How to make resolution go higher?

jim_naisium · 09-30-2007, 10:01 PM

Hi,

I finally gave up on fighting with Slackware to try to make things work that should just work on their own. I had Slackware 10.2, then 11, then tried 12 (I was told it would fix some things), well to a point it did but made other things worse.

ANYWAY...

I just installed Ubuntu v7.04, I LOVE IT!!! so far everything works fine (but I have not tested everything), the only problem I am having at the moment is that the Voodoo3 3500TV video card that it uses will only do 800x600 @ 60Hz, it would go a lot higher than this on Slackware and the various version of Windows that card went through. How do I get the resolution to go higher, 1024x768 would probably be fine.

AMD Athlon 900
384 megs SDRAM
30gig WD IDE HD
DVD IDE drive
CDRW IDE drive
USB 2.0 PCI card
17" CRT monitor

Simon Bridge · 09-30-2007, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Voodoo3 3500TV video card that it uses will only do 800x600 @ 60Hz,

Pretty much how you would do it in slackware... you edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf and include the resolution.

Quote:

should just work on their own

... this is subjective. Some things should not be attempted, like running non-free software but we each have our little foibles

AAnarchYY · 09-30-2007, 10:16 PM

take a look at the xrandr command

xrandr -s 1024x768

jim_naisium · 10-01-2007, 01:27 AM

I looked in /etc/X11/xorg.conf it already has 1024x768 in all of the graphics modes.

If I run xrandr -s 1024x768 it gives an error that 1024x768 is not one of the available modes.

jim_naisium · 10-01-2007, 01:49 AM

One other thing is that it is listed as PCI instead of AGP.

jschiwal · 10-01-2007, 01:50 AM

Read through your xorg.log in /var/log/. It might be called /var/log/xorg.0.log, so pick the most recent. Look for lines starting with "(EE)". They may indicate the problem. You may see in the log that the higher resolutions were rejected for some reason.

What is the resolution of your monitor. How did you configure xorg.conf for the monitor. If the horizontal or vertical refresh rates are off, that could cause problems.

Do you have a backup of your old xorg.conf file from when you had slackware? You could compare the two.

jim_naisium · 10-07-2007, 01:47 AM

Sorry, drive was wiped when Ubuntu was put on it, my server is still running Slackware 10.2 I could check it, but it is on a KVM switch and someone is using the works station right now that shares it, will check on this tomorrow.

Simon Bridge · 10-07-2007, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Sorry, drive was wiped when Ubuntu was put on it

So the problem no longer exists because the installation is history?

jim_naisium · 10-08-2007, 12:25 AM

No, the problem exists because Ubuntu was put on it, video card was able to do higher resolutions with Slackware and Windows.

Simon Bridge · 10-08-2007, 06:54 AM

Ahhh... you were referring to the backup slackware xorg.conf file... I thought you were responding to the log-request to the effect your installation was toast. Never mind.

What about those logs and stuff then?

Quote:

Read through your xorg.log in /var/log/. It might be called /var/log/xorg.0.log, so pick the most recent. Look for lines starting with "(EE)". They may indicate the problem. You may see in the log that the higher resolutions were rejected for some reason.

What is the resolution of your monitor. How did you configure xorg.conf for the monitor. If the horizontal or vertical refresh rates are off, that could cause problems.

That last is a good point - X tries to use the highest specs combination from the list. If higher are listed and it isn't using them, then it is often because HW is telling it not to.

Most common cause seems to be bad refresh/sync rates. If you are using a digital monitor, it is unlikely you need these set at all - or you can set them lower. (Highest rates are usually available only at lower resolutions.)

Wim Sturkenboom · 10-09-2007, 12:34 AM

Complain about Slackware, but at least it works with your video

In Ubuntu, you can try to run

Code:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.mybackup.conf
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

The first command creates a backup of your existing video config and the second one allows to reconfigure your video.

If you don't get it right, please post sections severlayout, monitor, device and screen from you /etc/X11/xorg.conf?

The usual suspects for this problem:

driver in section device; vesa should do for 1024x768 resolution
HorizSync and VertRefresh in section monitor; check your monitor manual
modes in the display subsection of the section screen; add ones that you need

jim_naisium · 10-16-2007, 01:05 AM

Yes that is one thing that I will give Slackware credit for...

I ran:

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

and

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

then went through the configuration wizard, I rebooted it after the wizard was done, screen came up in 1024x768 but at only 61Hz which I am not going to worry about for now unless someone knows a really easy fix to make it go higher.

I was also going to complain about it crashing and logging out who ever is logged in when the screen saver tries to activate but that problem went away also.

So, thanks for the help everyone!

Wim Sturkenboom · 10-16-2007, 11:13 PM

Your monitor is more than likely not detected (correctly). Check the monitor section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf for the lines that look like the bold ones below.

Code:

Section "Monitor"
#DisplaySize      320   240     # mm
Identifier   "Monitor0"
VendorName   "DEL"
ModelName    "DELL P790"
HorizSync    31.0 - 92.0
VertRefresh  50.0 - 150.0
Option      "DPMS"
EndSection

Check your monitor's manual for that information and modify the numbers so they reflect the capabilities of your monitor. That will more than likely give you the higher refresh rate.

Please note that you need root privileges to edit the file. Don't forget to create a backup first.

jim_naisium · 10-19-2007, 12:01 AM

Hi All,

Thanks for all the help...

I came across an Athlon 1.1Ghz box yesterday and put Ubuntu on it with a completely different video card, without having to do anything other than the standard installation the video came up as 1024x786 @ 85Hz.

So it looks like I'm good for now.

The Athlon 900 box has not seen the ends of its days so I will probably be using all your info in the future.

Thanks again!