Edubuntu 7.06 LTSP Inspiron 1100

Tue Jun 26 12:04:37 BST 2007

Tom Misilo wrote:
> Hi everybody,
> 
>    I am currently trying to figure out how to get my dell laptop to
> use a resolution of 1024x768 when I am using it as a thin client. I
> have the A32 bios installed on it. I think I need to have
> 910resolution start every time this client starts but I am not sure
> how I would go about adding this.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help,
> 
> Tom

Yes I  currently use one.
Your bios sounds later than mine,  I did update it initially to help 
with one of the display related problems.

iirc the inspiron 1100 bios does not know the resolution of the screen 
- or something like that. When I reinstalled XP from the original Dell 
  CD the exact same problem happened, and I had to scrabble round for 
a suitable xp driver - buried somewhere on the dell resource CD.

I posted various places, including linux-dell-laptops on yahoogroups 
(september 2006) and I think ubuntu forums - neither appear via google 
   :-(

The details are copied to here (versions up to and including 7.04 are 
also same as this) :

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
[begin ubuntu 6.06 note]
=====
hardware detail - 512 MB RAM, bios A32.

The install of Ububtu 6.06 Desktop is ususlly done by first running
the live CD then choosing the Install icon on the desktop. There was
no problem booting or running the live CD, except that the display
resolution remained fixed at a low value. (Similar problem when
installing a new HD with Dell original OS CDs in fact, which needed
special action to subsequently install video driver)

After initial searches and trying many guessed Ubuntu boot options
without success, I found the information necessary on the Ubuntu
forums (note 1).

After a file edit process, which was not difficult even for me as
someone who has avoided use of command line, things did display
correctly, and I am most grateful for the information referenced above.

I am not new to linux but I still find I am unsure of many non gui
actions, and other people even less confident than myself might find
this summary useful.

I was also happy to see that the immediate subsequent install from the
edited running live cd ubuntu system was also correct in its screen
display and needed no further editing of files.

A Ubuntu forum posting on June 5th, 2006 by ssnitily included the
following:

===================
Default Installing on a Dell Inspiron 1100
It's well known that the installation resolution for this laptop is
incorrect and is locked at 640x480. Since the default installer for
6.06 involves booting and running a GUI and these installation screens
are much larger than this it's very difficult to install as you can't
see what you are tabbing to and can't click on any buttons as they are
well bellow the viewable area on the screen.
===================
My Comment: as it happens, this described the problem I had.
====================
The response on June 6th, 2006 from durableapostle was on the button:
====================
Default Re: Installing on a Dell Inspiron 1100
I had the EXACT same problem. Here's what I did:

1) In a terminal window type: sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

2) Change your data to what I have below (actually, add this info,
<i>in addition to</i> what you already have):

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Dell 1024x768 Laptop Display Panel"
HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

and in Section Screen, change the monitor line to read

Monitor "Monitor0"

3) Save, close gedit, and then restart the x drive (crtl, alt,
backspace). It should work.

4) Now, this is the part where you'll need help elsewhere... After a
hard restart, this will probably go back to the small screen. You'll
need to configure things so that this loads earlier in the startup
sequence. I had a friend help w/ this... sorry, I don't know how he
did it. Ask around the forums. At least you'll be able to easily fix
it every time until you can get help with the part I can't help you with.
=======================
My comment: I had a little uncertainty about the above point 2)
because I could see that some lines were obvious additions and one or
two seemed to be replacements.
I found that point 4) was not relevant to my need to run the live CD
and then do an install to hard drive.
=======================
With this hindsight I would now slightly re-word the posting from
durableapostle to read as follows:

1) In a terminal window type: sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

2) Change your data to what I have below
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Dell 1024x768 Laptop Display Panel"
HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

and in Section "Screen", change the monitor line to read

Monitor "Monitor0"

3) Save, close gedit, and then restart the X server (crtl, alt,
backspace). It should work.

4)If you want to continue to install, double click the Install icon on
the desktop, and proceed. My experience was that the installation
adopted the current xorg.conf values.

====================
Note 1:
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=190022&highlight=inspiron+1100

HTH
alan c

=====
[end ubuntu 6.06 note]
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
[begin Kubuntu note]
+++
Re: Dell Inspiron 1100 - Installation Ubuntu (Kubuntu) 6.06 Desktop

--- In linux-dell-laptops at yahoogroups.com, "candtalan" <aeclist at ...>
wrote:
 >
 > hardware detail - 512 MB RAM, bios A32.
 >
 > The install of Ububtu 6.06 Desktop is ususlly done by first running
 > the live CD then choosing the Install icon on the desktop. There was
 > no problem booting or running the live CD, except that the display
 > resolution remained fixed at a low value. (Similar problem when
 > installing a new HD with Dell original OS CDs in fact, which needed
 > special action to subsequently install video driver)

[snip]
The main details are included in the messages here under the subject of
Dell Inspiron 1100 - Installation Ubuntu 6.06 Desktop
dated Sep 17, 2006

However, I also use Kubuntu and there are slight differences in what
is needed there, for example a diferent editor is available, and file
permissions are handled slightly differently.

For Kubuntu 6.06 Desktop:

using a terminal window
sudo chmod 777 /etc/X11/xorg.conf

(note the upper case X)
this removes restrictions protecting the file xorg.conf and allows it
to be edited.

I then edited the file (using kate) as detailed earlier in this thread
and restarted the xserver display with control-alt-backspace.

As it happens, I wanted something to help with doing this procedure at
any time I used the Kubuntu 6.06 desktop (live) cd in this machine -
say, for demonstrations.

So after editing the xorg.conf file I copied it to a usb stick as
xorg.conf

The edited copy of xorg.conf file resided in the usb stick and could
be seen as

/media/sda1/xorg.conf
because the usb stick was automounted as sda1 onto directory /media

I then used kate editor to create a new file containing the two lines
sudo chmod 777 /etc/X11/xorg.conf
cp /media/sda1/xorg.conf /etc/X11

and for convenience I saved this also onto the usbstick, say, as
inspiron1100-fix-kubuntu

Now, after booting with the live cd I can insert the usb stick, and
copy the two lines of text into a terminal, and press return.
Then restart the xserver. More convenient than editing the file again etc.

+++
[end Kubuntu note]
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
[begin knoppix note]
============
This problem troubled me, and I post here hoping the information will
be useful to other Dell Inspiron 1100 users.

With knoppix 5.0.1 the display is not full size. However with knoppix
4.0.2 it fills the screen ok. I believe the Inspiron has something
unusual with the way its video ram gets reported to the bios or
something, but it is (was) a major product line. I am not sure it is
entirely sorted out by the bios going up to A92.

Solution for knoppix 5.0.1:
I used this boot entry:
boot: knoppix xmodule=i810
and it WORKS! :-)

Details:
==================================================
Dell Inspiron 1100 (Bios revision A92)
Knoppix 5.0.1
(Note this procedure was not needed for knoppix 4.0.2, which used
xfree86 not xorg)

(Knoppix forum) original posting:
Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:58 pm
Dell Inspiron 1100 - 5.0.1 - display size
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24847

and a reply from penguine5 Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:03 am
with the same problem,

followed by a reply from Harry Kuhman (moderator)
mentioning the wiki

The knoppix wiki:
http://www.cwelug.org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?HomePage
and for this problem, specifically the section:
Knoppix/BootProcess
http://www.cwelug.org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?Knoppix/BootProcess#tip4http://www.cwelug\
.org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?Knoppix/BootProcess#tip4
[Testing various xmodule= cheatcodes quickly]

Particular useful extract:
When Knoppix finish booting, change to VC 1
with Ctrl-Alt-F1 and enter runlevel 3 with 'init 3'.
To see what driver Knoppix used, type:
grep -i driver /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

When I gave this a try, the response I saw with my Dell Inspiron 1100
(bios revision A29) was:
i810
(which seems to be the driver I needed knoppix to run).
So I took the hint from a wiki entry:
'Once you find one that works better than what Knoppix guessed, you
can use it at the boot prompt like so:
boot: knoppix xmodule=fbdev'

In my case the driver was i810, not fbdev
==================================================

============
[end knoppix note]
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

hth
-- 
alan cocks
Kubuntu user#10391