Apple M9179LL/A 30" Widescreen LCD with rv280

[Roland Scheidegger]

Esben Stien wrote:
> I'm planning on getting the M9179LL/A; it's a Apple 30" Widescreen
> LCD, http://www.apple.com/displays/ - probably Samsung or Viewsonic
> OEM. If anyone knows please tell.
> 
> I intend to run this with a rv280 gpu, Radeon 9250 on GNU/Linux. This
> card features a single link DVI which is not sufficient to run the LCD
> in native resolution, 2560x1600. I will run in 1280x800/1920x1200
> until a card is out that is supported with libre software. I have seen
> this monitor operate at 1280x800/1920x1200 and it's blurryness is
> acceptable for a short term solution.
> 
> I am interested in the aspects relating to boot up "out of sync" reports.
> 
> All the monitor adjustements are done in software. Is it possible to
> adjust this monitor with libre software?. I guess I have xgamma(1). 
> 
> There is a report, 
> 
> http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Jun/bma20040630025789.htm
> 
> .. that older revisions of this monitor had some problems with the
> monitor going "out of sync" making it impossible to access bios or
> even use until it was initialized in native resolution. The newer
> revisions of this monitor have this issue resolved, or so they
> say. Anyone have any experience?
> 
> Anyone have any experience with this display or other inputs?.

It might actually be possible to run it at its native resolution, if it 
accepts vertical refresh rates below 60Hz. Single-link dvi should give 
you about 35Hz or so, the monitor might refuse to sync to it though. If 
it accepts it, it of course won't flicker, but the response time 
certainly won't get any better.
Also note you will get trouble with 3d, since the radeon driver can only 
handle 2048x2048 resolution. This is basically a hardware limitation, 
though a clever driver could potentially work around that.

Roland