Help, I was messing with the display settings (trying another similar card on the list) and now I can't switch back to 1024x768 resolution (it is grey'ed out in the System Settings --> Display). Now it only gives me the choice of "640x480" and "800x600".

I had 1024x768 prior to choosing a different card, and now when I switch back to that card on the list, it's gone.

Is there anyway to get that resolution back? I forgot to backup the original /etc/X11/XF86Config before messing with the changes.

Please Help.

My distribution is Red Hat 8.

try Ctrl + Alt + (Numpad-) to see if you can zoom out. If not edit your XF86Config to put the resolution you want as the first one in the Screen section. Restart X

Mine is 1600x1200 as shown below.

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX (generic)"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Still Didn't Work, I added the 1024x768 entry..

Note, X seemed to have removed the "1024x768" entry (upon startup) in the Depth 24 Display section.

The 3rd line from the bottom is the only place that needed it. And that's what's lacking it. You mean it disappeared?

Did you edit this file as root? Who are you running the server as? Are you sure the file was saved properly?

Yes, I edited it with "1024x768" on that line.
I started X and it still went into "800x600" mode.
I exit X to check the file and the "1024x768" entry was removed.

Yep, as Root. Yes, I'm sure it's saved properly.

1)What runlevel are you at ?
2)Repeat, who are you running the server as?
(XFree86 is a suid binary, so it always run as root, but who's running startx and hence xinit?)
3)Do you happen to have file named XF86Config-4 next to the XF86Config?
4)What does XFree86 -version say?

1) 5 (default)
2) 'root'. same thing happens as user
3) nope.
4)

Dude, you have the default depth set to 24, and the Section for Depth 24 only has 800x600 and 640x480.

The very last Modes line is the one you may want to try adding 1024x768 to.

Here are some things to think about.

a) The fact that you're starting X as root seems to indicate that you are using the root login where is not exactly needed. You should never login as root for day-to-day use ( for this - if you didnt create another login during the install process - you may do an adduser bxboy followed by a passwd bxboy to create the new user bxboy and set his passwd. Or redhat-config-users if you enjoy the GUI toolset). Login as bxboy, for config edits and stuff, you may temporarily become root using su - and logout to reurn to the bxboy shell. root is an all too powerful login and doesnt take much effort to misuse. One mistake as root maybe prove too expensive!
b) do an init 3 as root. This should present you with a text login prompt. login as bxboy, become root by supplying the root password at the su - prompt, edit XF86Config to add the 1024x768, save the file and exit from the su ( root) shell. now start an X session with startx and let's see what happens.

traked, that was definitely the right thing to say ( if the post you were commenting on was the last one in the thread ). But things had progressed quite a bit from that point. Please make sure that you read thru the following posts to see where its at before you post your comment.