Monotor resolution problem.

[Sivatheja]

I've seriously started to be Linux guy. Got vectorlinux 5.8 Gold installed and had many positive surprises from this! but I'm struck with an irritating problem.

During installation final steps I'm asked to select monitor resolution. I'm selecting all kinds of resolutions (during installation) to get the best resolution for my 19'' wide screen LCD monitor. Each wrong resolution selection is leading me with 'out of range' message on my monitor, and I'm starting with a fresh installation again to experiment with new resolution.

Now I'm in 1280x1024. The whole display seems to be stretched horizontally. I've selected 'standard LCD' option while installation to get this. I've learnt that the configuration information is put in /etc/x11/xorg.conf file. I can only stare at that file, as I know nothing about it.

Any help? thanks in advance.

Sivatheja.

[rbistolfi]

Open as root with your preferred text editor /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Find the lines which refers to the screen resolution, they look like this:

DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes      "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes      "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection

It will be longer. Edit each resolution line adding your desired resolution, for example:

Code:

Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"

Save the file, close your programs and start / restart the X server (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace).
If you still are unable to login into the gui, you will need to find the proper Horizontal Sync and Vertical refresh rates from your monitor manual and edit the section which looks like this:

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "LG 710E"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 71.0
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 160.0
EndSection

A final note: a complete reinstall is too much for a resolution problem . If you have troubles with your xorg.conf you always can login in tui mode as root and replace your bad xorg.conf with the vesa provided:

Code:

# cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf-vesa /etc/X11/xorg.conf

That will give you a gui and you can have a working system for troubleshooting, surf the web for solutions, ask in the forum, and such.

HTH

[Sivatheja]

I've edited the file in root mode, and put "1440x900" (best view for my LCD screen). The horizontal and vertical frequencies said in the LCD manual are 80KHz and 75Hz.  This is what is in my conf file.

HorizSync 24-82
VertRefresh 50-75

So think it is well in range. [ctrl]+[alt]+[backspace] did restart the X server, but now I'm getting standard 800x600 display ([settings manager] -> [display]).

This does'nt appear stretched, but my 19'' screen is being under utilized!

I've tried a system restart, but still the same 800x600. I've copied all the text in the vesa file to the conf file (using 'mousepad' and not 'tui' as suggested), and restarted X Server and the system also, but still the same 800x600! I've copied back the backup of the conf file that I already put on root's desktop (with 'mousepad') and restarted X Server and the system, but still the same 800x600!

ps: Is 'tui' mandatory and the problem is editing with the mousepad?

Thanks in advance.
Sivatheja.

[rbistolfi]

Is ok to use any text editor of your choice. You can use tui mode if you can't get a gui  , but is not necessary to use tui.
Please post the output of the lspci command as root, that will give us the exact info about your video card, and

Code:

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf|grep "Driver"

[Sivatheja]

This is it.

root:# cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf|grep "Driver"
    Driver      "kbd"                 ## KEYBOARD_DRIVER
    Driver     "mouse"
    Driver      "vesa"       ## DEVICE_DRIVER

[Sivatheja]

and this is the whole file

root:# cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
### A Minimum X-Window Configuration With VESA driver
### Originally generated using "Xorg -configure" then edited by hand
### PLEASE DO NOT MODIFY OR REMOVE THIS FILE
#
# This is a working xorg.conf that can be configured by vxconf
# Items that might be modified are marked like this
#     item  value           ## ITEM_MARKING
# Please, do not play with the marking. Anything else is your's.
# Thanks
#
# Eko M. Budi, for Vector Linux
#

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier     "X.org Configured"
        Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
        InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
        InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
        RgbPath      "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
        ModulePath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/"
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
        Load  "record"
        Load  "extmod"
        Load  "dbe"
        Load  "dri"
        Load  "glx"
        Load  "xtrap"
        Load  "freetype"
        Load  "type1"
        Load  "speedo"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Keyboard0"
    Driver      "kbd"                 ## KEYBOARD_DRIVER
    Option      "CoreKeyboard"
    Option      "XkbModel"  "pc101"   ## KEYBOARD_MODEL
    Option      "XkbLayout" "us"      ## KEYBOARD_LAYOUT
    Option      "XkbVariant" ""       ## KEYBOARD_VARIANT
#    Option      "XkbOptions" ""      ## KEYBOARD_OPTIONS
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse0"
    Driver     "mouse"
    Option     "Device" "/dev/mouse"

# On platforms where PnP mouse detection is supported the following
# protocol setting can be used when using auto.
# Otherwise set it manually to:
#    Auto BusMouse GlidePoint GlidePointPS/2 IntelliMouse IMPS/2
#    Logitech Microsoft MMHitTab MMSeries Mouseman MouseManPlusPS/2
#    MouseSystems NetMousePS/2 NetScrollPS/2 OSMouse PS/2 SysMouse
#    ThinkingMouse ThinkingMousePS/2 Xqueue
    Option  "Protocol"  "IMPS/2"   ## MOUSE_PROTOCOL

# Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some Logitech mice. In
# almost every case these lines should be omitted.
#    Option "BaudRate"          "9600"
#    Option "SampleRate"        "150"
# ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice
#    Option "ChordMiddle"

# Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button Microsoft mice
# Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)
#    Option "Emulate3Buttons"      ## MOUSE_E3BUTTONS
#    Option "Emulate3Timeout"    "50"

# Settings for newer IMPS/2 mouse (with wheel)
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"    ## MOUSE_ZAXISMAPPING
    Option "Buttons" "5"    ## MOUSE_BUTTONS
    Option "SendCoreEvents"      ## MOUSE_SENDCOREEVENTS

EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0"
    VendorName   "Generic"   ## MONITOR_VENDOR
    ModelName    "Generic"   ## MONITOR_MODEL
    Option       "DPMS"
#    HorizSync      ## MONITOR_HSYNCH
#    VertRefresh      ## MONITOR_VREFRESH
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "vesa"       ## DEVICE_DRIVER
    VendorName  "NoName"     ## DEVICE_VENDOR
    BoardName   "Generic"    ## DEVICE_BOARD

#    Option "swcursor" "true"    ## DEVICE_SWCURSOR
#    BusID  "PCI:1:0:0"    ## DEVICE_BUSID

EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device     "Card0"
    Monitor    "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24   ## SCREEN_DEPTH
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     1
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     4
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     8
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     15
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     16
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     24
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     32
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
    EndSubSection
EndSection

# DRI enabled by default
# if the card does not capable, X simply ignores this, hopefully ;-)
Section "DRI"
    Mode 0666
EndSection

[rbistolfi]

what about lspci?

That is the vesa xorg. You can't get your desired resolution with that file. Go back to the other one. If you lost it, use vxconf to generate another. Edit it as we did before. To explain a little: to get a resolution you need three things, a monitor capable of that resolution, same for the video card, and same for the driver. If you post the output of the lspci command we can know what kind of videocard you have, and which is the better driver for it, so you can get the best possible performance and features.

[Sivatheja]

Thanks for all your support!!

I'm back with new interesting inputs with me. (what is ISPCI? I'm new to Linux, can you please elaborate on this?)

and here is the problem... I think 'mousepad' is writing data to the conf file in a different character set than the one in which the original conf file is written.

Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES

I dont know what and how but, when I go with [ctrl]+[h] in 'mousepad' and type in the first value in the 'replace' box as "1024x768" and "1440x900" in the second text box and replace all occurances, followed by [ctrl]+[alt]+[backspace]; Linux starts in 800x600 resolution (now the screen mode would be Modes "1440x900" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES).  Next I replace "800x600" by "1152x864" else by typing in values in the 'replace' box and go with [ctrl]+[alt]+[backspace], then Linux starts in "640x480" mode (now the screen mode would be Modes "1440x900" "1152x864" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES).

This time, instead of typing in the values in 'replace' box I pasted "640x480" of the conf file in both the boxes, and formed back the following by usingthe 'x' of that "640x480"

Modes "1280x1024" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES

and [ctrl]+[alt]+[backspace]. Surprisingly I get back my "1280x1024" display.

However Linux did not display "1440x900" display when formed with this trick.

ps: Linux did not display 1024x768 on my 15'' CRT, it could max show me 800x600; so, I think, with 1440x900 as max resolution, may be I should settle down to this 1280x1024.

Thanks a million!

[rbistolfi]

It is lspci (lowercase "L"), you run it as root and will list all the hardware connected to the motherboard trhough the  pci system. lspci -v gives more detailed info, it is very useful.
Sorry I never use mousepad, you could try medit instead. You are using the "Vesa" driver now, which is great but can't display your resolution.
I don't think that problem with the CRT or this one is unbearable, but yes a driver problem, as I said, we need to find the better one for your video card. Lets see finally that lspci output    

[Sivatheja]

lspci here is the output (I mistook this for ispci, but it is Lspci)

root:# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8378 [KM400/A] Chipset Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI Bridge
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller  (rev 80)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller  (rev 80)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller  (rev 80)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/ C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 A C97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 74)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8378 [S3 UniChrome] Integrated Video (rev 01)

[Sivatheja]

I was busy replying while you were posting lspci -v. Here is the output of lspci -v

root:# lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8378 [KM400/A] Chipset Host Bridge
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology GA-7VM400M Motherboard
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 8
        Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
        Capabilities: [80] AGP version 3.5
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI Bridge (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
        Memory behind bridge: dc000000-ddffffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: d8000000-dbffffff
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology GA-7VAX Mainboard
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
        I/O ports at d000 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology GA-7VAX Mainboard
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
        I/O ports at d400 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology GA-7VAX Mainboard
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
        I/O ports at d800 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology GA-7VAX Mainboard
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
        Memory at de000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology GA-7VAX Mainboard
        Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 0
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2

00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology GA-7VAX Mainboard
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 16
        I/O ports at dc00 [size=16]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2

00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Unknown device a004
        Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 19
        I/O ports at e000 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2

00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 74)
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Unknown device e000
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 18
        I/O ports at e400 [size=256]
        Memory at de001000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8378 [S3 UniChrome] Integrated Video (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Gigabyte GA-7VM400(A)M(F) Motherboard
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11
        Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
        Memory at dc000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at dd000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [70] AGP version 2.0

[rbistolfi]

Ok, that is not the most linux friendly chipset I have to say, we have one at the office. I use 1024x768 there because is the better for the monitor.
Try replacing "vesa" with "via" in the Driver line

Code:

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "via"       ## DEVICE_DRIVER
    VendorName  "NoName"     ## DEVICE_VENDOR
    BoardName   "Generic"    ## DEVICE_BOARD

[Sivatheja]

Changed to "via" and the screen mode is
       Modes "1440x900" "1280x1024" "800x600" "640x480"  ## SCREEN_MODES
after X Server/ system restart I still find display stretched, but I have a doubt, [settings manager]->[display] says 'default' resolution is being displayed, but how to know what is that default resolution value?

[uelsk8s]

you can try the openchrome driver also.
you would need to download it from here: http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/Uelsk8s/xf86-video-openchrome-0.2.901-i586-1vl59.tlz
install the package and change the driver to openchrome
Driver      "openchrome"       ## DEVICE_DRIVER

[Sivatheja]

Shall I manually install this, or there a way to install it through the GSlapt package manager? because I've already installed seamonkey manually  which the gslapt package manager does not know about. Can the GSlapt package manager uninstall manual installations? I'm a newbie and am asking this to ensure that I can restore back to original if at all this driver fails.