screen resolution issues

thebiggiantmouse · 08-25-2006, 05:44 PM

i am running mandriva 1. i set my screen resolution to 1024x768 at boot thinking i could raise this after the installation was done. however the system wont let me go past 1024x768 and i know my monitor is capable of more. is there anyway to raise this without rebooting

bulliver · 08-25-2006, 07:38 PM

Quote:

is there anyway to raise this without rebooting

Edit your xorg.conf.

Multiple resolutions may be placed in order like so:

Code:

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection

Re-start you X server, and you can cycle between the resolutions using [ctrl]-[alt]-[+] and [ctrl]-[alt]-[-]

proji · 08-26-2006, 06:30 PM

i found when i ran mandrake 10 that desktop resolution and monitor resolution were seperate configurations. if you had your monitor set as a 1024x768 device then you couldn't have a higher desktop res. if you up the monitor then up the desktop that should work.

the advice on editing your xorg.conf would def work, n1 bulliver

jschiwal · 08-26-2006, 06:37 PM

If adding a higher resolution in xorg.conf doesn't work, you might try the gtf program to generate a mode line.
gtf 1280 1024 60 -x
for example for 1280x1024 at 60 Hz. If your xorg.conf file doesn't have a mode section (and a cooresponding use modes line), you can put the modeline in the Monitor section.

The modeline should look something like this:
# 1280x1024 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 63.60 kHz; pclk: 108.88 MHz
Modeline "1280x1024_60.00" 108.88 1280 1360 1496 1712 1024 1025 1028 1060 -HSync +Vsync

Delete the ".00" characters from the name so it looks like this:
# 1280x1024 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 63.60 kHz; pclk: 108.88 MHz
Modeline "1280x1024_60" 108.88 1280 1360 1496 1712 1024 1025 1028 1060 -HSync +Vsync

Then edit your Display section adding the higher resolution:

Code:

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1280x1024_60" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection

rbees · 08-30-2006, 09:13 PM

Hi

I hope you don't mind if i jump in hear. I have had trouble getting the higher resolutions to work on every computer I have installed debian Sarge on. The one I am working on at this time has a

S3 Inc. VT8375 [ProSavage8 KM266/KL266] video card. / with "savage" driver
Compaq 7500 cpq1445 monitor.

I did the copy paste thing from Knoppix4 into the xfree86 config when I installed (stable) Sarge. The other day I did a partial upgrade to testing (etch?) because it seamed to be the only way to get some updated packages to run. I had to leave before it finished and my wife (G-d bless her) finished up the upgrade wile I talked to her on the phone. You guessed it, things broke.

Anyway I have most things fixed (I even have surround sound now) but I am stuck at the 1024x768 resolution. Like I said I have had this issue with every comp I have installed linux on. I have discovered that I now have xorg instead of xfree86. I have 6 config files in /etc/X11. The XF86 ones I can probeblly delete.

The other two
one named "xorg.conf" and "xorg.conf.20060829185821".
The second one I got after # dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. I assume this is the one I should edit for my changes. Both files seam to be the same.

My config file has a lot of (30) ModeLine's in it for various resolutions, such as

# These are the DDC-probed settings reported by your monitor.
ModeLine "640x480" 31.50 640 656 720 840 480 481 484 500 -hsync -vsync
# 640x480, 60.0Hz; hfreq=31.47, vfreq=59.94
ModeLine "640x480" 25.17 640 648 744 784 480 482 484 509 -hsync -vsync
# Extended modelines with GTF timings
# 640x480 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 50.90 kHz; pclk: 43.16 MHz
ModeLine "640x480" 43.16 640 680 744 848 480 481 484 509 -HSync +Vsync
# 768x576 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 35.82 kHz; pclk: 34.96 MHz

I notice that you recommend to edit out the ".00" as Modeline "1280x1024_60.00" 108.88 to make Modeline "1280x1024_60" 108.88. Mine don't have that ".00".

Some of these resolutions are very high, like "Modeline "1920x1200" 193.16..." I know that in windows this card/monitor conbination will go quite high making the stuff on the screen so small you can't hardly see it. I would like to get to 1280x960 though.

I have not edited the config yet because I was not sure which one to edit. I have at other times added the different resolution in the [Section "Screen"] of the config files but it has never worked. Like I said the last time I copied the settings out of a knoppix boot config to get the resolution up.

BTW I have googled this several time with no answer to my error.

I have noticed that after the "# Extended modelines with GTF timings" I have -HSync +Vsync instead of -hsync -vsync caps and no caps. Does it matter? Do the caps cause it not to recognize the rates? I also notice that there seams to be a "." right after the resolution in the modeline's before the "# Extended modelines with GTF timings". So if I add a "." to the others will that make them work?

I have not been able to find a xorg.conf manpage yet. Could you point me?

Debian: user friendly and I am becoming it's friend

Thanks
Shalom

rbees · 08-31-2006, 11:47 AM

I tried editing the config file to

SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x960" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection

Still can't get the 1280x960

Something I read somewhere said something about the amount the amount of memory affecting the resolutions you can get. I didn't specify any extra for my onboard video when I ran the # dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. How can I check how much it has? The gui utillities I had on my system before the half failed upgrade don't run any more. Even when they did I don't ever recall seeing a reference to onboard video memory.

Thanks
Shalom

rbees · 08-31-2006, 02:15 PM

I tried editing the config file to

SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x960" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection

Still can't get the 1280x960

Something I read somewhere said something about the amount the amount of memory affecting the resolutions you can get. I didn't specify any extra for my onboard video when I ran the # dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg. How can I check how much it has? The gui utillities I had on my system before the half failed upgrade don't run any more. Even when they did I don't ever recall seeing a reference to onboard video memory.

Thanks
Shalom

tytower · 08-31-2006, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbees

Something I read somewhere said something about the amount the amount of memory affecting the resolutions you can get.

In my case my computer has shared video which is set in the BIOS . I had to increase from 12M to 16M

Tell your mates to stop killing women and children and cease fire is supposed to mean NO FIRE!

rbees · 08-31-2006, 07:59 PM

In my case my computer has shared video which is set in the BIOS . I had to increase from 12M to 16M

Changed mine from 16m to 32m. No change. Was a good thought though. Guess I will try playing with the config some. There has to be something i am missing.

How can I tell for sure what intagrated video card is in this mainboard. The comp is a Compaq Presario S4020WM. Ofcourse the HP site dosen't give much info about what the main board even is. At one time I had a fairly good description of all the hardware in it but then XP started that BSOD thing that I have been unable (new hd, 2 fresh installs, bla bla) to correct. A corupted ZIP file cost me a lot of files.

It did finally get me into linux more. Any way is there a package that will scan the hardware and identify it?

Thanks
Shalom