HOWTO: change resolution/refresh rate in Xorg

[tseliot]

your right i restarted it... the gui comes back on but I cant get on the net the error message says i to recheck the web site name.


thanks for helping

Ok, click on System/Administration/Networking (in the GNOME panel)

If you use an ethernet connection you will see something like:

Ethernet Connection
The interface eth0 is active

Tell me what you see.

[geearf]

Hello,
I have a little problem now, the resolution / refresh rate is okay, but I have to set it back everytime I start KDE.
And I tick the little "set it up at next boot" thing, but it does not work

If you have any idea on this thanks.

[fangorious]

I'm having trouble getting refresh rates above 60 Hz, and some widescreen resolutions seem to be unavailable. I have an HP Compaw nw8240 laptop with an Ati Mobility FireGL V5000. I'm using the latest drivers (8.22.5 [1]) installed according to the HOWTO on this forum [2]. I have configured the refresh rate according to the only documentation I could find, a pdf file on HP's forums [3].

Under Windows, I have a very wide range of resolutions available, from 1920-1200 down to 640x480. I primarily use the widescreen resolution of 1680x1050. All resolutions seem to be supported up to 100 Hz refresh rate.

So now on to the Linux supported resolutions and refresh rates. After installing the Ati driver and rebooting into single user mode, I ran 'sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg' and specified the HorizSync and VertRefresh from the linked pdf, and selected these resolutions: 1920x1200; 1680x1050; 1600x1200; 1440x900; 1400x1050; 1280x1024; 1280x960; 1280x864; 1280x800; 1152x864; 1152x768; 1024x768; 800x600; 640x480. The xserver-xorg reconfigure generated this one Modeline

        Modeline        "1280x800@60" 83.91 1280 1312 1624 1656 800 816 824 841

After booting all the way into gdm and logging in, I go to System->Preferences->Screen Resolution and am presented with the following resolutions (in this order): 1920x1200; 1600x1200; 1280x1024; 1280x800; 1152x864; 1024x768; 800x600; 1920x1080. I have no choice for refresh rate, only 60 Hz is available. So used one of the modeline generators [4] and create these modelines

        Modeline        "1920x1200@75i" 114.37 1920 1952 2384 2416 1200 1226 1234 1261 interlace
        Modeline        "1680x1050@75" 210.42 1680 1712 2504 2536 1050 1070 1083 1103
        Modeline        "1440x900@75" 146.10 1440 1472 2024 2056 900 917 928 946

and restart X (System->Logout, <ctrl>+<alt>+<del> at the login screen, then login) and find they had no effect. First off I would really like to get 75 Hz (or better) refresh rate, and secondary I would like to have the resolutions 1680x1050 and 1440x900 supported (at 75 Hz or better).

[1] https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...e&folderID=300
[2] http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=423584
[3] http://h10018.www1.hp.com/wwsolution...nux_062205.pdf
[4] http://xtiming.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xtiming.pl

Here's my xorg.conf

Section "Files"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/CID"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
        # paths to defoma fonts
	FontPath	"/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
	FontPath	"/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/CID"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"GLcore"
	Load	"bitmap"
	Load	"ddc"
	Load	"dri"
	Load	"extmod"
	Load	"freetype"
	Load	"glx"
	Load	"int10"
	Load	"type1"
	Load	"v4l"
	Load	"vbe"
EndSection

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

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ImPS/2"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Synaptics Touchpad"
	Driver		"synaptics"
	Option		"SendCoreEvents"	"true"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/psaux"
	Option		"Protocol"		"auto-dev"
	Option		"HorizScrollDelta"	"0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"ATI Technologies, Inc. FireGL v5000"
	Driver		"fglrx"
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Samsung LCD"
	Option		"DPMS"
	HorizSync	31.5-91.1
	VertRefresh	60-100
	Modeline	"1280x800@60" 83.91 1280 1312 1624 1656 800 816 824 841
        Modeline	"1920x1200@75i" 114.37 1920 1952 2384 2416 1200 1226 1234 1261 interlace
        Modeline	"1680x1050@75" 210.42 1680 1712 2504 2536 1050 1070 1083 1103
        Modeline	"1440x900@75" 146.10 1440 1472 2024 2056 900 917 928 946

EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Device		"ATI Technologies, Inc. FireGL v5000"
	Monitor		"Samsung LCD"
	DefaultDepth	24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		1
		Modes		"1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x854" "1280x800" "1200x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		4
		Modes		"1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x854" "1280x800" "1200x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		8
		Modes		"1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x854" "1280x800" "1200x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		15
		Modes		"1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x854" "1280x800" "1200x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		16
		Modes		"1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x854" "1280x800" "1200x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		24
		Modes		"1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x854" "1280x800" "1200x800" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Default Layout"
	Screen		"Default Screen"
	InputDevice	"Generic Keyboard"
	InputDevice	"Configured Mouse"
	InputDevice	"Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
	Mode	0666
EndSection

[heimo]

I'm having trouble getting refresh rates above 60 Hz, and some widescreen resolutions seem to be unavailable.

Excellent post. I hope I can help, but am not sure. Let's try.

Do you have fglrxconfig available? I don't know if the ati drivers you've installed included this, but it seems to be also in package fglrx-control. Make a backup copy of your xorg.conf and run this tool. Also check your log file and if possible, attach it your post.

Good luck.

EDIT: I must add that I have zero experience using current ati graphics cards.

[Screaming Monkey]

Heimo, thanks for this very helpful how-to...I've been having a beach of a time with the resolution problem on my computer with an older video card (Cirrus Logic GD5446) and hadn't been able to get it past 640x480. Thanks to some little things in your how-to I got it up to 800x600, a manageable resolution. Thanks.

[fangorious]

Excellent post. I hope I can help, but am not sure. Let's try.

Do you have fglrxconfig available? I don't know if the ati drivers you've installed included this, but it seems to be also in package fglrx-control.

fglrxconfig has been superceded by aticonfig. I ran this

sudo aticonfig --effective=startup --resolution=1920x1200,1680x1050,1600x1200,1440x900,1280x1024,1280x960,1152x864,1152x768,1024x768,800x600,640x480 --hsync=31.5-91.1 --vrefresh=60-100 --lcd full --fsaa=on -fs 4 -fsg on

and it generated the xorg.conf pasted below. But it didn't have any effect. Still stuck at 60 Hz. The Modelines were, I believe just preserved from the old config, rather than generated by aticonfg. I've attached a bzip'ed copy of my /var/log/Xorg.0.log

xorg.conf:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Default Layout"
	Screen         "Default Screen" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Generic Keyboard"
	InputDevice    "Configured Mouse"
	InputDevice    "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "Files"

        # paths to defoma fonts
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/CID"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/100dpi"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi"
	FontPath     "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
	FontPath     "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/CID"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "GLcore"
	Load  "bitmap"
	Load  "ddc"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "freetype"
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "int10"
	Load  "type1"
	Load  "v4l"
	Load  "vbe"
EndSection

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

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Configured Mouse"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "CorePointer"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
	Option	    "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Synaptics Touchpad"
	Driver      "synaptics"
	Option	    "SendCoreEvents" "true"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/psaux"
	Option	    "Protocol" "auto-dev"
	Option	    "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Samsung LCD"
	HorizSync    31.5 - 91.1
	VertRefresh  60.0 - 100.0
	Option	    "DPMS"
	ModeLine     "1920x1200@75i" 114.4 1920 1952 2384 2416 1200 1226 1234 1261 interlace
	ModeLine     "1680x1050@75" 210.4 1680 1712 2504 2536 1050 1070 1083 1103
	ModeLine     "1440x900@75" 146.1 1440 1472 2024 2056 900 917 928 946
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "ATI Technologies, Inc. FireGL v5000"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	Option	    "(null)"
	Option	    "Centermode" "off"
	Option	    "FSAAEnable" "on"
	Option	    "FSAAScale" "4"
	Option	    "FSAADisableGamma" "off"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Default Screen"
	Device     "ATI Technologies, Inc. FireGL v5000"
	Monitor    "Samsung LCD"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     8
		Modes    "1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     16
		Modes    "1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     24
		Modes    "1920x1200" "1680x1050" "1600x1200" "1440x900" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1152x768" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
	Mode         0666
EndSection

[fangorious]

In an effort to force X to use one of the custom Modelines, I changed to only include those resolutions. My expectation was that it would either run at 75 Hz or not even load X. But I was wrong, xvidtune confirms that even with only the 75 Hz resolutions configured, I'm still only getting 60 Hz. This is really irritating.

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Samsung LCD"
	Option		"DPMS"
	HorizSync	31.5-91.1
	VertRefresh	60-100
	Modeline	"1920x1200@75i" 114.37 1920 1952 2384 2416 1200 1226 1234 1261 interlace
	Modeline	"1680x1050@75" 210.42 1680 1712 2504 2536 1050 1070 1083 1103
	Modeline	"1440x900@75" 146.10 1440 1472 2024 2056 900 917 928 946
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Device		"ATI Technologies, Inc. RaMobility FireGL v5000"
	Monitor		"Samsung LCD"
	DefaultDepth	24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		24
		Modes		"1920x1200@75i" "1680x1050@75" "1440x900@75"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

[smokinfish]

This is a bit too involved for me. I can only select 1024x768 -

I know I prefer things on my screen to be a bit smaller, (the resolution higher?) but have no idea of what the actual resolution I prefer is.

I've looked in the dvices list and can't even anything that resembles my laptop screen, but then I thought this was supposed to be a competitor for windows? I didn't need a minor degree in computer science to change the resolution in that!

Can't all this stuff be put into some sort of generic app that changes the screen resolution for you? It seems to be a common problem and would therefore warrant some development imho - I'd ofer to do it but I have no idea what I'm doing!

I just want to select the different screen resolutions, without having to spend an age learning programming code, it should come as standard, I mean, it's one of the basics surely!?

I hope someone can help cos this is the only real thing that's spoiling my Ubuntu experience so far..

[heimo]

This is a bit too involved for me. I can only select 1024x768 -

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

When it asks your monitor specification, use expert/advanced option and enter the horizsync and vertrefresh values from your monitors manual. WIthout further information I can't help better and strongly recommend you to open a new thread so that it'll get more attention (please feel free to post a link to that thread in this thread). You can also try another Linux distribution if Ubuntu won't work for you. I've heart that Linspire is trying to be a Windows competitor.

[smokinfish]

But I don't know all that stuff about my monitor - it's just the screen attached to my laptop - which is a Sony Vaio PCG-R600HMPD - I'm sorry, I don't want to stop using Ubuntu, I'm just frustrated as I've been trying to fix this for some days now with no avail

The one thing that I LOVE about it is the fact that it's held together by people who can help make it work - my point was, if it was possible to put this entire thread into an app, that would make it a much easier experience for new peeps like me - and therefore would help spread the Ubuntu word a bit further!