Hello all, I am running Mepis 6.0 and I have a 20" widescreen Viewsonic LCD display and I'm wondering if it is compatible. I cannot adjust the resolution past 1280 X 1024 resolution. I would like to use at least a 1440 X 900 resolution. Can anyone provide a little insight? Thanks.

Your resolution settings are controlled by the xorg.conf file (in the /etc/X11 directory). Open it with your favorite editor, scroll down a bit, and you'll see a section listing the various resolutions. Add the 1440x900 option, save, then restart X. Post the contents of the xorg.conf file if you get stuck

Hello J.W., thank you for your insight, to be quite honest I was a little hesitant altering the xorg.conf file, but the resolution sizes seem to be in place, only Mepis does not recognize the monitor type I'm guessing. You'll have to excuse me, I'm a total noob, but I'm learning...

I am seeing the highest selection for resolution, 1280X1024 in the Configure-KDesktop window under display. My monitor's highest resolution is 1680X1050. I am logged as root, is there another place where those settings can be altered?

Here is the monitor and resolution section of xorg.conf:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "unknown"
ModelName "unknown"
#Option "DPMS" "true"
HorizSync 30.0 - 75.0 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors
VertRefresh 50.0 - 70.0 # Very conservative. May flicker.
Modeline "640x480" 25.175 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525 #60Hz
Modeline "800x600" 40.12 800 848 968 1056 600 601 605 628 #60Hz
Modeline "1024x768" 75 1024 1048 1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync
Modeline "1024x768" 85 1024 1056 1152 1360 768 784 787 823
ModeLine "1152x864" 65 1152 1168 1384 1480 864 865 875 985 Interlace
Modeline "1152x864" 92 1152 1208 1368 1474 864 865 875 895
Modeline "1152x864" 110 1152 1240 1324 1552 864 864 876 908
Modeline "1152x864" 135 1152 1464 1592 1776 864 864 876 908
Modeline "1152x864" 137.65 1152 1184 1312 1536 864 866 885 902 -HSync -VSync
Modeline "1280x768" 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795
ModeLine "1280x800" 80.58 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 827 -HSync -VSync
Modeline "1280x1024" 80 1280 1296 1512 1568 1024 1025 1037 1165 Interlace
Modeline "1280x1024" 110 1280 1328 1512 1712 1024 1025 1028 1054
Modeline "1280x1024" 126.5 1280 1312 1472 1696 1024 1032 1040 1068 -HSync -VSync
Modeline "1280x1024" 135 1280 1312 1456 1712 1024 1027 1030 1064
Modeline "1280x1024" 135 1280 1312 1416 1664 1024 1027 1030 1064
Modeline "1280x1024" 157.5 1280 1344 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1072 +HSync +VSync
Modeline "1280x1024" 181.75 1280 1312 1440 1696 1024 1031 1046 1072 -HSync -VSync
Modeline "1440x900" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 +HSync +VSync
Modeline "1400x1050" 129 1400 1464 1656 1960 1050 1051 1054 1100 +HSync +VSync
Modeline "1600x1200" 162 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync
Modeline "1600x1200" 189 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 -HSync -VSync
Modeline "1600x1200" 202.5 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync
Modeline "1600x1200" 220 1600 1616 1808 2080 1200 1204 1207 1244 +HSync +VSync
Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
ModeLine "1800x1440" 230 1800 1896 2088 2392 1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync
ModeLine "1800x1440" 250 1800 1896 2088 2392 1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync
Modeline "1920x1200" 230 1920 1936 2096 2528 1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "ATIMonitor"
VendorName "unknown"
ModelName "unknown"
#Option "DPMS" "true"
HorizSync 30.0 - 75.0 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors
VertRefresh 50.0 - 70.0 # Very conservative. May flicker.
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "vesa"
BoardName "unknown"

#BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
#Option "sw_cursor" # needed for some ati cards
#Option "hw_cursor"
#Option "NoAccel"
#Option "ShowCache"
#Option "ShadowFB"
#Option "UseFBDev"
#Option "Rotate"
Option "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"

# savage special options, use with care
#Option "NoUseBios"
#Option "BusType" "PCI"
Option "DmaMode" "None"

# nvidia special options, use with care
Option "CursorShadow" "1"
Option "CursorShadowAlpha" "63"
Option "CursorShadowYOffset" "2"
Option "CursorShadowXOffset" "4"
Option "FlatPanelProperties" "Scaling = native"
Option "NoLogo" "false"
Option "IgnoreEdid" "true" # needs to be true for some nvidia cards
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultColorDepth 16

SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection

# Only the official NVIDIA driver supports twinview
# these setting are an example
Option "TwinView" "false"
Option "SecondMonitorVendorName" "unknown"
Option "SecondMonitorModelName" "unknown"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-75"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50-70"
#Option "MetaModes" "1024x768, 1024x768"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "RightOf"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "dfp,dfp"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "ATIScreen"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "ATIMonitor"
DefaultColorDepth 24

SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

What is the exact model of your Viewsonic? With the (minimal) searching I've done on Viewsonic 20" monitors, they seem to only support a maximum of 1400x1050, which is not listed in your xorg.conf. Are you actually using a 20.1" monitor? Additionally, what exact video card are you using?

Basically, where your resolution is controlled is here
and
If you add a "1440x900" in between the "1680x1050" and "1280x1024" that (potentially) might do the trick. It really depends on knowing your exact monitor and video card though

It is actually a 20.1", the exact model number is VX2035wm. The graphics card is the nvidia Geforce 7600 GS. Mepis does support nvidia graphics cards so I assumed the card works, but I did try to install the linux driver from the nvidia site with no success. I can't run the executable from a terminal while in GUI mode and I can't seem to exit the GUI mode to the command prompt. Do you think it's a driver issue?

Aha. You are running in (so-called) runlevel 5 (full GUI) rather than runlevel 3 (shell prompt). The driver should be fine... you just need to kill the GUI.

To do so, try pressing Ctl-Del-Backspace. That should drop you into the shell prompt. Become root, then run the nVidia installer
Obviously you'll want to specify the exact driver name. The nVidia driver install will ask you a few questions (just keep answering Yes) and if all goes well you'll get a message that the installation was successful. Exit root and become your regular user.

To restart the GUI, just type