[mythtv-users] OT: Anyone running an ATI Radeon (9000) with a VGA-SCART adapter (PAL)

[Andrew Cope]

Nick wrote:
> It's very late.
> 
> I've been trying to get a VGA-SCART adapter working with my new master
> backend machine - which is using an AGP ATI Radeon 9000 Pro video
> card. As most ATI users know, ATI do not seem to be able to write a
> decent driver to save their lives. As if the pain of having a Pundit-R
> when its TV-Out support was broken in 04/05 was not enough, they have
> broken the current fglrx drivers (8.20 is the last working release) so
> that now Xv and PAL support is broken on TV-Out. I'm running 2.6.16
> now with full livna and atrpms updates too, so I don't really want to
> have to revert back to 2.6.14 if I don't have to. TV is a Sony
> KV-36FS70. Currently running 8.23 driver from livna.
> 
> I decided to build a VGA-SCART cable to try and get around this issue
> by using the VGA output directly, but I get a rolling screen with the
> suggested PAL modeline from http://ryoandr.free.fr/english.html and a
> couple others I've found Googling. I've tested the cable with a
> continuity meter and it all checks out, and the TV supports RGB input.
> I can make out the Fedora logo and username box on the login manager
> screen, and the MFE menu in the correct colours, so the cable seems to
> be OK.
> 
> I don't want to have to extract the machine from its new location - it
> is plumbed in pretty well, and don't really want to have to install
> Windows to run PowerStrip. TV-Out works (obv without Xv) over S-Video,
> so I'm hoping there may be an easy way to extract the required
> information to create a 720x576 modeline that I can use via VGA.
> 
> If I do end up having to extract the machine from its new home, I'll
> probably buy a 5200 and be done with it. I feel a bit of a fool
> checking ATIs release notes for their latest drivers and believing
> them.
> 
> If anyone has working PAL modelines for use with an ATI Radeon 9000
> card (or similar) and VGA-SCART lead, please let me know, and also
> what kinds of tweaking I can do to the suggested modeline on the
> ryoandr.free.fr site. A copy of the device and monitor sections from
> xorg.conf file too would be a very useful comparison.
> 
> Can tiling be turned off in the ATI linux driver?
> 
> Thanks,
> Nick


Hi Nick,

I've been through this recently with my pundit-r with onboard ATI 9100.
Ended up buying a VGA to SCART cable and fiddling with xorg.conf until
late into the night!

Attached is my xorg.conf.  It's not very clean as the fglrx stuff has
been hacked out with a blunt axe.

Note these lines in the Device section:
	Driver      "ati"
	Option     "ForceMinDotClock" "15MHz"

and check your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file to make sure it's using the
correct Modeline.

Hope that helps.

I have a few display problems with my setup:
1. contrast is too high,
2. top 10-20 rows on the screen flicker and bend slightly.  I've shifted
the display around with xvidtune so this disappears when showing the
myth menus, but as soon as I watch a recorded show or live tv, the
flicking comes back. Is this an Xv problem? Do I need a separate
modeline for that?


Cheers
Andrew
--
Email:    andrew at evergreencomputing.com
Website:  http://evergreencomputing.com
Phone:    +44 (0)1454 269 087
Fax:      +44 (0)8707 515 596
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