Screen Resolution

[nsavigear]

NEWBIE REQUIRES HELP - 3.3 is running on my old PC ok, Beryl is bouncing nicely, but I cannot see a way to change the screen resolution, there are no options that I can find to do this. (Portage just doesn't work either, but that's another question).

(Athlon XP2600, 1mb, Nvidia Geforce FX5200

[wolfden]

http://www.sabayonlinux.org/wiki/index. ... Resolution

[nsavigear]

[quote="wolfden"]http://www.sabayonlinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Resolution[/quote]

I tried that - now it's broken! The GUI won't fire up at all. If I force it it refuses saying 1024x768 is not a valid entry. Now I'm trying an 'intelligent re-install, 6 hours so far and still only 37% done.

[wolfden]

your reinstalling cause of xorg??

oh brother, you make a backup of our xorg before u make any changes. You should be able to just undo your changes anyway, but too late now.

You have to make sure that your vertrefresh and horzsync are setup correctly too if the desired res don't work automatically.

backup backup backup backup backup your config files when making changes

[nsavigear]

[quote="wolfden"]:shock: your reinstalling cause of xorg??

oh brother, you make a backup of our xorg before u make any changes. You should be able to just undo your changes anyway, but too late now.

You have to make sure that your vertrefresh and horzsync are setup correctly too if the desired res don't work automatically.

backup backup backup backup backup your config files when making changes[/quote]

Hi. That's easy for you pro's to say, but as a newbie I wouldn't know how to backup Xorg, nor do I know what to do when faced with just a prompt and no GUI. How would I undo from there? So much to learn! At least the 'other' OS just lets you switch screen resolutions (and test them before committing). One day I'll beat Linux into submission, but I often wonder why I bother!

It will be while before continue..............

[Fitzcarraldo]

Before editing xorg.conf, nsavigear, did you look under K Menu > Control Centre > Peripherals > Display to see if different screen resolutions were available in the pull-down menu of screen resolutions? Under SL 3.3 that's how I could change screen resolutions; there was no need to edit xorg.conf. Under SL 3.4 Loop 2b that I am running now the only screen resolution in Peripherals > Display is the maximum resolution of my laptop screen, so I do have to resort to editing xorg.conf (I have two versions of xorg.conf: one for my laptop's built-in screen 1680 x 1050 and another for when I plug in my external monitor 1440 x 900), but you may have still been able to select different resolutions via the GUI on your installation. Worth remembering in future.

[nsavigear]

[quote="Fitzcarraldo"]Before editing xorg.conf, [i]nsavigear[/i], did you look under K Menu > Control Centre > Peripherals > Display to see if different screen resolutions were available in the pull-down menu of screen resolutions? Under SL 3.3 that's how I could change screen resolutions; there was no need to edit xorg.conf. Under SL 3.4 Loop 2b that I am running now the only screen resolution in Peripherals > Display is the maximum resolution of my laptop screen, so I do have to resort to editing xorg.conf (I have two versions of xorg.conf: one for my laptop's built-in screen 1680 x 1050 and another for when I plug in my external monitor 1440 x 900), but you may have still been able to select different resolutions via the GUI on your installation. Worth remembering in future.[/quote]

Yep, tried that, only 800x600 offered. I note the monitor has not been identified so perhaps 800x600 is a default for 'generic monitor'? It's nothing fancy, a fairly old CTX PV520 lcd.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Depending what you used to edit xorg.conf, if you look in the directory /etc/X11 you may find a file named xorg.conf~ which is automatically created as a backup when you edit the file xorg.conf. So if you have messed up the xorg.conf file then, provided you have not done multiple edits and saves of xorg.conf, your original xorg.conf can be retrieved by typing the following (in a Terminal window if the GUI is still working, or on the command line once you've logged in if it's not):

Code: Select all

$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf~ /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and then restarting. In future you can backup your xorg.conf file before editing it by doing the following:

Code: Select all

$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak

Then, once you have done that, you can edit it as you wish:

Code: Select all

$ sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

(I use gedit but you can use any editor of your choice.)

You can revert to the original xorg.conf via the command line in an emergency:

Code: Select all

$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and then restart.

[Fitzcarraldo]

I note the monitor has not been identified so perhaps 800x600 is a default for 'generic monitor'? It's nothing fancy, a fairly old CTX PV520 lcd.

Have a look in /var/log/Xorg.0.log (or it may be called /var/log/Xorg.93.log or some other number) to see if there is anything that looks like an error message relating to your monitor or DDC (Display Data Channel). According to the specifications for your monitor that I googled the Web, it has DDC lines and so should have been detected by your graphics card and therefore hopefully SL. Did you by any chance enter "noddc" as a boot cheat code when booting the LiveDVD before installing, or have you by any chance added it to your grub.conf file?

[nsavigear]

[quote="Fitzcarraldo"]Depending what you used to edit xorg.conf, if you look in the directory /etc/X11 you may find a file named xorg.conf~ which is automatically created as a backup when you edit the file xorg.conf. So if you have messed up the xorg.conf file then, provided you have not done multiple edits and saves of xorg.conf, your original xorg.conf can be retrieved by typing the following (in a Terminal window if the GUI is still working, or on the command line once you've logged in if it's not):

[code]$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf~ /etc/X11/xorg.conf[/code]

and then restarting. In future you can backup your xorg.conf file before editing it by doing the following:

[code]$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak[/code]

Then, once you have done that, you can edit it as you wish:

[code]$ sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf[/code]

(I use gedit but you can use any editor of your choice.)

You can revert to the original xorg.conf via the command line in an emergency:

[code]$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak /etc/X11/xorg.conf[/code]

and then restart.[/quote]

OK, I'm able to recover from bad situations now and have tried many edits and even completely replaced xorg.conf with one written by my son (does Gentoo in his sleep, but lives too far away). The result is always either I get unceremoniously dumped at the prompt, or there is no change to the resolution on offer. Could there be some other configuration file which is overriding xorg.conf?