Re: Zorin 9 Lite

There is no option to select 1280x1024... I believe closest is 1280x768?
I've run into this before with Puppy & a couple of other distros, which I uninstalled mostly because of this issue.

Some specs:
Gateway E4100 desktop (10 yrs old)
3.0 Pentium 4 processor
4GB RAM
Ancient nVidia Geforce FX 5200 graphics card (driver recently updated)

What's the output of xrandr?

I don't know what that is.

OK, now I have at least minimal understanding of what "xrandr" is... very educational so far.

Here's the output:

Screen 0: minimum 320x200, current 1024x768, maximum 4096x4096
VGA-1 connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0 mm x 0 mm
1024x768 60.0*
800x600 60.3 56.2
848x480 60.0
640x480 59.9
TV-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

Hope I got that right. I'm running Zorin off a disk... it wouldn't let me save it to a flash drive or floppy, so I had to write it all down, then type it up.

When i had a similar problem i used xrandr to adjust the resolution. A better idea would be to use an xorg config file, but this will probably work short term.
xrandr -s 1280x1024

Use at your own risk, monitor timings can be tricky on some crts.
If you are using a crt you might want to run xrandr again without the -s just to make sure that your monitor is operating within the capacity of its max refresh rates.

Thanks Foggy.
I know almost nothing about terminals & their commands. I'm assuming you mean that I should type that command at the prompt. I'll give it a shot.
P.S. I have no idea what an "xorg config" file is!
P.P.S. I think my monitor is too flat to be a CRT... but apparently I don't know much about monitors either.

"xrandr -s 1280x1024" returned "not found in available modes".

Perhaps I need a new video card? Anyone have a suggestion re (cheap) brand/model that might give me 1280x1024 res? (Not a gamer, & PSU only 250 watts).

... although I don't understand why my graphics card can render 1280x1024 res in XP but not in Zorin???

The problem is most likely that you don't have the correct driver installed (either the free nouveau driver or the proprietary Nvidia driver).
It looks like you are using the generic vesa driver. Please provide the output of

Where do I find that vertical bar on my keyboard?

Oh, sorry... I believe it's shift+backspace... but my keyboard features two little vertical bars, on on top of the other. Oh my.

Only yesterday I downloaded what looks to be the latest driver from the nVidia site... but I'll plug in the command you suggested & see what it spits back... stay tuned...

See attached file for command output.

Attached Thumbnails

 

That output indicates that your system is using the free nouveau drivers, which should support all screen resolutions that your monitor provides. Why it does not do that for you, I don't know.
Try if the proprietary driver solves that issue for you. Keep in mind that you don't need the latest driver version, but the latest one that supports that card, which should be the 173 series drivers.

Yes, I've since "chatted" with a nice fellow at Nvidia. He directed me to the proper driver, which I downloaded. However, all I've ever done re driver updates is double-click on the file. So, as of yet, I have no idea how to install it. I have the detailed instructions, but I cannot understand 95% of it. Initially I was trying to install it using XP... had no idea it had to be installed using Zorin, which I'm currently running off a disk, since I won't be installing it on a drive unless I can get the proper screen resolution. I'm not even sure the driver can be updated unless Zorin is on a HD???
I have voluminous tutorials, instruction manuals, user guides & other literature to absorb,just to get it installed properly! No trouble to understand why most people balk at Linux. If one lacks a knack for this stuff &/or a 140+ IQ, well... you won't have time to go buy groceries.