Monitor "out-of-range" with RO 5.28 ROM

Upgraded from RO 5.27 to RO 5.28. I have old copies of BOOTCODE/BIN, FIXUP/DAT and START/ELF in the !Boot Loader because using the newer versions caused the monitor to display an “Out of range” message. The Raspberry Pi is a Model 2B, Rev 1 as reported by ScrHelp. Any ideas please?

Mode?

Far more info needed. As Stuart says, at least the screen mode you are trying to use, and whether that matches the native res of your monitor.

“Old” versions, “new” versions is uselessly vague! Give us some file dates to work with. Also what are the contents of your config/txt and cmdline/txt files.

If you don’t have a cmdline/txt file it might be worth creating one with a single line in it saying “disable_mode_changes” and see if that fixes your problem. It should at least guarantee a display.

Also do you still have AnyMode in your boot sequence? If AnyMode is used the Pi always uses the resolution set in config.txt, if it isn’t then RISC OS will try to generate a mode based on either the EDID information from the monitor (auto), or your selected monitor definition file – which is probably what is going wrong.

Bryan

Monitor type – Generic
Mode X1920, Y1080, C16M, F30. Monitor is a Full HD 1080p type.

I can only find a modified date (from Windows 10) on BOOTCODE/BIN and START/ELF which is 29-03-2016.

Settings for CONFIG/TXT…
fake_vsync_isr=1
framebuffer_swap=0
gpu_mem=64
#commands to set Pi model 2
#to 1000MHz vice 900MHz
#arm_freq=1000
#arm_freq_max=600
init_emmc_clock=100000000
kernel=RISCOS.IMG

1. Set to 0 for Smart TV, 1 for monitor
   disable_overscan=1
2. Command enables analogue audio through 3.5mm jack
   hdmi_ignore_edid_audio=1
3. Set HDMI mode (14/07/18)
4. hdmi_drive=2
5. Eliminate strange colours
   framebuffer_swap=0
   ramfsfile=CMOS
   ramfsaddr=0×508000
6. May be required if using an HDMI to VGA converter
7. hdmi_blanking = 1

As you suggested I created a file called CMDLINE/TXT containing…
“disable_mode_changes” without quotes
inside the Boot Loader and sure enough the monitor displays the desktop – horrah!

I have no idea what all these files do but at least the last operation got it working.

Druck
Can find no reference to AnyMode.

Sorry about formatting in CONFIG/TXT – just ignore the bullet points.

As you suggested I created a file called CMDLINE/TXT containing…
“disable_mode_changes” without quotes
inside the Boot Loader and sure enough the monitor displays the desktop – horrah!

Hurrah indeed!

Quick explanation as to why this worked: In the early Pi days, RISC OS did not know how to control the Pi GPU, treating it as a dumb frame buffer and leaving it to deal with the monitor settings. This meant anything you set within RO got scaled by the GPU to fit within whatever it was feeding to the monitor. This is very handy if you are using old style screen modes that modern monitors can’t deal with.

Then a bit later, RO was updated and now knows how to set the screen parameters itself, which means you now need the correct monitor settings within RO. My guess is that your mode setting with F30 in it is probably too low for most monitors to deal with. Changing to F60 would likely get the display working.

The disable_mode_changes option restores the old behaviour of leaving it all to the GPU. If you are still playing around with Jan Vibe’s old demos, then this is probably what you want anyway!

Thanks for the explanation Bryan. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head – F30 too low for my monitor. My monitor is a BenQ V2400Eco and this is automatically recognised under the Configuration > screen > Monitor type > Auto option which sets the Frame rate to 60Hz. I’ve deleted the “disable_mode_changes” in CMDLINE/TXT file and on rebooting desktop is displayed normally.

I see someone else is also having monitor issues – like buses they come in threes :-)

Thanks to all respondents for your excellent assistance.