xorg.conf help needed!

[scott-DPNOqEs/LNQ at public.gmane.org (Scott R. Ehrlich)]

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008, markw-FJ05HQ0HCKaWd6l5hS35sQ at public.gmane.org wrote:

> As a battle hardened veteran of XFree86, I can tell you that there are two
> issues to setting up xorg.conf
>
> (1) The capability of the display
> (2) The range/resolution modes of the video card.
>
> The first thing you need to do is (I forget the procedure, but google
> should help) is to run X or one of its tools to probe and display the
> possible resolutions of the display card can handle. (They may be printed
> in the log file).
>
> Then, you pick the best match of compatible modes that both the display
> card and the monitor can handle. Once you have a match, work on getting
> that setting to work, otherwise, you are just wasting time guessing at
> something that may never work.
>
> If your video card does not handle the resolution you want, look around at
> places like Microcenter for their cheap AGP cards. Chances are you can
> google for supported modes on the cards and, of course, their support on
> Linux, and find one that supports the best resolution of your TV.
>
> Good luck!

I recently converted my wife's PC to Ubuntu (I tried Debian, and wanted 
Firefox instead of iceweasel (also had troubles getting flash player to 
work).  Debian immediately had high res (standard off-the-shelf Intel P3 
mobo with built-in video).  But Ubuntu only gave me 800x600 max res.  One 
thing I learned in years past was to manually enter the horizontal and 
vertical refresh rates of the MONITOR into the X setup config (xf88config 
back then, xorg.conf now).

In doing this, and rebooting that PC, Ubuntu magically discovered a new 
range of higher resolutions.

Same in configuring Linux, over time, for my ol' Dell CRT (17 inch) 
monitor.   Unless I give Linux the specific frequency ranges, it can't 
display proper high res for me.

Again, I'm not entered the rates of the card, but the *monitor*.  You may 
still need the driver for the card to get Linux properly talking to it, 
too.

Hope that helps.

Scott

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