Display/desktop too big for screen on several distros
 

Hi,

I got a new monitor a few days ago that's 1080p and can't figure out how to adjust the display to fit it properly. Everything is too big in the sense that the toolbars/menus are mostly off-screen now across all distros. Strangely, Windows 7 is the only one I've been able to fix this with, as I have an NVidia program that allows such settings to be adjusted(the card is a GTX 440.)

Long story short, I multiboot for some sane reasons and some possibly crazy ones. Among those are Ubuntu and Mint, which I mention because I figure they're widely used and most likely to have users that could have a solution for me on here. I could reinstall each of these, but would rather learn how to fix this display issue for now and in the future.

Anyone have some tips on how I might fix this in general across distros or even just for one or some of them? Display settings in, for example, Mint and Ubuntu, do not provide me with any options to change the output to fit the screen. Thanks!

Sorry if this post is long-winded. My head's kind of spinning now from trying a lot of options and getting no results.

Looks like you need the nVidia 340.65 driver for linux.
Look here to double-check, because there is no listing for GTX-440 (only GT-440) card.

Driver and uility you speak of may be in ubuntu repository -- check https://help.ubuntu.com documentation, as a suggestion.
(I dont do PPAs).

Or do then and see if it's there.

[You may have to edit your /etc/apt/sources.list and add the deb-src lines yourself to enable sources]

In short, I don't know if 1080p is a problem wih the card, but would think it is a driver problem, since you did not mention loading any;
I do know nVidia works best with its proprietary driver, . . .

EDIT: . . . but that would mean unloading the nouveau driver and blacklisting it. Check distro documentation, though, since the 'buntus (and Mint uses ubuntu repos, too) may have an easier solution for you to follow. I don't keep up with them much, anymore.

Have fun!

Maybe it is GT 440, actually. Makes more sense.

I DLed the driver, but I can't seem to figure out how to execute it, probably due to my lack of much basic knowledge within Linux. I tried the terminal command in the NVidia page you linked to, but it gave me a pretty generic message simply saying it couldn't run the file. Something tells me that when I do run it, though, there's a good chance it'll fix this issue, though the PPA thing may confuse matters further(I've yet to find the needed info in that documentation page.)

Also, when using the commands you suggested, it didn't return any text--just went to the prompt immediately.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Sounds like a DPI issue to me.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...y_size_and_DPI

You need to add execute permissions to the file
You also need to kill the X session in order to install it. The method to do that depends on your distro (init vs systemd), and you may need to do some nouveau work-arounds as well. It's best to look up an install guide for your particular distro since it should include all of the caveats.

It sounds as if OP may need a CLI tutorial. Don't look to ubuntu documentation for how to become root. Once logged in as normally done, get to a prompt by opening Terminal.

NOTE: this is what I forgot to tell you, OP, about the commands issued in terminal -- use sudo before the command if in 'buntus. so it would be
(use && to join sequential commands and issue them at once)

If you get tired of sudo and need to be root,
but one must be extra careful becoming root. I'm sure you'll hear it put like, "Thou shall not become root!" by 'buntuites, of which I was one until after Lucid Lynx. So, beware!

Suggestion: Learn how to navigate in and out of Console using the F keys and what to do should you find yourself without a GUI while there. What does do? How about 'Bye for now.

Keep pluggin' away!

It is true that I'm a bit new with the terminal and describing stuff on it, but most of the commands you posted I know. I can do general update stuff and fully understand the sudo significance(I personally use it by default because I'd rather not form any bad habits and I'm not the most focused person all of the time, especially when stressing over how to fix OS-related stuff.

I've tried some driver switch in the software/updates app in Unity today, and that hasn't helped, either(was suggested in another forum I'm asking this question in.) That's my only current update regarding the status of Ubuntu on this machine.

suicidaleggroll's post still stands -- are you having problems with his instructions?
For instance, was X killed before trying a manual install?

Some other things -- has adding "nomodeset" to the end of the kernel line in GRUB been tried? Xrandr?

No problems with the instructions. I just tried this out and it recognized all my commands/installed the driver, but there's no difference in display. X was killed before attempting the install.

As for "nomodeset", I don't even know how to add that in GRUB--used to, I think, but forgot, as I probably only did it once to fix some random issue months ago. I've used xrandr before, too, but I don't recall how. Any suggested commands with those?

I'd forgotten about the DPI suggestion, and will check out the link posted to see if anything there helps as well.

Most modern monitors have an auto adjust option, try it before making too many changes to your system.

Press "e" at the GRUB menu & put "nomodeset" at the end of the line starting with "linux" then press enter.

As for xrandr -- try using arandr instead, it's a GUI front-end for it.