Beamposition problem on Ubuntu (works okay on Mac)

1
Hi,

I am currently dual booting a mac pro (2006, version 1,1) in Mac OS 10.6.8 and Ubuntu 11.10. I am running psychtoolbox with 32 bit Octave in both OS's.

When I run scripts (such as PerceptualVBLSyncTest or MovieDemo) on the mac side, things seem to run okay. However, when doing it from linux, I get the flashing warning signal followed the script running (with yellow lines near the centre of the screen) and outputting the Beamposition error listed below. I think I've tried every driver listed in the "additional drivers" of system preferences but they all seem to have this effect.

When running the same script on the mac, things look good and there are no yellow lines.

The graphics card is a nvidia geforce 7300 GT. I am running Ubuntu in classic (no effects) mode.

Any advice on this issue?

Best,

Jordy

**************** PerceptualVBLSyncTest output under linux **********************

PTB-INFO: This is Psychtoolbox-3 for GNU/Linux X11, under GNU/Octave-3 (Version 3.0.9 - Build date: Feb 20 2012).
PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version information.
PTB-INFO: Most parts of the Psychtoolbox distribution are licensed to you under terms of the MIT License, with
PTB-INFO: some restrictions. See file 'License.txt' in the Psychtoolbox root folder for the exact licensing conditions.

PTB-INFO: nVidia Corporation - G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] GPU found. Trying to establish low-level access...
PTB-INFO: Connected to NVidia G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] GPU of NV-40 family. Beamposition timestamping enabled.

WARNING: Querying rasterbeam-position doesn't work on your setup! (Returns a constant value 130)

WARNING: Couldn't determine end-line of vertical blanking interval for your display! Trouble with beamposition queries?!?

WARNING: Detected end-line is -1, which is either lower or more than 25% higher than vbl startline 1024 --> Out of sane range!


PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is NVIDIA Corporation :: GeForce 7300 GT/PCI/SSE2 :: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 173.14.30
PTB-INFO: VBL startline = 1024 , VBL Endline = -1
PTB-INFO: Beamposition queries unsupported or defective on this system. Using basic timestamping as fallback: Timestamps returned by Screen('Flip') will be less robust and accurate.
PTB-INFO: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 16.660004 ms [60.023996 Hz]. (50 valid samples taken, stddev=0.008260 ms.)
PTB-INFO: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system = 16.661390 ms [60.019001 Hz].
PTB-INFO: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no reason to worry.


----- ! PTB - WARNING: SYNCHRONIZATION TROUBLE ! ----

One or more internal checks (see Warnings above) indicate that
queries of rasterbeam position are not properly working for your setup.

Psychtoolbox will work around this by using a different timing algorithm,
but it will cause Screen('Flip') to report less accurate/robust timestamps
for stimulus timing.
Read 'help BeampositionQueries' for more info and troubleshooting tips.


PTB-INFO: Support for fast OffscreenWindows enabled.


************** output under OS 10.6.8 ********************


PTB-INFO: This is Psychtoolbox-3 for Apple OS X, under GNU/Octave-3 (Version 3.0.9 - Build date: Feb 9 2012).
PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version information.
PTB-INFO: Most parts of the Psychtoolbox distribution are licensed to you under terms of the MIT License, with
PTB-INFO: some restrictions. See file 'License.txt' in the Psychtoolbox root folder for the exact licensing conditions.



PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is NVIDIA Corporation :: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT OpenGL Engine :: 2.1 NVIDIA-1.6.36
PTB-INFO: Renderer has 256 MB of VRAM and a maximum 244 MB of texture memory.
PTB-INFO: VBL startline = 1024 , VBL Endline = 1065
PTB-INFO: Measured monitor refresh interval from beamposition = 16.660032 ms [60.023896 Hz].
PTB-INFO: Will use beamposition query for accurate Flip time stamping.
PTB-INFO: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 16.641940 ms [60.089150 Hz]. (50 valid samples taken, stddev=0.141567 ms.)
PTB-INFO: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system = 16.666667 ms [60.000000 Hz].
PTB-INFO: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no reason to worry.
PTB-INFO: Support for fast OffscreenWindows enabled.
2
--- In psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com, "Jordy" <jkaufman@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I am currently dual booting a mac pro (2006, version 1,1) in Mac OS 10.6.8 and Ubuntu 11.10. I am running psychtoolbox with 32 bit Octave in both OS's.
>
> When I run scripts (such as PerceptualVBLSyncTest or MovieDemo) on the mac side, things seem to run okay. However, when doing it from linux, I get the flashing warning signal followed the script running (with yellow lines near the centre of the screen) and outputting the Beamposition error listed below. I think I've tried every driver listed in the "additional drivers" of system preferences but they all seem to have this effect.
>
> When running the same script on the mac, things look good and there are no yellow lines.
>
> The graphics card is a nvidia geforce 7300 GT. I am running Ubuntu in classic (no effects) mode.
>
> Any advice on this issue?
>

It is probably trying to read beamposition from a disabled scanout engine, because it uses the wrong one for the query, therefore the constant value.

Either replug your monitor - Switch which monitor cable is plugged in which socket on your computer, or do the same virtually in software by adding this line to the top of your script:

Screen('Preference', 'ScreenToHead', 0, 0, 1)

PTB makes some assumptions about which connector on your graphics card maps to which scanout engine in the graphics card. The actual wiring is flexible and operating system dependent, so the assumption can be wrong.

On a NVidia card under OS/X i think it can still adapt correctly most of the time, not so much with other graphics cards.

best,
-mario


> Best,
>
> Jordy
>
> **************** PerceptualVBLSyncTest output under linux **********************
>
> PTB-INFO: This is Psychtoolbox-3 for GNU/Linux X11, under GNU/Octave-3 (Version 3.0.9 - Build date: Feb 20 2012).
> PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version information.
> PTB-INFO: Most parts of the Psychtoolbox distribution are licensed to you under terms of the MIT License, with
> PTB-INFO: some restrictions. See file 'License.txt' in the Psychtoolbox root folder for the exact licensing conditions.
>
> PTB-INFO: nVidia Corporation - G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] GPU found. Trying to establish low-level access...
> PTB-INFO: Connected to NVidia G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] GPU of NV-40 family. Beamposition timestamping enabled.
>
> WARNING: Querying rasterbeam-position doesn't work on your setup! (Returns a constant value 130)
>
> WARNING: Couldn't determine end-line of vertical blanking interval for your display! Trouble with beamposition queries?!?
>
> WARNING: Detected end-line is -1, which is either lower or more than 25% higher than vbl startline 1024 --> Out of sane range!
>
>
> PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is NVIDIA Corporation :: GeForce 7300 GT/PCI/SSE2 :: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 173.14.30
> PTB-INFO: VBL startline = 1024 , VBL Endline = -1
> PTB-INFO: Beamposition queries unsupported or defective on this system. Using basic timestamping as fallback: Timestamps returned by Screen('Flip') will be less robust and accurate.
> PTB-INFO: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 16.660004 ms [60.023996 Hz]. (50 valid samples taken, stddev=0.008260 ms.)
> PTB-INFO: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system = 16.661390 ms [60.019001 Hz].
> PTB-INFO: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no reason to worry.
>
>
> ----- ! PTB - WARNING: SYNCHRONIZATION TROUBLE ! ----
>
> One or more internal checks (see Warnings above) indicate that
> queries of rasterbeam position are not properly working for your setup.
>
> Psychtoolbox will work around this by using a different timing algorithm,
> but it will cause Screen('Flip') to report less accurate/robust timestamps
> for stimulus timing.
> Read 'help BeampositionQueries' for more info and troubleshooting tips.
>
>
> PTB-INFO: Support for fast OffscreenWindows enabled.
>
>
> ************** output under OS 10.6.8 ********************
>
>
> PTB-INFO: This is Psychtoolbox-3 for Apple OS X, under GNU/Octave-3 (Version 3.0.9 - Build date: Feb 9 2012).
> PTB-INFO: Type 'PsychtoolboxVersion' for more detailed version information.
> PTB-INFO: Most parts of the Psychtoolbox distribution are licensed to you under terms of the MIT License, with
> PTB-INFO: some restrictions. See file 'License.txt' in the Psychtoolbox root folder for the exact licensing conditions.
>
>
>
> PTB-INFO: OpenGL-Renderer is NVIDIA Corporation :: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT OpenGL Engine :: 2.1 NVIDIA-1.6.36
> PTB-INFO: Renderer has 256 MB of VRAM and a maximum 244 MB of texture memory.
> PTB-INFO: VBL startline = 1024 , VBL Endline = 1065
> PTB-INFO: Measured monitor refresh interval from beamposition = 16.660032 ms [60.023896 Hz].
> PTB-INFO: Will use beamposition query for accurate Flip time stamping.
> PTB-INFO: Measured monitor refresh interval from VBLsync = 16.641940 ms [60.089150 Hz]. (50 valid samples taken, stddev=0.141567 ms.)
> PTB-INFO: Reported monitor refresh interval from operating system = 16.666667 ms [60.000000 Hz].
> PTB-INFO: Small deviations between reported values are normal and no reason to worry.
> PTB-INFO: Support for fast OffscreenWindows enabled.
>