modifying template xorg.conf file to change monitor resolution

[Michael Fothergill <michael.fothergill@googlemail.com>]

Dear Folks,

I am trying to fix my monitor screen resolution.

I made a template xorg.conf file by running the gdm3 stop command and
then did something
like crtl alt f1 and got a terminal prompt and logged in as root and
did /usr/bin/Xorg -configure
and a new xorg.conf file was created in /root.

Here it is:

root@Vigor15:~# more xorg.conf.new
Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
	FontPath     "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
	FontPath     "built-ins"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "record"
	Load  "dri2"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse0"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "auto"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "SWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "HWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoAccel"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShadowFB"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "VideoKey"           	# <i>
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "nouveau"
	VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
	BoardName   "Unknown Board"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     1
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     4
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     8
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     15
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     16
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

It's quite a while since I edited an xorg.conf file.    The resolution
is too low at present - I think I am running at 800 x 600

I ran xrandr (which is a bit magical and mystical to me at present)

mikef@Vigor15:~$ xrandr
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 800 x 600, maximum 800 x 600
default connected 800x600+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   800x600        61.0*
   640x480        60.0

Trying to use it to increase the maximum resolution to 1440 x 900 is
more intricate than I realised so I think that editing my template
xorg.conf file and putting the 1440 x 900 parameter value in there
would be a better idea.......

In the X11 folder where I assume I am supposed to put the shiny new
xorg.conf file are three files it will sit next to.:
root@Vigor15:/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d
# ls
10-evdev.conf  20-wacom.conf  50-synaptics.conf

I have two dumb questions:

1.  Where do I enter the 1440 x900 resolution into the xorg.conf file?

2.  Since I made the new one as root and not a user will the
permissions on the xorg.conf file need to be reset to make sure Xorg
reads it in?

Thanks for tolerating my ineptitude here.

Michael Fothergill