Screen Resolution stuck at 640 X 480

[zonkamatic]

Please forgive the whine, but, before I start this, I think it's important that someone have the opportunity to understand that the windows on many of the utilities that one accesses from the (for lack of a better term) tool bar at the top of the screen are larger than a 640X480 screen can accommodate, and can't be resized down. Thus, while using ubuntu at that resolution, one has no access to some of its functionality. IMHO, this is a design bug that needs to be remedied.

That said, I'm using a SiS 315 Pro AGP card and a Gateway EV700 monitor. I had to switch to the SiS when my previous AGP card, an Apollo Bloody Monster (based on the NVidia GeForce 4) went bad. (Too bad, too--that little card really rocked.) As I'm writing this, I got done running the update manager about 10 minutes ago, so I SHOULD, IN THEORY, have the latest of the greatest drivers and whatnot. Problem is that I can't get the monitor out of 640 X 480 resolution. I tried the Monitor Resulution tool found in "System-Preferences." It told me that I have an unknown display, and would not allow me to increase the screen resolution. As I alluded to earlier, the window is larger than the display, and there is a part of it at the bottom that I cannot see.

Here's my xorg.conf file, with which I've played a little, but which is essentially intact:
jeff@Yassir:~$ cat xorg.txt
# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

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

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "vesa"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "vesa"
Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
Vendorname "Plug 'n' Play"
Modelname "Plug 'n' Play"
modeline "640x480@60" 25.2 640 656 752 800 480 490 492 525 -vsync -hsync
modeline "1280X768_85.00" 94.39 1024 1088 1200 1376 768 769 772 807 -hsync +vsync
Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Defaultdepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 640 480
# Virtual 1280 768
Modes "640x480@60" "1280X800"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "GLcore"
Load "v4l"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection

-------------------------

Here is the output of a very recent lsmod command:

jeff@Yassir:~$ cat mods.txt
Module Size Used by
ipv6 267908 8
af_packet 23812 2
rfcomm 41744 2
l2cap 25728 13 rfcomm
bluetooth 61028 4 rfcomm,l2cap
ppdev 10372 0
speedstep_lib 6532 0
cpufreq_ondemand 9740 0
cpufreq_userspace 5284 0
cpufreq_stats 7104 0
freq_table 5536 2 cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
cpufreq_conservative 8712 0
video 19856 0
output 4736 1 video
dock 11280 0
sbs 15112 0
sbshc 7680 1 sbs
container 5632 0
battery 14212 0
iptable_filter 3840 0
ip_tables 14820 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16132 1 ip_tables
ac 6916 0
lp 12324 0
parport_pc 36260 1
parport 37832 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
snd_ens1371 27168 3
snd_ac97_codec 101028 1 snd_ens1371
analog 13600 0
evdev 13056 3
ac97_bus 3072 1 snd_ac97_codec
gameport 16008 2 snd_ens1371,analog
snd_pcm_oss 42144 0
snd_mixer_oss 17920 1 snd_pcm_oss
psmouse 40336 0
snd_pcm 78596 3 snd_ens1371,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
usblp 15872 0
serio_raw 7940 0
snd_seq_dummy 4868 0
snd_seq_oss 35584 0
snd_seq_midi 9376 0
snd_rawmidi 25760 2 snd_ens1371,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8320 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 54224 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
pcspkr 4224 0
snd_timer 24836 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9612 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
snd 56996 17 snd_ens1371,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_o ss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,s nd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 8800 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 11400 1 snd_pcm
i2c_sis96x 6148 0
button 9232 0
i2c_core 24832 1 i2c_sis96x
shpchp 34452 0
sis_agp 10116 1
pci_hotplug 30880 1 shpchp
agpgart 34760 1 sis_agp
ext3 136840 1
jbd 48404 1 ext3
mbcache 9600 1 ext3
sg 36880 0
sr_mod 17956 0
cdrom 37408 1 sr_mod
sd_mod 30720 3
floppy 59588 0
ehci_hcd 37900 0
ohci_hcd 26640 0
pata_sis 15236 2
pata_acpi 8320 0
ata_generic 8324 0
sis900 24320 0
mii 6400 1 sis900
usbcore 146412 4 usblp,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd
libata 159600 3 pata_sis,pata_acpi,ata_generic
scsi_mod 151436 4 sg,sr_mod,sd_mod,libata
thermal 16796 0
processor 36488 1 thermal
fan 5636 0
fbcon 42912 0
tileblit 3456 1 fbcon
font 9472 1 fbcon
bitblit 6784 1 fbcon
softcursor 3072 1 bitblit
fuse 50708 3

--------------------------

and here is the output of a recent lspci command:

jeff@Yassir:~$ cat pci.txt
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 650/M650 Host (rev 01)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge (AGP)
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS962 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 04)
00:02.1 SMBus: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2 SMBus Controller
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.2 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet (rev 90)
00:09.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97] (rev 06)
00:0a.0 Modem: ALi Corporation SmartLink SmartPCI561 56K Modem
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 315PRO PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter

--------------------------

here is the output of a uname -a:
jeff@Yassir:~$ uname -a
Linux Yassir 2.6.24-23-generic #1 SMP Mon Jan 26 00:13:11 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux

--------------------------

What I THINK is going on is

1) I don't have the driver for the video card (which I don't even know where to look for despite several google searches). Ignore the sis900 driver--that's the motherboard's built-in networking.

2) I don't have good modelines for the display (which I ALSO don't know where to look for/see above).

3) The automatic configuration is, despite its authors' good intentions, not able to detect and/or retrieve these things for me.

Can someone help with this?

[andrea000]

you may look here (http://www.good-os.cn/articles/display-video-tv-dvd.html) or here but i have never
heard of that chip set before.

Sorry

[zonkamatic]

Thank you. My screen resolution problem is now kludged.

Specifically, I followed the one of the two links you gave that actually worked, checked out the website and downloaded the driver. I then set the xorg.conf file as the site recommended and restarted my system.

I got a screen saying that X couldn't start under those circumstances.

Then, a configuration utility came up. Using that, I was able to specify the make and model of my monitor. The utility then altered my xorg.conf file, adding modelines for the monitor. A quick edit from me, and the resolution that allowed all the ubuntu windows to show up completely was the default mode.

Still using the vesa driver, but it ain't broke no more, so I ain't gonna try to fix it.

Kludge rides again.

I also tried both to install the debian package and to download the source code and compile his sisctrl utility by hand without any luck. It appears that I don't have the X11 headers, but that's for another day.

Thanks. If that's your picture along side the post, then you are as lovely on the outside as you are on the inside (which is to say, plenty).

[andrea000]

Thank you. My screen resolution problem is now kludged.

Specifically, I followed the one of the two links you gave that actually worked, checked out the website and downloaded the driver. I then set the xorg.conf file as the site recommended and restarted my system.

I got a screen saying that X couldn't start under those circumstances.

Then, a configuration utility came up. Using that, I was able to specify the make and model of my monitor. The utility then altered my xorg.conf file, adding modelines for the monitor. A quick edit from me, and the resolution that allowed all the ubuntu windows to show up completely was the default mode.

Still using the vesa driver, but it ain't broke no more, so I ain't gonna try to fix it.

Kludge rides again.

I also tried both to install the debian package and to download the source code and compile his sisctrl utility by hand without any luck. It appears that I don't have the X11 headers, but that's for another day.

Thanks. If that's your picture along side the post, then you are as lovely on the outside as you are on the inside (which is to say, plenty).

Thank you i am glad you have your system up and running like
you want it.I was up all night and didn't insert the link
in the last one i am sorry.
oh that is me along side the post and thank you

[luisgulo]

Hello:

The resolution work in 1024x768!!

My VGA display
(view execute:
>lspci |grep -i vga

02:09.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 315PRO PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter


My /etc/X11/xorg.conf is only:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "GoldStar LG 1467"
HorizSync 31-50
VertRefresh 50-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "GoldStar LG 1467"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 1024 768
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

-- Solution --
Create a copy of /etc/X11/xorg.conf
example:
root> cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.my_backup
As root (with a editor):
Change the Section "Monitor":
Identifier "The name of your monitor"
HorizSync 31-50 (change for your values)
VertRefresh 50-60 (change for your values)

Note: The HorizSyn and the VertRefresh is in the manual of monitor

Change the value Monitor in the Section "Screen" with the same name write in the Identifier.

Restart your gdm/kdm:
root> /etc/init.d/gdm restart
or
root> /etc/init.d/kdm restar

Voila !! Yor resolution is 1024x768
mail-> luisgulo@yahoo.es (ubuntu/debian user)