Resolution too high 1808 x 984

[TonyFPi]

I now have control of 'config.txt' and need to address my next problem.
My eyesight is not brilliant and I can't read my screen well at this resolution 1808 x 984.
This is the only option in preferences, except 'Auto' which makes no difference.
My monitor says 1080i50hz when booting up, would this be more readable if I could achieve that?
I have read loads of info on the web, most of which is meaningless to me.
Could someone give me step by step instructions to get my screen readable?
Tony

[TonyFPi]

I've been hacking away with no success and now can't input a # sign.
My Pi keyboard # sign gives me a £ instead of a hash, so I can't comment out any lines.
Can't find any US/UK settings.
Must find a shortcut for the word can't.
This is beginning to feel like my Ubuntu set up which took me 6 months.
Tony

[rpdom]

The keyboard/timezone/locale settings can be got at through the configuration menu.

sudo raspi-config

[TonyFPi]

Yes, tried all that and selected a keyboard that allows me to press a '\' for a '#'.
So I'm praying I will never need a '\'.
Still hacking away at config.txt which makes no damn difference to the screen text size.
I think I'm going blind!
Tony

[DougieLawson]

Backslash \ is one key to the left of Z on a UK keyboard (one key right of the shift).

It's not that hard to run sudo raspi-config and fix things with the internationalisation option. It does need you to use a real keyboard and TV/monitor as it won't work from an ssh session.

If sudo raspi-config doesn't work for you, you can try sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration.

[TonyFPi]

I have now hacked 'config.txt' until I'm blue in the face.
When I plug in the power to the Pi, all the black screen is bigger than my monitor screen, so I can't see login and password.
I can use guesswork to boot the Pi.
Then the Pi screen is bigger than the monitor screen, so the top line with all the options, like 'menu' is off the top of the monitor screen.
I can just click on about one pixel of the 'menu' item to get back to terminal, but no amount of hacking will give me a viewable screen.
My monitor shows 1080i50hz when I switch it on.
When I do tvservice -d edid and edidparser edid, I get HDMI_group=1 and hdmi_mode=19.
When hacked into 'config.txt' it makes no difference.
I have no idea what other changes have done to my screen, other than make it worse.
It's unbelievable how difficult I am finding setting up the PI.
If I ever get this fixed, we then move on to WiFi, which also does not work, but I'll save that for another month.
There is nothing left on the Internet for me to try, it's all different and apparently conflicting.
Any help appreciated. Can anyone send me a 'config.txt' file that will work, given the above information.
Tony

[TonyFPi]

I have been able to get control of the screen back.
I commented out everything out except 'safe mode' and now I have back the screen at the high resolution.
I would not be able to use this resolution long term, due to eyesight damage being likely.
Tony

[DougieLawson]

Look at what modes your TV/monitor is capable or running.

tvservice -m CEA; tvservice -m DMT

Which should get something like:

Code: Select all

pi@pi:~$ tvservice -m CEA; tvservice -m DMT
Group CEA has 15 modes:
           mode 1: 640x480 @ 60Hz 4:3, clock:25MHz progressive
           mode 2: 720x480 @ 60Hz 4:3, clock:27MHz progressive
           mode 3: 720x480 @ 60Hz 16:9, clock:27MHz progressive
           mode 4: 1280x720 @ 60Hz 16:9, clock:74MHz progressive
           mode 5: 1920x1080 @ 60Hz 16:9, clock:74MHz interlaced
  (prefer) mode 16: 1920x1080 @ 60Hz 16:9, clock:148MHz progressive
           mode 17: 720x576 @ 50Hz 4:3, clock:27MHz progressive
           mode 18: 720x576 @ 50Hz 16:9, clock:27MHz progressive
           mode 19: 1280x720 @ 50Hz 16:9, clock:74MHz progressive
           mode 20: 1920x1080 @ 50Hz 16:9, clock:74MHz interlaced
           mode 21: 720x576 @ 50Hz 4:3, clock:27MHz x2 interlaced
  (native) mode 31: 1920x1080 @ 50Hz 16:9, clock:148MHz progressive
           mode 32: 1920x1080 @ 24Hz 16:9, clock:74MHz progressive
           mode 33: 1920x1080 @ 25Hz 16:9, clock:74MHz progressive
           mode 34: 1920x1080 @ 30Hz 16:9, clock:74MHz progressive
Group DMT has 5 modes:
           mode 4: 640x480 @ 60Hz 4:3, clock:25MHz progressive
           mode 9: 800x600 @ 60Hz 4:3, clock:40MHz progressive
           mode 16: 1024x768 @ 60Hz 4:3, clock:65MHz progressive
           mode 35: 1280x1024 @ 60Hz 5:4, clock:108MHz progressive
           mode 39: 1360x768 @ 60Hz 16:9, clock:85MHz progressive
pi@pi:~$

You can then add

Code: Select all

hdmi_group=g
hdmi_mode=mmm

where g is 1 (for CEA) or 2 (for DMT) and mmm is one of the mode numbers from the tvservice command output.

Lots of docs at: https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... fig-txt.md

[TonyFPi]

If you read my previous post you will find I get HDMI_group=1 and HDMI_mode=19.
Input into 'config.txt' causes no change in screen appearance.
I will go through the whole exercise again tomorrow.
Thanks
Tony
Basingstoke

[JimmyN]

Show us what you get if you use the command:

Code: Select all

$ ~ vcgencmd get_config int

[TonyFPi]

Hi,
I input '$ ~ vcgencmd get_config int' and give the results in the attached camera screenshot.
Wi Fi doesn't work.
Tony

[rpdom]

You don't type in the "$ ~ " bit. That's the prompt where you type the vcgencmd command in. The only bit you should type is

Code: Select all

vcgencmd get_config int

[TonyFPi]

Ah, you see that's what happens when you deal with beginners.
I will try again tomorrow.
Tony

[TonyFPi]

Hi,
I have run the script you asked me to run with the following result in the picture attached.
regards
Tony

[rpdom]

It's a bit hard to read, but I can't see any hdmi_mode or hdmi_group entries in there. I would expect something like

Code: Select all

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=19

although you mention putting in "HDMI_group=1 and HDMI_mode=19", I'm pretty certain the entries are case sensitive and need to be "hdmi", not "HDMI".

[TonyFPi]

Yes you are right there are no 'hdmi=' lines.
I did have these settings into 'config.txt', but they made no difference.
How would I put them into this new file in the picture I took?
Tony

[DougieLawson]

Are you using NOOBS? Are you editing the right config.txt?

Hold [SHIFT] while you boot, use the NOOBS recovery system to edit the active config.txt for your chosen OS.

[TonyFPi]

I think my SD card installed NOOBS and Raspian, but I don't really know.
I assume, as I have been able to spoil my screen, I must be in the right 'config.txt'.
When do I use the 'shift' thing?
Would that be after 'pi' and 'password' and 'startx'?
Tony

[DougieLawson]

Pull the power, place a finger on the [SHIFT] key on your keyboard, apply power. Watch the screen to see how it changes to the NOOBS recovery system. Wiggle/click the mouse until you find the config editor option.

[TonyFPi]

No, that didn't work.
Sometimes, not always, a raspberry appears on screen with a button marked shift, however this disappears long before I can bring the cursor arrow to it.
Increasing the frame dimensions now by thousands does not alter the screen size; I did begin to see some of the top line icons once, but increasing the frame size made it go away again.
Also, when booting up all the scrolling text on the black screen stops and I can no longer see the login and password lines, I have to guess what to do, followed by 'startx' to boot.
Tony

[TonyFPi]

All problems solved like this.
Took out the SD card and formatted using the SD Card utility.
Downloaded NOOBS from the Raspberry Pi website.
Copied NOOBS to SD card.
Powered up Pi and installed Raspbian.
Went through setup; no problems.
Pi booted at a resolution I can read (just, but a lot better).
Ran wireless utility and input WEP code.
Wireless connected instantly.
Lesson learned; don't buy Pi from ModMyPi Ltd., or be prepared to do the above.
Thanks for all the help.
Tony
p.s. Since writing the above I have contacted ModMyPi and made them aware of the issues I have had and I received a very apologetic email from them thanking me for my feedback and promising to do some checks.