Display Issues [SOLVED]

@wizardfromoz :

It worked! (The GRUB menu results, that is.)
Right, here's what returned from videoinfo:

Code:
Adapter `EFI GOP driver':
*0x000 3840 x 2160 x 32 (15360) Direct color, mask: 8/8/8/8 pos: 16/8/0/24

There are about thirteen more listings, but I'm excited about the first one with the asterisk because it's the optimal resolution of my monitor according to the Samsung website's specs for this product.


Here's what came out of grep -i vesa /var/log/Xorg.0.log:
Code:
[    10.650] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 4
[    10.653] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[    10.653] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[    10.654] (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    10.654] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
[    10.890] (II) UnloadModule: "vesa"
[    10.890] (II) Unloading vesa
 
Last edited:


OK, well THAT's some progress, it looks doable, doesn't it?

In my travels around the World Wide Web on my magic carpet yesterday, I saw something about vesa in that log, and I'll see if I can track that down.

I should tell you that I am flying by the seat of my pants on some of this - I have not yet journeyed where you are going, hooking a computer to a TV, but I have done a bit of work with xrandr, so if our other helpers can make use of the above (or someone else), go for it. I don't want to lead you down the garden path.

It seems to me that we might be able to build a custom resolution using xrandr and swing that into play.

With

xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default

as best I can tell that is a non-fatal error or warning and that should not impede you from using xrandr.

See you when I can.

Wizard
 
@wizardfromoz

I'm certainly hoping for the best. What makes me optimistic is that the screen resolution I'm hoping to display at is a lot smaller than my GPU's maximum output. According to GeForce's specs for my video card, the maximum digital resolution is 7680 x 4320. I'm only shooting for the resolution that videoinfo states it can handle, which is 3840 x 2160.

Thanks for your continued help.
 
OK, couple of things to keep you out of mischief (or get you into mischief, lol) until next we meet.

1. You could revisit that line in /etc/default/grub

#GRUB_GFXMODE=800x600

uncomment it and make it

GRUB_GFXMODE=3840x2160x32

then sudo update-grub

and reboot.

If that does not work, or in addition to that, we can try the custom resolution in xrandr, and for that (copy and paste this)

Code:
xrandr | grep -e " connected [^(]" | sed -e "s/\([A-Z0-9]\+\) connected.*/\1/"

... it should give us an Identifier to use in the custom command, provided that that gamma output thingie does not interfere.

See you soon - short road trip tomorrow , back in about 18 hours, likely.

Wiz
 
Just a thought, are you using display port connection or HDMI ? Most TV's work better with HDMI
 
uncomment it and make it

GRUB_GFXMODE=3840x2160x32

then sudo update-grub

and reboot.
Once I managed to get the resolutions list to appear via the videoinfo command, I got so excited that this was actually one of the first things I did. However, I still got the "Out of memory" error on bootup when I switched to the larger monitor.


If that does not work, or in addition to that, we can try the custom resolution in xrandr, and for that (copy and paste this)

Code:
xrandr | grep -e " connected [^(]" | sed -e "s/\([A-Z0-9]\+\) connected.*/\1/"

... it should give us an Identifier to use in the custom command, provided that that gamma output thingie does not interfere.

The result of this command is:
Code:
HDMI-0


I may have said this before, but so you know, I'm bouncing between a small computer monitor and the television for this endeavor. What's odd to me is that when I un-comment the default 800x600 resolution line in the grub file, I actually get something showing on the tele -- although it's in that same resolution, so it looks ridiculous. However, when I switch back to the computer monitor it makes no difference what's in the grub file, everything looks fine. I actually erased that line altogether once to see if it did anything when using the computer monitor, but everything looked normal.

Another thing that may be worth noting: before I made any changes to the grub file, the OS display settings were greyed out; I could make no changes to the resolution options. However, when I added/changed the grub file to GRUB_GFXMODE=3840x2160x32, I discovered that I now have a list of options for different resolutions. That's the first time I've seen that.
 
Just a thought, are you using display port connection or HDMI ? Most TV's work better with HDMI
Good point. Much to my chagrin, this TV only has HDMI as a connection. (Three of them, to be more accurate.)
On the other hand, my GPU has one HDMI port, but three display ports.
 
HOLD EVERYTHING! I just got this working. Haaa...llelujah

For a laugh, I changed the grub file to its default 800x600 and commented out that line. I thought if I can get showing on the TV again I can at least see if the display settings are still greyed out. I then remembered that if I comment out that line I'll get the "Out of memory" error. So I switched back to the small monitor, took off the # sign, updated the file, then rebooted with the TV again. To my amazement, Mint showed up in the proper 3840x2160 resolution and everything now looks perfect. I even have all my options available in the display settings should I want to switch to a different resolution or scale the view.

However, I have no idea why it works now. Somehow, we got Mint to recognize and take advantage of the GPU's resolution capabilities. I'd really like to know how it works now -- to satisfy my own curiosity as well as in case someone else stumbles across this thread with the same problem.
 
However, I have no idea why it works now.

Perseverance... or you held your mouth the right way.

That's great news.

Now is a good time to take a Timeshift snapshot.

See me at

https://www.linux.org/threads/timeshift-similar-solutions-safeguard-recover-your-linux.15241/

if you have questions on how to best set up Timeshift for your environment.

That is wonderful news though, you must be thrilled.

While you are thrilled, get your bum over to

https://www.linux.org/forums/member-introductions.141/

and tell us a bit of the @J_New story and meet a few more of the gang.

Enjoy your visual experience.

Wiz
 
BTW nearly forgot in my excitement for you.

If you like, you can go to your first Post and click edit, and edit the title to have at the front

[SOLVED]

We can still discuss the why's and wherefores of how at our leisure. ;)
 
Have a look here - https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1842320

You can also edit /etc/default/grub and look for the following:
# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

and remove the # in front of it so it looks like
GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480
Save the file and run
Code:
sudo update-grub
afterwards. Now reboot you can always undo it if it does not work
great share, thank you very much. That was the right key. :)
 
BTW nearly forgot in my excitement for you.

If you like, you can go to your first Post and click edit, and edit the title to have at the front

[SOLVED]

We can still discuss the why's and wherefores of how at our leisure. ;)
Done. Thanks to you, @Lord Boltar , @kc1di , et al. for the help. It is greatly appreciated as I make the permanent move to Linux.

BTW: Timeshift was a step I took during initial installation, so I'm all set there. :) Thanks again!
 

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