I can't get the screen resolution to go above 640X480

I've tried to edit xorg.config
It shows all available resolutions, but desktop-preferences-screen resolution it only gives me the one option. I deleted 640x480 and then the xserver wouldn't load and I had to reload my OS.

I think I may have to change the screen refresh rates (or set them- I have an HP vs17e) but now it only loads a blank page when I go into sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.config or /etc/X11/XF84Config-4.

thoughts? ideas?

Post your xorg.conf file please.

Also under the "Screen" section you should have a few lines like this:

SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
EndSubSection

The Modes are the resolutions you want and the first one will be the default resolution. Try doing something like this in your xorg.conf.

Since you're using sudo, my assumption is that you're a Ubuntu user rather than Debian. Since you're concerned about XF84Config-4, my assumption is that you don't have a clue.

Give us some basic info, we're not mind readers. What Distro? What release? What video card? ... would at least get us started.

You could not be more perceptive about that last bit
I have absolutel no idea what I'm doing. I've tried everything before asking on here.

It is debian, the latest version, downloaded here:
http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/.../i386/iso-dvd/

My video card is built in to the motherboard, its a... oh wait...

I may know the problem.

I just installed the i386 version, and my computer's a quad-core amd64

couldn't know less what I'm doing... i'll get it right eventually.
Thanks for the patience with the newbie

You are running Etch, currently, the Stable version of Debian. Within a month or two a new Stable version will be released called Lenny. You can (and should) download and install Lenny now instead of Etch. The i386 vs. AMD64 version is a non-issue. Debian is not normally set up to use sudo, and it is widely sneered upon by Debian users.

If you have a good reason to run Debian, like some local support, that's fine, but distributions like Mint, Mephis, or Ubuntu are much more newbie friendly. They generally set up all the drivers and everything else you need without you needing to know anything. We Debian users consider such hand-holding silly and good only for people who are willfully ignorant. On the other hand, when you know nothing, and have no immediate hands-on assistance, it makes sense to install one of those distros first to get a grasp of the Linux principles. When you are comfortable navigating through a Linux OS, you will probably want to move to a more sophisticated environment. That's when you might consider Debian (The Distro We Move To ... Not From).

The only question I posed above that you did not answer was what is your video card. You can find that with ...
$ lspci | grep -i vga

I'll get Lenny and see what I can do in it. I try to e on my toes and observant as much as possible, I never expected hand holding- though I will admit, debian is still over my head.

I have little background experience in computers beyond a technical knowledge... my interests are analog contrivances. Before today, I couldn't do anything in the terminal, and I've picked up today at least a rudimentary knowledge. And my skill will develop more quickly if I am forced to adapt it to solving problems such as this one.



Heres what it gave me for the video card:
00:05.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation C51 PCI Express Bridge (rev a2)

From what I can see googling around, that video card should work out of the box in either Etch or Lenny. You'll be better off with Lenny, though, if you have the patience and ability to get it going. Xorg under Lenny pretty much sets itself up. Most people screw up by trying to do too much tweaking.

This is my howto for a newbie install of Debian. You wouldn't want me watching over your shoulder, though.