Mailing List Archive

There is a very good documentation that comes along with the binary only
driver from www.nvidia.com.

//Joel

Craig Longman wrote:

>
> has anyone found any useful resources for getting the compositve out
> to work under X? i bought an nvidia card to output mythtv to my tv,
> but i'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to make it work, and
> even a harder time finding any documentation for this.
>
> the computer starts up fine in text mode, but no matter what ModeLine
> i define for the tv, it doesn't work. i found some really simple
> looking informatoin on the freevo site, but it didn't work at all. i
> also found a nvtv program that can actually get the tv output working
> and usable, but the card i'm using seems to behave diferently if the
> computer is started up without a monitor hooked up.
>
> this shouldn't be this touigh, should it? doen't i just need to worry
> about the right ModeLine and be off and runnign? adjusting it as i
> need to scan/overscan correctly? its really, really frustrating.
>
> if someone could point me in the right direction, i would _really_
> appreciate it.
>
> cheers,
>
> CraigL->Thx();
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

> the computer starts up fine in text mode, but no matter what ModeLine i
> define for the tv, it doesn't work. i found some really simple looking
> informatoin on the freevo site, but it didn't work at all. i also found
> a nvtv program that can actually get the tv output working and usable,
> but the card i'm using seems to behave diferently if the computer is
> started up without a monitor hooked up.

I use a TNT2 Ultra. If I just have the TV connected via s-video but
no monitor, then the card always uses the TV out. No nvtv or
particular modelines required (using default 640x480), although I'll
probably start using nvtv to fine-tune the position and overscan..

-jim

On Sun, 2003-05-04 at 11:42, Craig Longman wrote:
> has anyone found any useful resources for getting the compositve out to
> work under X? i bought an nvidia card to output mythtv to my tv, but
> i'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to make it work, and even a
> harder time finding any documentation for this

I have a GeForce2 MX with S-Video out; I run the MythTV box with TV-out
only (no VGA monitor attached at all). Text mode works fine on boot-up
of the system, and here are some relevant portions of my
/etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file: (note that I'm using the binary linux
drivers from nvidia.com)


Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "TV"
HorizSync 30-50
VertRefresh 60
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX"
Monitor "TV"
Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection


I run in 800x600 because when I use nvtv to overscan ("Large") it seems
to work just about right. (For whatever reason, I can't create custom
overscan amounts for my card with nvtv.) Here's part of my mythfrontend
startup script if you're interested as well:


#!/bin/sh
QT_XFT=1
export QT_XFT
nvtv -t -S NTSC -r 800,600 -s Large --set flicker:75 --set sharpness:100
--set Brightness#:20 --set Contrast#:-30 --set saturation#:30 --set
chromabandwidth:100 --set lumabandwidth:100
xset -dpms s off
irxevent &
nice -n -10 mythfrontend
pkill irxevent
nvtv -t -S NTSC -r 800,600 -s Small --set flicker:75 --set sharpness:100
--set Brightness#:20 --set Contrast#:-30 --set saturation#:30 --set
chromabandwidth:100 --set lumabandwidth:100


(watch those line breaks on the nvtv commands)

I don't (yet) have X and mythfrontend starting automatically when the
system boots, so after starting mythbackend nice'd to -15 in one term
window, I run the above script in another so I can keep track of error
output, etc. The only issue I have at this point with X11 support on my
TV is that whenever I exit X my text-mode video is scrambled. I have no
idea how to fix that (and haven't been all that concerned about it yet)
since a reboot clears it all up.

Hope some of this is helpful to you!

--
Dave Caplinger <dent@cox.net>

Might want to make sure you have:

Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT, TV"

set like you want (say with just TV)... some TV's/setups have a hard
time detecting what is connected and this option overrides it.

Bruce

On Sunday, May 4, 2003, at 12:42 US/Eastern, Craig Longman wrote:

>
> has anyone found any useful resources for getting the compositve out
> to work under X? i bought an nvidia card to output mythtv to my tv,
> but i'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to make it work, and
> even a harder time finding any documentation for this.
>
> the computer starts up fine in text mode, but no matter what ModeLine
> i define for the tv, it doesn't work. i found some really simple
> looking informatoin on the freevo site, but it didn't work at all. i
> also found a nvtv program that can actually get the tv output working
> and usable, but the card i'm using seems to behave diferently if the
> computer is started up without a monitor hooked up.
>
> this shouldn't be this touigh, should it? doen't i just need to worry
> about the right ModeLine and be off and runnign? adjusting it as i
> need to scan/overscan correctly? its really, really frustrating.
>
> if someone could point me in the right direction, i would _really_
> appreciate it.
>
> cheers,
>
> CraigL->Thx();
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

And in my case, I had to do something weird to get this to work on
my GeForce4 Ti4600. Apparently there is a bug in the version of the
driver that I'm using and it doesn't handle the "ConnectedMonitor"
option properly. If I use the option below, I get TV-out, but when
I exit X-Windows, my display doesn't re-sync for text output.

But, with this option, it works perfectly for me:
Option "ConnectedMonitor" ",TV"

I haven't tested more recent versions of the driver, yet, so
this bug may not exist for you, but if you have the symptom of
not being able to get back to text mode, then here's something
to try. :)

(my setup is monitor and TV-out with modelines setup to allow me
to cycle thru "monitor only", "monitor+TV", "TV-only" output with
X's mode switching hotkeys)

-Chris


Bruce C.Dillahunty wrote
> Might want to make sure you have:
>
> Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT, TV"
>
> set like you want (say with just TV)... some TV's/setups have a hard
> time detecting what is connected and this option overrides it.
>
> Bruce
>
> On Sunday, May 4, 2003, at 12:42 US/Eastern, Craig Longman wrote:
>
> >
> > has anyone found any useful resources for getting the compositve out
> > to work under X? i bought an nvidia card to output mythtv to my tv,
> > but i'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to make it work, and
> > even a harder time finding any documentation for this.
> >
> > the computer starts up fine in text mode, but no matter what ModeLine
> > i define for the tv, it doesn't work. i found some really simple
> > looking informatoin on the freevo site, but it didn't work at all. i
> > also found a nvtv program that can actually get the tv output working
> > and usable, but the card i'm using seems to behave diferently if the
> > computer is started up without a monitor hooked up.
> >
> > this shouldn't be this touigh, should it? doen't i just need to worry
> > about the right ModeLine and be off and runnign? adjusting it as i
> > need to scan/overscan correctly? its really, really frustrating.
> >
> > if someone could point me in the right direction, i would _really_
> > appreciate it.
> >
> > cheers,
> >
> > CraigL->Thx();
> >

thanks for all the advice. i'm frustrated at getting this going, the
output works fine in text mode, but looks like it switches to pal mode
when i start x. i was really not wanting to install yet another manual
driver, but it appears i have no choice, my fault for buying nvidia i guess.

its annoying that nvtv can make it work (acceptably) though. the
monitor is definitely there, i just need to figure out what frequencies
it needs, the numbers i get from nvtv don't work though. i'm very
suspicious that the card defaults to pal though, the output looks very
similar to what i get if i set nvtv to pal. i just keep feeling that if
i could just get it kinda working, i could fiddle with xvidtune and take
it all the way.

anyway, i'll keep going with it all, thanks again!

cheers,

CraigL->Thx();

what card are you using? nvtv doesn't support all the nvidia
cards, yet (I can't use it).

Here's the Device and Screen sections I use (which forces NTSC-M)
for dual output. The MetaModes option is what let's me cycle thru
the Monitor-only, Monitor+TV, and TV-only modes using Ctrl-Alt-Plus
and -Minus. I expect to use the SVideo output later, but have
commented it out for now. I'm only using one resolution to keep
things simple (1024x768).


Section "Device"
Identifier "NVidia Desktop"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "1"
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
Option "MetaModes" "1024x768,NULL;1024x768,1024x768;NULL,1024x768"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
## due to nvidia bug, have to list next option as ",TV" not "CRT,TV"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" ",TV"
Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
##Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Desktop Screen"
Device "NVidia Desktop"
Monitor "Sony Multiscan 200ES"
DefaultDepth 24

SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection




-Chris



Craig Longman wrote
>
> thanks for all the advice. i'm frustrated at getting this going, the
> output works fine in text mode, but looks like it switches to pal mode
> when i start x. i was really not wanting to install yet another manual
> driver, but it appears i have no choice, my fault for buying nvidia i guess.
>
> its annoying that nvtv can make it work (acceptably) though. the
> monitor is definitely there, i just need to figure out what frequencies
> it needs, the numbers i get from nvtv don't work though. i'm very
> suspicious that the card defaults to pal though, the output looks very
> similar to what i get if i set nvtv to pal. i just keep feeling that if
> i could just get it kinda working, i could fiddle with xvidtune and take
> it all the way.
>
> anyway, i'll keep going with it all, thanks again!
>
> cheers,
>
> CraigL->Thx();
>

On Sun, 2003-05-04 at 16:17, Craig Longman wrote:
> thanks for all the advice. i'm frustrated at getting this going, the
> output works fine in text mode, but looks like it switches to pal mode
> when i start x. i was really not wanting to install yet another manual
> driver, but it appears i have no choice, my fault for buying nvidia i guess.
>
> its annoying that nvtv can make it work (acceptably) though. the
> monitor is definitely there, i just need to figure out what frequencies
> it needs, the numbers i get from nvtv don't work though. i'm very
> suspicious that the card defaults to pal though, the output looks very
> similar to what i get if i set nvtv to pal. i just keep feeling that if
> i could just get it kinda working, i could fiddle with xvidtune and take
> it all the way.
>
Isn't pal at 50 hz refresh as opposed to 60 for NTSC? Did your XFree86 config file reflect that?

Calvin...

Chris Palmer wrote:

>what card are you using? nvtv doesn't support all the nvidia
>cards, yet (I can't use it).
>
nvtv did seem to work, so i guess i lucked out there.

>Here's the Device and Screen sections I use (which forces NTSC-M)
>...
>
i finally took the plunge and downloaded the nvidia driver from their
website, i had really hoped to be able to just stick with the built-in X
stuff, but oh well.

it compiled and installed remarkably easy, and i thought 'wow, something
went smoothly here, pretty cool'. yeah, right. after figuring out i
needed to load a kernel module first, i can get X loading, but it
doesn't work, it just hangs the system at some point i the startup (i
know the config is ok, starting with only the monitor activated is
fine). i was getting further with the regular nv driver and nvtv. i
guess i'm going to forget about trying to get linux working on a tv and
just continue working on the configurable key bindings. oh well, it was
a nice idea.

thanks,

CraigL->Thx();

Craig,

Which NVidia card do you have? If it works OK with just the CRT connected,
it's probably something in your XF86Config. Could you post that file (or at
least the relevant (Device, Monitor, Card & Screen) sections)?

-Joe

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-users-bounces@snowman.net
> [mailto:mythtv-users-bounces@snowman.net]On Behalf Of Craig Longman
> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 12:52 AM
> To: Discussion about mythtv
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] ntsc video out
>
>
> Chris Palmer wrote:
>
> >what card are you using? nvtv doesn't support all the nvidia
> >cards, yet (I can't use it).
> >
> nvtv did seem to work, so i guess i lucked out there.
>
> >Here's the Device and Screen sections I use (which forces NTSC-M)
> >...
> >
> i finally took the plunge and downloaded the nvidia driver from their
> website, i had really hoped to be able to just stick with the built-in X
> stuff, but oh well.
>
> it compiled and installed remarkably easy, and i thought 'wow, something
> went smoothly here, pretty cool'. yeah, right. after figuring out i
> needed to load a kernel module first, i can get X loading, but it
> doesn't work, it just hangs the system at some point i the startup (i
> know the config is ok, starting with only the monitor activated is
> fine). i was getting further with the regular nv driver and nvtv. i
> guess i'm going to forget about trying to get linux working on a tv and
> just continue working on the configurable key bindings. oh well, it was
> a nice idea.
>
> thanks,
>
> CraigL->Thx();
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@snowman.net
> http://lists.snowman.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

Craig Longman wrote
> i finally took the plunge and downloaded the nvidia driver from their
> website, i had really hoped to be able to just stick with the built-in X
> stuff, but oh well.

you definitely want an accellerated driver over the built-in stuff,
especially if you might want to run OpenGL stuff sometime.

> it compiled and installed remarkably easy, and i thought 'wow, something
> went smoothly here, pretty cool'. yeah, right. after figuring out i
> needed to load a kernel module first, i can get X loading, but it
> doesn't work, it just hangs the system at some point i the startup (i
> know the config is ok, starting with only the monitor activated is
> fine). i was getting further with the regular nv driver and nvtv. i
> guess i'm going to forget about trying to get linux working on a tv and
> just continue working on the configurable key bindings. oh well, it was
> a nice idea.

have no fear. we're here to help, man... :) post your file like
Joseph suggested. there are some config parameters that are not
intuitive that need to be done to get things setup.

you might also try an older version of nvidia's driver. I'm still
not running the "latest", because what I have is working to a decent
level of satisfaction (I don't have overscan control in this driver,
but I get output and I don't want to risk breaking that right now,
since I do record shows with MythTV pretty regularly and watch them
on my TV).

-Chris

Chris Palmer wrote:

>Craig Longman wrote
>
>
>>i finally took the plunge and downloaded the nvidia driver from their
>>website, i had really hoped to be able to just stick with the built-in X
>>stuff, but oh well.
>>
>>
>you definitely want an accellerated driver over the built-in stuff,
>especially if you might want to run OpenGL stuff sometime.
>
hmm, i didn't know it was running unaccelerated before, it seemed to be
ok. anyway, i'm continuing to try now, thanks.

>have no fear. we're here to help, man... :) post your file like
>Joseph suggested. there are some config parameters that are not
>intuitive that need to be done to get things setup.
>
well, i hate clouding this list with clearly non-X related things, but i
feel like i've subscribed to more lists in the last two weeks than the
last year! thanks very much for the offer, here is what i have:

ls /proc/pci shows:

VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX]
(rev 178).
IRQ 16.

and my XFConfig-4 has:

Section "Device"
Identifier "NV"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "NoLogo" "1"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Option "MetaModes"
"640x480,640x480;640x480,NULL;NULL,640x480"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" ",TV"
Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "TV"
HorizSync 30-82
VertRefresh 50-160
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NV"
Monitor "TV"
DefaultDepth 16
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection

if i comment out all the Option stuff in the Driver section, it boots up
on the monitor/vga fine.

>you might also try an older version of nvidia's driver. I'm still
>not running the "latest", because what I have is working to a decent
>level of satisfaction (I don't have overscan control in this driver,
>but I get output and I don't want to risk breaking that right now,
>since I do record shows with MythTV pretty regularly and watch them
>on my TV).
>
yeah, if i got this working here, i wouldn't screw around with it
either. at least i know i can always fall back to the nv+nvtv combo,
not perfect but it works.

right now, i'm slowly commenting things back in to see where it crashes.
i'll keep y'all posted if i find anything.

thanks,

CraigL->Thx();