Tinypilot scrambled video
- @david
I'm having issues with the Tinypilot 2a when connected to a Dell PowerEdge R730 Server. It has some misalignment issues in BIOS and setup, but when the TrueNAS Scale OS is running its completely unreadble.
Here is what I am seeing
Linked from:
In reply tokyeotic⬆:David @david2023-03-03 10:29:01.413ZHi @kyeotic, sorry that you're running into this scrambling image issue.
Changing your TinyPilot's EDID typically solves this issue.
If changing the EDID doesn't solve the scrambling issue, we have an FAQ about scrambled images which might be useful. If you still have a scrambled image after that, could you share a log from your TinyPilot? On your TinyPilot's web interface, navigate to System > Logs and click Get Shareable URL. Then paste the link in your reply.
- KIn reply tokyeotic⬆:@kyeotic
Changing the EDID did not work, and if there is a way to change the resolution from the TrueNAS console I cannot find it. Here is a log dump
David @david2023-03-06 12:40:31.991ZThanks for trying the EDID! And thanks for sharing a log.
It looks like your target computer is outputting at 1600x1200 at 60Hz which TinyPilot doesn't support.
Are you using a VGA adapter?
- David @david2023-03-17 12:28:30.904Z
The VGA adapter makes it a little more awkward. It looks like not being able to change the output resolution is something other people on the TrueNAS forums have experienced too.
As a test, I booted to the TrueNAS Scale installer on my test machine using a modified VGA adapter. I can get an output resolution of 800x600 (instead of 1600x1200).
If you're interested, I can share instructions to modify the EDID of your VGA adapter which might force TrueNAS to output at a supported resolution. It requires a Linux machine with VGA output and takes approximately 30 minutes from start to finish.
If you're not interested in that option, could you reach out to our customer support team to work out a different solution?
Please let me know what you think!
- David @david2023-03-17 20:02:57.206Z
Ok great! I'm still putting together the instructions to change the VGA adapter's EDID. Unfortunately, I won't have them ready today since they're pretty long. But I wanted to make sure to update you on this.
Please let me know if you have any questions in the meantime.
- In reply tokyeotic⬆:David @david2023-03-20 20:28:16.835Z2023-10-13 11:02:09.290Z
Thanks for your patience @kyeotic, here's the process for overwriting the VGA adapter's EDID. Please let me know if you have any questions or queries about the process.
[Instructions removed]
Once that's done, you can try using your VGA adapter with your TinyPilot and TrueNAS Scale to see if you get a supported resolution.
- RIn reply tokyeotic⬆:@robby
Hello. I am having the same issue. Have about 20 R730s and R620s doing this. Was there a fix that you found for this? Looks like the instructions were removed. Or maybe reaching out to support is a better route? Thanks.
- David @david2024-07-29 11:41:43.735Z
Hi Robby, I'm sorry you're also running into this issue with your servers.
I removed those instructions from earlier in the thread because they were quite complex and the process didn't work on all adapters (only a small subset), so they're weren't reliable.
Could you share a TinyPilot log with me to review? On your TinyPilot's web interface, navigate to System > Logs and click Get Shareable URL. Then paste the link in your reply.
Can I ask what operating system(s) your machines are running?
Please let me know if you have any questions.
https://logs.tinypilotkvm.com/sFlNRj9D
The servers are running Ubuntu 22.- David @david2024-07-29 14:25:08.347Z
Thanks for sharing those logs, Robby!
It looks like your server is outputting at 1600x1200 at 60Hz, which TinyPilot doesn't support (this is the same issue the previous poster had), so that explains why you're seeing this particular issue.
I'm assuming you're running Ubuntu server (i.e., no GUI)?
Are you able to adjust Ubuntu server's output resolution? I recall trying this a while back by editing the grub file. If you're using a VGA adapter, could you try a display setting that matches one of the ones listed in TinyPilot's supported resolution (VGA) list to see if that helps?
Please let me know if you have any questions.
- In reply todavid⬆:
Thank you for responding. Today we are doing more testing and we had an R630 with Centos7 that we could see the video image. We rebooted the server and could see the image all through BIOS and boot. Once Centos7 started booting, the image became distorted as previously mentioned here in this post. I tried rebooting the TinyPilot and after it came back up, the video image seemed to be hung for a while. If I unplugged the VGA, it wouldn't change to show No Signal and if we tried to change the video settings, it would say failed to change the video settings. After maybe 4 reboots of the TinyPilot, we got an image again but it is still distorted.
- In reply todavid⬆:
Sometimes, when I unplug and replug the VGA, it will show the image correctly in the top left portion of the screen. Then it seems to renegotiate for a larger sizing and it gets distorted. Like it is trying to draw 1.5 times the original image onto the screen. So there are green lines and everything is shifted to the right as you look down the screen in a cascade pattern.
- David @david2024-07-30 11:23:23.418Z
Thanks for the update!
Ideally, we should stick to one particular setup to troubleshoot the cause and try to find a solution before moving on to other systems.
We rebooted the server and could see the image all through BIOS and boot. Once Centos7 started booting, the image became distorted as previously mentioned here in this post.
This is likely because the BIOS display setting is compatible with TinyPilot, however, once booted, the target machine switches its display setting to one that TinyPilot doesn't support.
when I unplug and replug the VGA, it will show the image correctly in the top left portion of the screen. Then it seems to renegotiate for a larger sizing and it gets distorted. Like it is trying to draw 1.5 times the original image onto the screen
Some machines render at one resolution, scale up, and output at a different resolution. This behavior can be weird if the target machine is reporting that it's outputting at a different display setting than it's actual output.
Based on your descriptions, I think the only way to resolve these display issues is by manually adjusting the output resolution of your servers to a display setting in TinyPilot's supported resolutions list.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
