Cannot get any HDMI output

[saburo]

Hello, I have an A20 and managed to have it work with a Linaro distro, which I normally connected via Ethernet / SSH.
Now I need to test a sata drive, which does not seem to work properly with the Linaro, so reverted to the official Debian (r5).
Unfortunately it seems that this version does not enable the ethernet by default, so I plugged in the keyboard and the HDMI (connected to a panasonic viera TV set, normally works, I use the same input/cable for an Atom pc) and cannot manage to have any signal.

I re-downloaded and re-wrote the image to two different sd cards, but nothing changed.
Am I missing something?
I understand HDMI should be enabled by default.

Should I fetch my FTDI cable and check the serial port?
If so, what should I be looking for there?

Thanks
francesco

[Lurch]

The FTDI method is probably the best.  Using a terminal like putty or TeraTerm or whatever, you are at the root login and can easily check the /etc/network/interfaces file to see if 'auto eth0' is enabled.  In r5 IIRC, that was the default.  Then you can go to /root and run the change_display_a20.sh to make sure that HDMI is set as the default.  The SATA drive should work without any adjustments - if it is a 5V 2.5" unit that doesn't draw much more than 500mA.  Use fdisk /dev/sda or /dev/sdb to see if the drive is properly found and is already formatted.  There is another thread here about formatting if needed.

[saburo]

Thanks, will try with the FTDI then

[saburo]

still does not work

I was able to connect via FTDI, but could not edit the /etc/network/interfaces, so I modified it by mounting the ssd on a linux pc.
Now I have network (auto eth0 was #ed), so I can finally run the change_diaplay_a20.sh.
Unfortunately if does nothing or at least I cannot see any change after reboot, never detected any signal on the HDMI

I get error message, tho, when logging in :

Last login: Wed Dec 25 10:23:03 2013
/usr/bin/startxfce4: Starting X server
root@A20:~#

Fatal server error:
Server is already active for display 0
   If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
   and start again.


Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
    at http://wiki.x.org
for help.


root@A20:~# XIO:  fatal IO error 11 (Resource temporarily unavailable) on X server ":0"
      after 7 requests (7 known processed) with 0 events remaining.


I checked the log and found something which I am not sure it is supposed to be that way :

root@A20:/var/log# cat Xorg.0.log

Code Select Expand


[    44.686]
X.Org X Server 1.12.4
Release Date: 2012-08-27
[    44.687] X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
[    44.688] Build Operating System: Linux 3.2.0-4-mx5 armv7l Debian
[    44.688] Current Operating System: Linux A20 3.4.67+ #6 SMP PREEMPT Fri Nov 1 17:32:40 EET 2013 armv7l
[    44.689] Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootwait loglevel=8 panic=10
[    44.689] Build Date: 17 April 2013  11:31:56AM
[    44.690] xorg-server 2:1.12.4-6 (Julien Cristau <jcristau@debian.org>)
[    44.690] Current version of pixman: 0.26.0
[    44.691] Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure that you have the latest version.
[    44.691] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[    44.694] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Dec 25 10:05:43 2013
[    44.696] (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[b][    44.699] (==) No Layout section.  Using the first Screen section.
[    44.699] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.
[    44.699] (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen Section" (0)
[    44.699] (**) |   |-->Monitor "<default monitor>"
[    44.702] (==) No monitor specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
Using a default monitor configuration.[/b]
[    44.703] (==) Automatically adding devices
[    44.703] (==) Automatically enabling devices
[    44.703] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic" does not exist.
[    44.703] Entry deleted from font path.
[    44.704] (WW) The directory "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType" does not exist.
[    44.704] Entry deleted from font path.
[    44.704] (==) FontPath set to:
/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc,
/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1,
/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi,
/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi,
built-ins
[    44.704] (==) ModulePath set to "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
[    44.704] (II) The server relies on udev to provide the list of input devices.
If no devices become available, reconfigure udev or disable AutoAddDevices.
[    44.705] (II) Loader magic: 0xb6f23cf0
[    44.705] (II) Module ABI versions:
[    44.705] X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
[    44.705] X.Org Video Driver: 12.1
[    44.705] X.Org XInput driver : 16.0
[    44.705] X.Org Server Extension : 6.0
[    44.706] (II) LoadModule: "extmod"
[    44.709] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libextmod.so
[    44.713] (II) Module extmod: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.713] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.0.0
[    44.713] Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    44.713] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    44.713] (II) Loading extension SELinux
[    44.714] (II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[    44.714] (II) Loading extension XFree86-VidModeExtension
[    44.714] (II) Loading extension XFree86-DGA
[    44.714] (II) Loading extension DPMS
[    44.714] (II) Loading extension XVideo
[    44.714] (II) Loading extension XVideo-MotionCompensation
[    44.715] (II) Loading extension X-Resource
[    44.715] (II) LoadModule: "dbe"
[    44.716] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdbe.so
[    44.718] (II) Module dbe: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.718] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.0.0
[    44.718] Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    44.718] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    44.718] (II) Loading extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
[    44.718] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[    44.720] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
[    44.722] (II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.722] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.0.0
[    44.722] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    44.723] (==) AIGLX enabled
[    44.723] (II) Loading extension GLX
[    44.723] (II) LoadModule: "record"
[    44.725] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/librecord.so
[    44.727] (II) Module record: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.727] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.13.0
[    44.727] Module class: X.Org Server Extension
[    44.727] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    44.727] (II) Loading extension RECORD
[    44.728] (II) LoadModule: "dri"
[    44.729] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so
[    44.732] (II) Module dri: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.732] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.0.0
[    44.732] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    44.732] (II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
[    44.733] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
[    44.735] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri2.so
[    44.736] (II) Module dri2: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.736] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.2.0
[    44.736] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 6.0
[    44.736] (II) Loading extension DRI2
[    44.737] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 0
[    44.737] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
[    44.737] (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
[    44.739] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
[    44.740] (II) Module fbdev: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.740] compiled for 1.12.1, module version = 0.4.2
[    44.741] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 12.0
[    44.741] (II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev
[    44.741] (--) using VT number 3

[    44.761] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[    44.761] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[    44.761] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[    44.762] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[    44.763] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.764] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 0.0.2
[    44.764] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 12.1
[    44.764] (II) FBDEV(0): using default device
[    44.765] (WW) VGA arbiter: cannot open kernel arbiter, no multi-card support
[    44.765] (II) FBDEV(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
"Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
[    44.765] (==) FBDEV(0): Depth 24, (==) framebuffer bpp 32
[    44.765] (==) FBDEV(0): RGB weight 888
[    44.766] (==) FBDEV(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[    44.766] (==) FBDEV(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[    44.766] (II) FBDEV(0): hardware:  (video memory: 3240kB)
[    44.766] (II) FBDEV(0): checking modes against framebuffer device...
[    44.766] (II) FBDEV(0): checking modes against monitor...
[    44.767] (--) FBDEV(0): Virtual size is 720x576 (pitch 720)
[    44.767] (**) FBDEV(0):  Built-in mode "current"
[    44.767] (==) FBDEV(0): DPI set to (96, 96)
[    44.767] (II) Loading sub module "fb"
[    44.767] (II) LoadModule: "fb"
[    44.768] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfb.so
[    44.770] (II) Module fb: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.770] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.0.0
[    44.770] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
[    44.771] (**) FBDEV(0): using shadow framebuffer
[    44.771] (II) Loading sub module "shadow"
[    44.771] (II) LoadModule: "shadow"
[    44.773] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libshadow.so
[    44.774] (II) Module shadow: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    44.775] compiled for 1.12.4, module version = 1.1.0
[    44.775] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
[    44.775] (==) Depth 24 pixmap format is 32 bpp
[    44.776] (EE) FBDEV(0): FBIOPUT_VSCREENINFO: Invalid argument
[    44.777] (EE) FBDEV(0): mode initialization failed
[    44.777]
[b]Fatal server error:
[    44.777] AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0[/b]
[    44.778]
[    44.778]
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
at http://wiki.x.org
for help.
[    44.779] Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
[    44.779]
[    44.816] Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.[/tt]

I tried all the possible HDMI configurations and always got the same result.
I fear my board might have an HW issue, since not even the Lianro Ubuntu distribution was showing anything on the HDMI.

Any suggestions?

Thanks and ah... Merry Xmas to all

[saburo]

Lol, I noticed something REALLY funny :
When I switch off the board (btw shutdown, halt -n -p, poweroff  all reboot the board instead of shutting it down), turning the external power off and leaving the LiPo battery in.. it switches automagically on my TV set!

So that HDMI does something, not what it should be supposed to, but it is sending some kind of messed up signal to my tv set.
I keep turning the TV set off and .. pof! it goes back on, unplugged the HDMI cable and the issue disappeared. 

Guess that could be another symptom of a real HW issue, right?

[Lurch]

Shutting off without a correct shutdown can mess things up.  Normally 'shutdown -h now' should work.  There are some differences with a LiPo battery connected.  There's a thread about that somewhere in the forum.
You should remove the lock file and reboot.  You will probably have to do that with root privilege, i.e. 'sudo rm /tmp/.X0-lock'.  Editing the files in /etc usually requires privilege as well, so you might want to try changing to root with 'sudo su' using the olimex password - in case you haven't tried that yet. 

IIRC, using a LiPo requires shutting down with the power button, not commands.  But, as mentioned, there is a thread about that.

[saburo]

Hello, thanks for the hints.

Actually I already tried removing the lock file, I guess that error is not really an issue, looks like the X server is started when the board boots, then it tries to re-start it when I log in via ssh (root/olimex) , so it obviously fails.

If I check the processes I have the following :

Code Select Expand

root@A20:~# top
top - 13:27:05 up 2 min,  2 users,  load average: 1.02, 0.56, 0.23
Tasks:  88 total,   1 running,  87 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
%Cpu(s):  0.8 us,  0.5 sy,  0.0 ni, 92.6 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  6.1 si,  0.0 st
KiB Mem:    830948 total,   109316 used,   721632 free,     4516 buffers
KiB Swap:        0 total,        0 used,        0 free,    49868 cached

  PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S  %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
1847 root      19  -1 55584  14m 4184 S   0.0  1.8   0:01.07 Xorg
1884 root      20   0 96364  10m 8412 S   0.0  1.3   0:00.99 xfdesktop
1880 root      20   0 95184 9948 7636 S   0.0  1.2   0:00.88 xfce4-panel
1878 root      20   0 17856 7272 5948 S   0.0  0.9   0:00.59 xfwm4
1897 root      20   0 36760 7160 4644 S   0.0  0.9   0:00.37 xfce4-volumed
1894 root      20   0 90900 6240 4704 S   0.3  0.8   0:00.42 xfce4-power-man
1916 root      20   0 15952 5352 4312 S   0.0  0.6   0:00.20 panel-6-systray
1882 root      20   0 16752 4992 4024 S   0.0  0.6   0:00.17 Thunar
1872 root      20   0 15752 4700 3744 S   0.0  0.6   0:00.22 xfce4-session
...


So I guess in the end X seems to be running, still I get no output :/
Moreover, should I have a console output anyway on the HDMI if X would not run properly, like with a normal Linux machine?
Uhm, I am more and more convinced that it's a HW issue

[saburo]

So, finally I managed to have it work... but not on my TV set.
I connected the HDMI to an Asus MX279H monitor and with that one it works, with my Panasonic Viera TV set there seems to be no way to have the HDMI (which works flawlessly with other devices) detect the A20 board.

Maybe something the design team could look into when they have some spare time.