[Cbe-oss-dev] Cannot get ps3-video-mode to work for ViewSonic N2635w

[Christopher Ozeroff]

Hello,

I have been trying to use Linux on my PS3 at home, in order to make a little videogame for my 18 month old daughter. I have tried installing both Yellow Dog Linux 6.2 and Ubuntu Karmic Koala (9.10) on the PS3, but I cannot get any video mode except 480i to work on my ViewSonic N2635w TV.

First, the symptoms:
Regardless of how I set a higher resolution (let's say 720p) the TV recognizes the new setting (the on-screen display pops up), and the TV changes to that mode. The mode is definitely higher res, and it fits in the viewable space of the screen, but it is subtly corrupted. Colors are fine, but the text is really terrible, almost unreadable. It seems as if some vertical lines are missing, which can make lower-case M look like lower case N, for example. At first I thought that this was only the font, but I can also see it in the XWindow system by moving the mouse slowly (it is missing some columns of pixels in certain positions on the screen). The display is essentially unusable in this state, either in the console or in the XWindows system.

With all of my searching and trying other methods, I have never seen anyone mention a problem like this. Does anyone have an idea what the issue could be?

Here are all of the things I have tried:
- Two OS's, Ubuntu 9.10 and YDL 6.2
- all combinations of ps3-video-mode, 50hz/60hz, 480p/720p/1080i (1080p not supported by tv), dithering on/off, rgb on/off, fullscreen on/off, full-range-color on/off.
- I have tried removing the ps3-video-mode line on boot, and writing my own Xorg.conf file. In this file, I used fbdev as the driver, and a modeline I generated by referring to the manual specifications for my television. I discovered several interesting issues there and fixed them. If it is useful, I can post the file. Result: the file seems to be correctly interpreted, but in the xorg log, the fbdev says it checks the modeline with the TV, and then it seems to refuse to apply it. Instead, it reverts to 576 by 480, which is what I get in 480i.
- related to xorg.conf, I have researched methods for disabling EDID and other modeline checking, but those methods only seem to work for the nvidia driver, I can't find any similar options for the fbdev driver.
- I have read many forums in a search for someone with a similar problem, but have found no references to something similar to this. Most people have more mundane problems, like screen overdraw or not using ps3-video-mode in the first place.
- Note that my TV works fine in the Sony OS. Both 720p and 1080i work fine for games and XMB.

Thanks in advance for any help, I am at my wit's end.


Cheers,

Chris

P.S: Is there an easy way to search the archives of cbe-oss-dev? I don't often use mailman mailing lists.


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