Apple 20" Cinema Display on FC3 w/ Ati X300

[Tomislav Horvatek]

Hi,

Recenty I bought HP dc7100 SFF with Ati radeon X300 and Apple 20" Cinema
Display. System cames with Win XP SP2 and everything works great.
Complete system wasn't bought to use Win but Linux OS, and this is where
my problem starts.

After installing Fedora Core 3 (full instalation) I can't get Apple LCD
to work. I spent hours on Google to find solution but without any
result. There are some solutions with nVidia graphics card that works
but I don't want to change card (it's low profile PCI express) because I
can lose warranty with HP. Unfortunately nether HP or Apple give support
for Linux.

I know that this is strange configuration but this is what my boss want
and I can't argue with her, but she demands from me to fix this problem.

Is there any idea how to solve this, should I try different
distribution, new ATI drivers, or something else.

Regards,

Tomislav Horvatek

[Jack Snodgrass]

Post by Tomislav Horvatek
Hi,
Recenty I bought HP dc7100 SFF with Ati radeon X300 and Apple 20" Cinema
Display. System cames with Win XP SP2 and everything works great.
Complete system wasn't bought to use Win but Linux OS, and this is where
my problem starts.
After installing Fedora Core 3 (full instalation) I can't get Apple LCD
to work. I spent hours on Google to find solution but without any
result. There are some solutions with nVidia graphics card that works
but I don't want to change card (it's low profile PCI express) because I
can lose warranty with HP. Unfortunately nether HP or Apple give support
for Linux.
I know that this is strange configuration but this is what my boss want
and I can't argue with her, but she demands from me to fix this problem.
Is there any idea how to solve this, should I try different
distribution, new ATI drivers, or something else.
Regards,
Tomislav Horvatek

what happens.... 'can't get to work' isn't real helpful.

What does your
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
say?

Does the ATI card work with a different monitor or have you
tried to use the ATI card with a different monitor.

jack

[Tomislav Horvatek]

Post by Jack Snodgrass
what happens.... 'can't get to work' isn't real helpful.
What does your
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
say?

Dear Jack,

I'm new to Linux and I don't know best way to describe my problem.
Recently I bought HP dc7100 with detailed configuration doown below.

HP dc7100 SFF configuration:
- Pentium 4 at 3.0 GHz (800Mhz FSB)
- i915G Express chipset
- Intel GMA 900 integrated graphics
- ATI Radeon X300 128MB PCI Express w/ DVI output
- 40GB SATA HDD
- 512MB DDR 400 RAM

Main purpose for that system was to use it as POS based on Linux OS,
Postgresql database and custom made software. Before deployment we test
all that on Dell Dimension 4500 (3 years old; with GF3 video card) and
Suse 9.1. After two weeks of intensive testing we decided to buy that
software and hardware. After we bought hardware, ISV told us to install
Fedora C3 or their custom distribution based on FC3. At this point all
truobles comes to life.

When I connected Apple Cinema Display 20" (16:10 display ratio) on DVI
port and run FC3 installation everything was fine during text mode but
when installation precedure starts X for GUI setup then ACD goes to
sleep mode. If you connect different monitor at that point you can see
GUI and all options. I also try to start installation with NOFB option
but without any success. After that I try to install Ubuntu 5.04 and
Suse 9.1 but without any luck, because every time installer starts X for
GUI monitor goes to sleep mode. When you look at log everything is fine
and X is up and running.

I decided to go with FC3 and Sony monitor which works fine for now.
Admin from ISV comes to our office and spend one day trying to install
ACD on FC3 but without success. What we found was that ACD works with
nVidia cards but I'm unable to find low-profile nVidia PCI-E card for HP
desktop. In addition, we were told by ISV that our harware is brand new
for Linux and that we shoud wait for new distribution that will have new
drivers, kernel and everything.

What I didn't try is automatic update (ISV didn't recomend this) from
Fedora site simply because I'm afraid what will happen and what to do if
anything goes wrong.

Because of all that situation, I decided to start learning Linux and buy
Suse 9.3.

I hope that this somehow helps you.

Regards,

Tomislav Horvatek

[Jack Snodgrass]

Post by Tomislav Horvatek

Post by Jack Snodgrass
what happens.... 'can't get to work' isn't real helpful.
What does your
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
say?

Dear Jack,
I'm new to Linux and I don't know best way to describe my problem.
Recently I bought HP dc7100 with detailed configuration doown below.
- Pentium 4 at 3.0 GHz (800Mhz FSB)
- i915G Express chipset
- Intel GMA 900 integrated graphics
- ATI Radeon X300 128MB PCI Express w/ DVI output
- 40GB SATA HDD
- 512MB DDR 400 RAM
Main purpose for that system was to use it as POS based on Linux OS,
Postgresql database and custom made software. Before deployment we test
all that on Dell Dimension 4500 (3 years old; with GF3 video card) and
Suse 9.1. After two weeks of intensive testing we decided to buy that
software and hardware. After we bought hardware, ISV told us to install
Fedora C3 or their custom distribution based on FC3. At this point all
truobles comes to life.
When I connected Apple Cinema Display 20" (16:10 display ratio) on DVI
port and run FC3 installation everything was fine during text mode but
when installation precedure starts X for GUI setup then ACD goes to
sleep mode. If you connect different monitor at that point you can see
GUI and all options. I also try to start installation with NOFB option
but without any success. After that I try to install Ubuntu 5.04 and
Suse 9.1 but without any luck, because every time installer starts X for
GUI monitor goes to sleep mode. When you look at log everything is fine
and X is up and running.
I decided to go with FC3 and Sony monitor which works fine for now.
Admin from ISV comes to our office and spend one day trying to install
ACD on FC3 but without success. What we found was that ACD works with
nVidia cards but I'm unable to find low-profile nVidia PCI-E card for HP
desktop. In addition, we were told by ISV that our harware is brand new
for Linux and that we shoud wait for new distribution that will have new
drivers, kernel and everything.
What I didn't try is automatic update (ISV didn't recomend this) from
Fedora site simply because I'm afraid what will happen and what to do if
anything goes wrong.
Because of all that situation, I decided to start learning Linux and buy
Suse 9.3.
I hope that this somehow helps you.
Regards,
Tomislav Horvatek

If your monitor goes to 'sleep' when it changes graphics mode,
it generally means that the refresh rate is too low for the
monitor and the monitor thinks it's supposed to go to sleep.

I have these options in my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file for my montitor:
( the word "Monitor" may be differnt in your config file... adjust
as needed )

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "SyncMaster 213T"
VendorName "SyncMaster"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1600x1200"
HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0
VertRefresh 60.0 - 60.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

This refresh rate will probably be good enough for your
display.

jack