Set Display Wrong... Can't See to Fix
 

It seems I have set the display resolution on my first ever Linux attempt too high. Now I have a notebook that is obviously up and running but I can't see anything.

I'm familiar with windows and safe mode, but how do I reset a Linux box so I can get that display setting back down and see the screen?

(obviously a REAL newbie)

cntl-alt-backspace
or
cntl-alt-F1

gets you to a command line where you can log in. Then change the default depth in your /etc/X11/XFree86Config (or xorg.conf depending on your distro) display section. For instance, if the default depth is set to 24, change it to 16. Save and reboot. I THINK this will change your res....

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!!

Good luck,

This will not change your resolution. This will only change the colordepth.

Configuring X is distribution dependent. Which distribution are you using?
Do you have an other computer with which you can log in remotely into your laptop, such that you can fix it from there?

Groetjes,

Kees-Jan

1. Fedora Core 3
2. Yes (But don't know how... is there a good step by step somewhere?)

kees-jan, am I missing something? Is there a reason this can't be dealt with from the actual machine, on a command line, after a cntl-alt-backspace?

If you're on FC3, I believe the file will then be /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Once you're at a command line, you can always enter:

man xorg.conf
or
man xorg

and see if it tells you how to set the display from the xorg.conf file. To edit the file, you'll need some familiarity with one of the comand line editors like pico or vi. Then you'd just enter

pico /etc/X11/xorg.conf
or
vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf

I'm not using xorg.conf, so I can't even look at am example entry. Sorry.

Anybody have experience changing the display resolution from xorg.conf?

You are not missing anything. This can be dealt with by editing the appropriate file. However, this is nontrivial.

Most distributions have configuration tools that edit the file for you. I suspect some may be graphical, though that would create a chicken-and-egg problem, as you observe.

I don't know enough of FC3 to be of much assistance, however.

Groetjes,

Kees-Jan

Yes. I had to do it just this morning, in fact.

First, at the command line, as root, do


--so that you'll have a backup of the file in case you really mess it up by accident.

Still as root, run vim or another command-line editor and edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf so that the section called
"Display" for the color depth currently in use on your machine has a line that says "Virtual 800 600" if that's
the resolution you want; "Virtual 1024 768" if that's your desired setting, etc. In other words, horizontal
value then vertical value, no punctuation between.

If you're unsure what color depth you have now, just change every single one of the "Display" sections
to read the resolution you want. It will only pick up on the one that matches your color depth.

I hope you know how to use a command-line editor. If not, do "man vim" and pick out the essentials. It's
really easy to do the BASIC things with vim (or vi, if that's the version you have, but you probably have vim).
Or do a search here, or elsewhere, for a vim tutorial or tips. There are threads here where the essentials
were spelled out for users in a jam like yours, so searching for keyword "vim" ought to turn up how to do
what you need to do, if you're unfamiliar with vim.

After you've made the change to the resolution settings, log out and log in again as normal user, start up X, and you ought to
be OK.

vim might be a little hard for new users to use. Try nano, or pico, or emacs. They all support arrow keys and the like.

The part of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file you want to change should look somthing like this (it depends):

You want to remove the resolutions that are too high. change the modes lines to somthing like:

instead. Now go back to the graphical configuration tool you used to set the res too high, and put it back to somthing you know works. As always, "man xorg.conf" has more details.

Thanks for suggesting the other editors. My version of vim supports arrow keys, and I assumed they all did.

Gee, I didn't even know vim supported arrow keys.. I might have to give it a try again ; )

I had to use it one day out of NO CHOICE! (It's a long story.) So I gritted my teeth and read enough to get by
and now I use it a lot--with only the arrow keys for navigation. Obviously I don't use it in very big files....

Emacs terrifies me.

Midnight Commander can be used in a terminal but it's tricky compared to in an X session, and lots of folks
don't have Midnight Commander anyway.

I learned quite a bit by setting my monitor wrong! (Actually, my new monitor wasn't even detected right
when I plugged it in, so I had to fix that, too.) Now I'm not afraid to mess with the config file.

To the originator of this thread I should add, be sure your vertical and horizontal refresh rates are set
correctly--setting them way wrong is about the only thing you can do that can actually damage your monitor.

VI-reka!
 

After searching and finding a web page where someone had posted the contents of the xorg.conf file and figuring out how to use vi to edit the file, I was able to get my screen resolution reset to something that would allow me reset it back to the 1024x768 I should have left it at... on to apache2 and creating ftp user accounts so I can upload web pages to my new linux server... whew... it's all so new!

@troustalker

could you give me the link? I got the same problem