Hi all,

I fought for a while to get NVIDIA's driver up and running but now I'm stuck with a not-so-comfortable resolution on my screen.
I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 (16:10 screen ratio) and under SUSE the screen resolution was configured using saX2 to 1680x1050. Now, this is my forat debian experience and I'm a bit confused as to what th eproblem is. I added the new resolution to the XF86Config file, and played with it for a while without success. THe system seems always to load at 1289x960. Then, I simply dumped the same XF86Config file autogenerated by YaST and X wouldn't start anymore. Tweaking it a bit and the 1289x960 is back. I'm starting to wonder if this is not simply an issue with the unstable release. I even dumped some files from other guys from tutorials on how to install debian on this machine.
Here is part my XF86Config of what's related to the display:

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV34M [GeForce FX Go 5200]"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
HorizSync 30-60
VertRefresh 50-75
Option "DPMS"
UseModes "16:10"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "16:10"
Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV34M [GeForce FX Go 5200]"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "Generic Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Here's what saX2 autogenerated under SUSE:

Section "Monitor"
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "CheckDesktopGeometry"
DisplaySize 320 240
HorizSync 30-66
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "1680X1050@60HZ"
Option "DPMS"
VendorName "--> LCD"
VertRefresh 40-61
UseModes "Modes[0]"
EndSection


Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
Modeline "1024x768" 63.04 1024 1080 1184 1344 768 769 772 795
Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
EndSection


Section "Screen"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
Device "Device[0]"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
EndSection


Section "Device"
BoardName "GeForce FX Go5200"
BusID "1:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Screen 0
VendorName "NVidia"
EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
Screen "Screen[0]"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0660
EndSection

Any suggestions would be most welcome

As root, type init 3
sax2 -m 0=nvidia
Choose your settings, save, and reboot.

AFAIK sax2 is a specific to SUSE. I'm having trouble with debian! Plus, the nvidia driver was already loaded. Thanks anyway.
After a tumutous night playing around with XF86Config I got it to work.
Below is my new XF86Config; Now this is a good looking resolution!

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV34M [GeForce FX Go 5200]"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "i8600"
HorizSync 30-66
VertRefresh 40-61
UseModes "16:10"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "16:10"
# 1280x800 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 62.62 kHz; pclk: 107.21 MHz
Modeline "1280x800" 107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835
# 1280x800 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 71.40 kHz; pclk: 123.38 MHz
Modeline "1280x800" 123.38 1280 1368 1504 1728 800 801 804 840
# 1280x800 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 84.80 kHz; pclk: 147.89 MHz
Modeline "1280x800" 147.89 1280 1376 1512 1744 800 801 804 848
# 1680x1050 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 65.22 kHz; pclk: 147.14 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
# 1680x1050 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 82.20 kHz; pclk: 188.07 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096
# 1680x1050 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 93.76 kHz; pclk: 214.51 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103
# 1680x1050 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 111.20 kHz; pclk: 256.20 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112
# 1920x1200 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 93.97 kHz; pclk: 246.59 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200" 246.59 1920 2064 2272 2624 1200 1201 1204 1253
# 1920x1200 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 107.10 kHz; pclk: 282.74 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200" 282.74 1920 2072 2280 2640 1200 1201 1204 1260
# 1920x1200 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 127.10 kHz; pclk: 337.58 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200" 337.58 1920 2072 2288 2656 1200 1201 1204 1271
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screeny"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV34M [GeForce FX Go 5200]"
Monitor "i8600"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x960" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x960" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x960" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x960" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x960" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x960" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "screeny"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "Generic Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Chears guys

I have another question to this problem:

On my system the nvidia driver refuses to load the requested resolution at all, claiming that the screen cannot display 1600x1400 (but it is in fact a 20" 16:10 display with default resolution 1680x1050) and shows me only 1024x768.

When using the "nv" driver, I get a resolution of at max 1280x800 or 1280x960, but in no case the 1680x1050, because the driver tells me: Resolution is bigger than the bios adjusted panel size if 1280x1024 *gnarf*

Is there any possibility to switch off this validation code?

lg
Christoph