Can't change screen resolution.

[Kin2InuYasha]

I've recently installed Ubuntu 10.10 on an old Dell computer I have. Everything seems to work fine, but I can't seem to change the screen resolution. In the monitor Preferences it says Monitor:Unknown. It's stuck on 1600x1200 and I'd like it to be closer to 1024x768

I've tried changing the xorg.conf file to no avail. I've been browsing for 3 days now looking for a solution.

Any help is appreciated.

http://hamsterhutt.host56.com/WHATACOM-4ACEC222.xml
These are my specs if it helps any, please ignore the windows installation info because I have it installed alongside ubuntu.

[Krytarik]

Try following this guide:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Res...%20resolutions

Greetings.

[Kin2InuYasha]

Try following this guide:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Res...%20resolutions

Greetings.

This method doesn't seem to work for me. I follow the instructions, and I get a new resolution in the monitor preferences, but when I try to load it I get a an error "configure crtc 0 failed" and "The selected configuration could not be applied"

I heard that the crtc 0 failed error was because the refreshrate was too high, but I've set it as low as 30 and it still doesn't work.

[Krytarik]

Are you able to add/apply the mode with the xrandr commands?

[Kin2InuYasha]

Are you able to add/apply the mode with the xrandr commands?

I can add, but cannot apply. It gives me the option of another resolution in the monitor preferences immediately after I complete the commands, but when I try to apply that resolution It gives me an error "The selected configuration could not be applied"

[Krytarik]

You should apply the added mode with the the respective xrandr command, not through the GUI, since I am not sure if that would work also.

Could you please post the output of "xrandr" and which commands you use, and the output of them. Please use the code-tags therefore (the #-button in the editor).

[Kin2InuYasha]

robbie@Whatacomputer:~$ gtf 1024 768 59

  # 1024x768 @ 59.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 46.90 kHz; pclk: 63.04 MHz
  Modeline "1024x768_59.00"  63.04  1024 1080 1184 1344  768 769 772 795  -HSync +Vsync

robbie@Whatacomputer:~$ xrandr --newmode potatoes 63.04  1024 1080 1184 1344  768 769 772 795  -HSync +Vsync
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
robbie@Whatacomputer:~$ xrandr --addmode default potatoes
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
robbie@Whatacomputer:~$ xrandr --output default --mode potatoes
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
xrandr: Configure crtc 0 failed
robbie@Whatacomputer:~$

This is how I've understood it to the best of my abilities. Like I said, doing this will show the 1024x768 resolution in the monitor preferences, but will not allow me to apply it. It also doesn't save the settings after a reboot.

[Krytarik]

First, you should use "cvt" instead of "gtf" to get the modeline, as I understood that "cvt" is more appropriate.

And I did websearch about the error messages you are getting.

I would like to make sure that you are running the correct driver. Please post the output of:

lshw -c video

Also check if a "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" is present, it shouldn't. But if it is, post its content as well.

Then, why are you trying to set the mode to specifically 59 Hz? If you just leave that away (default is 60 Hz), does it work then?

[Kin2InuYasha]

root@Whatacomputer:/home/robbie# lshw -c video
  *-display               
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       version: 01
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
       resources: irq:16 memory:e8000000-efffffff memory:feb80000-febfffff

It's not an LCD monitor, it's an old crt I had lying around. I know it's capable of a 1024x768 resolution because my Windows installation on it worked, right?

I do have a xorg.conf file, I don't remember whether it was already there, or whether I created it when I was trying to fix this issue a few days ago. It isn't original though.

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier    "Configured Monitor"
      Option      "DPMS"  "true"
      HorizSync    30.0-60.0
      VertRefresh  50.0-70.0
EndSection

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

And as far as the Refreshrate, I thought that maybe 60 was too high and causing problems, so I set it to 59. I will use 60 from now on.

Thank you for responding so quickly.


::UPDATE::
Using cvt with this same method changed nothing.

[Krytarik]

Oh, I somewhat assumed (out of my experience here in the forums), that I'm almost the only one who is still using a CRT.

And correction: It seems like "cvt" is always the better choice, so take it instead.

Please at least rename your "xorg.conf".

And yes, you are running the intel driver. I would like to upgrade it to the most recent version:
https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Then reboot/relogin.

Also, you should always try to run a CRT at least at 75 Hz. Please check if it runs with that mode in Windows7.