Correct desktop resolution. Incorrect screensaver res (SOLVED)
 

I'm running Ubuntu 5.10 w/ Gnome on a Dell D610 Latitude Laptop. (Though I think the actual distro is probably less important as I've seen the same problem posted -- but not resolved -- by folks running Fedora etc.)

I'm docked and hooked up to a Dell 2001FPS monitor running at 1600x1200 resolution. My video card is an ATI Radeon Mobility M300 (M22) running on the "fglrx" driver.

The problem I am having is that when my screensaver starts, or I go to lock my workstation on my way to lunch, the lock screen or screensaver comes up at what looks like 1024x768 - in a smaller window - leaving the rest of my desktop exposed beneath it.

I feel like I have a pretty good grip on the possible locations of the .xscreensaver files and how to configure them. And also, I'm fairly certain I have xorg.conf set up properly (though I'm including it at the bottom of the post). Likewise, I have no other problems with resolution except when the screensaver or lock screen comes on. I can punch in my password and I'm back to my desktop @ 1600x1200 without any problems.

It "feels" to me like the screensaver is pulling its default resolution from somewhere other than what's currently running in Xserver, and somewhere other than the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. But for the life of me, I can't figure out where or why this is occuring.

It should be noted that I originally installed Ubuntu 5.10 without the Dell Flat Panel attached and using the default resolution of the laptop LCD panel which *is* 1024x768. I doubt an installation would hard code such a thing as a base resolution, and if so, I see no way to change it in the GUI. However, the other posts of this problem that I've googled were of a similar variety - someone upgraded their monitor, got their monitor resolution correct, but their old resolution stayed on to haunt their screensaver and lock desktop.

Thanks in advance,

Craig Mitchell, St. Louis, Missouri

I don't know the technical reason either but here is something you might want to try: Search for [X|x]org.conf* (or any other intelligent combination with a wildcard). That should show all instances of xorg.conf (and, incidentally, xorg.conf.new etc...). Rename them to something different and copy your /etc/xorg.conf to their place(s).

Now your screensaver should hopefully behave properly ... ;)

I did find another copy of xorg.conf under /usr/xresprobe and replaced it. However, this didn't help me any. Thanks for your kind suggestion nonetheless.

I almost wonder whether my docked laptop is causing the problem. Maybe with the lid closed, the screen is actually still on so Xserver is bringing the screensaver down to the lowest common denominator. It's a Schrondinger's Cat sort of thing really... is the screen really on with the lid closed? Or does it only turn on when I lift the lid? :P

Then you missed at least one. There is a template for xorg.conf somewhere on your machine which is copied to /etc/xorg.conf during the initial setup of the system...

As a guess, that's not it. The brute force approach would be to delete the 1024x768 resolution from xorg.conf. If this doesn't work you must have a copy somewhere else...

Double checking never hurts. So I went through my system with a fine tooth comb. I used 'find' to find all files having anything to do with xorg. I even piped the result through grep searching for references to 1024x768. Then I searched for references to 1024x768 in all of my files. Nothing of interest.

Here's an interesting new clue though. Today for grins, I was running at 1600x 1200 and decided to change my resolution on the fly to "1024x768" Guess what happened? That's right, it made a smaller sub-window of my desktop in the top left corner of my screen.

Suggests to me that it's not a problem with screensaver resoltuion -- but instead, a problem with changing resolution on the fly. Perhaps the screensavers also try to run at 1024x768 but instead of running in full screen resolution, they end up trapped in the box.

Correct desktop resolution. Incorrect screensaver & lock resolution (SOLVED)
 

I ****FINALLY**** found a solution to this. The other day on a whim I installed the Gnome Screensavers package. Its pretty basic. Not too many choices - like 3 or 4 choices of screensavers and none of them very interesting. But guess what. They run at the correct resolution and desklock works fine too.

This led me to investigate the problem from a strictly XScreensaver angle and the solution I found made me laugh.... it made me a laugh a big pirate laugh at the pure ridiculousness of it. HAR HARRRR HAR-HAR HARRRR HARRR!

Here's what I found. From the Xscreensaver faq:

Sound familiar? Why yes it does...

HAR-HAR HARR!

Gah ... what comes next? :rolleyes: I'm glad you could solve this, since I was just preparing a long list of links for you to investigate -- all of which would have helped just nothing.

So, congratulations and the appropriate kudos for your tenacity to solve this -- and for posting the solution here.