Thanks to all for the ideas last thread. I'm still befuddled, and of course could not give up that easily.

Here is the xorg.cong file. I removed all other entries to see if I could force the 60Hz. I also manually added the @60 line from values I got from a modeline calc. I also removed EVERTHING that was not related to the 1280x1024 I am trying to get working at 60Hz

After all this, I still ONLY see the 75Hz value in Control Center|Screen Resolution|Refresh Rate

I'd be pulling my hair out if I had any

=======================================================================
Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
ModeLine "1280x1024" 132.8 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1067
ModeLine "1280x1024" 130.9 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1067
ModeLine "1280x1024@60" 105.15 1280 1360 1496 1712 1024 1025 1028 1059
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
VendorName "SAM"
ModelName "SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER"
UseModes "Modes[0]"
DisplaySize 340 270
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVidia"
BoardName "GeForce2 MX/MX 400"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Device "Device[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Okay. I've read your previous thread. Here are a couple of ideas. First, the SuSE installation sets the wrong permissions on various configuration files. Check the file permissions on the /etc directory, the /etc/X11 directory, all of the files and directories in /etc/X11. You will probably find that files like /etc/X11/xorg.conf have the wrong permissions. Change the permissions so that the 'others' group has read permission on all of the files in /etc/X11 and the files in the directories below that. Then the directories in that tree must have both read and execute permission for the 'others' group.

Then you can use sax2 to tune your xorg.conf settings. Recheck the file permissions when sax2 finishes.

Second, I don't believe that the vertical refresh rate has anything to do with the width of the screen. I have changed the vertical refresh rate from 60 to 75 with no change in the width of the lines being displayed. I believe that the problem that you are experiencing is controlled by some of the very technical settings in the xorg.conf device section. Settings like RAMDAC and CLOCKS and those buggers. However, once you've gotten the file permissions mentioned above set correctly then sax2 should set these kinds of values for you. Or you can do it the old fashioned way. You can look up those values for your video card in the hardware documentation that came with the card. That's how we used to do it. It's great fun.

Here is some more information on the subject.

http://www.xfree86.org/4.3.0/XF86Config.5.html

http://www.xfree86.org/4.3.0/XF86Config.5.html#toc

If you're asking why I put references to the XFree86 project when SuSE 10.1 uses X.org then the answer is that the X.org project doesn't have any documentation to speak of and since X.org was based on XFree86 then the XFree86 documentation is equally applicable to X.org software.

Regarding some of the comments about SuSE video installation problems that you mentioned in your previous thread I have to say that I regard SuSE as a 'bleeding edge' distribution. As such there are some features that don't work as advertised. Maybe they will work well some day but they haven't worked since I started using SuSE with v9.0. You may have noticed with SuSE 10.1 that there are a bunch of software installers such as Zen and YUM and SMART. These things don't always work well and YaST software installation has some bugs in it. So while your comments are valid I think that these kinds of problems are to be expected with a 'bleeding edge' distro.

Some of the nice things with SuSE are the services configuration applets in Yast. Things like setting up an FTP server or Samba server or client or NTP server or client. These things work really well.

If you want a good distribution with few problems try PCLinuxOS. I'm using that on a Toshiba Satellite notebook computer and I am very happy with it.

just curious do you have onboard intel video chipset? I had the same problem with 10.0 but 10.1 w/ all the updates allows me to set my resolution higher.

Thanks for the remarks Stress... I've found that the general behavior of most of my LCD monitors is related somewhat to the refresh rates. As opposed to CRTs, there is not a material improvement in upping the refresh rate. And in the case of some of them (the samsung I'm working with specifically), it likes 60Hz better than anything. I've stabilized the image at 75Hz so I can see the entire screen, and you're correct that most of the time, refresh rate (as long as its in range) may not cut off the image.

However, it is consistent with this monitor and Suse 10.1. With Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Mandriva Et al, there are refresh rate choices, and xorg.conf actually seems to affect how X behaves. With Suse 10.1, I've had much worse luck.

To your point about Suse being on the edge, that is why I like it so much

It's ambitious in its desire to be a modern OS, as opposed to many other distros that try to be for "linux insiders only", which I find somewhat painful. I do LOVE Yast, it is amazing. Only Fedora seems to be close to Suse in terms of completeness and administrative friendliness.

I've read all the links you've provided, learned alot, but those methods still don't seem to affect the general way the display is managed by Suse with X11. Oh well, at least I can see the whole thing at the moment.

I agree completely with your assesment that things don't always work well. Heck, I've been trying to get Firefox 2 working properly for 2 days now. Its a pain in the arse for sure. Argh......

tlarkin, I'm not using an intel onboard video section, using an AGP card, NVidia MX4000 at the moment. Also, the mainboard is a gigabyte NF3-250. The issues are not surrounding resolution per se, but around a locked refresh rate that the monitor does not like.

Did you check the permissions on the files in /etc/X11? These will cause several problems. The xorg.conf file will prevent tuning changes from taking effect in normal user accounts. The qt* files will cause errors starting KDE. Normal users have to be able to read these files. That is generally covered by the permissions set for the "others" group. The same goes for the directories in /etc/X11 and the files in those directories. When you get those working properly then sax2 should be able to solve your screen problems.

Now thats good advice, I'll give it a go in a bit. That makes sense actually. I got lost at some point and wondering whether I was in user or root. Kept bouncing back and forth and I think I was getting sloppy. I was trying to get Firefox 2 running also, and having a devil of a time getting it to run system wide.

did you try to manually set the res in sax2?

Yes, I did. It was painful. The resolution and refresh rates are locked at 1280x1024, 75Hz. No other values ever appear. I tried hacking xorg.conf a zillion times to try to get other values to appear. With an ATI card I was able to add some modeline values that resulted in the (oddball and just plain wierd) refresh rate of 58Hz.

stress_junkie might have solved that riddle, but I don't know yet. Will try later.

On the Firefox issue, that is completely trivial to install. If your firefox-2.0.tar.gz file is in /tmp then do this as root.
That's all there is to it.

On the sax2 issue, you need to run that in nongraphic mode on the console. This is runlevel 3. So, as root you issue the command
When you see a text only screen then log on as root and run sax2. What you said to tlarkin made no sense to me at all. I don't know what you are doing but sax2 provides an ncurses GUI interface in text mode and you make the display fit the screen. You don't have to tell it any refresh rate or anything.

Stress... maybe I'm using sax2 wrong. I log in at init 3, then type sax2. It starts X, instead of ncurses.

I tried all that you told me, but am still stuck on 75Hz and still cannot see the right 1 inch of my desktop.

Its almost like X/Gnome is NOT using the xorg.conf and some other file. Not matter what I do to it, there are no changes

How can I start the ncurses version? You've been great at helping me zero in on this strange issue.

I even tried substituting the Geforce 5200 card for the MX4000 card without changing drivers just to see what would happen, and again, 1 inch of the desktop is missing to the right (ie the mouse pointed disappears)

All I want to do is change the refresh rate.... why does this have to be so hard.

ncurses is a system of terminal codes that allow text terminals to provide very primitive graphics. You don't have to start ncurses. If you are in text mode then the console will use ncurses if those codes are fed to the console.

I normally run my computers at run level 3 and then start the X system manually each time that I log in. I wonder if that has anything to do with us having different experiences. I just tried my own instructions. Of course I didn't have to do the init 3 part because I'm already at run level 3. So I stopped the X system and logged off of my normal user account. The console is in text mode at this point. I logged on as root. I entered sax2 at the prompt. I used the virtual console 2 to copy what I saw in console 1.
Then it created a graphic blue screen that filled my lcd display. There was a white box on each of the corners. I presume that I could have used the mouse pointer to move the corner markers if I needed to do so. I pressed the OK button and was returned to the console in text mode. I did
It showed that the xorg.conf file had been modified.

I wish that I could look over your shoulder. I have the feeling that we are using the same words to describe different things. I don't know how to resolve that.

This is the part of my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file that has to do with the monitor and refresh rates.
Now if this 75 Hz that you keep referring to is the horizontal sync rate then that might be your problem but you shouldn't have to enter that information directly. That's exactly what sax2 is supposed to do for you.

If you refer to this 75 Hz again please say what you are talking about. Is it the horizontal sync rate or the vertical refresh rate or what?

Hi,
I do not wish to jump this post but a few things caught my eye..May or may not be important but I'll throw it out..

First, I looked up your monitor specs online..Scan frequencies are:
Horizontal= 31.5 KHZ-80KHZ
Vertical= 56HZ - 75HZ

Isee your Horizontal with no KHZ and the number I got was 80 not 81..You should check that out to see if it's a problem..
Even though the lower number on the vertical frequency is not what I found online again you should check it out and change it to the correct one..
IMHO with sax2 you should also not select the 4/3 aspect ratio as this was for the older crt monitors..Thus you can select a better aspect ratio for your LCD monitor..
You can also select the proper screen size once you get a stable display..
Note: 1280x1024 (@75 hz Vert refresh rate) may be the maximun resolution your monitor can handle or it may be the desired setting..Again you should check your book..
Hope that may help in some way,
goodluck,
jolphil
Later edit: IMHO Once you have the desired display,what I do to lower the refresh rate is to lower the vert. scan frequency..In your case I would change the 75 hz to something around 62 or so..