Hello,

I hope somebody can give me a hand here:

I am having problems trying to use any screen resolution other than the default 1024x768. My monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 213t) supports up to 1600x1200 but the newly installed SUSE 10.1 does not allow for any choices through the configuration windows. Having some experience with configuring the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file I tried to replace the ''default'' mode with ''1280x1024'' but this gives me a screen with crazy bad colors and splitted in the middle ... too bad.

My feeling is that is the Graphics Card that does not do what it is supposed to do. I am running SUSE on a desktop with P4M800PRO-M motherboard with embedded graphics and an Intel Core 2 duo processor. Is there a possibility that I need to install some driver? How can I check this? The monitor works fine under Windows-XP (dual booting).

Any help or advice would be appreciated
Thank you for reading this message

What are the contents of /etc/X11/xorg.conf? There are a few things you can try to change. One is the video driver; try replacing the video driver with "via" or "s3" (I think). Another is the monitor's HorizSync and VertRefresh settings. I'd personally try confining the VertRefresh to 60, and give HorizSync a wide range.

If it works fine under Windows XP, I assume you mean it's set to 24bit color with 1600x1200 in WinXP...right? Then obviously the graphics chip is physically capable of the resolution. You can find out in Windows XP's display settings what vertical refresh rate is being used, if that makes a difference.

Some things to try:

(1) Generate the xorg.conf file with "Xorg -configure".

(2) Look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log and see what the X system is saying about what modes it thinks are feasible.

Thank you very much for your responses.
Here are some sections taken from the .conf and .log files
It occurs to me that the problem may be related to the fact that
the system does not recognize my embeded graphics card and displays it as ''VESA''.

Although I have set the resolution to ''1280x1024'' by only allowing this mode the screen works at 1024x768 default resolution.
Now right click on the desktop etc shows the option ''1280x1024'' but if one choses this the display is multicolored and too bad.

ANY FURTHER IDEAS PLEASE ?
(I tried to replace ''fbdev'' with ''s3'' or ''via'' but then I could not see anything than a black screen asking for my login name (level 3?). So I had to switch back to the original xorg.conf file.

==================== section from /etc/X11/xorg.conf =========
Section "Monitor"
DisplaySize 350 260
HorizSync 30-81
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "SYNCMASTER 213T"
Option "DPMS"
VendorName "SAMSUNG"
VertRefresh 56-75
UseModes "Modes[0]"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
Modeline "1280x1024" 134.72 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1068
Modeline "1280x1024" 132.75 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1067
Modeline "1280x1024" 130.91 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1067
Modeline "1280x960" 126.27 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1001
Modeline "1280x960" 124.54 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1001
Modeline "1280x960" 122.69 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1000
Modeline "1280x800" 104.35 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835
Modeline "1280x800" 102.80 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 834
Modeline "1280x800" 101.37 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 834
Modeline "1152x864" 102.08 1152 1224 1352 1552 864 865 868 901
Modeline "1152x864" 99.64 1152 1224 1344 1536 864 865 868 901
Modeline "1152x864" 98.15 1152 1224 1344 1536 864 865 868 900
Modeline "1280x768" 99.17 1280 1352 1488 1696 768 769 772 801
Modeline "1280x768" 97.81 1280 1352 1488 1696 768 769 772 801
Modeline "1280x768" 96.33 1280 1352 1488 1696 768 769 772 800
Modeline "1024x768" 79.52 1024 1080 1192 1360 768 769 772 801
Modeline "1024x768" 78.43 1024 1080 1192 1360 768 769 772 801
Modeline "1024x768" 77.25 1024 1080 1192 1360 768 769 772 800
Modeline "1280x600" 76.04 1280 1336 1472 1664 600 601 604 626
Modeline "1280x600" 75.00 1280 1336 1472 1664 600 601 604 626
Modeline "1280x600" 73.84 1280 1336 1472 1664 600 601 604 625
Modeline "1024x600" 61.42 1024 1080 1184 1344 600 601 604 626
Modeline "1024x600" 59.86 1024 1072 1176 1328 600 601 604 626
Modeline "1024x600" 58.93 1024 1072 1176 1328 600 601 604 625
Modeline "800x600" 47.53 800 840 920 1040 600 601 604 626
Modeline "800x600" 46.87 800 840 920 1040 600 601 604 626
Modeline "800x600" 46.15 800 840 920 1040 600 601 604 625
Modeline "768x576" 43.52 768 800 880 992 576 577 580 601
Modeline "768x576" 42.93 768 800 880 992 576 577 580 601
Modeline "768x576" 42.26 768 800 880 992 576 577 580 600
Modeline "640x480" 29.84 640 664 728 816 480 481 484 501
Modeline "640x480" 29.43 640 664 728 816 480 481 484 501
Modeline "640x480" 29.03 640 664 728 816 480 481 484 501
EndSection

Section "Screen"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
Device "Device[0]"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
EndSection

Section "Device"
BoardName "Framebuffer Graphics"
BusID "1:0:0"
Driver "fbdev"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Screen 0
VendorName "VESA"
EndSection
========================================================

=========== section form /var/log/Xorg.0.log =========
(II) v4l driver for Video4Linux
(II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev, afb
(II) Primary Device is: PCI 01:00:0
(II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
(II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/linux/libfbdevhw.so
(II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.9.0, module version = 0.0.2
ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 0.8
........
(II) Setting vga for screen 0.
(**) FBDEV(0): Depth 16, (--) framebuffer bpp 16
(==) FBDEV(0): RGB weight 565
(==) FBDEV(0): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) FBDEV(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
(II) FBDEV(0): hardware: VESA VGA (video memory: 6144kB)
(II) FBDEV(0): checking modes against framebuffer device...
(II) FBDEV(0): mode "1280x1024" ok
(II) FBDEV(0): checking modes against monitor...
(--) FBDEV(0): Virtual size is 1024x768 (pitch 1024)
(**) FBDEV(0): Mode "1280x1024": 134.7 MHz (scaled from 0.0 MHz), 78.0 kHz, 73.0 Hz
(II) FBDEV(0): Modeline "1280x1024" 134.72 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1068
(**) FBDEV(0): Display dimensions: (350, 260) mm
(**) FBDEV(0): DPI set to (74, 75)
(II) Loading sub module "fb"
(II) LoadModule: "fb"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/libfb.so
(II) Module fb: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.9.0, module version = 1.0.0
ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.2
(**) FBDEV(0): using shadow framebuffer
=============================================================

In fact

> Now right click on the desktop etc shows the option ''1280x1024''
> but if one choses this the display is multicolored and too bad.

this statement is not quite true. The screen looks OK apart from the fact that the whole display looks displaced, i.e. the kde desktop lower corner appears somewhere up and right in the middle of the screen !!!

Try replacing "fbdev" with the generic VGA driver, which is named "vesa". Usually, when a Linux installer can't tell which driver to use, it will default to the "vesa" driver. I don't know why your install uses the "fbdev" driver instead. I think the fbdev driver is much less capable than the vesa driver--the vesa driver can actually handle customized resolutions which fbdev can't handle.

Your xorg.conf lacks modelines for resolutions higher than 1280x1024, but I'm pretty sure that the "vesa" driver will use a default modeline for 1600x1200 even if there aren't any custom modelines defined. The HorizSync range might need to be increased, though. Boost the top end of HorizSync from 81 to 99 just to be safe.

The "Screen" section needs to have "1600x1200" in the list of modes to use. Currently, it's using a default depth of 16, with "1280x1024" listed as the only resolution to use.

After:
1) Deleting all the mode lines
2) Changing the driver to 'vesa' as suggested, and
3) allowing first the '1600x1200' mode
everything works sweet.

Thank you very much for your help.