"My Preciousssss" or "Making the Dell 2005FPW work under Linux"
Click the image to see just how big it is.
There were some headaches along the way and I figure that I'll log my work here for any googlers looking to get it running on Linux. For the rest of you, dear readers, I'll resume my normal ranting tomorrow (when the Incredibles finally gets here. What's the point of a preordering when it doesn't get there till the day after the release?)
Well, I'm staring at 1680x1050 pixels of linuxy goodness, so I can assure you that the 2005FPW does indeed work. The caveat is that since it uses a new (read non-standard) resolution, most videocards don't have the "modeline" settings for the native resolution built into their linux drivers yet. I have read about problems with the Intel i810 and other i8xx chipsets, and personally had a problem with the Via CLE266.
Although you can set the modeline in xorg.conf, it's worth noting that no amount of settings I could throw at the via chipset (which is the integrated videocard on my mini-itx board) would make it work. Some chipsets simply cannot handle this resolution or will not accept non-standard modeline without some crazy tweaking.
In the end, I simply threw a spare ATI rage 128 in a PCI slot, added the custom modelines, and voila, lots and lots of pixels. It seems that the ATI driver is quite tolerant of custom modeline settings. Read on for the xorg.conf lines you need to add to get this working.
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"EndSection
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "DELL 2005FPW"
DisplaySize 430 270
HorizSync 30.0 - 83.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "dpms"
UseModes "16:10"
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"EndSection
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"Viewport 0 0EndSubSection
Depth 16
Modes "1680x1050" "1400x1050"
#1400x1050 is here just as a fallback
Section "Modes"
# Here we define 16:10 modesEndSection
Identifier "16:10"
# 1680x1050 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 65.22 kHz; pclk: 147.14 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
Finally, if you're one of the unlucky few to get monitors with dead pixels or backlight "bleeding", don't despair. These anomalies are a normal part of the manufacturing process and Dell is quickly replacing defective monitors. Just call them if you have an issue, and be sure to keep your shipping packaging, as some people have reported pixels dying during or after the first few days of use.
If you've got a display with strange color problems and "blotches" and are ready to send the monitor back, try gently taking a paper towel and dragging the LCD "gel" that makes up the screen into the thin spots. You may find that you can salvage the monitor yourself and save the hassle!
