[ale] New Distros, X11 Blues

[Iram Hernandez]

I've had similar problem connecting my Ubuntu computer to and HDTV.  The problem seems to be that the intel drivers do not have enough Virtual Screen Space by default.  Adding the "Virtual" line to your xorg.conf should do it.

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Monitor         "Configured Monitor"
        Device          "Configured Video Device"
        SubSection      "Display"
                Virtual 1440    900
        EndSubsection
EndSection

Another thing I've had to do is force the X11 to use a specific screen resolution instead of the one that it thinks it should use (this could be caused by your monitor sending messed up data to your video card).  This can be done by using the "PreferredMode" Option.  Again, this is one line in your xorg conf.

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "Configured Monitor"
        Option          "PreferredMode" "1440x900 at 60.0"
EndSection

Of course, you will need to check what specific resolutions are available from your video card and your monitor.  You can use the xrandr utility (this is run on the command line while X11 is running).  The same data can also be gotten from the X11 logs (although the specific location escapes me at the moment).  Good luck.




--- On Tue, 12/30/08, John Mills <johnmills at speakeasy.net> wrote:

> From: John Mills <johnmills at speakeasy.net>
> Subject: [ale] New Distros, X11 Blues
> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org>
> Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 8:02 AM
> ALErs -
> 
> I'm having trouble with graphics on a new Linux
> installation. Box is a 
> Dell Inspiron 2400 using its built-in Intel graphics.
> Monitor is Samsung 
> LCD 1440x900 ('WXGA').
> 
> I tried FC10 and found: (1) default graphic installer
> dropped into one of 
> two modes - clear graphic Fedora splash screen but keyboard
> and mouse 
> dead, or nasty wrapped and overlaid graphics screens that
> can hardly be 
> read, (2) installer ran fine in text mode but X11 won't
> start - initial 
> X11 'gray tile' comes up OK, but screen dies when
> the window manager kicks 
> in - repeated pattern of micro-sized text or graphics
> (can't tell which) 
> with dead keyboard and mouse.
> 
> So ... I tried openSuSE-10.3: (1) best results were a clean
> 1024x(900?) 
> presentation roughly in the middle of the screen - but I
> couldn't expand 
> the desktop to 1440x900, (2) full-width low-res display
> that left my 
> monitor in trauma - wouldn't sync cleanly to another
> box until I 
> power-cycled both the monitor and that other box.
> 
> Last night I downloaded the openSuSE-11.1 DVD and will try
> it, but I did 
> want to give FC10 a run.
> 
> Any suggestions on getting this to work or what may be
> going wrong?
> 
> TIA.
> 
>   - Mills
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