Determine what mode to use:
You need to use the ps3-video-mode command to help determine which mode works best on your TV / display. The command does not permanently change your resolution -- it is only meant for testing.
To test various video modes, hit Ctrl-Alt-F1. That puts you in text mode (Ctrl-Alt-F7 gets you back to graphic mode). It's possible to run the ps3-video-mode command in a terminal without switching to text mode, but you'll likely end up with a garbled display in graphic mode very quickly. Again, do not attempt to test video modes while in graphic mode.
So, switch to text mode using Ctrl-Alt-F1. Log in as root at the localhost login prompt.
- Code: Select all
root
<password>
The ps3-video-mode command by itself will show your current mode. Note that the Up and Down arrow keys cycle through previously entered commands.
ps3-video-mode -? will show help for the command.
- Code: Select all
Video mode ID:
0:auto mode
YUV 60Hz 1:480i 2:480p 3:720p 4:1080i 5:1080p
YUV 50Hz 6:576i 7:576p 8:720p 9:1080i 10:1080p
RGB 60Hz 33:480i 34:480p 35:720p 36:1080i 37:1080p
RGB 50Hz 38:576i 39:576p 40:720p 41:1080i 42:1080p
VESA 11:WXGA 12:SXGA 13:WUXGA
full screen mode: <video mode ID> + 128
dither ON mode : <video mode ID> + 2048
(NOTE: For YDL 6.1, to print the supported video modes, use man ps3-video-mode)
Usage is ps3-video-mode -v [options]. If you end up in a mode your display doesn't support and can't see the screen, you can hit the Up arrow key once, use backspace to delete the old mode number, then enter a known working number and hit enter. You might want to try this while you can see the screen to see how it works. Worst case -- if you get stuck with a black screen in an unsupported mode and can't get back to a working mode, just power off/on your PS3. Again, the ps3-video-mode command alone doesn't make any permanent changes.
You add 128 to the mode number for fullscreen mode.
For example, to test 720p mode with borders you would use:
- Code: Select all
ps3-video-mode -v 3
For 720p mode without borders (fullscreen), you would use:
- Code: Select all
ps3-video-mode -v 131
Again, to list the modes available, show help for ps3-video-mode using this command:
- Code: Select all
ps3-video-mode -?
Edit your yaboot.conf file:
Once you find the best mode for your display, you need to modify this file:
/etc/yaboot.conf
You can do this while you're still in text mode and logged in as root. First create a backup with this command:
- Code: Select all
cp /etc/yaboot.conf /etc/yaboot.conf.backup
Then enter this command to start a text mode editor and open the /etc/yaboot.conf file:
- Code: Select all
nano -w /etc/yaboot.conf
Look for this section next to append =, and use the arrow keys to move to it in the editor:
video=ps3fb:mode:3 rhgb
In this case the mode number is 3. This is the ONLY thing you should change -- just the mode number. Be very careful editing this file, and only change the mode number at this time. Something as simple as leaving out a single ' could result in an error on reboot!
For example, if you're using mode 131 for 720p fullscreen:
video=ps3fb:mode:131 rhgb
Now hit Ctrl-X, then press Y, then Enter. (Ctrl-X tells the editor to Exit, it asks if you want to save your changes and you say Yes, it shows the file name it is writing to and you confirm by pressing Enter)
That should take you back to the [root@localhost ~]# prompt.
[EDIT: Removed editing of /etc/X11/xorg.conf portion, doesn't appear to be necessary]
Now reboot your PS3 by entering this command:
- Code: Select all
reboot
If you are using e17, you may need to use this menu item to fix your desktop alignment after changing resolution:
Windows > Cleanup Windows
Display Configuration:
Most LCD TV's appear to overscan the image so that a small portion (around 5%) is cut off. While this may not be noticed using the Game OS / playing games, if you're running Linux a portion of your menu bar(s) and windows won't be visible in full-screen mode.
Some LCD TVs will have a setting called Dot by Dot, Native Mode, Just Scan, Cropping, or possibly another name, that will scale the image so that it fits entirely within the borders of the screen. Some don't have this type of mode and all 720p/1080i/1080p input is overscanned.
Displays that aren't meant to receive HDTV signals may not use overscanning at all, so they won't have (or need) any settings like that, either.
How to determine your screen resolution:
You can determine your screen resolution from a terminal window with this command:
- Code: Select all
xdpyinfo | grep 'dimensions:'
Example:
- Code: Select all
[localhost ~]$ xdpyinfo | grep 'dimensions'
dimensions: 1280x720 pixels (433x244 millimeters)
More info is available in the Audio/Video section of the Fixstars Howto's:
http://us.fixstars.com/support/solutions/ydl_6.x/