Manually Specify Resolution on nVIDIA laptop

**frogotronic** · November 15th, 2012

Hello,

I'd like to manually specific a non-native resolution with the nVIDIA driver on a laptop.

The xorg.conf file is attached. I'd like to specify 1280x800 for the LCD (laptop) as an option. Currently, only the 1600x900 (native/auto) option is available.

How can I do this?

Thanks,
CH

**cwsnyder** · November 16th, 2012

The use of a custom xorg.conf file has been deprecated since Ubuntu 9.10. The suggested alternative for setting resolution is to install the x11-xserver-utils package, then use xrandr to set the resolution (included in the package). In your case the following would be entered in a terminal to see if it sets properly:

Code:

$ cvt 1280 800
# 1280x800 59.81 Hz (CVT 1.02MA) hsync: 49.70 kHz; pclk: 83.50 MHz
Modeline "1280x800_60.00"   83.50  1280 1352 1480 1680  800 803 809 831 -hsync +vsync
$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 1024, maximum 4096 x 4096
VGA-1 connected 1280x1024+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1024x768       60.0* 
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   848x480        60.0  
   640x480        59.9   
$ xrandr --newmode 1280x800 83.50  1280 1352 1480 1680  800 803 809 831 -hsync +vsync
$ xrandr --addmode VGA-1 1280x800
$ xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode 1280x800

Use in place of VGA-1 whatever is displayed in the second line of the response to xrandr on a line by itself. The $ indicates a new line prompt. If you get a response including 'xrandr: failed to get size of gamma for output default' and the replacement for VGA-1 is default, this procedure may not work, and I have a bug report on Launchpad #1078695.

**frogotronic** · November 16th, 2012

Originally Posted by cwsnyder

The use of a custom xorg.conf file has been deprecated since Ubuntu 9.10. The suggested alternative for setting resolution is to install the x11-xserver-utils package, then use xrandr to set the resolution (included in the package). In your case the following would be entered in a terminal to see if it sets properly:

Code:

$ cvt 1280 800
# 1280x800 59.81 Hz (CVT 1.02MA) hsync: 49.70 kHz; pclk: 83.50 MHz
Modeline "1280x800_60.00"   83.50  1280 1352 1480 1680  800 803 809 831 -hsync +vsync
$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 1024, maximum 4096 x 4096
VGA-1 connected 1280x1024+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1024x768       60.0* 
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   848x480        60.0  
   640x480        59.9   
$ xrandr --newmode 1280x800 83.50  1280 1352 1480 1680  800 803 809 831 -hsync +vsync
$ xrandr --addmode VGA-1 1280x800
$ xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode 1280x800

Use in place of VGA-1 whatever is displayed in the second line of the response to xrandr on a line by itself. The $ indicates a new line prompt. If you get a response including 'xrandr: failed to get size of gamma for output default' and the replacement for VGA-1 is default, this procedure may not work, and I have a bug report on Launchpad #1078695.

You can have my xorg.conf file when you pry from my cold dead hands...

Actually I tried your suggestion before and it doesn't work right - but I'll give another go!

**frogotronic** · November 16th, 2012

Ok, got an error:

Code:

$ cvt 1280 800
# 1280x800 59.81 Hz (CVT 1.02MA) hsync: 49.70 kHz; pclk: 83.50 MHz
Modeline "1280x800_60.00"   83.50  1280 1352 1480 1680  800 803 809 831 -hsync +vsync
$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 1600 x 900, maximum 16384 x 16384
VGA-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
LVDS-0 connected 1600x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 310mm x 174mm
   1600x900       60.1*+   40.3  
DP-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
$ xrandr --newmode 1280x800 83.50  1280 1352 1480 1680  800 803 809 831 -hsync
$ xrandr --addmode LVDS-0 1280x800
X Error of failed request:  BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
  Major opcode of failed request:  153 (RANDR)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  18 (RRAddOutputMode)
  Serial number of failed request:  35
  Current serial number in output stream:  36

Is this the error in the bug report?

Thanks,
CH

**cwsnyder** · November 17th, 2012

No, the error does not match that of my bug report.

I see why you need xorg.conf, to at the very least tell your computer what output to use! My mistake.

In xorg.conf, see changes below:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier "Monitor0"
	VendorName "Unknown"
	ModelName "LGD"
	HorizSync 41.3 - 54.8
	VertRefresh 40.0 - 60.0
	Option "DPMS"
	ModeLine "1280x800_60" 83.50  1280 1352 1480 1680  800 803 809 831 -hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device "Device0"
	Monitor "Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth 24
	Option "RegistryDwords" "EnableBrightnessControl=1"
	Option "RandRRotation" "True"
	Option "Stereo" "0"
	Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
	Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
	Option "TwinView" "0"	
	Option "metamodes" "DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth 24
		Modes "1280x800_60" 1600x900 1024x768
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier "Mouse0"
	Driver "mouse"
	Option "Protocol" "auto"
	Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
	Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
	Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier "mtev"
	Driver "evdev"
	Option "Device" "/dev/input/multitouch"
	Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier "Keyboard0"
	Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier "Layout0"
	Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	Option "Xinerama" "0"
	InputDevice "mtev" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier "Device0"
	Driver "nvidia"
	VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
	BoardName "NVS 4200M"
	Option	"NoLogo"	"False"
EndSection

The modes in the Screen/Display subsection are suggestions only. I have no idea what modes are pertinent to your monitor, but the new modeline mode should be referred to here as well.