Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

I will preface by saying, yes, I'm using an old ass PVM and that it is a source of constant issues (which is part of the FUN).
I used QuickPet to install NVIDIA drivers so I could get better colour depth and resolution support for my 8600gt and now my display is completely overscanned; I can't see icons and the tray is completely missing, well it's there, just not visible

I think there is a way to adjust X and Y axis in the default graphics wizard (sorry, the name escapes me), but apparently this can 'damage' the GPU and monitor. I don't see how it could do this, but my instinct is to stay away from that until somebody more experienced can offer insight.

Anybody know what the hell has happened, and why NVIDIA drivers would do such a thing (the betrayal!)? It's at the same resolution as the default VESA driver which gave me a completely viewable image, with some tiny amount of overscan.

Have attached a crappy picture link in hopes of further understanding:
https://imgur.com/a/3t6FwUu

@jenkem_lover189 :-

Hmm....

I'm running the exact same 340.108 driver myself, in a pair of Puppies running on an elderly 2008 Dell D630 Latitude lappie. These came with the Nvidia Quadro GVS-135m mobile GPU as standard.....and the 'nouveau' in-kernel driver wasn't exactly behaving itself with this chip, so the official drivers were kind of a necessity. One of these is Xenialpup64.......and the other is Fossapup64.

I haven't noticed any real 'issues' with the display on this laptop. There is one tiny, niggling one that I've learned to live with; the very bottom 3 or 4 rows of pixels display 2 or 3 horizontal lines that appear & disappear several times a minute.....but since this is at the very bottom of the taskbar I can put up with it. It doesn't affect my enjoyment or use of the machine, so I'll leave well alone. I'm not THAT much of a geek that I'm going to worry myself silly over it!

But 'overscan'.....no. TBH, I'm not even sure what this is. Am I right, when looking at the image you've supplied, in thinking that you're running a CRT monitor there? 'Cos it sure looks like it to me. If it is, I'm pretty sure that such things always used to have adjustment controls for overscan & such-like somewhere round the back; it's a very long time since I've used one of those, and my memory's not as good as it used to be.....

Mike.

Hi @mikewalsh

On your FossaPUP64, how did you add your nVidia driver? I need to do the same on a PC that was just dropped on me.

Thanks in advance.

In an open area of the desktop right click to get the menu.

find the Nvidia X Server Settings control program.
It controls the settings for Nvidia graphics hardware when using the Nvidia driver.
This is very good at making setting adjustments.
Use it for making any setting changes.

Changes to the driver operation is changed as you make the changes.
Any changes you make in the program are going to be used and saved in the Fossapup64 save.
Just close the program when you are done using it.

"Warning"
On the X Server Display Configuration Window is an option:
Save to X Configuration File
DO NOT USE THIS OPTION
It will make an xorg.conf file that does not work in Puppy and replaces the working Puppy xorg.conf.

Looking at the image you posted.

I would try changing the resolution setting being used.

What is the native resolution of this monitor?
You need to set this as the resolution to use.
Or
Try a resolution setting you know should work.

Any help?

Clarity wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 3:16 am

Hi @mikewalsh

On your FossaPUP64, how did you add your nVidia driver? I need to do the same on a PC that was just dropped on me.

Thanks in advance.

Quickpet program has a few Nvidia drivers in it's driver tab already compiled for Fossapup64 9.5. (drivers are kernel specific)

Just click on one to download and install it.

Carefully follow any messages that pop up in the process.
they should do everything to install and change to using that driver.

See my above post for how to make any setting changes when using the driver.

Note:
The drivers offered in Quickpet are good for a lot of Nvidia hardware, but not every possible one.
I would check Nvidia web site to make sure one of them will run the Nvidia hardware you have.

This topic gives you the other way to do it, if a driver pet has not been made for the specific Puppy version and Nvidia hardware:
viewtopic.php?t=123
Provides the link to Nvidia web site for checking what specific Nvidia driver you may need.

@Clarity :-

Clarity wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 3:16 am

Hi @mikewalsh

On your FossaPUP64, how did you add your nVidia driver? I need to do the same on a PC that was just dropped on me.

Thanks in advance.

From what I recall, I downloaded the appropriate .run file from Nvidia's site, used Shinobar's GetNvidia and compiled the drivers in-situ. There wasn't really any other way round it for me, since I use such an eclectic mix of kernels in my Puppies.....and the drivers are very definitely kernel-specific.

For me, I use kernels that work best with the given hardware. And for old hardware, the newest kernels aren't always the best solution.....

(*shrug...*)

Mike.

mikewalsh wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 1:47 am

But 'overscan'.....no. TBH, I'm not even sure what this is. Am I right, when looking at the image you've supplied, in thinking that you're running a CRT monitor there? 'Cos it sure looks like it to me. If it is, I'm pretty sure that such things always used to have adjustment controls for overscan & such-like somewhere round the back; it's a very long time since I've used one of those, and my memory's not as good as it used to be.....

Mike.

Yep, it's a CRT which comes with a large set of aches and pains to deal with. I've already adjusted the horizontal and vertical sizes in the service menu, and it looks absolutely fine using the VESA drivers and a VCR I have also plugged in. Tiniest amount of overscan, but it's totally liveable.

The issue comes when the NVIDIA driver is installed, making everything completely overscanned. It's obvious to me that if I were to 'fix' it using the PVM's service menu, there would be a disgusting amount of underscan, perhaps an unuseable amount. I have the driver uninstalled for now and am back on the VESA driver (with 'nomodeset' in the kernel because I couldn't boot otherwise), but the issue is that the colours are extremely muted and inaccurate using these drivers; I'd really like those NVIDIA drivers, if I could get them to work damnit!

bigpup wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 4:10 am

I would try changing the resolution setting being used.

What is the native resolution of this monitor?
You need to set this as the resolution to use.
Or
Try a resolution setting you know should work.

Any help?

I've already tried this, sadly. The monitor supports 240p and 480i (don't laugh, it looks great! xD), although the 8600GT I'm using only supports the 480i option i.e., 640x480 @60.00. This resolution is perfect using the VESA drivers, but results in what you're seeing in the picture. I can't fathom what the NVIDIA drivers could possibly be doing to cause this

What is the make and model of this monitor?

Try using a few larger resolution settings.

800x600 @60.00

1024x768 @60.00

If this monitor has internal settings you can access by a switch on it.

See if anything in the settings can be changed for resolution to use or any information.

If this is a TV that has a computer PC setting.

Make sure you have it set for PC.

I used QuickPet to install NVIDIA drivers

Did you install only one of the drivers and only one of them???

If you installed more than one driver that will mess up the install.

The nvidia driver has to only be one specific driver and only that driver.

If you want a different driver.

The Nvidia driver that is installed, has to be removed, before installing a different driver.

bigpup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 12:20 am

I used QuickPet to install NVIDIA drivers

Did you install only one of the drivers and only one of them???

If you installed more than one driver that will mess up the install.

The nvidia driver has to only be one specific driver and only that driver.

If you want a different driver.

The Nvidia driver that is installed, has to be removed, before installing a different driver.

Yep, only installed one then removed it, using the VESA drivers at the moment.

bigpup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 12:03 am

What is the make and model of this monitor?

Try using a few larger resolution settings.

800x600 @60.00

1024x768 @60.00

If this monitor has internal settings you can access by a switch on it.

See if anything in the settings can be changed for resolution to use or any information.

If this is a TV that has a computer PC setting.

Make sure you have it set for PC.

I already tried all resolution settings; same result every time with the NVIDIA driver. It's a professional video monitor by the way, so it should be set for a computer either way. I have checked the service menu, no options like that are present, likely for aforementioned reasons. Probably chalk it down to an incompatibility/difficulty with the NVIDIA driver and an archaic CRT monitor. It's a Sony PVM-14N5MDE by the way, if you're interested.

This could be how Nvidia X Server Settings program is detecting the monitor and what it offers for settings.

It is detecting my monitor make and model and this monitor is providing settings it can use.

In X server display configuration
What does it have in selection:
Does it give you anything you can change in selection:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See if you have this in your Nvidia X Server Settings program

In the Nvidia X Server Settings program ->X server display configuration

It has an option to set the Underscan setting.

Try making some settings in this and see what it does.

Do small changes no more than 10 at one time.

This is suppose to make it underscan to adjust for overscan issues which you seem to have.

Underscan

The Underscan feature allows configuration of an underscan border (in pixels) around the ViewPortOut.
The aspect ratio of the ViewPortOut is preserved and the ViewPortIn is updated to exactly match this new size.
This feature is formerly known as Overscan Compensation.

Found the manual for this monitor Sony PVM-14N5MDE.

Model PVM-14N5MDE is a video monitor
intended for use in a medical environment to
display video pictures from cameras or other video devices.

This is not really anything but a very basic monitor to use on a computer.

You are probably correct that the Nvidia drivers are not made for this simple a display device.

Visa driver is most likely the best you will be able to use.

Nothing wrong with Vesa driver except it is basic display driver with not much for options.
However every display hardware is supported by it.

bigpup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 6:10 am

This could be how Nvidia X Server Settings program is detecting the monitor and what it offers for settings.

It is detecting my monitor make and model and this monitor is providing settings it can use.

In X server display configuration
What does it have in selection:
Does it give you anything you can change in selection:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See if you have this in your Nvidia X Server Settings program

In the Nvidia X Server Settings program ->X server display configuration

It has an option to set the Underscan setting.

Try making some settings in this and see what it does.

Do small changes no more than 10 at one time.

This is suppose to make it underscan to adjust for overscan issues which you seem to have.

Underscan

The Underscan feature allows configuration of an underscan border (in pixels) around the ViewPortOut.
The aspect ratio of the ViewPortOut is preserved and the ViewPortIn is updated to exactly match this new size.
This feature is formerly known as Overscan Compensation.

I tried the underscan setting already and it seemed to have no impact whatsoever for some reason.

I forgot to mention that NVIDIA X Server Settings seems to recognise the display as 'TV-0' and, of course, it's not a television really. I'm guessing because it's so old and doesn't have the same digital identifiers as newer monitors?

I'm also using S-Video cables, not sure if that would have any bearing itself.

bigpup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 20, 2023 6:48 am

Found the manual for this monitor Sony PVM-14N5MDE.

Model PVM-14N5MDE is a video monitor
intended for use in a medical environment to
display video pictures from cameras or other video devices.

This is not really anything but a very basic monitor to use on a computer.

You are probably correct that the Nvidia drivers are not made for this simple a display device.

Visa driver is most likely the best you will be able to use.

Nothing wrong with Vesa driver except it is basic display driver with not much for options.
However every display hardware is supported by it.

The Vesa driver seems to abyssmal colour accuracy for me compared to the NVIDIA driver. I've tried colour bit depth (I think that was what it was called) and didn't seem to do anything. I'll try and get a pic for comparison.

If any of you remember my previous post, I couldn't get many OSes to boot with the default graphical drivers. I'm currently forced to use VESA drivers with 'nomodeset' in the kernel. One thing after another with old hardware, lol

Using the Vesa driver you could try using this program to change color.

menu ->Setup ->Screen/Graphics Wizard ->Advanced tab ->Monitor Gama Calibration

Adjust each color as you like.

Going darker may be what you need.

Note:
Just selecting apply may not let you see the change.

Also use menu ->Exit ->Restart Graphical Server