RPi screen modes

With early RPi versions (A and B+) I have never been able to use the normal Configure → Monitor tool to set a desired mode: generally I get to some low resolution mode and have to reset to recover.

I am now using a RPi 2 which always boots into a 1920 × 1080 mode but this produces a display that is too ‘fine’ for my eyesight on a 22" screen. I want to default to a lower resolution, 1280 × 720, which I have to set every time from the iconbar tool. Once set this is stable. The Monitor config tool just gives ‘Auto’ in the MDF writeable icon.

Is there a way round this?

I have an obey file for my preferred mode:

Presumably yours would read:

and just bung it in Tasks.

I have the AnyMode module in PreDesk – in case your MDF doesn’t cope! I don’t have an MDF.

Best wishes,

John

In the Monitor config tool, you need to set the “Monitor Type” first, by clicking on the menu icon to the right of where it says ‘Auto’ and selecting something like eg. AKF85. Once you’ve picked a monitor, you can then select a mode and colour depth. Frame Rate is irrelevant on the Pi. Click “Try” to test it out and if you like it, you can click on “Set”, otherwise try changing resolution or monitor type to get something you do like.

If you look in the Choices.Boot.PreDesk there should be a Folder ‘Configure’
Inside is a file Monitor.

When you have your display to your liking, delve in and make a copy
this Monitor file, changing the name to (say) Screen, tuck it away safe
then stick it on the Pinboard, someware left of center and Save.
Now if you ever end up with the ‘wrong’ display clicking on the
‘Screen’ icon will return your normal display.

This should work on all the earlier Pi so long as you are on RC14.

After trying several Acorn monitor setting I have change to the
‘Other.Generic’ MDF with useless options edited out.

Works 0k with a CELCUS 22" TV from Sainsburys.

Thank you all for trying to help me. John introduces me to AnyMode, which I had not heard of. It is now installed and works well with an additional Obey file in Tasks. One curiosity is that looking at the parameters of ‘my’ mode in the Display Manager shows an additional parameter between Colours and Frequency: LTRGB. If I do not include it in my Obey file the colour pallet changes markedly.

The methods suggested by Andrew and Bryn are really variants on the standard way of controlling modes. The problem is that as far as I can find out, none of the MDFs provided in the ROOL v5.21 build card have widescreen modes. The Anymodes module provides quite a few by default (and I read will be further enhanced to allow 4:3 screens to be excluded from the list if desired).

I shall probably use Bryn’s suggestion as an additional safeguard as well.

Brian.

I have finally bit the bullit and invested in RPI 2 and am experiencing issues with screen modes. Despite using the same MDF from my Iyonix that I have successfully used on my LG 32inch TV the PI will not display the lower res modes full screen like they did on the Iyonix. The reason why I am asking is because I am programming a game that now only uses about a third of the screen, being squashed doesnt look good. I am assuming the PI is the culprit as it is the only thing that has changed

Greg

I spoke too soon. Followig an overnight shutdown I did not achieve the desired mode (1280 x720) when next started, instead an unreadable jumble. Following a suggestion from Andrew Rawnsley on his Armini support mail list to someone with a similar problem, I set a Config MODE 32 which produced some alarming screens during the starting process but arrived at a usable desktop. On looking at the Configuration I found unexpected settings for MODE, MONITORTYPE and WIMPMODE, all of which I reset to Auto. I also reverted the MDF selection in Config → Display to Auto. Since then the startup is as expected, ending at the desired resolution of 1280 × 720.

Greg might like to install AnyMode and have alook for the low resolution modes he needs.

BTW, is there a record anywhere accessible of the default configuration of each Release Candidate?

I spoke too soon. Following an overnight shutdown I did not achieve the desired mode (1280 x720) when next started, instead an unreadable jumble.

I did have some problems with 5.22 sometimes, and my solution, found by trial and error, was to set one of the standard screen modes, then my preferred one. I offered this solution on another thread to someone having similar problems.

AnyMode offers a standard 640 × 480 mode amongst others. Looking now I see that it does offer Brian’s preferred 1280 × 720 also as standard, but I was (and still am) using 1440 × 810, which is not offered on the list.

So my then solution was to have a two line obey file, the first line switching to a standard mode, followed immediately by the non-standard mode. Thus, when:

WimpMode X1440 Y810 C16M

didn’t work reliably, the two lines:

WimpMode X1024 Y768 C16M [newline]
WimpMode X1440 Y810 C16M

did so. I don’t know if that is any help at all to Brian, but it may help someone!

Now, on 5.23, that problem has gone away, so I no longer need it.

Note again that I am not using an MDF at all, and am using AnyMode 0.6b