I am interested in the EASIEST way to generate custom entries for the monitor section of xorg.conf

Anyone have any advice?

Thank you!

xvidtune
But I'm sure it's not the easiest way

Modern distros don't seem to need this sort of attention-to-detail that the earlier ones did, (and xorg.conf is now usually, mostly empty), but if you feel you need this I'll second xvidtune as the best way to create a custom modeline.

You need to install xvidtune and then run it from a terminal ( the "command prompt" ). Once you have adjusted the GUI to your liking and exit it, it prints the modeline you need to the terminal. Make a note of that, and carry on from there.

If you gave us a bit more background detail, maybe we'd be able to help you help yourself better:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/...Ask_a_Question

Welcome to LQ!

Seeing how your profile says you use Ubuntu, use the Debian default configuration utility which is already installed, run this command: sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. Hit enter to accept default answers to questions you're not sure of or cannot answer.
It's by far the easiest way with a Debian distribution.

I have many friends who apparently have equipment that the autoconfig does not find. This is why I have not posted system specific information. I am capable of looking up monitor specs (when available) and converting these into modelines for the xorg.conf but I would like to detail an EASY way to do this for the "average" user. So far this has been the most disappointing aspect of all the ubuntu flavors. xvidtune has so far been the most useful piece of info developing from this thread. And YES I do know how to give specific information when posting a question. I have used unix for over 30 years and am far from an ignorant newbie.

Thanks guys.

Typical response from xvidtune:

johnny@johnny-desktop:~$ xvidtune
Unable to query monitor info

I've never seen that response from xvidtune
Maybe you need to look up the monitor's specs in the manual, and then use this utility:
http://xtiming.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xtiming.pl

Ahhh, yes and this here is the rub... There are several instances where the monitor information is NOT available. Either the monitor is apparently not existent on the web (try looking for dell 3770, i dare you) or in other cases the monitor does not have a tag anywhere on it. And yes, i have tried taking it apart to examine it's guts to try to figure it out.

Now i am not one to give up easily, sir! And short of trial and error can ANYONE think up a better way to do this?

Thanks!

Sometimes X is able to tell you about a connected monitor.
Try shutting down X then restarting it from the command line with Then open up /var/log/Xorg.0.log and see what it says.