Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
My machine has a legacy nvidia Gforce card -- Gforce 4, I'm told, and the tag on the card itself says 4.17.00.45.AF. For some reason, the boot loader recognizes the card, but won't let me set screen resolution tighter than 800x600.
It hasn't always been this way, the first several times I booted the machine it allowed me to set resolution at 1024 x 768, which would be just fine for me. But it hasn't let me do that for a week or two.
I just installed the livna nvidia legacy driver to see if that would improve things. Now my bootup gives me an impressive "nvidia" splash screen, twice... but my resolution is still at 800x600, and won't let me set anything tighter.
What I'm suspecting is that some signal from the monitor itself is missing, and that's limiting what the card will send.
Is there a way for me to change my configuration to force the card to attempt a higher resolution? And a related question, now that I'm using livna's driver, is /etc/X11/xorg.conf still the controlling configuration file, or do I need to modify something else?
Assuming your bootloader is grub, add 'vga=791' or 'vga=792' to the kernel line in /boot/grub/menu.lst: vga-791 is for 16bit color, and vga=792 if for 24bit color, 1024x768 resolution.
The resolution of the screen during the bootup changed, which was pretty interesting -- I saw a cute Linux penguin at the top of the bootup display for the first time, very cool, and the text was way smaller. But as soon as the bootup got past the udev load (second displayed item in the bootup process after loading the kernel) and the kernel loaded the X drivers, it reverted to the 800x600 display I've become used to.
I need something to force Xorg into 1024.
This may be TMI, but here's what I suppose is the relevant segment of my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file:
Hm, yes, xorgconf is on it's way out along with xorgcfg and xorgconfig. It's a shame that more and more distros are dropping those.
Well, my suggestion would be to check whether your xorg.conf explicitly lists vertical and horizontal refresh rates for your monitor. If not, put them in.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.