Hey, very new to linux here so PLEASE excuse my cluelessness . I installed Red hat 9 and was having problems with the resolution. I posted somewhere else and they told me how to edit the Xsomething86 thing (forget what it is called). But anyway, it is now showing in the display control panel that the desktop should be scaled properly to my moniter (does this make sense?). BUT, my moniter when I check the resolution on it is still 640X480@60hz but I know my moniter can support 1024x768@85hrtz which I would like. So, my suspicion is the moniter is not being told to "change" resolutions properly in Linux. I have tried ctrl+alt+ (+)(-) btw. So what I get is Linux displays at 1024X768 but my moniter is stuck at 640x480 so I am zoomed in on parts of the screen and I have to move my mouse cursor to the edge of the screen to have it scroll around. My moniter is a Samsung SyncMaster 753df, does anyone have any idea how to fix this and why it is happening?

Could you post your XF86Config-4 file?
in debian its under /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
not sure where it is in RedHat.

# XFree86 4 configuration created by redhat-config-xfree86

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "DevInputMice" "AlwaysCore"
EndSection

Section "Files"

# RgbPath is the location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
Load "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
# Option "Xleds" "1 2 3"
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
# Option "XkbDisable"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
# Option "XkbModel" "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
# Option "XkbModel" "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# or:
# Option "XkbLayout" "de"
# Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
# Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps"
# Or if you just want both to be control, use:
# Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps"
#
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# If the normal CorePointer mouse is not a USB mouse then
# this input device can be used in AlwaysCore mode to let you
# also use USB mice at the same time.
Identifier "DevInputMice"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "SyncMaster"
DisplaySize 320 220
HorizSync 30.0 - 71.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "ATI Radeon 9000 Pro"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024X768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group 0
Mode 0666
EndSection

hmmm
maybe its the display size?
other than that everything seems fine.
just try commenting out the line in Section Monitor

DisplaySize 320 220

meaning fup a llittle # in front of it

# DisplaySize 320 220

i don't really know if that will help but its my best guess

Okay, I will give that a shot. maybe my moniter is not compatible? Where can I get a linux HCL?

I tried that and restarted the system it did not fix it, Linux is annoying me...I am wanting to just give up and stay windows at least it works!

Hey, no ones begging you to stay with linux. If you want to be strip of you personal freedoms thats you call. haha... just playing.

by the way my friend has been trying to get XP to install for a week.

ok a little troubleshooting. I'm now having a sneaking guess that its the graphics card driver.

this will flush that one out.

first comment out the radeon section as follows
# Section "Device"
# Identifier "Videocard0"
# Driver "radeon"
# VendorName "Videocard vendor"
# BoardName "ATI Radeon 9000 Pro"
# EndSection

then add the generic vesa driver

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "vesa"
Option "UseFBDev" "true"
EndSection

this will use the generic vesa driver instead of your graphics card driver.

Ya and sorry wbout the DisplaySIze suggestion, turns out thats just the physical size of the monitor in millimeters. Shows what I know. haha

Alright, I have to go to work I will try that later...Thanks .

on the part:

Depth 24
Modes "1024X768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection

try changing it to just:

Depth 24
Modes "1024X768"
EndSubSection

I actually have the exact same monitor and i dunno what it is but if i put in multiple resolutions there it seems to take the lowest one first.

Talk about getting way to involved in a problem with a pretty simple answer!
ya I agree with mondaypickle.
I would try that first before changing the drivers.

I tried that, and now it can't load the X GUI. It says the dimensions defined were incorrect and then failed to load X. I tried drivers before and the same thing happened but I did it for an earlier version (forget these Linux terms :\ ). Maybe that was the problem. I should add the screen did the refreshing clicking thing 3 times trying to load X then gave me the error. Man, I am so confused ROFL. Did I mention it only recognizes the right video card connecter too? But I am not going to even worry about making dual moniters work yet , this is confusing enough as it is.

ya X is supposed to check each screen mode from the highest to lowest resolution keeping the first one that works. did you say that you tried both suggestions? It was a little hard to understand your message. sorry.

Yes, I set it to only use "1024X768"

set it to use only "1024x768" <--little x that might be the problem