Does config.txt do anything?

Hi CitySwift. Its good that you are continuing to learn with your Pi.

This link should give all the information you need to sort out the overscan on your monitor.

http://elinux.org/RPi_config.txt

Don't forget to use sudo nano /boot/config.txt or you wont be able to save the changes. ( or insert your text editor instead of nano)

Good luck

Ray

Hello Cityswift, I have a vague feeling that Config.txt only works for HDMI connections, hopefully someone will be along with a better memory than me to confirm or otherwise.

Ray also makes a great point about making sure you use Sudo. I tried Vi once but still bear the scars, I'd stick with Nano :-)

Hi Steve  I am using nano as Ray suggests and have no trouble with it. I am beginning to think you are right about config.txt only working on HDMI as the CVS is an analogue signal - but surely this point would be made somewhere in the many RPi dialogues and tutorials? 

According to the RasPi wiki, config.txt does have settings for composite video.   I've never used RasPi composite video -- I find the RCA jack makes a dandy alignment peg for vertically mounting RasPi to improve air flow.  The wiki says that the default settings are "sdtv_mode=0" (Normal NTSC) and "sdtv_aspect=1" (4:3).  I assume you have your monitor set to the correct aspect ratio.  You probably want postive values for "overscan_left" and "overscan_right" to compensate for overscan, or else just adjust the monitor's own settings.

I tried Vi once but still bear the scars, I'd stick with Nano :-)

No, no, no, no... You must use emacs. For everything.

Having lit the blue touchpaper, I think I'll now retire to a very safe distance

selsinork wrote:

 

I tried Vi once but still bear the scars, I'd stick with Nano :-)

No, no, no, no... You must use emacs. For everything.

 

Having lit the blue touchpaper, I think I'll now retire to a very safe distance

I used emacs to type in my Ph.D. thesis.  Just hearing the name "emacs" makes me feel tired.

I used "vi" for about a year and never got the hang of it.  More often than not the commands would delete stuff I wanted to keep, so running it always filled me with dread.

There's a controversy about how to pronounce "vi".  Some say it should be pronounced as a single syllable, rhyming with "buy" and "die".  Die you evil program!  Die! Die! Die!  [Sorry, I got carried away.]  Others say it should be pronounced as two syllables: "vee aye".  I like to pronounce it "vee'-uh", after my favorite horror movie Viy (1967), a marvelous Russian film with special effects by FX wizard Aleksandr Ptushko.  In the movie, Viy is a hideous soul-sucking demon.  Works for me.  You don't run "vi" -- you summon it. 

I don't own a monitor with HDMI, but there are cheap HDMi to DVI cables, or an HDMI to DVI adaptor.

This might help resolve your issue.

Mark

I don't own a monitor with HDMI, but there are cheap HDMi to DVI cables, or an HDMI to DVI adaptor.

This might help resolve your issue.

Mark