Screen resolution loop [help!]

[Leonard Chatagnier]

--- On Sun, 9/28/08, David Armour <d.f.armour at shaw.ca> wrote:

> From: David Armour <d.f.armour at shaw.ca>
> Subject: Re: Screen resolution loop [help!]
> To: ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> Date: Sunday, September 28, 2008, 12:45 PM
> Leonard Chatagnier <lenc5570 <at> sbcglobal.net>
> writes:
> 
> > 
> > I think the command is nvidia-xconfig and should be
> run with sudo.
> > 
> <snip>
> > 
> > 
> 
> Thanks to Leonard and Rashkae for their replies. Here's
> what I tried 
> yesterday:
> 
> System>Admin>Hardware Drivers>
> 	- lists two options, *both with red light radio buttons*,
> i.e. not installed?
> 		* 'highlight' Nvidia accelerated (96)[1]
> [Recommended]
> 		* select Activate
> 
> [1] a live-CD boot of Mandriva 11 also lists Nvidia 96 as
> the appropriate 
> 	driver
> 
> sudo nvidia-xconfig (As it happens, I mis-typed my Friday
> up-date as 
> 'nvidia-config' when I had actually used
> 'nvidia-xconfig'.) ... produced
> an unfamiliar error message:
> 
> After "Using X config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf",
> the system displayed:
> 
> PARSE ERROR: line 35 of Module section
> 	"Disable" not a valid keyword [2]
> 
> Backup xorg.conf as xorg.conf.backup. Newfile: xorg.conf.
> 
> [2] line 35 of xorg.conf reads: Disable "DRI"
> I believe that placing a "#" at the start of the
> line would work?
> 
> *******
> soft reboot
> *******    ...
> 'thermometer' GUI...
> CLI log-in prompt?
> 	black screen...
> 
> *******
> hard re-boot
> workhorse log-in:
> 	black screen...
> 
> recovery mode
> 	resume 
> 	workhorse log-in
> 	black screen...
> 
> Live-cd trials of openSuSe, mandriva11, fedora 9 ensued.
>  
> Desktop effects, however, weren't enabled in Fedora,
> either; mandriva 
> also had video display issues (screen re-writes, for
> example, were so 
> patchy that the live-cd was essentially unusable); and I
> couldn't see how
> to enable multiple 'desktops' with openSuse, a
> 'deal-breaker' for me.
> 
> Booted Puppylinux 4 live-cd which offers a selection
> between xorg and 
> xvesa x-window servers, and having selected xorg, lists a
> number of
> LCD resolutions, with subsequent horizontal/vertical
> refresh rates, along 
> with useful warnings such as "Unconfirmed MAXIMUM for
> monitor; OK
> for card".  I chose LCD 1280x1024x16, with
> h:31.5-67/v:50-75 refresh rates, 
> and found myself confronting a screen of breathtaking
> beauty seconds 
> later. The clock showed the correct time, even.
> 
> [Warning! Kids! Don't try this at home!]
> 
> Since I have yet to make sense of the arcana and
> incantations necessary 
> for a working home network, I then emailed my wife's
> computer with 
> attached copies of puppy's xorg.conf, and
> xorg.conf.NVidia files, intend-
> ing to patch their relevant and clearly functional
> sub-sections into this 
> Ubuntu's buggered and knackered xorg.conf, to see if
> that produces a
> usable display. Excelsior!
> 
> Thanks again for your continued help in working out this
> mystery.
> 
> 
Well, it's still a mystery to me just what you did. You mentioned xorg.conf.NVidia above.  Is that the file in 
puppy linux? When I ran nvidia-xconfig as root it generated the file xorg.config(not .conf) which had all my nvidia settings and monitor ID in it.  Doing a xfix or dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xservr-xorg creates a new xorg.conf file that is all generic(configured files not showing specifics)but usually works using the nvidia driver. I wanted the nvidia-new-glx-envy at least to try out so rmed the xorg.conf file and rebooted.  Can't see any read difference in resolution(native 1680x1050) but I'm reasonably sure I'm using the new-envy driver. You went to extra ordinary effort to fix you screen res so more power to you.  However, if you have an xorg.config(not .conf) file in /etc/X11/, check it out to see that it has all your specifics in it. Then rename your xorg,conf and reboot to see if everything still works for a more ubuntu oriented solution. In my case Ubuntu Hardy still doesn't recognize my LG Flatron Wide lcd 22" monitor but everything works in the
 native resolution.  I admire your tenacity in fixing you issue.-:)


Leonard Chatagnier
lenc5570 at sbcglobal.net