debian sarge screen resolution

domurtag · 05-29-2006, 05:14 PM

Hi,

I recentely installed Debian Sarge. Everything is fine except the screen resolution is really low (about 640x480). This might be because I have the wrong video driver installed. When I was prompted for my video driver (while installing Debian), I selected "veso", but my video driver is actually a Trio3D. If this is the likely cause of the problem, and someone could tell me where I can get the correct driver and how to install it, I`d be very grateful.

I tried manually editing the /etc/X11/XF86Config file, but it didn`t help. Also, when I select Applications | Desktop Preferences | Screen Resolution, the only option I get is 640x480.

Thanks in Advance,
Donal

salparadise · 05-30-2006, 12:44 AM

In a terminal, as root, type the following.

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

if that throws back an error message then try

dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

(I can't remember which xserver Sarge uses by default).

Work your way through each step. Have a mooch about in the driver list, there's probably a trio driver in there somewhere.

domurtag · 05-30-2006, 10:28 AM

Thanks for the reply! I ran "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86" and restarted, but the screen resolution is still miserably low. Here's the relevant section from my new XF86Config-4 file:

Code:

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "Generic Video Card"
        Monitor         "DELL D1028L"
        DefaultDepth    24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           1
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           4
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           8
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           15
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           16
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           24
                Modes           "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

I'm surprised by the entry:

Device "Generic Video Card"

Because when I was asked by the configuration program to select a video card driver, I chose "S3".

The second question the program asked me was:

"The X server configuration file associates your video card with a name that you may provide. This is usually the vendor or brand name followed by the model name"

I responded "S3 Inc. Trio3D", purely because this is the name that showed up in the MS control panel. If this is purely a label then I guess it doesn't matter. But if it is supposed to exactly match up with something then it was probably wrong.

Maybe I need to download and install the correct driver? If so, then I'd really appreciate it if anyone could tell me where I could get it and how to install it. I guess I'd need to run the config program again afterwards?

Thanks again for any help. I'd really like to get Debian Sarge running properly, but it's almost unusable at this resolution.

Cheers,
Donal

salparadise · 05-30-2006, 11:39 AM

You might try adding "1280x1024" to this section;

SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection

So it looks like this:

SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection

/etc/init.d/gdm restart (as root) to restart the xserver after you made the change. (Or reboot).

BobNutfield · 05-30-2006, 12:31 PM

You are probably going to need a dedicated driver for your card. You can find the driver here.

Hope this helps

Bob

farslayer · 05-30-2006, 02:52 PM

If you are only getting 640x480 as an option and your Screen section is as displayed above, then I would say the problem is with your monitor settings..

Verify the Vert & horiz refresh rates are correct in your config file. if they are not the system will not allow you to go into the higher resolutions..

Code:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "Visual SensatKDS"
        HorizSync       30-64
        VertRefresh     50-60
        Option          "DPMS"
EndSection

this information is available in the monitor manual as well as on the manufacturers web site

domurtag · 05-30-2006, 03:00 PM

Thanks again for the help. Unfortunately, adding "1280x1024" to the config file didn`t make any difference.
I had a look at the drivers dowload page, but there doesn`t seem to be a Linux driver for the Trio 3D family (my video card is a S3 Trio3D 366).

I consulted Google and couldn`t find a Linux driver for this video card anywhere - if anyone knows where I might find one, or knows of another Linux driver that is compatible with this card, I`d be very grateful if they`d let me know.

I downloaded S3 Savage Linux driver, just in case it might work, but I`m not sure how to install it. When I extract the .tgz, I get 2 binary files:

- s3switch
- savage_drv.o

What should I do next to install this?

Thanks in advance,
Donal

domurtag · 05-30-2006, 09:17 PM

Fixed it!!!

I manually updated the following section of XF86Config-4

Code:

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "Generic Video Card"
        Driver          "vesa"
EndSection

to

Code:

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "Generic Video Card"
        Driver          "s3virge"
EndSection

Apparently this wasn't being updated when I ran dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
(no idea why).

Although the resolution is fine now, the vertical scrolling is a bit jumpy. Any idea which setting I should tinker with to try and improve this?

Thanks Again,
Donal