix this on your own? If not, which driver are you using? Are you using the FOSS driver for ATI/AMD cards, or the proprietary one?

What happens if you shut down SLIM and run

sudo X -configure

? Can you edit the resulting xorg.conf file, set the resolution to 1920x1080, and start up an X session using the

startx

command?

MiyoLinux · 2017-09-13 03:36:50

demifiend wrote:

(edited by MiyoLinux)

Just wanted to say that I've enjoyed perusing your website.

demifiend · 2017-09-13 15:08:20

Thanks. I've got a lot of old content that I need to convert and restore.

bbatten · 2017-09-16 18:01:42

Success has crowned my feeble efforts. This is an Xorg problem, not an XFCE one. I suspect that if you install the kernel package provided by Devuan on a system with older Radeon equipment, things will set up just fine. I think my problem is an effect of brewing my own kernels.

The culprit, radeon latest news, says
"29 Jun 2012: 6.14.6: Few bugfixes, final release with UMS support (future releases will support only KMS)".

This explains why so many forum threads delt with blank screen issues with Radeon hardware for so long. When I upgraded from Debian Wheezy to Devuan Jessie, my xserver-xorg-video-{ati,radeon} packages went from 1:6.14.4-8 to 1:7.5.0-1. Since my elderly RS780L-based Radeon 3000 does not properly provide EDID information, the best resolution I could get was 1280x1024. It would have been nice if "legacy" UMS support had been left in.

I eventually determined that I needed to enable access to one of the kernel-provided canned EDID's, which in turn required

compiling the radeon kernel module
ensuring the radeon module does mode setting. This appears to be the driver default. Also is set in /etc/modprobe.d/radeon-kms.conf by the xserver-xorg-video-radeon package.
ensuring the radeonfb module is not loaded. Either leave CONFIG_FB_RADEON unset or blacklist it. Looks like the udev package adds this to /etc/modprobe.d/fbdev-blacklist.conf.
compiling the drm_kms_helper kernel module
changing the framebuffer console fbcon from being a module to being compiled as part of the kernel. Until I did this, the result was always a blank screen on boot.
adding the string "drm_kms_helper.edid_firmware=edid/1920x1080.bin" to the kernel command line.

The result is that I see all console data prior to the start of X. I can log in to any virtual console and do a startx if desired. All other consoles continue to display in text mode until I do a startx.

Here are the CONFIG changes I needed. Additional changes result from some of these choices:

CONFIG_DRM_LOAD_EDID_FIRMWARE=y
CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID=y
> CONFIG_DRM_AMDGPU=m
> CONFIG_DRM_RADEON=m
> CONFIG_DRM_AMD_ACP=y
> CONFIG_FB=y
> CONFIG_FB_RADEON=m
> CONFIG_FB_RADEON_I2C=y
> CONFIG_FB_RADEON_BACKLIGHT=y
> CONFIG_BACKLIGHT_CLASS_DEVICE=y
> CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE=y
> CONFIG_INTERVAL_TREE=y
> CONFIG_FONT_SUPPORT=y

How do I mark a topic as solved?

Last edited by bbatten (2017-09-16 18:07:26)

golinux · 2017-09-16 18:28:11

Just edit the title of the first post.

bbatten · 2017-09-16 20:06:49

Thanks for the reply. How do I do that?

golinux · 2017-09-16 20:20:42

bbatten wrote:

Thanks for the reply. How do I do that?

Lower RH corner of the read screen has these options. As a user you might not have a delete option:

Report Delete Edit Quote

Go to the first post in this thread and click on edit. You'll have to be logged in, of course.

I'll take care of it this time.

bbatten · 2017-09-17 16:45:10

Ahh ... very tricky. "Edit post", eh. Thanks for the hand holding.

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#1 2017-07-28 20:14:58

[SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#2 2017-07-28 21:47:31

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#3 2017-07-29 02:06:36

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#4 2017-08-06 22:48:03

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#5 2017-09-13 01:12:03

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#6 2017-09-13 03:36:50

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#7 2017-09-13 15:08:20

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#8 2017-09-16 18:01:42

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#9 2017-09-16 18:28:11

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#10 2017-09-16 20:06:49

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#11 2017-09-16 20:20:42

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

#12 2017-09-17 16:45:10

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE (Really Xorg) Max Resolution Problem

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