[SOLVED] Display limited to 800x600 screen resolution on Ubuntu 9.04 on LG Flatron L1718S

vuelement · 10-03-2010, 07:30 AM

Hie everyone! I'm vuelement. I'm a faithful user of Ubuntu Linux, especially 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope. I have a problem with my screen resolution on my LG Flatron L1718S. It's a 17 inch and its recommended resolution is 1280x1024.I was on this resolution all along until now. Now I'm limited to 800x600 resolution. Here's what happened. Before installing Ubuntu 9.04 on a friend's computer, I put in his Seagate 40 Gig hard drive into his Intel Celeron Box with a 2.93 GHz and 512MB ram. I then plugged my monitor into his system. Upon booting, I discovered that the hard drive had a very strange looking operating system called OS2 Warp...seemed like Black XP to me. On the desktop, the icons were so big and bloated,the mouse was frozen, there was so much eyecandy which demanded so much graphics resources. His graphics card is an onboard one, framebuffer. I then rebooted the machine, this time running the Ubuntu 9.04 live CD. Resolution still ok, with 1024x768 this time. I installed Ubuntu 9.04 and finished. I shut down the machine, unplugged my monitor and plugged it back into my machine, which is a Intel Celeron with a 2.4GHz processor, 1,5GB RAM, 80GIG X 2 Seagate IDE hard Drives, 2 DVD Drives, an LG Spermulti-DVD rewriter and a BENQ DC W2000 rewriter.My graphics card is NVidia GeForce NV34 FX5200 Series, 256MB RAM Graphics Card. Suddenly everything on the desktop is so large, and the maximum resolution now is 800x600. It becomes 640x480 if i add Nvidia drivers, version 173. If I switch over to Windows XP, Service Pack 2, I have no resolution issues there. Nvidia drivers are loaded there as well. No issues with resolution there. To test the screen again, I plugged my monitor back into my friends computer that I mentioned earlier on. The resolution is stuck on 800x600. After plugging the monitor back to my computer, I tried to edit the X.conf using "sudo nano", adding the desired parameters, like undetected screen resolutions, monitor name, device,etc, but nothing worked. I always had to resort to the backed up configuration file for XOrg. The latest Ubuntu 10,04 Lucid Lynx picks up my monitor with a maximum resolution of 1024x768.The Mandriva One 2008 Live CD also gave me the same result like Ubuntu 10.04, this time giving me more higher resolution options. Strangely enough, from my Ubuntu 9,04 and older, after several tests, the resolution is still stuck to 800x600. When I press the AUTO RESET button on my monitor, the screen says "Processing image Auto Adjustment-For Optimal display, change resolution to 1280x1024". A factory reset did not help. The resolution was perfect until I plugged my monitor into my friend's computer, the one with the 2,93GHz processor. I took another friend's monitor, a HP Cathode Tube Monitor, a 17 inch as well, and plugged it to my machine to test the resolution. The results were glorious! All resolution options were shown, from the lowest "320x240" to beyond "1280x1024". Plugged it back to mine, the same result showed: 800x600 resolution, the lowest being 320x240.

I kindly ask for advice on how I can be able to get all the screen resolution options available on my Ubuntu 9.04, like before, because it shows the maximum of800x600, lowest- 320x240 on "display" in "System--Preferences". Thank you.

Kind regards

vuelement.

tommcd · 10-03-2010, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vuelement

I'm a faithful user of Ubuntu Linux, especially 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope.

Ubuntu 9.04 reaches end of life this month.
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases
When an Ubuntu version reaches end of life the repos disappear and you will no longer be able to get updates. I would recommend doing a clean install of Ubuntu 10.04. Or wait 1 week and the new Ubuntu 10.10 will be available on 10-10-10. (They wanted to release it on the binary number date: 10-10-10 you know).

Quote:

Originally Posted by vuelement

My graphics card is NVidia GeForce NV34 FX5200 Series, 256MB RAM Graphics Card. Suddenly everything on the desktop is so large, and the maximum resolution now is 800x600. It becomes 640x480 if i add Nvidia drivers, version 173.

It seems odd that the resolution would be worse with the nvidia driver installed. Are you sure the driver is enabled properly? Post the output of:

Code:

glxinfo | grep -i render

It should report: "direct rendering: Yes" on the first line; and it should list your video card in the second line after: "OpenGL renderer string". Here is my
"glxinfo | grep -i render" for reference:

Code:

tom[data]$ glxinfo | grep -i render
direct rendering: Yes
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 8600 GT/PCI/SSE2
    GL_NV_conditional_render, GL_NV_copy_depth_to_color, GL_NV_copy_image, 
    GL_NVX_conditional_render, GL_NVX_gpu_memory_info, 
tom[data]$

Assuming the nvidia driver is properly enabled, try running

Code:

sudo nvidia-settings

from the terminal and see if the nvidia-settings app offers you a better resolution. If it does not, then try using xrandr from the terminal to get a better resolution as per this guide:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Resolution
But first do a clean install of Ubuntu 10.04. Then try installing the nvidia driver and using the nvidia-settings, and or xrandr.
Hope some of this helps.
And welcome to the LQ forums!

vuelement · 10-03-2010, 11:11 PM

Hie tommcd and everyone! Thanks for making me feel at home here at LQ! I'm confident that I'll get a solution finally here. Oh, I ran your command here:

glxinfo | grep -i render

and the string I got is this:Yes
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce FX 5200/AGP/SSE2

My NVidia driver is enabled but strangely I still have that worse resolution of 640x480 as compared to before I installed the Nvidia driver when I had a resolution of 800x600. Now, I hit the "sudo nvidia-settings" in the terminal, still I got the maximum resolution of 640x480.

I followed some threads on how to use the XrandR, a very powerful tool, to force a undetected screen resolution on X: created a modeline using the "cvt" command for 1280x1024. For some strange reason, the "new mode output default" will not write into the config file saying something like "Error, crt0 config failed to write"..something like that. I even went to the X Config file using "sudo nano" to edit the file configuraton, but after editing carefully using using clues from previous contributors, X just will not start: i get a black, blank screen with a blinking cursor. The longest I've waited to get a result was one hour, only to get this:" reloading system log", this appearing twice, and that was it.

I want to believe these methods work but I feel I'm missing it somewhere in my editing. I must admit, I am a newbie in this command line game and I'm still learning. I kindly ask for advice. Thank you all in advance!

Regards

vuelement.

tommcd · 10-05-2010, 09:49 PM

Your output from "glxinfo | grep -i render" indicates that the nvidia driver is enabled. So that much is fine.
What do you get when you run the command xrandr in the terminal? Does it detect any resolutions higher than 640 x 480?
Also, post the output of your: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" file.
It seems odd that simply plugging your monitor into your friend's computer would cause all this trouble on your system.
In any case you will need to upgrade beyond Ubuntu 9.04, since it reaches end of life this month. The new Ubuntu 10.10 will be available on Sunday 10-10-10.

vuelement · 10-06-2010, 01:33 AM

Hie tommcd and everyone! I'm pleased to inform you that I've manage to fix my display resolution! Thank you, thank you , thank you! Thanks also to a dedicated Ubuntu Linux soul on one of the Ubuntu forums who's solution I employed without knowing it WILL work. This is what happened: Posting.....

I stumbled across this link: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1153437.

Now, instead of using sudo nano for editing my X/config, this string suggested G-edit. I got onto it with the following:

I backed up my X-org configuration using the following command, after logging in as root:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf_backup

Then I hit the following command:

gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Now I could see my Configuration. I only added "Viewport "0 0" as an adjustment, my desired screen mode of 1280x1024 and my HorizSync and VertRefresh values.These values I took from my LG Flatron L1718S User Manual. The depth of 24 was already listed.
So, this is my current configuration:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
HorizSync 30-83
VertRefresh 50-75
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "True"
EndSection

After having done this, VERY CAREFULLY though, being mindful of spaces between parameters and start and end quotes, I saved the final configuration result, after struggling to find a way of saving the file, until I simply, out of faith, hit the "Save" button at the top of the window. I then exited "root", and exited the terminal. This time, instead of using this command: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart
I simply restarted the computer.

Expecting the usual black screen and a blinking cursor...Lo and behold, a razor sharp resolution! I couldn't believe it when I saw my login screen! I quickly logged in and...what a wonderful screen resolution! The display picked up this resolution:

1152x864.

I can also see ALL the other resolution options this screen is capable of, from 320x240 all the way to 1920x1200, in the NVidia Settings and also in the Display section under System--preferences--Display!

I have saved this web page and I'd like to share this link with everyone who is using Ubuntu 9.04. I pray it works with older versions of Ubuntu as well and Lucid/Maverick as well. Some had even suggested one could input the monitor name on "identifier" in the "Screen section" and in the "Monitor Section". In my case, outside the new parameters I added, the rest that I found on the configuration file, those I left untouched, like "Configured device" and "Configured Monitor" and the "glx" "nvidia" configs. Those I left untouched, and my LG Flatron L1718S "17inch" monitor is unleashing its full potential.

My good friend, tommcd, I'm considering upgrading to Ubuntu 10.10. I'll also try out Ubuntu 10.04, just as soon as I get my Third party repositories: "apt-on-CD". These are compiled straight from the Ubuntu 9.04 official repositories and I must say, these repos impress me, even with the dependencies. This is because I don't have a dedicated internet broadband connection at home. These 6 set DVDs come in handy all the time. I must admit though, I'm familiar with a site that supplies everything Ubuntu. This site is:

www.fosscds.co.za

They have all the repos on CD/DVD, Medibuntu repos on DVD and all the non-free stuff on DVD(including libdvdcss2). All you do is just sign up for free, get news letters, select what you need and buy online! Very very affordable. I greatly encourage every Ubuntu Linux user to have this abovementioned link, and it will be well with our souls.

This reduces the stress of having to download software in abundance, only to wipe it all out during an upgrade installation to a newer Ubuntu release. This APT on CD can make you decide to stick to you favourite Ubuntu release, like in my case, 9.04, because, not only do I have the repos, I just love the "Add/Remove" software management tool. It's faster and more manageable for me. I'll still most definitely try Lucid and Maverick. I'm yet to order my Lucid repos on DVD. I'll patiently wait for more that three weeks after the release of Maverick. These are Ubuntu distros on steroids!

May I take this time to thank everyone for reviewing my post and espcecially "tommcd", for taking your time to look into my display problem. My problem has been solved! Thank you and thank you again. Guys, Ubuntu Linux is truly "linux for Human Beings! I'll always be here!

God Bless you all.

Best regards

vuelement.

vuelement · 10-06-2010, 01:36 AM

Oh, and by the way, I'm now on 1280x1024! Enjoying it!

tommcd · 10-06-2010, 01:50 AM

Viewport 0 0
That is a new one on me. Glad you found that and got this fixed! I was running out of ideas here. I will make a note of it for future reference.

vuelement · 01-26-2011, 10:41 PM

Hie everyone. Compliments of the new year 2011! We anticipate the arrival of Ubuntu 11.04! Tommcd...and everyone who has once reviewed my Screen resolution post...I'd like to humbly ask if there's anyone out there who had a problem like mine on Ubuntu 9.04 and above, who, through using this link:http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1153437, was able to resolve screen resolution issues. I'm looking forward to anyone's experience! Thanks a lot everyone! Have a great day!

Drachenfels · 02-20-2011, 03:03 PM

Yeah I have very similar issue. Tried several different versions of ubuntu (8.04, 8.10, 9.04, 9.10, 10.04.2), tried to upgrade nvidia drivers and issue seems to getting worse and worse. Monitor is not corectly detected and most of the time it's vert/horizontal syncs are from outer space (and in effect I see dead black screen and friendly 'out of range' message). Trying now manually fix xorg.conf and hope it will help. But for now I have only one recomendation. Avoid LG's monitors like devil in hell.

PS

Mine monitor is LG 19'' it's W1934S-SN model.