I've started looking at a replacement distro for Ubuntu which is quite frankly pissing me off.

The problem that I've run into is that all of the live CDs that I've tried (with the exception of Ubuntu) all have this strange problem where the text on any X window is *gigantic*, what must be in the region of 140 point. When I was running icewm on a CD I built using suse studio, the screen (displaying 1024x768) could only hold 3 items, each only having 6 characters each. Any X window I open has strange abstract lines running trough the titlebar (which is the huge text cliped to fit in the bar). YaST is impossible to use, like wise other visual managers that would allow me to change the settings of this text.

After finding this problem in SUSE, Fedora, and Kognoski I decided that this must be coming from upstream somewhere. Also, all of these work flawlessly when I run then in virtual machines, which makes me think that this is a problem with the VESA driver, or some sort of HW detection issue.

So, is there:
a) some way to change the X windows decoration size from the command line?
b) An updated VESA driver that doesn't do this?
c) A native driver for my video card (which Ubuntu is running on a Radeon 9800 Pro driver, although I don't think that's what it is) which I could add after the Live CD boot or mix into a CD using something like SUSE studio?

If it is an xorg video driver issue, using the "radeon" driver may improve things.
You can use "xrandr" to change X resolutions on the fly. Also look at the xorg.0.log file after booting. One of the first thing that happens is that system fonts are loaded. You may need to switch to one of the virtual terminals to read it.

Also, try downloading a regular live distro. There is an opensuse kde live image you can download without resorting to building one.

radeonhd is no longer developed or supported, so please do not recommend that to anyone. More importantly, radeonhd just won't work on a radeon 9800.

To the OP, please show us your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file.

Adam

Vesa can be configured to use any arbitrary resolution. But on a radeon card you should be using the radeon driver, or the fglrx one if you can stand its annoyances.

So, your problem is a configuration problem. The fact that you perceive it on some distros and not others is perfectly normal, since each one rolls their own autodetection system. But, usually, any recent distro should automatically configure Xorg to use the radeon driver by default, and set it using either xrandr or kms to run on an adequate resolution that's supported by your monitor.

In any case, a look on the X log, as suggested above, should be helpful.

Actualy, I've tryed changing the resolution using xrandr: the font scales to fit.

doesen't Fedora count as a regular live CD?

Becuase I'm at work at the moment, I can't give you an X log, but I will try to get it for you tonight.

I've done some googling, and this seems to stem from the new version of QT (or using gnome diaplay pakages with it, I'm not sure). Which explains why Ubuntu works (pure Gnome) and the others don't (pure KDE or hybrids). I'll have a look on distro watch for a recently released live CD that exclusivly uses Gnome, and build a Gnome desktop with suse studio too to see if that helps. I'll also build fglrx (that's a pain to find a repo for) into my existing apliance see if that makes a diference.

I don't think that qt vs. gnome is an issue here. If that was all the trouble all you should need is to correctly configure your desktop using the control panel (whatever it is on each desktop environment).

Neither qt nor gtk have anything to do with the X resolution. They work on top of X, and they have no influence on the screen mode that X uses.

ps. Just to clear it out, your desktop and/or gtk/qt programs are started *after* X is up and running and the resolution has been set. Your problem is either the resolution OR the DPI that your X server is using.

thanks, I edited my earlier post.

i92guboj: KDE *is* the problem, I don't have an issue with the resolution -I can change that at will. I'm sorry if I didn't make this clear, the problem is with the window decoration and menus, which (unless it's changed in newer versions) are seperate from X.

I know it's KDE and not some generic X thing because Gnome works and works well: the same suse appliance built with both enviroments and then booted into Gnome has no problems, but if booted into KDE all the text is giant. Images and the windows are fine, including the text in an xterm window (which is how I've been able to run xrandr).

I didn't have time to do anything but boot that appliance (or ferrit about in log directory sorry), although I do have one with the radion driver rolled into it, but it looks like that's not the issue.

This setting can be changed through the Gnome GUI in Ubuntu by selecting Syytem->Preferences->Aperance->Fonts->Details->Resolution does any one know how invoke/change that from the command line?

kde has a settings to override the global dpi, try to check that. But if xterm is fine that shouldn't be it either.

Maybe is some odd game being played between kde and your driver.

~/.kde4/share/config/kdeglobals has some font definitions. The number after the font family name is the size.

There is also a forcedpi setting in the same file.

I have made a deicision to solve this in a low tech way:

I have started using Gnome instead of KDE.

I was going to throw away my existing setup anyway, so changing desktop enviromnts isn't such a big deal (and Ubuntu runs Gnome by default anyway, so I'm not totaly in the dark). The new setup is working well and I prefer SUSE over Ubuntu, particularly setting up networky things like SMB and Squid. I've installed on my other machine too, and this also has a grafics problem with its Nvidia card (unrelated, I'm fairly sure) but I'll start a new thread for that.

Thanks all for trying to solve my problem!

Vesa can be configured to use any arbitrary resolution. But on a radeon card you should be using the radeon driver, or the fglrx one if you can stand its annoyances.