[nomayo]

Ok. I'm not a linux guy by any stretch of the imagination. I had two windows vista xbmc boxes, both of which ran HD mkv files well enough that my wife would watch, but not well enough that I could sit and watch. I got a GT 210 for the one PC and a 8400GS for the other and am wading into VDPAU/XBMC Live.

I have one system running Live 9.11b2 and it's working beautifully hooked up to a 42" 1080p LCD upstairs. That one is an AMD X2 4400+ w/2GB and a GT210 and it plays 1080p MKV and TS via GigE network flawlessly. I figured it would be just as easy to setup my front projection downstairs... Wrong.

Here's my config:

E2180 on Abit AB9 Pro w/2GB Memory & 2GB USB Flash Drive
PCIe Geforce 8400GS 256MB -> Mistubishi HD1000 Projector via VGA (also can do DVI->VGA via adapter with no success)
XBMC Live 9.11b2 installed to flash drive

I am unable to select a resolution higher than 1024x768@50hz. I need to set this up to output 1280x720@60hz. I have edited my xorg.conf so many times trying to add modelines and turning off edid and nothing seems to work. In the last go round I managed to completely botch video output altogether, so I'm giving up and deferring to the experts here.

Is there anyone out there with a similar configuration that could give me a step by step? I'm running out of rope to hang myself...

[luna_s]

i had similar issue (different projector tho) was the length of the hdmi cable i was using (10m), so i dumped the edid info using a shorter cable and set xorg to use the custom edid option- not had an issue since

to dump the edid i think its something like

nvidia-xconfig --extract-edids-output-file=tv-edid.bin

eg in device section use this line
Option "CustomEDID" "DFP-0:/etc/X11/tv-edid.bin"
dfp-0 might be dfp-1 etc - depends on the connections between gfx card and pj.

syntax might be incorrect as its been a while - but it may help

someone else might have a better idea but this is what works for me

[nomayo]

i had similar issue (different projector tho) was the length of the hdmi cable i was using (10m), so i dumped the edid info using a shorter cable and set xorg to use the custom edid option- not had an issue since

to dump the edid i think its something like

nvidia-xconfig --extract-edids-output-file=tv-edid.bin

eg in device section use this line
Option "CustomEDID" "DFP-0:/etc/X11/tv-edid.bin"
dfp-0 might be dfp-1 etc - depends on the connections between gfx card and pj.

syntax might be incorrect as its been a while - but it may help

someone else might have a better idea but this is what works for me

I got away for a few hours today and stopped into Bestbuy. They have PNY GT 210 512MB cards with HDMI on sale for $49, so I snagged one with the hopes of just resolving this and moving to HDMI. Once I got rid of the fubar lines I added in the xorg.conf, I rebooted to 1280x720@50hz which is major progress. Now I just need to fix the refresh rate...

I'm using a 35ft HDMI cable (it's baby-arm-guage, UL listed, in-wall cable with the fancy, but useless gold-plated connectors. It came with my projector kit...) and haven't had problems before, but I'll definitely try what you posted above with a 1M cable and see how it works out with the refresh rate.

Can you see this? "Okay honey... I just need you to hold the computer up near the projector for about 20 minutes while I fix the refresh rate." She's going to kill me sooner or later.