Hi!

I've just installed debian (its great!), but have a small but frustrating problem. I have an ATI Radeon 9600 video card, so when prompted for the drivers to use for display (in the installer) i just selected 'ati' , as i wasn't sure.

The problem is now, i can only select resolutions 800x600 and smaller, which cuts off dialog boxes and hurts my eyes!

Can i simply modify my /etc/X11/FX86Config-4 file and chuck in, say 1024x768 (or larger too) in where it looks like the right place? or should i change the driver type (ie. to 'vesa' or something)....?

Im not sure!

many thanks in advance,
~wtwal

If you use KDE then you can try running kxconfig as root. Its a handy tool and it gives you options that for your video card and Monitor. From your problem it seems that it could also be the monitor which might be selectedwrongly. Dont try fixing XF86Config file by yourself if you dont know what you are doing. If all fails you can try running xf86config at the command prompt, but you'll need to know quite a few details about your monitor etc

let me know if it worked out.

#dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

just answer the questions.

I had this exact same problem (I use a Radeon 9600SE). I reconfigured Xserver and it just didn't work unless I used the generic drivers -- which had a ridiculously low resolution. My Suggestion to you: Download the Sarge ISO's (you are 99% likely to be using Woody, am I right?) or set the Apt sources to unstable so that it downloads the sarge packages (you might want to go to someone else about that).

don't bother with downloading the iso's.

as root:
#echo deb ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/ sarge main >> /etc/apt/sources.list
#apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade -y

bam! your upgraded to sarge.

ps. sarge is not unstable. sarge is testing currently, although it is rumored to be released sept. 28 (i think). unstable is known as SID (Still In Development). There is also experimental for all you hardcore peoples. ps. sarge and SID are extremely stable.

Thanks so much ppl!!

im actually using SID atm, so i don't think the problem is there.

the command kxconfig isn't on my system apparently, but kxsconfig is (a screen saver config-er, but doesnt actually run (some nasty thread error).


#dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

seems to be the best thing to use, but before i tried that i risked it all and just added

1024x768

in my xfree config in the right place. however, this seems a bit of a dodgy hack(comes out with a refresh rate of 60!), so the question is, what drivers do i use when i run

#dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86

?? are there some nice svga generic drivers in that list? like could i choose the VESA ones like back in the good 'ole days?

thanks!

~wtwal

try vga? or nvidia? haha. just go down the list and see if anything works

VESA will almost certainly work, iirc, it's the first name on the list.