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    subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

    In my missionary zeal to convert one more Little Old Lady away from Win XP to Linux, I looked over my options and decided that for various reasons Kubuntu was the choice. Her computer is a Dell Dimension 2400, 128mb *shared* RAM with a Dell 15" flat screen E151FPp monitor. The monitor's specs say it should be able to go up to 1024 x [whatever] at 75Hz but all I want is 800 x [usual].

    I started w/ Kubuntu 6.06 LTS Desktop but got the message that there was not enough memory. Since I had briefly installed 5.04 on this box last summer I tried that and it succeeded, automatically carving out a 390 mb (appx? I didn't note the number) swap partition. The installation proceeded (slowly) and KDE came up, in 640 x 4xx. Way too big. I was able to do the rest of the installation, setting up email, putting back her backed up data, etc, then tackled the resolution problem.

    The KDE Control Center only offered one display resolution: 640 x 4xx, at 75Hz. So I did all of the following, and in every dangit single case the computer came back up in 640x4xx at 75Hz with no other res options.
    - sudo edited /etc/X11/xorg.conf to remove all the resolution options for the default color depth of 16 except 1024x and 800x.
    - stopped the xdm, (sudo /etc/init.d/xdm stop) ran 'dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg', basically took all the defaults, and restarted xdm.
    - stopped the xdm, ran 'dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg', first gave the video 32mb then 48mb dedicated ram, and each time restarted the xdm. This made kdm unable to even load. Ran back through the dpkg-reconfigure accepting the defaults; machine booted back at 640x.
    - edited the sources.list replacing hoary with breezy, did an 'apt-get distupgrade' of kubuntu, then 'apt-get upgrade' of kde, xdm and xorg. 1 1/2 hours of processing later, it came up in 640x, blah blah.
    - edited /etc/X11/xorg.conf to remove all the resolution options for the default color depth of 16 except 1024x and 800x. Restarted the machine. Came up in 640x and btw, it still thinks it's Hoary and KDE 3.4.0
    - tried the Kubuntu 6.06 LTS disk to get the new KDE and display managers. The install worked at a snail's pace (I figure the swap partition it didn't have last time made it even work at all?)...640x.
    - edited /etc/X11/xorg.conf to remove all the resolution options except 1024x and 800x, for all color depths. Restarted the machine. Guess what?

    I'm all out of ideas, guys and gals, and can't find any references on the web to anything I haven't tried yet. This thing is making me feel like a total and complete noob. My extensive life experience tells me this is something very simple that I've overlooked, but I just can't see it. Anybody got any ideas?

    I'll check back here later, or you may reply to email arawn1900 at yahoo.com

    TIA-

    arawn

    #2
    Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

    What video card does she have? If it's an IGP (integrated video grpahics) and if all else fails, the vesa driver should give you a decent resolution. Try running dpkg-reconfigure again and choose vesa instead of the default.

    Also, it's supposed to be /etc/init.d/kdm, not xdm.
    Jucato's Data Core

    Comment


      #3
      Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longi

      Hi Jucato-

      Thanks for the prompt reply--

      One of the changes I made along with the dedicated memory variations, which I guess I forgot to mention, was vesa off and on. No help.

      But you mentioned something that has been a niggling worry for me: changing xdm instead of kdm. I'll go try it right now.

      -arawn

      Comment


        #4
        Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longi

        What video card/chip is it using? it prob is an intel i810, so check that this is the driver being used
        Also, you might try specifying horizontal and vertical refresh rates when you run dpkg-reconfigure, just choose 'expert' when you get to that section.
        from dell:
        http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...spec/specs.htm
        the horiz range is: 30 kHz to 61 kHz
        the cert range is: 56 Hz to 76 Hz

        I am not sure how much this relates to LCD monitors, but sometimes I have to specify those figures for my CRT, no matter the distro. The video card should be supported, so I am thinking it is the monitor that is the 'culprit' here.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longi

          Thanks both for your suggestions, but they have both been done with still no help. During maybe half the attempts mentined in the original post I did specify the h/v freqs and it is the i810 driver that is being loaded; sorry I didn't mention it. Just now, when I stopped *k*dm then reconfigured xserver-xorg, it responded just a little differently than when I was stopping xdm, as one might imagine. Brought kdm back up and... sigh... still only 640/480/75.

          There was a note by somebody around noon today in this forum, and he said there weren't any modelines in xorg.conf. Are there supposed to be? The dpkg-reconfigure bit did generate an xorg.conf file that showed it listened to my input: there were only 800x and 1024x resolutions for all the colordepths. So why did it restart in 640x

          I'm also thinking poorly of the monitor but the specs say 1024...

          Flummoxed, I am.

          arawn.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

            If you can, pleae post your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file here, and we can compare it to one used by someone with the same monitor on a dell 2350 machine, which probably has similar graphics, if not the same

            http://www.majikstreet.org/xorg.conf
            you can try and use his file as is, but I think we will find a couple of things we may need to add/edit to yours

            Comment


              #7
              Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longi

              Ok, folls, below is my 640x480 xorg.conf file. I went to majikstreet (thanks for the contribution) and tried that conf file. The box locks at the first blue kubuntu with a progress bar, after the white text scrolls by. There's hardly any difference between the files! Interestingly enough, when it locked I used a Beatrix linux (gnome) live cd to get my conf file off and just to see if it would be an alternative if I can't get KUBU working pretty soon. It also came up 640x, with no other choices although its XF86config (and -4) file was full of modelines and data for all imaginable resolutions and color depths.

              I'm beginning to believe this is another example of Dell colluding with Windows to lock in the innocent/ ignorant home user... what do you think? They invented Winmodems now they have Winmonitors with that shared memory thing?

              arawn

              # /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
              #
              # This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
              # values from the debconf database.
              #
              # Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
              # (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
              #
              # This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
              # if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
              # package.
              #
              # If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
              # again, run the following command:
              # sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

              Section "Files"
              FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
              FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
              FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
              FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
              FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
              FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
              FontPath "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
              # path to defoma fonts
              FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
              EndSection

              Section "Module"
              Load "bitmap"
              Load "ddc"
              Load "dri"
              Load "extmod"
              Load "freetype"
              Load "glx"
              Load "int10"
              Load "type1"
              Load "vbe"
              EndSection

              Section "InputDevice"
              Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
              Driver "kbd"
              Option "CoreKeyboard"
              Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
              Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
              Option "XkbLayout" "us"
              EndSection

              Section "InputDevice"
              Identifier "Configured Mouse"
              Driver "mouse"
              Option "CorePointer"
              Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
              Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
              Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
              Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
              EndSection

              Section "InputDevice"
              Driver "wacom"
              Identifier "stylus"
              Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
              # /dev/input/event
              # for USB
              Option "Type" "stylus"
              Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
              EndSection

              Section "InputDevice"
              Driver "wacom"
              Identifier "eraser"
              Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
              # /dev/input/event
              # for USB
              Option "Type" "eraser"
              Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
              EndSection

              Section "InputDevice"
              Driver "wacom"
              Identifier "cursor"
              Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
              # /dev/input/event
              # for USB
              Option "Type" "cursor"
              Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
              EndSection

              Section "Device"
              Identifier "Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device"
              Driver "i810"
              BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
              Option "UseFBDev" "true"
              EndSection

              Section "Monitor"
              Identifier "Dell E151FPp"
              Option "DPMS"
              HorizSync 30-61
              VertRefresh 56-76
              EndSection

              Section "Screen"
              Identifier "Default Screen"
              Device "Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device"
              Monitor "Dell E151FPp"
              DefaultDepth 16
              SubSection "Display"
              Depth 1
              Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
              EndSubSection
              SubSection "Display"
              Depth 4
              Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
              EndSubSection
              SubSection "Display"
              Depth 8
              Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
              EndSubSection
              SubSection "Display"
              Depth 15
              Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
              EndSubSection
              SubSection "Display"
              Depth 16
              Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
              EndSubSection
              SubSection "Display"
              Depth 24
              Modes "1024x768" "800x600"
              EndSubSection
              EndSection

              Section "ServerLayout"
              Identifier "Default Layout"
              Screen "Default Screen"
              InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
              InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
              InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
              InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
              InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
              EndSection

              Section "DRI"
              Mode 0666
              EndSection

              Comment


                #8
                Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

                other than another check of your bios settings, an/or bios update I am rather at a loss here. If one got it working, another should be able to

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

                  I don't know if it would help, but unless the computer has a wacom tablet, I suggest you could clean up the xorg.conf. You could delete the following:

                  Section "InputDevice"
                  Driver "wacom"
                  Identifier "stylus"
                  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                  # /dev/input/event
                  # for USB
                  Option "Type" "stylus"
                  Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
                  EndSection

                  Section "InputDevice"
                  Driver "wacom"
                  Identifier "eraser"
                  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                  # /dev/input/event
                  # for USB
                  Option "Type" "eraser"
                  Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
                  EndSection

                  Section "InputDevice"
                  Driver "wacom"
                  Identifier "cursor"
                  Option "Device" "/dev/wacom" # Change to
                  # /dev/input/event
                  # for USB
                  Option "Type" "cursor"
                  Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
                  EndSection
                  and these:
                  InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
                  InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
                  InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
                  I'm not exactly sure that it will help, though.
                  Jucato's Data Core

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longi

                    Yeah, folks, I'm pretty despondent at the thought that I might have to put XP back on this lady's computer...

                    Cleaning up the file would help with future editing... like, I have a laptop w/ vector linux on it; it uses X11/ xorg.conf too and a host of resolution options. I'm going to try (backing up the current xorg.conf file! then) plugging in the monitor, rebooting and seeing what happens. If it comes up with more than 1 resolution I'll transplant the .conf file and see if the monster lives. I can always rescue my laptop with DSL or even knoppix.

                    Thinking here... I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the problem is the shared memory. Any opinions on that? Like, without any native video ram it operates at the most primitive level no matter what the options are. So maybe the ram on the video card in the lt will let it operate normally, but the video card in the Dimension has no ram.... duuuh! so maybe I dig out an old video card from my junk and put it in the Dimension, disable the video card in BIOS and see if that works. Maybe that's the easiest option and I'll try that first instead of monkeying around with config files.

                    Thanks for the mental stimulation. I'll let you know what happens.

                    Regards-

                    arawn

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

                      When I installed Kubuntu, I had no other video card except the IGP on my VIA motherboard. The video card was VIA S3 Unichrome, with shared memory of 32MB. So basically, since my system had (now it doesn't anymore) only 256MB RAM, only 224MB was really used. The rest goes to the video card. I'm presuming that's the same for your situation?

                      When I do dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, I don't input any shared memory values. In fact, I accept almost all defaults (including keyboard and mouse options) EXCEPT for the resolutions to be included in the xorg.conf. Then I edit out the wacom references. And I get a working system.
                      Jucato's Data Core

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longi

                        Hi Jucato-

                        I just now read your most recent post as I was getting ready to send this one off. I did a little poking around; the BIOS said there was *1 mb* onboard video RAM so it seems the rest used by the monitor would have to come out of the 128 main RAM. The monitor specs said that from 32 - 64mb of RAM would be used for video at any one time, so Kubu LTS, which is recommended for, what, 256mb? was trying to run on way too little RAM, even with a video card with its own.

                        Ahem, well... I installed an old S3 Trio video card from a P-II box in the garage, disabled the onboard video and fired it up. Ooops- Kanotix 2005-4 was in the drive and it booted right up, to 1024x video. Ok, I still wanted to give my client Kubuntu, so I rebooted to the hard drive's Kubu installation. It crashed, showing some kind of video error I couldn't make out as it flashed past. Tried the Kubu LTS cd and it hung at the 2nd progress bar, twice. So now I'm installing Kanotix on that Dimension with the wannabe WinMonitor.

                        I'm sure I'll give Kubuntu another try, or several, in the future, when I get a suitable computer to put it on. I'm going to have to do some work to simplify Kanotix so it has the simple elegant appearance Kubu has, which was why I chose it for my Little Old Lady.

                        Thanks for all the willing assistance you guys!

                        arawn

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

                          Well, I'm glad you got Linux running on that box. Anything but windoze.
                          I'm not really sure as what the problem could be, though. But anyway, you don't necessarily have to upgrade immediately to Dapper. Unless she really needs somethings that are available only on Dapper, you can let her stick to Breezy instead. IMHO, Dapper is still a bit shaky, in the sense that many people are having different problems with installation, unlike Breezy. You could just leave it for a month and see what happens when the dust settles.

                          Btw, it's very nice of you to take time and effort to help your Little Old Lady.
                          Jucato's Data Core

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

                            Hmmm, you're not the only one having problems getting the correct resolution for monitors, but my problem and the 2 or 3 others I've seen posted all involve nvidia chips. That said, the story is familiar, correct monitor settings, correct modelines, but resolute refusal to actually use the right resolution.

                            John.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: subj: Hoary, Breezy, then Dapper unable to do better than 640x480 res (longish)

                              That got me thinking, so I went and restored a back-up xorg.conf that worked under Mandriva and copy and pasted the modelines and screen config from there over top of the ones generated by Kubuntu, switched to nvidia and now I have the correct screen size.  So it's possibly an issue with Kubuntu/guidance/xorg/whatever with the way it's setting up the monitor or modelines.

                              FYI, here's the before and after of the relevant sections. 

                              WARNING these will only apply to a Dell Inspiron 1680x1050 laptop display, don't use these numbers on any other screen.  You may however find some clues here as to how to re-write the  generated xorg.conf so it gets things right.

                              Kubuntu generated:
                              Section "screen" #
                                identifier "screen1"
                                device "device1"
                                defaultdepth 24
                                monitor "monitor1"
                                SubSection "Display"
                                  depth 24
                                  modes "1680x1050@60" "1680x1050@75" "1600x1024@60" "1920x1200@75" "1440x900@60" "1920x1200@60" "1440x900@75" "2560x1600@60" "1280x800@60" "1280x720@50" "1280x768@75" "1280x800@75" "1280x720@60" "1280x768@60" "800x600@60" "800x600@85" "800x600@75" "800x600@72" "800x600@56" "720x400@85" "640x350@85" "640x400@85"
                                EndSubSection
                              EndSection

                              Section "monitor" #
                                identifier "monitor1"
                                vendorname "Dell"
                                modelname "Dell 1680x1050 Laptop Display Panel (16/10)"
                                HorizSync 30.0-107.0
                                VertRefresh 50.0-185.0
                                modeline  "640x400@85" 31.5 640 672 736 832 400 401 404 445 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "640x350@85" 31.5 640 672 736 832 350 382 385 445 +hsync -vsync
                                modeline  "720x400@85" 35.5 720 756 828 936 400 401 404 446 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "800x600@56" 36.0 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "800x600@72" 50.0 800 856 976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "800x600@75" 49.5 800 816 896 1056 600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "800x600@85" 56.3 800 832 896 1048 600 601 604 631 +hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "800x600@60" 40.0 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1280x768@60" 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1280x720@60" 74.48 1280 1336 1472 1664 720 721 724 746 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1280x800@75" 107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1280x768@75" 102.98 1280 1360 1496 1712 768 769 772 802 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1280x720@50" 60.47 1280 1328 1456 1632 720 721 724 741 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1280x800@60" 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1440x900@75" 136.49 1440 1536 1688 1936 900 901 904 940 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1440x900@60" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1600x1024@60" 136.36 1600 1704 1872 2144 1024 1025 1028 1060 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1680x1050@60" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1680x1050@75" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1920x1200@75" 246.59 1920 2064 2272 2624 1200 1201 1204 1253 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "1920x1200@60" 193.16 1920 2048 2256 2592 1200 1201 1204 1242 -hsync +vsync
                                modeline  "2560x1600@60" 348.16 2560 2752 3032 3504 1600 1601 1604 1656 -hsync +vsync
                                gamma 1.0
                              EndSection
                              Corrected to:
                              Section "screen" #
                                  Identifier     "screen1"
                                  Device         "device1"
                                  Monitor        "monitor1"
                                  DefaultDepth    24
                                  Option         "DPMS"
                                  Option         "IgnoreEDID" "1"
                                  SubSection     "Display"
                                      Virtual     1680 1050
                                      Depth       8
                                  EndSubSection
                                  SubSection     "Display"
                                      Virtual     1680 1050
                                      Depth       15
                                  EndSubSection
                                  SubSection     "Display"
                                      Virtual     1680 1050
                                      Depth       16
                                  EndSubSection
                                  SubSection     "Display"
                                      Virtual     1680 1050
                                      Depth       24
                                  EndSubSection
                              EndSection

                              Section "monitor" #
                                  Identifier     "monitor1"
                                  VendorName     "Dell"
                                  ModelName      "Dell 1680x1050 Laptop Display Panel (16/10)"
                                  HorizSync       30.0 - 107.0
                                  VertRefresh     50.0 - 185.0
                                  ModeLine       "768x576" 50.0 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630
                                  ModeLine       "768x576" 63.1 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616
                                  ModeLine       "1680x1050_120" 313.2 1680 1816 2000 2320 1050 1051 1054 1125 -hsync +vsync
                                  ModeLine       "1680x1050_100" 256.2 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112 -hsync +vsync
                                  ModeLine       "1680x1050_85" 214.5 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103 -hsync +vsync
                                  ModeLine       "1680x1050_75" 188.1 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096 -hsync +vsync
                                  ModeLine       "1680x1050_60" 147.1 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
                                  ModeLine       "1680x1050_50" 120.2 1680 1776 1952 2224 1050 1051 1054 1081 -hsync +vsync
                              EndSection

                              Comment

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