Cannot get 1280x854 native resolution for PowerBook G4 in openSUSE

trentfox · 07-02-2008, 08:11 AM

I've got openSUSE 11 running pretty well on my G4/1.33 !5" al PowerBook except for the video resolution. I can't seem to get it to give me native resolution, which is 1280x854. Instead I get 1280x800. I wouldn't care about the loss of the 54 vertical pixels, but the text resolution isn't crisp without the native setting.

The video card in the PowerBook is an ATI Radeon mobility 9700, but in the PPC version of openSUSE, there is only one ATI option. I looked over all of the monitor resolution settings available in yast2 and there is no option anywhere for my 1280x854 resolution.

By the way, I did try compiling the proper ATI video card for my PowerBook, but they only had x86 or x86-64 versions and not one for the PowerPC architecture. It wouldn't compile.

Could it be as simple as adding 1280x854 to an xorg.conf file? One other thought - I have Ubuntu also loaded on my PowerBook and it does have the proper resolution. It also assumes a different ATI card (openSUSE has only one ATI card option). Is there any way to import the card from Ubuntu to openSUSE?

pixellany · 07-03-2008, 05:27 PM

Since that is a bit of an oddball resolution, you may need to use a modeline. You can generate this with gtf.

This is an example of what sections of xorg.conf might look like when using a modeline:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "monitor1"
    VendorName "Viewsonic"
    ModelName "VP2030b"
    HorizSync 24-92
    VertRefresh 50-75
    Modeline "1280x854"  89.96  1280 1352 1488 1696  854 855 858 884  -HSync +Vsync

EndSection


Section "Screen"
    Identifier "screen1"
    Device "device1"
    Monitor "monitor1"
    DefaultColorDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth 24
        Modes "1280x854"
    EndSubsection
EndSection

I generated the modeline using "gtf 1280 854 60", and edited it to be named simply "1280x854"

I seem to remember that you need the "radeon" (not "ati") driver to use modelines, but I'm not sure.

trentfox · 07-04-2008, 06:02 AM

Thanks for your suggestion, pixellany. Last night I tried adding the resolution option onto the list of resolutions in my xorg.conf file, and it seems to have worked. I say "seems" because the option is now present and the video has sharpened in this setting, but what's odd is that the text seems to have stretched out from the 1280x800 setting rather than gotten taller. Wouldn't you expect it to get taller if you change to 1280x854?

At any rate, being a newbie, I don't know how you use gtf to generate the appropriate modeline. Will it automatically generate the other numbers in that line after the preferred resolution?

pixellany · 07-04-2008, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trentfox

At any rate, being a newbie, I don't know how you use gtf to generate the appropriate modeline.

By entering the command I gave you!!
gtf 1280 854 60

Sometimes we manage to make things sound complicated when they are really simple.......

Note that, just because you specify a resolution in xorg.conf does not mean those exact numbers will be used. It may just jump to the closest standard setting.

trentfox · 07-04-2008, 08:06 PM

pixellany, I wasn't firing on all cylinders when I originally read your post. Putting a command in quotes should be explanation enough for even a newbie

The gtf command did work, and it generated the same modeline as you did. I pasted into xorg.conf in the appropriate place. It didn't change anything, but that would be because I had already inserted the 1280x854 option in the file. At least I learned a new command; thanks again.