I just installed 64 bit Debian 6 (Squeeze), and the O/S will not identify my monitor or allow me to set screen resolutions higher than 800 X 600.

I had the same problem in Debian 5, and remedied it by editing the xorg.conf file in the X11 folder in the /etc subdirectory. Worked like a charm.

Debian 6, however, has no such conf. file, and the Debian installation notes at Debian Wiki says Debian no longer uses Xorg as a video driver.

I am, therefore, completely lost.

Anybody got a solution that a newbie can handle?

What graphic drivers are you using, and what chipset do you have?

Debian still uses Xorg, it just doesn't use an xorg.conf file by default. You can always create a new one by running 'Xorg -configure' and then editing it as necessary.

I opened a root terminal, typed in "Xorg -configure', and was told "command not found".

I know this sounds stupid, but if I am to get this to work, I need precise instructions. If you tell me to run 'Xorg - configure', that's what I'm going to try to run.

TIA

Well that's what you should run. Do you have Xorg installed at all? You are running the command without any quotes, right?

Whatever graphic drivers install by default in Debian 6. As to the chipset....

VIA® K8M800 Chipset
HyperTransport connection to AMD Next Generation of CPU
8 or 16 bit control/ address. data transfer both directions
800/600/400/200MHz "Double Data Rate" operation both direction
AGP v3.0 compliant with 8X transfer mode
On-board Graphic shared up to 64MB

Correct. No quotes. I have no idea if Xorg is installed. I suspect not, as the installation notes "Issues to be aware of" section I found on Debian Wiki said,

"5.7.1. Obsolete Xorg drivers
The cyrix, imstt, sunbw2 and vga Xorg video drivers are no longer provided. Users should switch to a generic such as vesa or fbdev instead."

Those are specific Xorg drivers, not all of Xorg. Let's approach this differently. How are you determining that you can't select a resolution higher than 800x600?

Adam

Debian 5 had an app for setting screen resolution that worked well if you specified your monitor's capabilities in the Xorg.conf file.

Debian 6 is different. It specifically has a "monitor" app, that when you open it attempts to divine your monitor's capabilities and thereafter lets you set the resolution. When I open it in my setup, it is unable to recognize any monitor as being present, and therefore defaults to 800 X 600 maximum res. You get a choice 800 X 600 or 640 X 480. No other options present

OK, so presumably you are using gnome or KDE and navigating around the menu system to bring up this monitor app?

Adam

I did I file search on "Xorg.conf", and found a folder in the /USR/SHARE/X11 subdirectory named Xorg.conf.d. It contains configuration files: 10-evdev.conf, 20-wacom.conf, and 50-syaptics.conf

The 10-evedev.conf seems closest to me to the to what debian 5 Xorg.conf file presented:

#
# Catch-all evdev loader for udev-based systems
# We don't simply match on any device since that also adds accelerometers
# and other devices that we don't really want to use. The list below
# matches everything but joysticks.

Section "InputClass"
Identifier "evdev pointer catchall"
MatchIsPointer "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "evdev"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
Identifier "evdev keyboard catchall"
MatchIsKeyboard "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "evdev"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
Identifier "evdev touchpad catchall"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "evdev"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
Identifier "evdev tablet catchall"
MatchIsTablet "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "evdev"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
Identifier "evdev touchscreen catchall"
MatchIsTouchscreen "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "evdev"
EndSection

---------- Post added 03-25-11 at 12:19 PM ----------

Gnome and Yes.

I also found a completely separate "monitor settings" app in the Debian library, installed it, and got the same results. It recognizes the monitor only as "Default Monitor" with a max resolution of 800 X 600

The monitor I'm using is an older emachines model, capable of 1280 X 1024 resolution. But it is an older monitor. I'm guessing the easy fix is to just go buy a newer monitor that identifies itself more easily to inquiring digital minds that want to know, but unfortunately I just don't have the ducketts at the moment.

It's very possible (even likely) that the video driver itself isn't capable of detecting the EDID from the monitor and that the monitor is just fine. But we should be able to force a specific resolution if we know it works.

OK, so we have confirmed that Xorg is installed. Please open up /var/log/Xorg.0.log in a text editor just as gedit, copy the entire contents, and paste them here. Please use [code][/code] tags in your post for files.

Next, drop down to the console (or boot into single user mode) and run '/usr/bin/Xorg -configure' as the root user, and then show us the xorg.conf.new file that is created.

Adam

1 members found this post helpful.

Question..... How about if I were to copy the Xorg.conf file from my old Debian 5 setup, edit it to remove everything but the monitor references, and paste it into the Debian 6 /etc/X11 folder? Would that just tell Debian 6 my monitor parameters and get me off the block, or would it interfere with whatever Debian 6 is using to otherwise define Xorg parameters for other devices?

WILCO shortly. I'm on a dual-boot system and the Windows side is doing some stuff I can't shut down until it completes (probably another ten minutes or so).

BTW: I can operate in the root terminal okay, and Squeeze accepts my root password for program download and installation, etc., But it will NOT let me log in as root or switch user to root.