Resolution issue

[ffejveg]

I just installed PCLOS 2010.1 on my Acer Aspire 3004LCI laptop and have really wonky graphics. I had to install in "Video Safe Mode - Vesa" for usable graphics and installed the OS without a problem. First thing I did was go to PCC --> Set up the Graphical Server to change the settings to match my hardware. These are the settings from the old install (I copied them down before installing 2010.1):

Graphic Card: SiS old-series based          [In the Acer manual the card is listed as: "SiS M760GX integrated 3D graphics]

Monitor: Flat Panel 1280 x 800

Resolution: 1280 x 800  24 bpp

So I changed all the entries to match those above. I did try the "test" option but these settings and others I tried all rendered vertical bands of color, none of which seemed very crisp and I don't know how they are supposed to look. I thought there would be some text and a graphic used for the test option. Next I rebooted hoping for the best but now have wonky graphics and to a lesser extent, text. Any idea why this would be? I don't remember the original (vesa) settings before I changed them (I know, I know... write it down!), and don't know what else to try as the settings above worked fine in the previous PCLOS installs I've had.  Any help appreciated.

[Neal ManBear]

Vertical bands of colour being displayed after clicking "test" indicates that the configuration is working.

[uncleV]

ffejveg ,
the first time I saw this I was confused too..

But I thought "I can read the message on the screen so it works may be?" And it worked

[ffejveg]

Perhaps I was unclear what kind of vertical bands I was seeing. These were not crisp or clear at all. Regardless, my display is barely usable with blurry psychedelic images reminding me of squigly bands of rainbow colors you see in an oil or gas sheen in water. My desktop icons are all blurry and I can just barely make out the "PC" icon in the lower left cormer to launch firefox. On this forum the posts are rendered with a background of 2 shades of red behind text that has random white stippling around the letters - very difficult to read. Thankfully for some odd reason this reply box is rendered in a readable way.

I've spent the last few hours trying different things. Here's some of what I've done:

On first turning the machine on this morning I decided to let it boot up normally just to check the graphics again (no change) and noticed that in the boot process there was a line: "starting udev post: FAILED". Not sure what it means or if it is important. I then rebooted into "safe mode" to see what difference that would make and got a shell saying:

Telling INIT to go to single user mode.
INIT: Going single user
sh-4.1#_

Entering "exit" brought me back to the login panel. I did so and went to PCC to confirm the 1200x800 settings and try "test" again. This left me with a totally black screen. Ctrl-alt-backspace brought me back to the login screen. I decided to shut down and reboot with the live CD in vesa mode.

Vesa does render normal graphics for me, so I went again to PCC to see what the vesa settings were for graphics. These were:

Graphic card: custom    [clicking on this showed me it is set to "SiS  old series based cards"]
Monitor: 1024x768 @ 60Hz
Resolution: 1024x768  16bpp

Clicking on "test" again brought up the blurry vertical bands of color ( I assume these bands should be crisp and sharp?). I close PCC, then right-click and choose "leave" which brought me to a login screen. I click on "menu" and choose "shutdown". This brings me to a terminal and an odd login / shutdown loop that doesn't end. Finally I press ctrl-alt-delete to restart the system, remove the live CD and boot into the installed OS. I go to PCC and revise the settings to reflect the ones used in vesa mode. I log out and back in as asked, but the graphics remain all wonky.

I use the live CD again, figuring readability will be easier in the vesa mode to read the above posts and respond. I launch firefox and a warning panel pops up saying (I paraphrase): "A script did not fully load - do you want to continue to see if it does?" I say yes. This dropped me back to a login screen. A second attempt with firefox worked, but as I was typing a reply to this thread the screen froze. I tried each of these in succession but none worked:

ctrl-alt-backspace
ctrl-atl-delete
ctrl-alt-escape
caps lock and typing REISUB while holding down alt and sysrq

I do a hard shutdown. So now I'm back in the installed OS making this reply. There's something really off in my screen resolution / rendering and I don't mean in a minor way. I've been very happy the last 4 years using PCLOS on this same computer with the 1200x800 settings, so I hope some "resolution" can be found. Don't know what else to try though, so any further insights or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Neal ManBear]

Those bands of color have never been crisp and sharp for me. If they're displayed, video is working. The test isn't a crispness and sharpness test. It is simply a test to see if the colored bands show up. If they don't, there's a problem. If they do display, click the yes or ok button and continue.

[ffejveg]

Well I guess the graphical settings "test" button isn't relevant to my problem as it renders the bands of color yet does not change the reality of my screen, but thanks for clearing that up.

One thought I had: When I did the install I formatted root but preserved my /home partition. MIght there be files in there relevant to my problem? I do have things backed up so could re-install over the whole drive with new /root and /home partitions. I saw earlier today a post by Joble in this section of the forum (6-2-10) stating:

 "Also, preserving /home is not advised. I managed to copy my mozilla thunderbird and filezilla stuff back. Maybe you can copy some other stuff back too, but you at least gotta dump the kde stuff in your home folder."

Not sure what the "kde stuff" would have to do with my particular issue, but I'll leave that for the wiser forum members here to decide. Other posts have at least implied that preserving /home in a new install is OK. From DaveCS (1-29-10) regarding the upcoming 2010 release:

"As long as you have /home on a separate partition, or back it up for restoring after install, you will still have all your data."

This perspective of course implies that preserving /home is a valid choice. Any further ideas welcome...

[Neal ManBear]

When installing 2010 over a previous 2007/2009 install, it is not advisable to keep /home.
Format both root (/) and home (/home) partitions for installing.

[ffejveg]

Neal, I'll do as you suggest - thank you.

I also must thank old-polack, who hasn't even appeared in this thread, because reading this recent post of his a short while ago got me thinking:

"The use of the vesa driver usually means the exact driver needed for the card could not be determined, or was not on the disk in question. The vesa driver is very basic, but will run the vast majority of cards existing in the wild."

I asked myself why the vesa driver was a prominent choice for booting the LiveCD but was not present in the video driver choices in PCC? So back to the PCC I go and sure enough, it IS there, under "other" IIRC. The change is dramatic: I can see and read everything clearly now.

I guess another reason I had not pursued the vesa option is that I had expected the SiS driver that had worked so well for the past 4 years would certainly be the best choice (and a step up from vesa) for the 2010 install. For whatever reason, I guess this new version of PCLOS has dropped support for my particular card and the generic SiS driver isn't up to snuff for said card (?).

As I said above, I will re-install anyway since it sounds like keeping the old /home may cause other problems down the line.

[Neal ManBear]

  As much as I've managed to learn, I can't come anywhere near to O-P in things like this. But I'll keep trying.