I am currently building a PC out of 'scrap' pieces, and this is the first time I am trying Linux on such a PC (until now, I mostly went for Win95 or Win 98).
during xf86Config, one of the questions is to determine the supported frequency range of the monitor. As I have no specs on this monitor (brand?=ADO, model=HD-6615), nor a manual, I went with the most conservative setting. I am wondering, is there a way to determine these specs ?

In addition I wonder why this is asked ? Windows seems to determine these settings by itself. Would Linux then not be capable of doing this ?

The only reason I can think of is that asking the user is a good way to prevent bloatware, but then again, I would expect that a separate utility would exist that could determine this when the user does'nt know.
And if such a tool existed, it would be easy to adjust the setup script and include the use of such a tool in the setup routines.

In general, my feeling is that lack of (semi-automatic) hardware support is at this moment the single most problematic item slowing the further spread of Linux use, so any little step in supporting a wider variety of hardware would be beneficial.

hi,

with an older monitor, it's necessary to enter settings manually. with newer 'PnP' models, linux can, like windows, set things up automatically for you - the sax2 video setup tool shipped with SuSE certainly does.

as regarding settings for your specific unit, again, with windows you'd probably end up with windows itself defaulting to 'conservative' settings.

i think that without a handbook, all you can do is perhaps google around a bit. until you can find some reliable information, stick with your 'safe' settings, unless of course you're willing to gamble!

Thanks for the explanation.

I guess I'll try the conservative settings as a start. Learning is more important now. I might try a gamble later though. Any symptoms I could watch for if I go out of spec, or can I expect the monitor to die instantaneously ?

There's a big fat text file with 100's of monitor specs here: http://www.maxtux.co.uk/dist/yoper/3...ata/MonitorsDB
It may be a bit out of date though.