When I boot into a linux partition (I have got several distributions on
separate partitions or as live CD) the picture is moved to one side so that
part of it will come outside the screen. The monitor settings are OK in all
of my Windows partitions (Win98, WinME and WinXP). Is there a general linux
setting to compensate for this displacement or do I have to meddle with the
monitor settings every time I change from Winddows to Linux or vice versa?
(In case it matters: I have got a miro P1772F monitor (CRT) and NVIDIA GeForce4MX 4000 graphics card.)

Hi...

What are the resolution sizes for these distros?

While I can't speak for any of the others, in Ubuntu, this can be done in the drop down menus (I believe under "preferences") on the top part of the screen. It's been a while since I've used Ubuntu so I can't tell you the exact location.

I would think any of the distros would have a general setting for this.

If there isn't, you can edit the xorg.conf file to change the resolution size as well. This should be able to be found under the "etc" and "X11" folders.

Hope this helps...

Best Regards...

Ive always had this problem with Linux distros and the only answers I got were to change the resolution, but that made no difference. If you resolve this, let me know how, please.

Do you mean that you have tuned the monitor while in Linux, and it doesn't work later? Monitors usually have different "memory places" for different modes - even if the resolution is the same, probably the parameters are different in Linux and Win.
So, it SHOULD work independently. If you have already tried the tuning, I can't help.

As I said in my first post, the monitor settings are OK in all of my Windows partitions (Win98, WinME and WinXP); that is to say I don't have to change any monitor setting when booting into my different Windows Operating systems. But as soon as I boot into a Linux OS, there there will result an intolerable horizontal and/or vertical displacement of the picture on the screen. If follow ardvarkishereagain's advice and set the resolution in Linux to other values than the recommended one (which is 1024x768), this displacement will even increase. I tested it for OpenSuse with 1024x600 and 1152x864.

However, when looking for other adjustments having an effect on the position of the picture on the screen, I found out the following (not in a systematic but rather random manner):

Note: The menu items below are translated from German
and may therefore lack accuracy in part.


1. Windows > right click on the desktop > NVIDIA Display > miro P1772F > monitor adjustment (with four positioning arrows at the four edges). Clicking on one of the positioning arrows would shift the picture by a small amount in that direction.

2. OpenSuse > Computer > Graphics Card and Monitor > Monitor: PTS PROVIEW MIRO P 1772F > Change > screen size > (settings for: diagonal in inch, width-to-height ratio, screen size i.e. x and y axes in mm)

3. ERPOSS 4 > System > adjust screen size and orientation > refresh rate


Starting from the situation described in the first paragraph (all Windows partitions OK, all Linux partitions more or less with displaced picture), I first corrected the x and y axes in 2. above and thus was able to get rid of the displacement in OpenSuse.

I went back to Windows and found out that a small displacement of the picture had resulted, which I was able to correct by clicking the respective arrow according to 1. above. This did not influence the changes made to the OpenSuse display.

In a third step I was able to correct the display of ERPOSS 4 by changing the refresh rate from 85 Hz to 75 Hz. This change did not negatively affect the two other adjustments made before.

So, finally I was able to achieve a correct display in all Windows partitions, in the OpenSuse partition and in the ERPOSS 4 partition.

I just wonder why there are obviously significant differences between the monitor and graphics card drivers for Windows on the one hand and for the different Linux distibutions on the other hand. Does anybody have an explanation for this? Is it really so difficult to develop drivers for the different OS's that yield the same picture geometry?

Hi,
this is way late, but it may just be the monitor. Back in the "glory days" of installing "another distro" on every kind of junk box, monitor, etc, I could get for a buck or nothing, there really were monitors that "just had problems".

Not that you don't have an excellent monitor, I know nothing about it, but hardware settings can just "be a problem"..

You evidently know how to handle the hardware, by adjusting x and y axes, etc, so i don't think that you "are doing anything wrong"...

So.... a suggestion, you've tried Suse, have you checked the hardware compatability list at the forum, If it is not listed there then that doesn't mean that it won't work, but it may be that someone else has listed that it does or doesn't.

As to a distro that I think "might" work, I'd try PCLinuxOS 2007.... and I would NOT have said that about the previous release, it would find some of my stuff and sometimes not...

well, like I said, this was probably too late and too little, but just thought i'd mention it.

luck!
woodsmoke

Most linux distros use the xorg driver for nvidia, called nv. This is not the official nvidia driver. Depending on which distro you will have to find out how to install the official nvidia drivers. This is the reason the screen setting seem off.

HI
I would now modify my above to recommend Klikit Linux.

However, as to the problem. I just ran across it a couple of days ago, I use a Viewsonic Wide Screen LCD for school, I have to have two sheets of paper open on it at once for grading purposes.

Anyway, I was "piddling" with different resolutions because the monitor is "smart" and kept recommending a slightly different setting.

Well, I thought that I would try a different video card and when I did, I got the same situation as you, the "splash screen" was off and to the side, just enough that I couldn't log in.

So, I replaced the original card, but because of the changes on the hd, it took two cycles of booting and rebooting to get the screen back to where it was in the correct spot.

As to cw's comment, yes "nv" is the generic driver, but Nvidia has been pretty forthcoming about providing information and the latest driver is "nvidia" and is labled "fglrx" for linux...

The absolute latest installer for Nvidia and Ati is a really neat app which is called ENVY...

http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

and that thing is just the cat's meow... really,

Because of the fire we had during the ice storm of January 07, we ended up with some extra cash from the Insurance and the better half said for me to take some of it to "play" with, so I have been getting a gradually increasingly powerful video cards, but my previous distros quite often left me hanging... but ENVY just works...restarts xorg etc. uninstalls the previous, installs the new...

Now sometimes you have to manually edit the xorg file, but that's only on the latest and greatest....

So.... from my experience, I would recommend that you try a rather DUMB thing....go to a second hand computer store and get an old Nvidia card, one that you KNOW the distro recognizes and pop it in and use it to set the screen.

and you might have to use "startx" but that's ok too.

I would recommend setting to, probably, a "square" screen or a "normal" screen, 1024 x 768 or something, and work "out" from there....

and, if you go "too far", just pop the old card in, let the distro find it and start over... saves a LOT of time...

That's why I've kept some old cards around for the last coupla years!

woodsmoke

Late answers not always remain unobserved. Thank you very much for
your answer Woodsmoke. Although presently my timetable does not allow
me to completely switch over from WinME and WinXP to Linux and hence
to experiment further with dsiplay settings and evaluate your detailed
comments I think they will certainly be of great value to many forum
members and Google users loking for a solution to this problem. I will
certainly come back to this promising looking comment once I have the
time to completely do away with windows. In the meantime I am just
playing with Linux to learn the basics.

As to Linux, as I said I am a poor beginner and do not feel capable to
engage in Klikit Linux but I have been keen on getting a start with
PCLinuxOS. However, I have not been able to solve the partitioning
questions so far. I use Terabyte's excellent BootI NG for partitioning
and want to stick to it. With SUSE I was able to achieve a coexistence
between their boot manager and BootIt NG. With PCLinuxOS there are
always emerging questions which imply the loss of partitions if
I give the wrong answer. I have got the impression that I might be
able to successfully install the distro "SAM LINUX 2007", which is
based on PCLinuxOS. Do you happen to know this distro and do you think
it might solve the display setting difficulties in the same manner as
PCLinuxOS does?

Hi
I was formerly a Xandrosian.

When Xandros sold out to Microsith I was asked to go to Klikit, and to PCLOS and I chose PCLOS.

PCLOS is a fine distro, and is relatively easy to understand.

It has a good "package manager" that easily downloads applications.

But, you are only capable of getting the things from the PCLOS storehouse.

Others kept asking me to try Klikit and I did.

Klikit has a better "version" of the package manager which is called Synaptic.

Synaptic is used by many distros and is an "interface" or "wrapper" for Apt-get.

Klikit also has "one" click to install things like the ability to play MP3s, play DVDs, Java, Flash, etc.

It is the first distro with which I can get access to the "virtual" laboratories which my students use (I teach online biology).

It is VERY stable, and I have really TRIED to break it and have not been able to.

It has a great way to install drivers for video cards, both Nvidia and Ati.

Go ahead and use PCLOS, but I would, at least, go over to the Klikit forum, especially when it is "presented" in a short while.

The "beta" is more stable than Xandros was, in my estimation, and I used Xandros for two years.

Have fun!

woodsmoke