9.10 on Lenovo W500 resolution problem

[randomlyrandom]

Hi,

I am running Ubuntu 9.10 on Lenovo W500 laptop and i am having problem with setting screen resolution to anything less than 1920x1200 which is the maximum resolution supported in this lapotp.

When I try to set to 1440x900 for example, the screen size shrinks instead of resolution change. I have attached 2 files to understand the problematic and no-problem scenarios.

Please help me how can I set to a resolution lower than the max without the screen size shrinking but the resolution should change.

Regards,

I had also posted earlier @ http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1239458 with no response till now.

[vancouverite]

Hi,
Can you tell us more about your graphics setup? Post the output of

sudo lshw -class display

Also, do you have the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf? Is so, post its contents.

Van

[dreadnod]

Hi,

that's probably a hardware "feature". Try pressing FN+F8 (maybe the key combo is different on newer thinkpads).

Some more information:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...GR-49TDVQ.html
http://ask.metafilter.com/31720/Enable-screen-resize

[randomlyrandom]

hi van

Hi vancuverite,

plz find the info you requested:

pnagral@pnagral-ubuntu:~$ sudo lshw -class display
[sudo] password for pnagral:
*-display
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Mobility Radeon HD 3650
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm pciexpress msi bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=fglrx_pci latency=0
resources: irq:32 memory:d0000000-dfffffff(prefetchable) ioport:2000(size=256) memory:cfff0000-cfffffff memory:cff00000-cff1ffff(prefetchable)
pnagral@pnagral-ubuntu:~$

pnagral@pnagral-ubuntu:~$ more /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# 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.
#
# 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 "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2840 1050
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Virtual 2840 1050
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

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

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
EndSection

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

Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Driver "fglrx"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

[vancouverite]

pnagral,
It looks like you are using the proprietary fglrx driver from ATI. I would recommend seeing if it can configure your display for you. To do this, move xorg.conf to xorg.conf.backup

cd /etc/X11
sudo mv xorg.conf xorg.conf.backup

now let the ati confutation module configure the xorg setup:

sudo aticonfig --initial

Log out and log back in and hopefully things are fixed. If things are worse, restore your old xorg.conf and logout/in again. You can also try adding making the following changes:

Comment out the entire block for the default screen.

In the aticonfig-Screen[0]-0 block, comment out the line "Virtual 2840 1050" and below it (still in the display subsection) add

"modes" "1920x1200"

Then add to the device section

option "Metamodes" "1920x1200"

Logout/in and hopefully you now have the option to use your preferred resolution.

[randomlyrandom]

Hi Van,

The solutions you mentioned did not work for me. I did some more trial and error and triaged it further. Here is today's development on this issue:

1. I uninstalled catalyst control centre and using /usr/share/ati/fglrx-uninstall.sh script

2. I removed all the fglrx related drivers using sudo apt-get remove --purge *fglrx*

3. I installed xserver-xorg-video-ati and rebooted

After step 3 , I could login and set resolution to widescreen resolutions like 1440x900, 1680x1050 etc. But could not enable desktop effects.

4. Then, I went to System--Administration--Hardware Drivers and noticed that ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX graphics driver is inactive.

5. I clicked on Activate button. This asked me to reboot my laptop.

6. After I rebooted, I was able to enable desktop effects but not able to set the above mentioned resolutions. Even after disabling desktop effects, I am not able to set widescreen resolutions like 1440x900 etc. Selecting these resolutions will reduce the screen size from all the 4 sides [like shown in my attachment pic in my first thread] instead of changing resolution itself.

Let me know if this gives any clue to fix this issue.

Regards,
-P

[vancouverite]

Have you tried changing the resolution using the catalyst control center? It should be in apps->other and has a section for working with monitors and such. Also, if you type 'aticonfig --help' into a terminal there are lots of options for configuring screens and monitors.

Another thing you can do is boot into recovery mode and execute 'dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg' This creates another new xorg.conf that may work better. You will likely have to do the 'aticonfig --inital' to add the correct driver lines (or you could do that yourself).

Van

[randomlyrandom]

Hi Van,

Tried all these things with no success This problem is ridiculous. I made a mistake by taking this radeaon graphics card. nvidia would have been a better choice!

regards,
-P

[javajesse]

I have a W500 running 9.10 and I can do a lot of things using the ATI Catalyst Control Center software -- quickly swap resolutions, easily support 2nd monitor, etc. If you are running Ubuntu with an ATI card, Catalyst is a MUST.

http://ati.amd.com/products/catalyst...ter/index.html

I like GUI apps like Catalyst, but then again I am a wuss. You may also want to check you have the latest video driver. But install Catalyst first.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...6&lang=English

Peace