Mark Wagnon <mark_wagnon@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi, Thanks for the response! I am able to create an XF86Config-4 file using debconf. It's tailored to my system's specs, and X is functional. The problem is that it's driving my monitor at a resolution that 1) renders everything too small to read, and 2) that AFAIK, is outstide my monitor's capabilities. I would expect that my monitor would display some kind of "out of range" message, but it doesn't. My manual specifies that it is capable of 1280x1024, however X is driving it at a much higherresolution.Also, I beleive that I have only verion 4 files on board because I installed X after upgrading from potato. I could be wrong about that though. I'm not sure where else to look. I've hunted down and renamed all my XF86Config* files with the exception of /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. I just don't understand where it's pulling the resolution setting it's using from. If anyone thinks of anything else...please share ;-) TIA! -- Mark Wagnon <mark_wagnon@yahoo.com>
Mark,I have been on the same "learning curve" as you jsut a short while ago. I recall somewhere that the "preferred" method of creating the /etc/Xll/XF86Config-4 file IN DEBIAN is to use one of the Debian config tools. The only one I have been able to make work here is the "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86" command, which brings up the debconf utility you see when you install Debian. It seems that Debian is constantly improving the debconf utility, and the last time I used it for configuring X (about a week ago) it had a few extra questions I had not seen before about creating special "debconf-only" sections in the resulting XF86Config-4 file. Anyhoo, here are some recollections from my faulty short-term memory that might relate to your resolution "problem".
1. Early in the debconf screens you are queried about how you want to handle the Monitor questions. IIRC, the options are "simple", "medium" and "advanced". This last time I chose "advanded" and got a series of query screens that asked detailed questions about my Monitor's ratings. I could explicitly define both the horizontal and vertical refresh rate ranges. I don't recall having the opportunity to do this with the "simple" or "medium" options where you were just given a menu of pre-defined choices. IF you define the EXACT ranges that your monitor can handle, there is no way X can "over-drive" the capabilities of your Monitor and damage it. You might want to give the "advanced" (or "expert"...don't recall the exact wording) mode a try.
2. Later in the debconf section is a query about the screen resolution modes you want to run. IIRC, there is a "[ ]" selection box at the start of the line of a given screen resolution... i.e "[ ] 800x600". On this screen you should only mark the resolutions you want to have available for use. Also, I recall some of the lower resolution options were not visable at the bottom until you scrolled down to them, and were easily overlooked. I would suggest you check this screen carefully to make sure that ONLY the screen-resolutions your want are marked for use... i.e. "[*] 800x600". If you do this correctly, these are the ONLY screen resolutions that will be considered when XF86Config-4 is run.
3. As far as I know, X will only activate screen resolution modes that are compatable with your hardware as defined in XF86Config-4. It is pretty smart and will calculate the modes that will work and remove any that fall out of range or are not selected for use. This means that the better the data you supply during the creation of XF86Config-4, the better the results will be for you. If you define the monitor ranges correctly, tell it the correct video device + correct amount of memory, and tell it the modes you want enabled, then you will get exactly what you asked for in a "safe" manner. One of the features of XFree86-v.4.X is the ability to auto-probe your devices and determine a LOT of this info from the device itself.
HTH. Cheers, -Don Spoon-