biggest resolution is 1024x768

Tue Feb 16 18:05:00 UTC 2010

On Tuesday 16 Feb 2010 11:48:50 Kılıç Köken wrote:
> I just bought a Tohiba laptop with i3 processor. I tried to install Karmic.
> But laptop couldn't show anything when I booted Karmic CD.
> 
> Then I tried "safe graphic mode" and it worked. And I installed Karmic.
> 
> Now the biggest resolution is 1024x768 and it's inappropriate. My laptop is
> 16" widescreen. The resolution should be I think at least 1280x800.
> 
> Laptop has intel graphics card. How can I fix this problem?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Klich.
> 
Current Intel graphics drivers are a bit broken. Below I have pasted a copy of an email I sent to another user on this list. It refers specifically to using this with TVs, but it applies to monitors and laptops too. If nothing else works you could try this.

OK, well here we go.

The following is not guaranteed to work but it has worked on the two installations I have tried it on. It requires Linux to be installed to your hard disc.

Note 1 : The following xorg.conf file was generated primarily from an install of Mandriva 2010.0, which seems to do a much better job of configuring this stuff than Ubuntu does. However even that didn't work perfectly until I did the steps involving gtf.

Note 2 : The option 'PreferredMode' in the file below is recorded as 'not used' in the Xorg log. However, for me, it didn't work without it. Your mileage may vary.

The file below is an example xorg.conf file - it needs to be edited and then copied to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

You will need to know the allowed horizontal sync and vertical refresh rates for your monitor or TV. These go as the parameters 'HorizSync' and 'VertRefresh' as described in the file. These are the crucial values to make this work. They may or may not be specified in the gazillion pages of manual for your TV that your probably threw away when you bought it. I know I did. If you cannot find these values out you have 3 possible courses of action:
1) Guess - the values below might even work.
2) Install Mandriva 2010.0. This will give you an xorg.conf file that might even work. That's where mine came from.
3) Kick the PC and go have a beer instead.

Once you have those you need to generate a ModeLine using the 'gtf' program.
In a terminal, type

gtf 1360 768 60

(The parameters are : Horizontal resolution, vertical resolution, refresh rate)
60Hz refresh should work with any TV. If you're in Europe and plan on using this as a media centre PC, 50Hz is a better choice as it is exactly twice the PAL refresh rate. 100Hz is even better. However many modern TVs won't do a 50Hz or 100Hz refresh and a lot of intel graphics cards won't do 100Hz at this (or indeed any) resolution. Mine doesn't :( Try 60 first. If it works, then get adventurous.

gtf will output a 'ModeLine'. You should paste this into the file where indicated, replacing mine.

Reboot and see what happens. If it doesn't work, check the settings under KDE before you go to option (3).

If you reboot and get a black screen you'll have to switch to another terminal (Ctrl-Alt-F4), log in, delete or rename xorg.conf, and reboot again. If this happens you probably have your Sync or Refresh values wrong.

Good luck....

Mark

# xorg.conf for misbehaving intel drivers with 1360x768 TVs and any flavour of *buntu Karmic
# Thanks to Mandriva 2010.0 for supplying most of this information

Section "ServerFlags"                                
    Option "DontZap" "False" # disable <Ctrl><Alt><BS> (server abort)
    AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work
EndSection                                                                            

Section "Module"
    Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
    Load "v4l" # Video for Linux           
    Load "extmod"                          
    Load "glx" # 3D layer                  
    Load "dri" # direct rendering          
EndSection                                 

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "monitor1"
    VendorName "Generic" 
    ModelName "Flat Panel 1360x768"
   # Get the following two lines of values from your TV datasheet or by guesswork
    HorizSync 31.5-67.0             
    VertRefresh 56.0-65.0           
    Option "PreferredMode" "1360x768"

    # Replace this with your modeline generated by gtf
    Modeline "1360x768_60.00"  84.72  1360 1424 1568 1776  768 769 772 795  -HSync +Vsync  

EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "device1"
    VendorName "Intel Corporation"
    BoardName "Intel 810 and later"
    # Use your driver here, probably 'intel'
    Driver "intel"
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "screen1"
    Device "device1"
    Monitor "monitor1"
    DefaultColorDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth 8
        Modes "1360x768"
    EndSubsection

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth 15
        Modes "1360x768"
    EndSubsection

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth 16
        Modes "1360x768"
    EndSubsection

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth 24
        Modes "1360x768"
    EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "layout1"
    Screen "screen1"
EndSection

# End xorg.conf