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Old 02-20-2009, 12:54 PM   #1
armandino
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Where are screen resolutions saved?


Once upon a time there was xorg.conf.
Screen resolutions, modes, sync etc. where written there.
Recently it seems to have become somehow useless.

In my FC9 system (virtual machine) the gdm login screen first came out at 1600x1200. Once logged in as root, I changed the screen resolution to 1024x768, which went fine. After reboot, the login screen was at 1600x1200 again; once logged in as root, it switched to 1024x768.

I then tried to login as a std user and the behaviour was exactly the same: 1600 at login, 1600 after first login, changed to 1024...

So ended having the desired resolution with any user AFTER loggin in, BUT the startup login screen kept coming out at 1600x1200.

Well - I thought - that's easy, I just have to edit some configuration file to set the default startup X screen resolution.

I then discovered that I'm not at all able to find out WHERE the hxll those resolution settings (login AND per-user) are stored. They seem to be nowhere! They surely are not in xorg.conf anymore.

Does anyone know exactly which files Fedora uses to save those settings?
Have the days of straight configuration-file-editing ended?

Thanks a lot.

PS. Please do not tell me "xorg.conf"
I myself would have answered that way some days ago, but now I know things have heavily changed. Unfortunately I do not know...
 
Old 02-20-2009, 03:43 PM   #2
theNbomr
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Seems likely that they are in a config file related to your Desktop, such as Gnome or KDE. As such, there is probably a GUI component in said desktop, which can be used to manipulate the resolution. Once you find that, you can probably track down the file in which the resolution is stored by making a change, and then quickly using find to locate any recently modified files.
Code:
find $HOME -mmin -2 -print
finds files in your home directory that were modified in the last two minutes.

--- rod.
 
Old 02-20-2009, 06:00 PM   #3
stoggy
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yea i know. i borked my resolution and couldn't get back in to save my life.

I finally wacked all the gnome config dirs in my home and it reset back to defaults. I probably deleted more then I needed but I wanted back in. Having found this out, it is probably something in .gconf

if your worried try rm'ing 1 at a time, i would start with .gconf .gnome and .gnome2. The gnome2_private is key info so probably don't need to delete it. compiz doesnt do resolution so probably not there and my .gnomerc is always blank so ...

.gconf
.gnome
.gnome2
.gnome2_private
.gnome-compiz-manager
.gnomerc


If you figure out which post back please.
 
Old 02-20-2009, 06:16 PM   #4
stoggy
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I got curious...


try this:

gconftool-2 --get /desktop/peripherals/monitor/resolution_size

mine says no value set...

Last edited by stoggy; 02-20-2009 at 06:35 PM.
 
Old 02-21-2009, 12:08 PM   #5
armandino
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stoggy View Post
...I finally wacked all the gnome config dirs in my home and it reset back to defaults...
My problem is different.
I'm trying to find out where THE DEFAULTS are stored, not only the user-related settings.

Anyone having reliable information about that?
 
Old 02-21-2009, 12:16 PM   #6
stoggy
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the defaults for gconf are in /etc

/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory
/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.system
/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults
/etc/gconf/schemas


try this command:

gconftool-2 -g /desktop/peripherals/monitor/resolution_size
 
Old 02-21-2009, 02:08 PM   #7
PTrenholme
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Or you could do as I had to since the X-server can't properly read the modline information from one of my monitors. Create an /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. That will over-ride the default "Let the X-server do it automatically" that occurs when no xorg.conf file is found. (This is, by the way, the default behavior of the X-server, not of Fedora. Most distributions using the new X-server release are not creating xorg.conf files.)

You can use the su -c 'Xorg -configure' command to create a xorg.conf.new in which you can then edit and move to /etc/X11/xorg.conf when you have it working correctly.
 
Old 02-22-2009, 01:12 PM   #8
armandino
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stoggy View Post
the defaults for gconf are in /etc

/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory
/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.system
/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults
/etc/gconf/schemas


try this command:

gconftool-2 -g /desktop/peripherals/monitor/resolution_size
No resolution settings in /etc/gconf/*

I think those settings concern the gnome environment, while I'm looking for the X-server's default resolution settings.
 
Old 02-22-2009, 01:17 PM   #9
armandino
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PTrenholme View Post
Or you could do as I had to since the X-server can't properly read the modline information from one of my monitors. Create an /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. That will over-ride the default "Let the X-server do it automatically" that occurs when no xorg.conf file is found. (This is, by the way, the default behavior of the X-server, not of Fedora. Most distributions using the new X-server release are not creating xorg.conf files.)

You can use the su -c 'Xorg -configure' command to create a xorg.conf.new in which you can then edit and move to /etc/X11/xorg.conf when you have it working correctly.
Actually there is already an xorg.conf file, but it does not contain any resolution settings.

Anyway, do you know WHERE those settings area actually saved in the recent X-server releases?
DOES a configuration plain text file with those settings actually EXIST or not?
 
Old 02-22-2009, 01:47 PM   #10
theNbomr
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So, if the system default is stored somewhere, it is probably going to be in the /etc/X11 directory hierarchy, so you may be able to use the strategy I mentioned earlier to find it. Change the default setting, using what ever tool you used before, and then quickly use find to locate any recently modified file(s).
--- rod.
 
Old 02-22-2009, 03:10 PM   #11
PTrenholme
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Quote:
Originally Posted by armandino View Post
Actually there is already an xorg.conf file, but it does not contain any resolution settings.

Anyway, do you know WHERE those settings area actually saved in the recent X-server releases?
DOES a configuration plain text file with those settings actually EXIST or not?
Sure, they are stored in your monitor and read from there when the X-server parses /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

The display managers (gdm, kdm, xdm) don't normally use the X-server settings: They default to using the highest resolution reported by your monitor that's supported by your driver. By the way, if you do set your resolutions in xorg.conf, the first resolution you list is the "default" that will be used. Here's what I have for my LCD TV when I use it as a secondary display for this laptop:
Code:
Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Secondary"
        Device     "nVidia"
        Monitor    "Spectre LCD TV"
        DefaultDepth     24
        Option      "TwinView" "0"
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth     24
                Modes    "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
EndSection
 
Old 02-25-2009, 02:29 AM   #12
armandino
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PTrenholme View Post
Sure, they are stored in your monitor and read from there when the X-server parses /etc/X11/xorg.conf. The display managers (gdm, kdm, xdm) don't normally use the X-server settings: They default to using the highest resolution reported by your monitor that's supported by your driver. By the way, if you do set your resolutions in xorg.conf, the first resolution you list is the "default" that will be used...
Thanks a lot, now I have the answers I was looking for.
 
  


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