[CentOS] Video driver questions

Wed Oct 8 20:36:13 UTC 2008
MHR <mhullrich at gmail.com>

On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:22 PM, Robert Moskowitz <rgm at htt-consult.com> wrote:
>
> I have changed inittab to: id:3:initdefault:
>
> I am logged in as root, and run:  system-config-display --reconfig
>
> I go into the Hardware tab.  There I see it lists my video card; when I go
> into configure the video card, it shows VESA (my video card is not a listed
> card).  For the monitor type, I select LCD Monitor 1280x1024.  Back to the
> Settings tab, I select 1024x768.  I click on OK to save all this, and
> system-config-display ends.
>

First thought: Can you get a video driver for Linux from the
manufacturer of your card?  nVidia has them, so perhaps the others do
if yours is not nVidia.

Second, double check on the back of your monitor (or its manual) that
your horizontal and vertical refresh frequencies in the xorg.conf are
within tolerances and change them if not.

Third, are you sure your video card is VESA compatible?  (That one
just flashed through my head - wag.)

> I then run:  init 5
>
> It comes up in 640x480 mode (according to Preferences>Screen Resolution),
> and no other mode is listed.
>
> I go to Administration>Display, where it lists the current mode as 640x480,
> I select 1024x768 and click on OK (can barely see the OK button).  I open a
> terminal window and run init 3 to get me out of X.  I run init 5 again.  The
> login screen is at a higher resolution than before, but once I log in as
> root, it is back to 640x480!

To get out of X, just log out or type <ctrl><alt><backspace> (this
works in gnome, I'm guessing it also works in kde).

Also, you could try to reset the preference to 1026x768 before restarting X.

> The display subsection in /etc/X11/xorg.conf lists only the modes:
>  "1024x768" "800x600" "600x480".
>
You can edit this to be anything you like, including the 800x480 or
other w/s modes.  Restart X and they should take effect.

HTH.

mhr