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pablomme
Asked: 2012-07-15 03:59:48 +0800 CST

Fixing 800x600 resolution in Toshiba NB510 (GMA 3650) with vesa driver

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After installing Ubuntu 12.04 on a Toshiba NB510 the screen resolution is 800x600 instead of the native 1024x600. This is a netbook that contains the infamous GMA3650 (aka PowerVR SGX5450) which is poorly supported by the Linux kernel. I've looked around and tried several different solutions. Namely:

  • I've tried installing a newer kernel (3.3+), since some people have reported success with it. That didn't seem to fix the resolution problem.
  • I've tried installing an older version of Ubuntu (10.04), since someone suggested there's an older driver that should provide basic support for the card, but the liveCD image wouldn't boot.
  • I've tried using this ppa. On first reboot, the screen resolution was correct. Subsequent reboots lead to a blank screen immediately after grub.
  • I've tried passing the kernel option video=1024x600 with the above PPA, to no avail.
  • I've tried installing a daily build of Quantal. The live image boots with the correct resolution. The installed system boots to a blank screen. The video=1024x600 option doesn't work here either.
  • On Quantal I've blacklisted the gma500_gfx driver to force the use of vesa. This causes Ubuntu to boot into a 800x600 resolution.

  • After this, I've tried using the following xorg.conf:

    Section "Device"
    Identifier  "card"
    Driver      "vesa"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "panel"
    Modeline    "1024x600_DDC" 54.03 1024 1048 1184 1344 600 603 609 670 -hsync -vsync
    Option      "PreferredMode" "1024x600_DDC"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "screen"
    Device      "card"
    Monitor     "panel"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth   24
        Modes   "1024x600_DDC"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

    where the modeline comes from DDC, as reported in /var/log/Xorg.0.log. This seems to have no effect, with the resolution stuck at 800x600.

  • Additionally, adding nomodeset to the kernel command line does not help with either the resolution problem or the blank-screen problem.

Ideally, since I don't think I can trust the gma500_gfx driver or that from Meego (the one in Sarvatt's PPA), I would like to use the vesa driver (probably reverting to 12.04), and specify the resolution in a xorg.conf file, but I can't seem to get this to work. Any ideas?

BTW, this is a problem I'm helping a friend with, I don't have direct access to the machine.

12.04

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    The black-screen problem is in fact a backlight brightness issue. If you look closely you can see the screen actually displays what it should, but the backlight is off.

    Here are the steps I followed with the help of @pablomme to fix the issue using daily build of Quantal on new generation Atom Netbook. I tried it on N2800 and should be same for N2600 with the infamous GMA36x0 integrated graphics card, hopefully when using either the binary driver from Sarvatt's PPA or the gma500_gfx driver:

    1. At the GRUB prompt, select the Ubuntu entry and press e.
    2. Using the cursor keys, move to the line containing quiet splash and delete $vt_handoff from it.
    3. Press F10 to boot.

    4. At the desktop press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal, type:

      sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

      press Enter, enter your password when prompted and press Enter.

    5. In the editor that opens add the following line at the end of the file: 

      GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX="auto"

      Then save the file and close the editor.

    6. In the terminal type:

      sudo update-grub

      and press Enter. Once it's finished you can close the terminal.

    With the above the brightness should no longer be reset to zero at boot-time, so you'll be able to see the screen. If you would like to change the brightness, open a terminal and enter:

    sudo setpci -s "00:02.0" F4.B=BB

    where CC is the value of the brightness (hexadecimal, going from 00 to FF; e.g. 00=minimum, 33=dark, 77=medium, BB=light, FF=maximum).

    • 3

  2. The support for your GMA3600 can be provided directly by the kernel if you compile it with the option

    CONFIG_DRM_GMA3600=y

    many users on the internet report this option working well with the kernel 3.3 or higher.

    This option is usually disabled and not adopted by many kernels that comes by default in many distros, Ubuntu isn't an exception.

    just run this command

    cat /boot/config-$(uname -r) | grep -i gma

    and you will get what i'm saying.

    I suggest to re-compile the kernel https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile or to compile the driver that you need as module and load it if it's possible with your actual kernel configuration, remember to use a kernel >= 3.3 .

    I also have found a topic in french that marked this issue as solved http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?id=852521 .

    the solution in that french thread is basically about installing this PPA https://launchpad.net/~sarvatt/+archive/cedarview and all the 3 packages in it http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/viewtopic.php?pid=10015261#p10015261 .

    There is also this blog with a slightly different solution using the same PPA as before http://daily.siebler.eu/2012/06/ubuntu-12-04-driver-for-intel-cedarview-atom-n2000-und-d2000-serie/

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  3. Firstly, Open terminal and type:

    1. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates

    2. Followed by sudo apt-get update

    3. And sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-intel

    This will install INTEL latest drivers. Just reboot once installed and look for changes that have taken place. If none, go to System Settings and see if you got the correct display settings to change the resolution.

    If this does not work then try this testing PPA repository:

    Open terminal type in:

    1. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:intel-gfx-testing/ppa
    2. Followed by sudo apt-get update

    Once you are done, reboot and try to change resolution you are looking for.

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