800x480 on intel 945GM/GMA950 - is it possible?

WiCKeD 5.9L · 04-15-2007, 01:09 AM

I have had this resolution working beautifully on an intel 855 board thanks to the embedded drivers and this post.

Unfortunately, I upgraded and the reg tweak with the embedded drivers is no longer doing the trick! Allegedly the newest version of Powerstrip finally allows custom resolutions on the intel GMA drivers, but I don't want to drop $30 just for this fix, especially if it may not work.

Does anyone have this working or have free a solution to get this combo to work?

Giuliano · 04-15-2007, 09:56 PM

Yes, it's certainly possible, at least with XP, and using the Intel Embedded Graphics Drivers (IEGD 6.1) package builder referenced in that post.

The driver package won't work as-is because the GUID was built for the 865 graphics, and the 945's graphics use a different GUID.

You're using XP, right?

I'm not entirely sure that the IEGD driver tweaks would work on Vista at this point..

Giuliano · 04-15-2007, 10:27 PM

Here you go:

http://moschini.org/945GM-800x480.zip

This is a custom-built driver package for Windows XP, using the IEGD 6.1 configuration editor.

It is configured with one custom EDID for 800 x 480 on the Analog VGA port, and should use 800 x 480 x 32 bits by default.

Extract the package, go into the Utilities folder, and use the Setup.exe program to install the drivers.

Oh, and it couldn't hurt to uninstall any other video driver packages you see in the Add/Remove Programs control panel before you do this..

Let me know how it works!

WiCKeD 5.9L · 04-15-2007, 11:21 PM

Now don't take this the wrong way... but I love you man!!! It worked.

Seems like you have been all over this 800x480 mess. I tried three different version of the embedded drivers and countless other tricks, but had no luck with anything else. Even tried using the SDK to build a 6.1 embedded install with the Xenarc timings, but there were so many pages of options I am not surprised I screwed up.

So thanks!

Giuliano · 04-16-2007, 05:59 AM

Glad to hear that it worked.

The timings are a little bit tricky, as are the options..

And I think I may be able to achieve the same custom EDID setting for the Vista drivers.

It requires editing the .INF file for the Intel graphics Vista driver package, specifically the "NonEDIDMode_AddSwSettings" setting section.

I may also be able to enable 800 x 480 on LVDS on Intel video without having to use a custom BIOS.. it's one of the things I'm going to test on Vista this week after I receive my LVDS cable.

BadCyborg · 04-16-2007, 06:03 PM

Can't seem to install on my system. All I get is:
"All the components are not installed correctly. Please try installing again."

Then I looked into the Drivers folder and found only 17 files inside. The ZIP I got is 925K. Is this correct?

Giuliano · 04-16-2007, 06:12 PM

925k is right..

What chipset is it?

Did you install the chipset drivers from Intel? may be required..

BadCyborg · 04-16-2007, 09:04 PM

The chip is Intel 945G. Any way you can make a customized driver that supports these resolutions?

800x500
1024x640
1280x800
1440x900

Thanks.

Giuliano · 04-16-2007, 09:23 PM

Ah, there's the problem.. the 945G chipset is different from the 945GM chipset.. I didn't build support in for that chipset, only the 945GM.

I can fix that..

And yes, I can build a driver with those resolutions.

Here's the 9-10 different fields of information I need:

The Horizontal Active and Vertical Active are easy - that's the resolution.

The other details, sync offset, pulse offset, etc, are different for each resolution.

If you have those details already, great - PM me with the details.

Otherwise I'll hunt around and find the right timings.

hithere · 04-17-2007, 06:56 AM

Giuliano, thanks so much for your efforts concerning this, I have the same problems associated with the 945GM and the Xenarc.

One question: With the timings set correctly and the Xenarc outputting native rez, will it be in the proper aspect ratio (16 X 9)? I'd almost rather go with 1280 X 720 or some such if I could get proper aspect out of it and not have to see stretching/multiple re-sizes for picture viewing/movie watching.

Giuliano · 04-17-2007, 07:11 AM

800x480 is the native resolution of the LCD, and things generally look best at their native resolution.

And 800x480 is actually 15:9.

If you go with a non-native resolution, the VGA controller board will have to scale it down to 800x480 or thereabouts, so you'll lose image quality.

Also, anyone who wants to try Vista let me know.. I think I got those timings down too.

BadCyborg · 04-17-2007, 11:39 AM

@hithere: actually the correct size for 1280 for most widescreen monitors should be 1280x800, a mode that is found on Linux and OS X, but somehow converted into the oddball rez of 1280x768 (and with the advent of HD video, 1280x720 too) by Intel. Neither is far from being the correct aspect ratio. And in the case of mini-sized PCs, the output is from VGA (the only port on GMA) instead of DVI, there isn't any proper hardware scaling to add black bars on top and bottom of your screen. How do we know 1280x720 isn't the right aspect ratio? We draw a circle on the screen and measure.

To get 1:1, let's do a simple calculation. My monitor comes with the native rez of 1680x1050, so the aspect ratio is 1.6. 1280 divided by 1.6 is precisely 800. 1024 divided by 1.6 is 640. And so on. All the resolutions I stated above come from Linux and OS X.

Giuliano, I'd be more than happy to furnish you with the other details. Anything to eradicate this Intel mistake. What do I need to find those info?

rigg419 · 04-17-2007, 11:57 AM

Sorry, a bit off topic and unrelated to car pc's.

First, I gotta give props to Giuliano. Whenever you put out something like this which is a total solution to a common problem, you're going to get morons like me asking stupid questions. that said....

I have an old (2005 is old in computer terms lol) alienware sentia with an intel chip. I use it as an HTPC and have it plugged into my 720p TV (Samsung HL-S5686W DLP if that helps), but the sentia won't output 1280 x 720, only 1024 x 768 (which looks odd) and 1280 x 800 (which the tv won't display).

The version of powerstrip I own (bought it a while back for my last carpc) is laughed at by the intel driver, and so I was wondering if there's a way I can make/find a driver for my chipset -Intel 82852/82855 (855GME)- which will allow the sentia to output 1280 x720 @ 32bit color and 60hz?

Thanks, and sorry for the unrelated/stupid question, but it's been a thorn in my side since I got the tv in february.

Giuliano · 04-17-2007, 12:07 PM

Probably, yes.

The Intel graphics have some serious flexability built in, especially for an onboard graphics chip.

I'll look at it tonight.

rigg419 · 04-17-2007, 12:22 PM

Thanks Giuliano, I really appreciate it.