screen resolution problem in Xubuntu 8.10 with NVIDIA driver

[Losgann Mor]

Hello,

I installed Xubuntu 8.10 a couple of days ago. My motherboard has an onboard NVIDIA GeForce 7025 video chip. My monitor's native resolution is 1280x1024.

When I rebooted after installing, I was limited to 800x600 resolution, as on the live CD (which was vesa, I assume, since live CDs tend not to like my NVIDIA chip). After doing a system update, I installed the NVIDIA driver (version 177) using EnvyNG. After rebooting, My screen resolution was 1024x768, which apparently is the default. I went into nvidia-settings to change it to 1280x1024, but the highest available resolution listed was only 1152x864. No 1280x1024, no 1600x1200, nothing above 1152x864. Does anyone have any ideas why this would be, and how I can get 1280x1024 resolution back? I used to have 1280x1024 in Xubuntu 7.10. (If it matters, I did a clean install of 8.10, rather than upgrading, which I wasn't sure how to do; I'm fairly new to Linux.)

Thanks for any help!

[avrilrox]

Do you think you could post the output of:

cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Paste it into a terminal, and copy the output here.

Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal

[Losgann Mor]

Sure, here it is:

# xorg.conf (X.Org 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 xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man 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.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# 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 "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
	DefaultDepth	24
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"glx"
	Disable	"dri2"
EndSection

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

[AndyBoy_LV]

I`m having the same problems with my 8600M GT. I`m stuck at 1920x1200. Tried to edit the xorg.conf file, but no success.

# xorg.conf (X.Org 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 xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man 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.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# 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 "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
	# 800x600 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 37.32 kHz; pclk: 38.22 MHz
	Modeline "800x600_60.00"  38.22  800 832 912 1024  600 601 604 622  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1024x768 @ 62.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 49.35 kHz; pclk: 66.33 MHz
	Modeline "1024x768_62.00"  66.33  1024 1080 1184 1344  768 769 772 796  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1024x768 @ 50.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 39.55 kHz; pclk: 51.89 MHz
	Modeline "1024x768_50.00"  51.89  1024 1064 1168 1312  768 769 772 791  -HSync +Vsync
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
	DefaultDepth	24
    	SubSection "Display"
        	Depth           24
        	Modes   "1920x1200" "1024x768 "800x600"
    	EndSubSection

    	SubSection "Display"
        	Depth           16
        	Modes   "1920x1200" "1024x768 "800x600"
    	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"glx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
	Driver	"nvidia"
	Option	"NoLogo"	"True"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
	Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Keyboard0"
    Driver      "keyboard"
    Option      "CoreKeyboard"
    Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option "XkbLayout" "us, lv, ru"
    Option "XkbOptions" "grp:ctrl_shift_toggle,grp_led:scroll"
EndSection

Modes and Modelines where added by me, but none seem to work.

I`m using Linux Mint 6, but that problem seems to be following me since the times i was using Ubuntu 7.10

[AndyBoy_LV]

Ok, i guess i have found my solution

First, check the available refresh rate in nvidia-settings.

Run in terminal:

nvidia-settings

If you don`t have nvidia-settings installed, you can get one from synaptic.

My refresh rate was 62. Remember it, as you will need it later.

So, let`s edit xorg.conf. In terminal, open it with

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

(Note: I use gedit as my text editor, you may use something else.)

Next step is to generate some Modelines.

First, you must find a list of supported resolutions for your Nvidia card. I got all my resolutions from my Vista partition.

Next, you must run this command in terminal:

gtf x y r

where x and y is a resolution you want and r is a refresh rate you got from the nvidia-settings command. For example, for resolution 800x600 run this:

gtf 800 600 62

The output of the command would be something like this:

    	# 800x600 @ 62.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 38.56 kHz; pclk: 39.49 MHz
  	Modeline "800x600_62.00"  39.49  800 832 912 1024  600 601 604 622  -HSync +Vsync

Add this to your xorg.conf to the "Monitor" section, just like that:

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
  	# 800x600 @ 62.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 38.56 kHz; pclk: 39.49 MHz
  	Modeline "800x600_62.00"  39.49  800 832 912 1024  600 601 604 622  -HSync +Vsync
EndSection

And also that resolution to the "Screen" section:

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
	DefaultDepth	24
    	SubSection "Display"
        	Depth           24
        	Modes   "1920x1200" "800x600"
    	EndSubSection
    	SubSection "Display"
        	Depth           16
        	Modes   "1920x1200" "800x600"
    	EndSubSection
EndSection

Do that for all resolutions you need, save the xorg.conf file and than restart your PC. If you did everything right, all your defined resolutions should be available in the nvidia-settings.

Good luck!

[GoodPanos]

Thank you AndyBoy_LV! That worked great. I was a bit hesitant to edit the xorg.conf file due to the new X11 but your post was clear and concise.

Although my video card picks up the maximum resolution correctly, 1440x900, I wanted to go down a notch, 1280x800, but surprisingly it was not available. This solution worked.

[AndyBoy_LV]

You are welcome! Nice to know that something i wrote helped other Linux lovers

[sagasha]

AndyBoy_LV,

Thank you, been searching for this!

[frendofthedevil]

Ok, i guess i have found my solution

First, run check the available refresh rate in nvidia-settings. Mine was 62,

Remember the refresh rate.

........

I tried this and it broke my driver, and I had to reinstall it. It seems like there is no end to all these things...

[AndyBoy_LV]

I tried this and it broke my driver, and I had to reinstall it. It seems like there is no end to all these things...

What do you mean: broke your driver? Are you sure you didn`t make any mistakes in your xorg.conf?