hi,
i tried to do the xf86config
well it worked , i got 1024x768 resolution IN CONSOLE
but when i go into kde , window maker , gnome ,etc
i got the resolution 640 x something

well obviously that resolution sucks the windows are as big as my whole screen, my question is, how can i change my resolution in xfree 86 ?
(kde, gnome ,etc )

i have been asking everywhere and looking all over the net, didn't find my awnser.. so you guys are the last hope!

thanks already

greetings,
FaTuM

Look through or post the monitor and video section of your /etc/X11/XF86Config file, you will see the sections there for screen resolution. Might want to try setting "DefaultDepth 16" instead of the default "DefaultDepth 24", also, check to make sure your "HorizSync" and "VertRefresh" numbers are correct for your monitor (this is all in the /etc/X11/XF86Config file. If this doesn't help, post up these sections of your XF86Config file, or, run xf86config from the shell. Good luck!

You might want to look for errors in /var/log/Xfree86.0.log. That fille will tell you everything X does and why when it's initializing.

Also look in /etc/X11/XF86Config.

Look at the screens section. He're a sample of mine:

>Subsection "Display"
> Depth 16
> Modes "800x600/60Hz" "800x600" "1024x768" "1280x1024" "640x480"

There is a section like this for each depth, or resolution you card can handle. Here it's 16.
Under modes, is the screen resolutions in the order which X to try to initialize them. In my case, X will try to initialize with 16 bit color at a resolution of 800x600.

If you want, you can try KDE's graphical X configuration program, kxconfig, before messing with the config files, but you'll probobly still want to tweak them after the fact.

I had the same exact problem. Thanks to the two replies to this post, I was able to figure it out. First, I ran the xfree86setup in console. This is what made it go to 640x480. I ran kxconfig and found that xfree86setup had thought that both my video card and monitor were something other than what they really were. So I chose the correct models (luckily my monitor and video card are pretty generic so they were both listed). But kxconfig screwed up my mouse settings for some reason. So when I started X Windows it would be in 1024x768, yay, but my mouse wouldn't work. So I ran xfree86setup again, made a backup of /etc/x11/XF86Config, and ran kxconfig again. But this time, after running it, before restarting X Windows, I opened up XF86Config and XF86ConfigBackup. Anything pertaining to my mouse that was in XF86Config, I deleted and then added everything pertaining to my mouse in XF86ConfigBackup back into XF86Config. Now, to get the wheel on my mouse working. Heh.

Good luck, I hope I helped.

I had the same exact problem. Thanks to the two replies to this post, I was able to figure it out. First, I ran the xfree86setup in console. This is what made it go to 640x480. I ran kxconfig and found that xfree86setup had thought that both my video card and monitor were something other than what they really were. So I chose the correct models (luckily my monitor and video card are pretty generic so they were both listed). But kxconfig screwed up my mouse settings for some reason. So when I started X Windows it would be in 1024x768, yay, but my mouse wouldn't work. So I ran xfree86setup again, made a backup of /etc/x11/XF86Config, and ran kxconfig again. But this time, after running it, before restarting X Windows, I opened up XF86Config and XF86ConfigBackup. Anything pertaining to my mouse that was in XF86Config, I deleted and then added everything pertaining to my mouse in XF86ConfigBackup back into XF86Config. Now, to get the wheel on my mouse working. Heh.

Good luck, I hope I helped.

thank you all for helping me it was a huge help it's now working correctly!
greetz ,
FaTuM

It turned out that the method I posted above didn't completely work for me. I thought the resolution looked kind of weird, so I opened up a terminal and typed "xdpyinfo" to see what it really was. It turned out it wasn't 1024x768, like I had configured in kxconfig. I forgot what it was set to, as I have already since fixed it. I quit my Xserver session, and ran xf86config instead of xf86setup (or is it xfree86config / xfree86setup?). If you do this, make sure that you know your monitor specifications (like horizontal sync frequency and vertical refresh rate) as well as what video card you have and how much memory it has. Please note that it took me a couple of times to get everything in this correct, and its harder to do than the kxconfig fix I posted.