Out of Range

[ariam]

After installing Suse Linux pro 9.1 on my Pentium 1 200MMX, when rebooted for the first time, I now get a message out of range.

Hf 30 KHz – 70KHz
Vf 50KHz – 150 KHz


Current frequency

Fh 18.5 KHz fv 23 KHz

What does this mean?

Pease help I am new to Linux environment.

Thanks
ariam

[madcompnerd]

That's you monitor saying:
OMG OMG OMG OMG I dunno what you're sending me! STOP IT!
Do you get this message instantly, or do you get it after it scrolls through a bunch of text?

[banzaikai]

Wow!

from: ariam
Hf 30 KHz – 70KHz
Vf 50KHz – 150 KHz

First, some background info:

Your monitor paints the picture by scanning a beam from left-to-right (Horizontal) and top-to-bottom (Vertical). Since there are three dots per pixel (Red/Green/Blue), and the fact that screens are wider than they are tall, the Frequency of the H scan is much higher than the V scan. In fact, It's about 750 to 1100 times higher.

Hence, your first problem: The Hfreq is right, but the Vfreq should be something in the 50-150 Hertz (not KiloHertz) range.

The second problem is that your video card may very well output scan rates that the monitor can't handle ("sync" to). I have an older make/model of monitor that Linux doesn't have listed, and I'm limited to what I can display until I get in there to edit my XF86Config(-4) or xorg.config file. Once done, I then stick to standard 1024x768 or 1280x1024 sync rates.

So, your message just indicates that the card is sending something the monitor can't handle, or that you've put in values that just don't make sense. Looking again at your post:

from: ariam
Current frequency
Fh 18.5 KHz fv 23 KHz

It looks like the H is way too low, and the V is way too high (unless the "KHz" is supposed to be "Hz", in which case, 23Hz is also way too low). Double-check your config for the right values.

banzai "15.545 KHz" kai

[ariam]

Madcompnerd,
I get this message after it scrolls through. My monitor is a KDS 17” built in 1999, so I tried it on another monitor Compaq 15” it scroll through and went blank. Just a black screen, but I see the hard drive light flickering. my PC is a Compaq

Banzaikai
How do I go about editing – my XF86Config(-4) or xorg.config file.

[bwkaz]

First, avoid booting into X. At your bootloader screen, add a "3" to the end of the boot command (if that's grub, it should tell you how to edit the command line; if it's lilo, then just add a 3 after the menu entry's name).

You'll get the text mode stuff scrolling past, and then you'll get dumped to a login screen. Log in. Become root. Then edit /etc/X11/XF86Config (or /etc/X11/xorg.conf, or whatever your distro's config file is). If you don't know how to use any Linux text editor, I believe "nano" shows frequently-used commands at the bottom of the screen, if you have nano installed. Otherwise you almost assuredly have vim -- try running "vimtutor" to learn the editor, then edit the required file using vim.

(If you already know how to use a console mode text editor, then just edit the file.)

[banzaikai]

from: ariam
My monitor is a KDS 17” built in 1999

I'm betting your specs will be about on par with my Magitronic, so...

* Wait for activity to slow/stop
* Use CTRL-ALT-BCKSPC to drop to a text screen (runlevel 3)
* Login (or su) as root
* Type "cd /etc/X11" (without the quotes)
* Type "ls xorg.config" - If you get an error, then you have one of the other files. To see which one, type "ls XF*". You'll see either "XF86Config" or "XF86Config-4" listed. Once you know which one...
* Open it up with your editor of choice. Most distros ship with emacs and vi (or vim): "vim XF86Config"
(I wont go into the actual editor here, as entire books have been written on emacs/vi/vim)
* Once the appropriate lines have been edited, save the changes and exit
* Type "startX" to restart the gui, or "shutdown -r now" for the whole machine.

Try using something like:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "KDS"
        ModelName    "KDS-17V"
        HorizSync   30.0-48.0 #<(in KHz)
        VertRefresh 55.0-100.0 #<(in Hz)
        Option "dpms"

Section "Device"
	Identifier   "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX 400" #<(Your card here)
        Driver       "nvidia"
        VendorName   "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX 400"
        BoardName     "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX 400"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier   "Screen0"
        Device       "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX 400"
        Monitor      "Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth	24 #<(24-bit color)

	Subsection "Display"
        	Depth       24
                Modes       "1024x768" #<(add more if you like)
	EndSubsection

Ignore anything in the #<(xxx) comments. The H-V ranges given will get you the standard rates for 1024x768. If you still can't sync, then there's something wrong with the monitor or card.

banzai "vi=very inhospitable" kai

[MMYoung]

You can go on KDS's web site HERE and do a search for your monitor model number. From there you can get the EXACT vert/horiz specs to enter into the xorg.conf or XF86Config file.

HTH,
MMYoung

[IsaacKuo]

I suggest you start with 640x480, 16 bit display default, and see if that works. Edit the XF86Config file as suggested above, but don't go for 1024x768 and 24 bit color right off the bat--just try plain old standard 640x480 and work your way from there after you get that working.

The file you want to edit will be one of the following:

/etc/X11/Xorg.conf (if it exists)
/etc/X11/XF86Config-4 (if it exists)
/etc/X11/XF86Config (if neither of the above exist)

I don't use Xorg, so I'm not sure about the file name or capitalization of Xorg.conf.