[Nouveau] NV46 disconnected VGA

Thu Apr 28 09:43:37 PDT 2011

On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:08:50 -0700 (PDT)
Sebastian Glita <glseba at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> thanks for your questions, i had tried simpler config, but should have gotten to 
> the really bare one, so now I did: same result.
...
> Section "Device"
>         Identifier      "NVIDIA NV46"
>         Driver          "nouveau"
>         Option          "ZaphodHeads"           "LVDS-1,VGA-1"
> EndSection

ZaphodHeads is not needed, unless you want separate SCREENs.
Should be harmless here, though.

> The LCD shows RGB among its "live" inputs (the dead ones are grayed, these ones 
> are colored). And the alternative OS extends its desktop tested successfully on 
> it.

Is there a signal? I thought there would not be a signal if Nouveau
considers VGA disconnected.

> localhost $ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log 
...
> [  8061.593] 
> X.Org X Server 1.10.99.1
> Release Date: unreleased
...
> [  8061.594] (==) No Layout section.  Using the first Screen section.
> [  8061.594] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.
> [  8061.594] (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen Section" (0)
> [  8061.594] (**) |   |-->Monitor "<default monitor>"
> [  8061.595] (==) No device specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
>     Using the first device section listed.
> [  8061.595] (**) |   |-->Device "NVIDIA NV46"
> [  8061.595] (==) No monitor specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
>     Using a default monitor configuration.

This looks better now.

...
> [  8061.618] (--) NOUVEAU(0): Chipset: "NVIDIA NV46"
> [  8061.618] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen 
> section
>     "Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
> [  8061.618] (==) NOUVEAU(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
> [  8061.618] (==) NOUVEAU(0): RGB weight 888
> [  8061.618] (==) NOUVEAU(0): Default visual is TrueColor
> [  8061.618] (**) NOUVEAU(0): Option "ZaphodHeads" "LVDS-1,VGA-1"
> [  8061.618] (==) NOUVEAU(0): Using HW cursor
> [  8061.618] (==) NOUVEAU(0): GLX sync to VBlank disabled.
> [  8061.618] (==) NOUVEAU(0): Page flipping enabled
> [  8061.975] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output LVDS-1 has no monitor section
> [  8062.021] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output VGA-1 has no monitor section
> [  8062.047] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output TV-1 has no monitor section
> [  8062.258] (II) NOUVEAU(0): EDID for output LVDS-1
> [  8062.258] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Manufacturer: ...  Model: 3...  Serial#: 0
> [  8062.258] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Year: 2005  Week: 0
> [  8062.258] (II) NOUVEAU(0): EDID Version: 1.3
...
> [  8062.304] (II) NOUVEAU(0): EDID for output VGA-1
> [  8062.330] (II) NOUVEAU(0): EDID for output TV-1
> [  8062.330] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output LVDS-1 disconnected
> [  8062.330] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output VGA-1 disconnected
> [  8062.330] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output TV-1 disconnected
> [  8062.330] (WW) NOUVEAU(0): No outputs definitely connected, trying again...
> [  8062.330] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output LVDS-1 connected
> [  8062.330] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output VGA-1 disconnected
> [  8062.330] (II) NOUVEAU(0): Output TV-1 disconnected

It never sees anything connected. It might be a known "feature" of
some hardware, since there is the sanity check that then enables
LVDS. I hope someone else comments on that.

> > On Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:58:01 -0700 (PDT)
> > Sebastian Glita <glseba at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > Section "Device"
> > >      Identifier    "NVIDIA NV46"
> > >     VendorName     "NVIDIA Corp"
> > >     Driver         "nouveau"
> > > 
> > >     Option         "Monitor-LVDS-1"    "LCD 15.4'' WXGA"
> > >      Option        "Monitor-VGA-1"         "LCD"
> > >     Option         "Monitor-TV-1"        "<Missing>"
> > > 
> > >     Option        "HW_cursor"         "true"
> > >     Option         "ModeDebug"        "On"
> > >  EndSection
> > 
> > What are you trying to achieve with this config,  exactly?
> 
> I was under the belief that I was trying to achieve dualhead.
> 
> localhost $ man xorg.conf
> 
>        With RandR 1.2-enabled drivers, monitor sections may be  tied  to  spe‐
>        cific  outputs of the video card.  Using the name of the output defined
>        by the video driver plus the identifier of a monitor section, one asso‐
>        ciates  a  monitor  section  with  an output by adding an option to the
>        Device section in the following format:
> 
>        Option "Monitor-outputname" "monitorsection"
> 
>        (for example, Option "Monitor-VGA" "VGA monitor" for a VGA output)
> 
>        In the absence of specific association of monitor sections to  outputs,
>        if  a  monitor  section is present the server will associate it with an
>        output to preserve compatibility for  previous  single-head  configura‐
>        tions.
> 
> Also there are 2 "Screen" lines in the ServerLayout section.

For dual-head, normally you do not need any of that. Monitors
should be autodetected. Autodetection is failing for you.

Also, you will only have a single SCREEN in dual-head, both
heads in the same SCREEN. So, only one "Screen", max.

> > http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/MultiMonitorDesktop
> 
> OK, the thing is GTK+, fluxbox and another dozen applications seem to need 
> xinerama meaning one screen/multiple monitors: I need this.

And that is what you shall get, once we get the VGA output
online. That really is the default operation, not Zaphod mode.

> > What does the  kernel say about the outputs in the log?
> 
> localhost $ dmesg # You meant dmesg?

Yes, I should have been more specific. But maybe we don't need it
just yet.

> > Has your VGA-monitor's DDC  worked before?
> 
> I don't recall that about the VGA in Linux,. although I used an Intel GMA on the 
> LCD, but in the other OS I used to  use extend the desktop weekly.

Do you mean it often lost the desktop settings for the
VGA-connected monitor?

If I got it right, the core of your problem is that the
external monitor, connected via VGA (doesn't matter if
the monitor is a flat panel or a CRT), is never detected
as connected. There are two ways you could try to force
it as connected:

xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode 1024x768 --right-of LVDS-1
or something similar, IIRC that should force-enable the
output.

Forcing the mode on the kernel command line, as per
instructions in
http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/KernelModeSetting

And keep the simplistic xorg.conf for now.

HTH, Cheers

-- 
Pekka Paalanen
http://www.iki.fi/pq/