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How do i change my screen's resolution? - Printable Version

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How do i change my screen's resolution? - Georgia - 2009-10-17


Hello.

I can not change my screen resolution past 800x640.

I could change it past it on Windows XP, but Linux says it can not recognise my screen.

Can anyone please help me? :(



How do i change my screen's resolution? - znx - 2009-10-17


Quote:Hello.

I can not change my screen resolution past 800x640.

I could change it past it on Windows XP, but Linux says it can not recognise my screen.

Can anyone please help me? :(
 

I assume that you have attempted to use Gnome/KDE's ability to set screen resolution and it isn't giving you any sizes bigger than 800x600. If not then this is the first step you want to do because it is the easiest by far.

 

The second possibility is that your xorg.conf has the incorrect driver setting for your graphics card or is missing a setting.

 

Take a look at the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf (it might not exist which means Xorg is just guessing all the settings). If it exists then look for the section called "Screen":

 



Code:
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "My Graphics Card Entry"
Monitor "My Monitor Entry"
DefaultDepth 24

SubSection "Display"
   Depth 24
   Modes "1024x780" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection




 

This is an example, the lines you wish to check are the DefaultDepth and the Modes. Check that the depth is 24 and that the modes line contains the sizes your monitor is capable of.

 

Make sure you backup the files before you edit it, just in case you break something.

 

If that still doesn't provide you the ability to change the resolution, then come back here and show us:


  • Which particular Linux system you are using (some have tools to help Xorg setup)

  • Your xorg.conf (if it exists)

  • The particulars of your graphics card.

  • The particulars of your monitor (refresh rate, horizontal sync, size, et al).




How do i change my screen's resolution? - Dungeon-Dave - 2009-10-19


I seemed to recall that you need admin-level privileges to change (possible) screen resolutions in the hardware settings - something like "System->Monitor"

 

As a user, you can then change your own resolution in another menu option, "desktop preferences" or so, but you can't exceed the resolutions set at admin level.

 

This is going back to Gnome on FC4 or so - it caught me out since I was looking for the "windows" way of doing it, and the Gnome/KDE method struck me as being more logical when I thought about it: there's H/W configuration in one menu option, then personalised user-level settings in another.