Resolution maximized upon restart

[wikwanderlust]

I'm sorry if this if it has already been addressed, but here we go...I set my monitor's resolution at 1280 x 1024, but when I restart my computer, it goes to a much larger resolution until I click on System Settings < Display. The screen then goes black for a second before displaying the correct resolution. Now obviously this is not really an urgent problem, but it is a bit of a pain having to do this every time I turn on my computer. Any help would be appreciated.

[gldvorak]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

Ii seem to remember this happening to me a couple of days ago. I think that I changed the refresh rate and it went away.

[mweishaa]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

I have found that every time I restarted my system (once a month or so) my resolution was super-low, like 640x480... All I did was logout of X, restart the X server, and log back in. Then it would be fine. It's normally set to 1680x1050.

I just tried this fix, and it seemed to have worked:
In your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, add a virtual resolution. The items in Red are what I added. Rebooted (or logout and restart X) and the problem was gone.

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 1680 1050
EndSubSection

EndSection

[mweishaa]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

Well... either this didn't really fix the problem, or it has resurfaced. After recent updates to the X server I rebooted, and was once again greeted with a low-res desktop. Logging out and restarting the X server corrected it. Good thing I only reboot about once a month.

[Snowhog]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

After recent updates to the X server I rebooted,

Do you still have an xorg.conf file? Have you checked it since the X server update?

[mweishaa]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

After recent updates to the X server I rebooted,

Do you still have an xorg.conf file? Have you checked it since the X server update?

Yep, that's the first (and only) thing I checked... I suppose I could have mentioned that in my post.
The updates I made to it are still there. The file was apparently not updated as part of the server update.

[Snowhog]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

What video card do you have?

[mweishaa]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

What video card do you have?

Intel G31 integrated video. (Intel Q8400, 4 GB RAM)
I am also running Compiz... don't think that would make a difference though.

[Snowhog]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

Do you have the Ubuntu (restricted) repository active (marked)? Also, do you have the xserver-xorg-video-intel package installed?

[mweishaa]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

Yes and yes

~$ grep restricted /etc/apt/sources.list
# deb cdrom:[Kubuntu 9.04 _Jaunty Jackalope_ - Release amd64 (20090421.2)]/ jaunty main restricted
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted
# deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu karmic-security main restricted

~$ dpkg -l | grep video-intel
ii xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2.1 X.Org X server -- Intel i8xx, i9xx display driver

[Snowhog]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

You have an xorg.conf file, which is a left-over from Jaunty. I have a different Intel GPU, but I had 'issues' with it when I upgraded from Jaunty to Karmic awhile back. I dumped Karmic and reinstalled Jaunty. Took me a bit to get it all back the way I had it, but it all 'just worked.' I recently tried my Karmic 9.10 LiveCD that I had created after Karmic went final. I decided to boot into it, and to my surprise, found that everything, including my accelerated graphics (compositing) 'just worked.' I installed Karmic from the LiveCD, added the other repositories (medibuntu and such) to get DVD, mp3 and such working (they do), and generally get Karmic to a point that I liked.

It was my opinion, based only on observed personal experience, that an upgrade from Jaunty to Karmic on a system with an Intel GPU, has 'issues' when it comes to functional screen display and usability.

So, if you don't have a lot of time invested, or just don't care, you might want to consider a fresh install of Karmic from the LiveCD. You can at least, boot into the LiveCD and see if your screen resolution is what you know it should be.

[mweishaa]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

I really don't want to go through a re-install. I don't remember if the LiveCD generates a generic xorg.conf file... I guess I could boot it and see.

Here is my entire xorg.conf file (comments excluded). Pretty bare-bones.

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 1680 1050
EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "intel"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "DontZap" "False"
EndSection

[Snowhog]

Re: Resolution maximized upon restart

If you have the Karmic 'final' LiveCD, then by all means, boot into it and check screen resolution. It's my guess, that you'll discover that your screen resolution is as you expect it should be, running from the LiveCD. That assumed, I don't know how to 'fix' a "compromised" video resolution issue based on an upgrade from Jaunty to Karmic. As stated, a fresh installation from the LiveCD is what 'fixed' my bad experience with Karmic. I now have a beautifully configured Karmic OS on my laptop. I'm really happy with it.