Re: Hello Again

[Bob Nielsen <nielsen@oz.net>]

On Thu, Apr 12, 2001 at 03:06:24PM -0400, Dan Hutchinson wrote:
> Ok, I have the dual boot somewhat of Windows2K and Red Hat.  But Red
> Hat puts the startx display at 1460X1280.  How do I get to a seeable
> font?
> 
> Dan
> Please Send to hutchinsond@zdnetonebox.com since I am not on the debian-user
> list.  Thanks in advance

Well, I should point you to the Red Hat list (which was a pretty good
source for answers when I last used Red Hat four years ago), but I
figure you want a really good answer and know where to find it.

You will need to edit your X configuration file.  In Debian it would be
either /etc/X11/XF86Config or XF86Config-4.  Assuming you have X 4.0x,
it is probably XF86Config-4.  You should find a section called Screen. 
Here is mine, as an example (the format is slightly different for X
3.3.x):

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "NV AGP"
        Monitor         "Generic Monitor"
        DefaultDepth    16
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           1
                Modes           "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           4
                Modes           "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           8
                Modes           "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           15
                Modes           "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           16
                Modes           "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection


Note that the DefaultDepth is 16, which means it starts up in 16
bit-per-pixel mode.  The allowable resolutions for this are in the
appropriate Modes line, "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480".

You will find a corresponding line with "1460x1280" in it.  Just edit
that line to show a lower resolution as the first entry and that is the
resolution at which X will start.  You can switch between resolutions
with Ctrl-Alt-<plus> and Ctrl-Alt-<minus>, but the total screen size in
dots will stay fixed, so the screen may not fit the display.

I haven't used it recently, but possibly you could use XF86Setup to
reconfigure without so much fuss.

Lastly, as a former Red Hat user, I highly recommend that you switch to
Debian (or one of the commercially packaged versions, like Progeny or
Stormix.) Progeny has very nice installation and configuration tools
which make configuring X a real snap.

Bob