[mdlug] dual monitor configuration has snow for particular app [Was: [mdlug-newbie] dual monitor configuration has snow for particular app ]

Jeff Hanson jhansonxi at gmail.com
Wed May 10 16:05:17 EDT 2017


Is that an actual 9600 Pro or an All-in-Wonder version with a TV tuner?
AGP or PCIe?  How much video RAM?

Regardless, that is an old card.  I just scrapped a bunch of cards of that
era since they were too slow even for games released 8 years ago and their
drivers see little maintenance.

On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 3:48 PM, Dr. Robert Meier <
list1c30fe42 at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> MDLUGers,
>
> I am cross-posting (shame on me) this message because it has gotten
> zero response on the mdlug-newbie list.
>
> I hope that we will see Rich this weekend 2017.05.12,
> but it would help if someone can help him with this issue beforehand.
> If this problem cannot be resolved by email before Saturday,
> perhaps narrowing down hardware suspects can make it practical to
> bring the hardware this Saturday to demo a working arrangement
> or perform hardware diagnosis.
>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject:        Re: [mdlug-newbie] dual monitor configuration has snow for
> particular app
> Date:   Sat, 22 Apr 2017 19:47:00 GMT
> From:   musichall at juno.com <musichall at juno.com>
> Reply-To:       A place where there are no dumb (linux related) questions.
> <mdlug-newbie at mdlug.org>
> To:     mdlug-newbie at mdlug.org
>
>
>
> Hello,
> Thanks for your quick response... can't say the same for me!
> This is pertaining to the GUI operation. And it's not just pertaining to
> some app, it's the whole OS -- with nothing running (no application
> selected). I get the snow straight out of the gate (so to speak): boot
> -> snow on both monitors.
> As for the snow -- Not sure from your comment if you knew what I meant
> by snow. It is essentially the same as tuning an analog TV to a channel
> where there is no broadcast signal: 'snow'. In the audio domain, tuning
> a radio to an AM station to a frequency where there is no broadcast
> signal: just noise. And in the process of illustrating that, I thought
> it might be appropriate to see if the is the same with both video and
> audio. I had some audio file playing, then connected the other monitor,
> waited for the screen to Go-Snow, to see if the audio was affected.
> Audio was not affected.
> As for an electrical problem: I would have to say NO. It works with
> every other OS I've used on this machine, including the present instance
> of Windows XP (x64). It just works!! But I appreciate your thoroughness
> --  covering the bases.
> Nevertheless when I booted to Mint again, all I got was the command-line
> log-in, which threw me (not used to that with the latest distros of
> Linux). It took several minutes before I realized that the login text
> WAS the login for the OS, not just some error message. So, the GUI is
> gone now -- I don't know what happened -- I DIDN'T TOUCH ANYTHING -- it
> just changed (which is confusing because it's code: it's deterministic
> !!) So I booted to the Live disc, to see what I could see for answering
> your questions.  The following is the output of the command you gave me
> (using the Live disc. I presume the setting would be close, if not the
> same, because I get the same result with both monitors with the Live disc):
> mint at mint ~ $ ps -ef|grep X
> root 1806 1801 1 18:56 tty7 00:00:07 /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg :0 -audit 0
> -auth /var/lib/mdm/:0.Xauth -nolisten tcp vt7
> mint 2847 2793 0 19:03 pts/0 00:00:00 grep --color=auto X
> mint at mint ~ $
> As for the apps that cause the screen-saver to freeze (lock-out): again,
> with the Live disc (since the GUI of the installed instance of it is
> gone), so far I was able to see that Firefox caused it to lock-out.
> However, when I booted to the Live disc, When I booted the Live disc, I
> forgot about the two monitors connected, went to get something to drink
> (while the OS booted from the DVD), came back, and the screen-saver had
> engaged. I pressed some keys: nothing; moved the mouse: nothing. I
> figured I needed to reboot so I pressed Ctl-Alt-Del (force of habit with
> Windows), and somewhere in that process caused the [GUI] screen to
> return. Perhaps I was using the wrong method to recover from the
> screen-saver? On the other distros that I have (Ubuntu, Centos, SLAMPP -
> all that I've used so far, anyway), any action: keyboard or mouse,
> recovers from the screen-saver. Still not sure yet of the boundaries of
> it all.
> Any help or insight is greatly appreciated.
> Rich Hall
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------
> From: "Dr. Robert Meier" <list1c30fe42 at bellsouth.net>
> To: mdlug-newbie at mdlug.org
> Subject: [mdlug-newbie] dual monitor configuration has snow for
> particular app
> Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2017 22:26:29 -0400
>
> [The following is a relay to this list.
>   The original questioner had difficulty posting,
>     but should now be able to read and reply to this list.]
>
> Xperts,
>
>  > ..., I have a dual-monitor video card
>  > (specifically one VGA and one DVI output).
>  > The brand is ATI (which is now AMD, model 9600 Pro
>  > using the RV350 chip/chipset), ...
>  > [the] behaviour is pretty much as expected.
>  > But if I plug in the second monitor,
>  > the other monitor lights up and
>  > the screen on BOTH monitors results in white snow
>  > - no actual discernible image.
>  > If I disconnect it fairly soon afterward,
>  > the remaining screen returns to the 'normal' state.
>  > If I don't disconnect it soon,
>  > the machine (actually the video) is hosed,
>  > and I must use the 1/0 button to get back to an active screen
>
> I've never seen or heard of 'white snow'
>   (?random intensity distribution?)
>   resulting from digital misconfiguration.
>
> Is it possible that you suffer a ground loop[1]
>   (common hardware problem)?
> Are both monitors' shields (i.e. nominally screws
>   on the video connector) screwed in? [yes]
> Are your wall power sockets grounded? [yes]
> Are you using a polarized outlet adapter[2]? [no]
>
> Please post your X configuration.
> Depending on your X implementation (Xorg, XFree86, ???)
>    the config file(s) might be one or more of
>      /etc/Xorg.conf
>      /etc/xorg.conf
>      /etc/X11/xorg.conf
>      /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/*
>      /etc/XFree86Config
>      /etc/X86Config
>      ...
> If you don't know your X implementation,
>    please post the output of
>      ps -ef | grep X
> which should include your X implementation
>    and is likely to name your X configuration file(s).
>
>  > Secondly, as for the screen saver:
>  > If I do NOT have an application open and the screen saver kicks in,
>  > the active screen can be recovered (as you would expect).
>  > But if I DO have an application open and the screen saver kicks in,
>  > I must use the 1/0 button to return to using the computer.
>
> Please post the identity of at least TWO applications
>   that exhibit this behavior.
> Do you have another laptop, cellphone, or computer? [yes]
> Can you use ssh to remotely log into the problem computer computer
>   from the second computer?
> Using the remote login twice to run
>      ps -ef
>   can you post the results with an application open
>    before the screen saver kicks in
>    AND after the screen saver kicks in
>
>  > From my perspective,
>  > the first problem appears to be a VERY poorly written video driver
>  > or interface with the OS.
>  > The hardware is old enough to have decent drivers available,
>  > but not so old as to not have any reasonable drivers available
>  > ANY MORE.
>  > The second problem appears to be
>  > some sort of instability within the OS itself:
>  > (Why would an open app make any difference for the screen saver ?)
>  > It's all very frustrating for me
>  > because I expected more stability and predictability from Linux,
>  > whatever the specific flavor
>  > (e.g. Red Hat/Centos, Ubuntu, Debian/Mint, etc).
>
> Relaying,
> --
> Bob
>
> [1] See https://en.wikipedia.org/
>        wiki/Ground_loop_%28electricity%29
>      section Ground loops in digital and RF systems
>        for an explanation and
> [2] Polarized outlet adapter
>      http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp
>        ?productId=1285936
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