Coincidence?

[SueD]

Today I upgraded from a 17" to a 22" monitor (both Acer) and have had some strange problems ever since. After I've booted up, I get a message that something isn't working with the sound (sorry, can't remember the exact message) so the speaker on my taskbar is Xed out. The other error message I get is that xine's not working either. I've also had major freeze ups and not even Skinny Elephants can save me.Now it's highly possible I didn't configure the new monitor properly. I did it through the MCC and they didn't have mine listed so I went to the closest one which was for the 20".So how many things have I done wrong this time?

[Bruno]

The sound not working after you switch monitor ?? . . That is strange ! ( or were your speakers integrated in the previous monitor ? )I would not change settings in the MCC but simply run XFdrake and let it autodetect the settings for the xorg.conf . . . because my question is: do you have the correct resolution that fits the monitor ? Bruno

[striker]

Better yet if possible post the model type of that ACER, or the exact specs of it: maybe it is in the manual.And what do you use to connect the monitor with, DVI or plain old VGA connection?

[SueD]

The sound not working after you switch monitor ?? . . That is strange ! ( or were your speakers integrated in the previous monitor ? )I would not change settings in the MCC but simply run XFdrake and let it autodetect the settings for the xorg.conf . . . because my question is: do you have the correct resolution that fits the monitor ? Bruno

No more sound and video integration in this computer for quite awhile since I installed cards. The resolution is set at 1680x1050.The error message I get is...

Sound serve informational message:Error while initializing the sound driver:device /dev/dsp can't be opened (No such file or directory)The sound server will continue, using the null ouput device.

The other message is from Amarok about xine not working. Well duh!I'll give XFdrake a try in a couple of minutes.

[SueD]

Better yet if possible post the model type of that ACER, or the exact specs of it: maybe it is in the manual.And what do you use to connect the monitor with, DVI or plain old VGA connection?

The manual? I don't think I've ever gotten a manual with a monitor. They tell you to connect what you have and pretty well leave you to figure out the rest, including the buttons under the screen.It's an Acer X223W.This monitor came with an additional cable, 2 nine pin thingies, that could plug into my video card so I plugged it in along with the other. It's disconnected now with no difference.

[SueD]

XFdrake auto detected the right monitor and that seems fine now but I still have no sound. Oh, and if anyone's wondering, I checked the MCC and pulse audio is still disabled.

[striker]

Uses VGA cable (acc.to what Sue describes)Resolution: 1680x1050 (widescreen WSXGA+)Model is not available anymore.Because it is a LCD, I would say the Vertical Frequency would be 60Hz.Values for Horizontal Frequency (kHz) I couldn't gather anymore, however I did some digging and found this:http://www.topproduct.nl/hardware/Monitore...cificaties.htmlHor.Freq. are:30 - 82 KHz(and for the curious one out there, Vert.freq. : 56 - 76 Hz) So like I said I would aim for 60Hz here.Here's a review of it:http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/...5;pid;4428;pt;1

[SueD]

Thanks for finding that Striker.I don't understand what D-Sub or DVI are. Can you explain? And which should I be using?

Edited August 4, 2008 by SueD

[striker]

In plain simple layman's terms, VGA is the old plain analog connection, where as the modern DVI is a digital connection.Before I switched to a notebook, I used DVI connections successfully with all distros from the era of Fedora Core 6 and up.What you may win with a DVI connected display, depends on the quality of the display, the graphics card, the DVI cable and of course the used driver. However, when all play along nicely, you may end up with a more sharp and crisp display. Main culprit with most of these set ups is almost always the graphics card not having a dedicated DVI connector; Often people in these cases use a VGA-DVI connector, which sort of beats the goals of having DVI, resulting in no extras when it comes to quality of the resulting display quality, so what you see in these cases is no better than connected with VGA. Only a true DVI to DVI connected display from start to end might benefit from it. ALbeit I also have to say the differences may not be as from here to Moscow, but for those in need of the last piece of quality available, it might be worth it.

[SueD]

Thank you Striker. I think I understand, at least a bit more than I did before.

[striker]

Here's more:http://www.lindy.co.uk/tips/DVIGuide.html(link courtesy to b2cm) And another one:http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.ph...st&p=210752(thanks RandomBox)

[SueD]

Thanks Striker, that gave me what I needed to know.

[Bruno]

XFdrake auto detected the right monitor and that seems fine now but I still have no sound.

That sound issue troubles me . . . . . because you did nothing to the sound, nothing changed, you only changed to monitor !Now, please allow me to ask a few stupid questions: - If you click on that crossed icon can you un-mute it ?- When you bring up the mixer, does it show the card's name ( lower right corner )- Did you open the case ? Is the card still plugged in okay ?- Did you change any BIOS settingsI'll see if I can come up with more of those obvious questions :DB) Bruno

[SueD]

Now, please allow me to ask a few stupid questions: - If you click on that crossed icon can you un-mute it ?- When you bring up the mixer, does it show the card's name ( lower right corner )- Did you open the case ? Is the card still plugged in okay ?- Did you change any BIOS settingsI'll see if I can come up with more of those obvious questions :DB) Bruno

1. Nope, can't unmute it2. The full mixer doesn't come up. I get a small square box for KMix with File Settings and Help on the top menu and in the box itself it says Current mixer with a blank drop down.3. The case wasn't opened4. Didn't touch the BIOSI have a feeling I'm not going to enjoy configuring this monitor in Slackware.

[Bruno]

Okay . . . . let us have a look in the MCC --> Hardware --> Browse and configure hardware . . . . . section soundcard: what does it say ?? BrunoPS: For Slackware we can not copy the xorg.conf but we can use a few lines from the Mandriva one to adapt the Slackware one

[SueD]

IdentificationVendor: ‎Creative LabsDescription: ‎SB Live! EMU10k1Media class: ‎Class 7d1fConnectionBus: ‎PCIPCI domain: ‎0Bus PCI #: ‎0PCI device #: ‎10PCI function #: ‎0Vendor ID: ‎0x1102Device ID: ‎0x0002Sub vendor ID: ‎0x7f1fSub device ID: ‎0x7d1fDriverModule: ‎snd_emu10k1Alternative drivers: ‎audigy, emu10k1

[Bruno]

Well at least that is good ! . . . now show me the result of "cat /etc/modprobe.conf" Bruno

[SueD]

[sue@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/modprobe.confalias eth0 sis900alias sound-slot-0 snd_emu10k1install scsi_hostadapter /sbin/modprobe usb_storage; /bin/trueinstall usb-interface /sbin/modprobe ehci_hcd; /sbin/modprobe ohci_hcd; /bin/trueinstall ide-controller /sbin/modprobe sis5513; /bin/trueremove snd_emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time -r --ignore-remove snd_emu10k1install snd_emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time --ignore-install snd_emu10k1remove emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time -r --ignore-remove emu10k1install emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time --ignore-install emu10k1remove audigy /sbin/modprobe --first-time -r --ignore-remove audigyinstall audigy /sbin/modprobe --first-time --ignore-install audigy

[Bruno]

Okay Sue . . you can remove these lines:

remove snd_emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time -r --ignore-remove snd_emu10k1install snd_emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time --ignore-install snd_emu10k1remove emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time -r --ignore-remove emu10k1install emu10k1 /sbin/modprobe --first-time --ignore-install emu10k1remove audigy /sbin/modprobe --first-time -r --ignore-remove audigyinstall audigy /sbin/modprobe --first-time --ignore-install audigy

you only need:

alias eth0 sis900alias sound-slot-0 snd_emu10k1install scsi_hostadapter /sbin/modprobe usb_storage; /bin/trueinstall usb-interface /sbin/modprobe ehci_hcd; /sbin/modprobe ohci_hcd; /bin/trueinstall ide-controller /sbin/modprobe sis5513; /bin/true

Next reboot and see if we have any progress . . . if not fiddle the pulseaudio settings back to how the default was . . maybe they fixed the bug that made you have to disable it. Bruno

[SueD]

Wish me luck!

[Bruno]

LOL . . it is not luck you need . . . it is crystal clear sound you want . . . Bruno

[ross549]

While we're having this short break in fixing Sue's computer....I just thought I would answer the question posed by the title of the thread: Yes, but anything is possible with Sue's computer!:PLuck!Adam

[SueD]

Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Why is it never just turn on and go with this computer? Still no sound.I forgot that I did have some sound (I'm too much of a lady to say WHAT it sounded like) once after installing this monitor but right after that, I had one of those major freeze ups and then nothing since.LOL @ Adam. Murphy's Law, m'lad. If it can happen to me, it will.

[Urmas]

Errrrr... have you checked (and triple checked) that the speakers are connected properly?

[Bruno]

I had one of those major freeze ups and then nothing since.

Ahaaaaa . . . . so probably some file got damaged . . . ( and we don't know which one ) !You could try to remove and reinstall Xine ( that one was not working you told us ) and the gstreamer files . . . . . Else you can pop in the install DVD and do a "repair" ( I think it is F2 or F3 at the first screen before the installer boots ) and see if that can find the damaged files . . .Or else you will have to completely re-install . . . . because it will be to hard to exactly find what file got messed up by the crash. . . . Sorry. Bruno

[SueD]

Errrrr... have you checked (and triple checked) that the speakers are connected properly?

Since you weren't here the half dozen or so times my resident male has asked me that, I'll answer you nicely the way I did when he asked me the first time...yes dear, I checked, double checked and triple checked and everything's connected nicely as it should.

[SueD]

Ahaaaaa . . . . so probably some file got damaged . . . ( and we don't know which one ) !You could try to remove and reinstall Xine ( that one was not working you told us ) and the gstreamer files . . . . . Else you can pop in the install DVD and do a "repair" ( I think it is F2 or F3 at the first screen before the installer boots ) and see if that can find the damaged files . . .Or else you will have to completely re-install . . . . because it will be to hard to exactly find what file got messed up by the crash. . . . Sorry. Bruno

I can do a repair? Ok, I'll remove and reinstall xine first and if that doesn't work, I'll move on to the DVD and give that a try.Thanks Bruno.

[Bruno]

I can do a repair?

Yes you can . . . it usually finds missing essential files . . . but dunno if it will spot damaged files/packages.Make sure the installer does not start . . . press F2 or F3 at the very first screen . . . . ( or maybe the repair function is an option marked on the first screen . . so look around, it is there ! ) Bruno

[Urmas]

...yes dear, I checked, double checked and triple checked and everything's connected nicely as it should.

Just that this has happened to me more than once -- this is strictly between you and me, remember; I'll deny it officially.

[SueD]

Yes you can . . . it usually finds missing essential files . . . but dunno if it will spot damaged files/packages.Make sure the installer does not start . . . press F2 or F3 at the very first screen . . . . ( or maybe the repair function is an option marked on the first screen . . so look around, it is there ! ) Bruno

Some success. No more errors from Amarok and xine but I still get the original Sound server informational message. So I'm off to burn a new Mandriva DVD and will try the repair.

Just that this has happened to me more than once -- this is strictly between you and me, remember; I'll deny it officially.

Too late, I've printed off your reply! Muahahahaha!