The quest for 1080p on Linux with Nvidia
First, the relevant specs of my PC:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K
Motherboard: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Z97-A-USB31 (SOCKET 1150)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (EVGA)
OS: Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64 bit
I've been pulling my hair out on this for over a year. I want to enjoy Linux, but I can't seem to get my monitor's native 1080p resolution to work. I've tried two strategies thus far: trying to get the discrete GPU to cooperate, and attempting to get the 4790K's integrated graphics to work.
The proprietary Nvidia driver only gets me up to 1366x768. I've tried the one offered through the drivers menu and downloading the latest driver from Nvidia's website.
As for the iGPU, it doesn't work. Intel's spec sheet says it has an integrated graphics processor, and the motherboard spec sheet also says it supports iGPUs, but I can't get it to work. I've tried switching from GPU graphics to CPU graphics in the UEFI menu, but it just gives me a black screen when I reboot. I've also tried removing the graphics card and clearing the CMOS setting with the same result.
Surely there must be a solution that doesn't involve me buying a different graphics card?
EDIT: here's what I just tried with no success:
- turn off computer
- clear CMOS settings
- remove graphics card
- plug DVI cable into I/0 cluster and monitor
- turn on computer
- CPU diagnostic light flashes
- VGA light flashes (as normal) and the computer sounds a post beep
- RAM light flashes
- boot device light turns on, stays on, and a longer, louder beep.
This is where it stops. This whole time the monitor is on but receiving no signal. I've tried mashing buttons on the keyboard, since after clearing CMOS settings I get the American Megatrends text splash prompting me to press a key to enter setup. Under normal conditions I get an ASUS splash and then it boots to the first device.
The fact that it posts after flashing the VGA light tells me that it thinks the CPU graphics are fine. My next test is to see if an actual VGA cable will work.
EDIT II:
I'm trying to add a resolution manually via this guide https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/877. Everything works well until This command:
xrandr --addmode VGA1 "1600x900_60.00"
Which i change to
xrandr --addmode DVI-I-1 "1920x1080_60.00"
to meet my needs. Entering the command yields this error message
X Error of failed request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes) Major opcode of failed request: 140 (RANDR) Minor opcode of failed request: 18 (RRAddOutputMode) Serial number of failed request: 45 Current serial number in output stream: 46
edit III:
I tried connecting the computer to a crappy vizio TV, and it grabbed the correct resolution perfectly (720p in this case) In stead of saying "UNKNOWN" in the display settings it correctly showed the TV brand. I could even switch it to 1080p (not that that would make sense on a 720p display).
Possibly relevant: It never correctly identities my ASUS monitor, not even in Windows, although windows can do 1080 just fine.
EDIT AGAIN:
I think it may be my monitor, bizarrely enough. Here's a link to a r/techsupport thread I opened detailing this whole saga:
Long story short: my Mac stopped displaying on this monitor a few days ago, regardless of what HDMI cable I use or whether I'm using a KVM in between or not, but it'll display fine on my TV. After connecting the dots between these three issues (linux not displaying properly, CPU graphics not displaying at all, and my Mac not displaying as of a few days ago) I tried all the devices, including my server which was also not working on this monitor, and everything works perfectly, even the supposedly broken CPU graphics.
Posted Jun 3, 2017, 5:12 PM UTC · edited