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1600x1200 resolution in Linux?


tyme
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having a strange yet interesting issue.

 

at work, i'm using a Dell C810 laptop, and I have Red Hat on a seperate HD to load up to work on Linux scripts. thing is, the laptop display can do 1600x1200, but from what i can tell when i am in Linux it doesn't do better that 1400x1050, and even worse, it takes that image and stretches it to 1600x1200, causing things to look odd. i.e.: gradients are no longer smooth, i can actually see the distinction between the color changes.

 

however, under my F7 it says "Font" in blue (function key operation), so, if i press function+F7 the resolution drops to 1400x1050, taking up a smaller portion of the display (i end up w/a black border around the screen). but all the images look right again...

 

is there some sort of an issue w/XFree86 doing true 1600x1200 resolution?

 

if you need more info I will try to supply it. XF86Config not posted because I didn't think to grab it before swapping out the Linux HD and booting up Windows.

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I don't know if this will help much, but I remember ready an article where the author was complaining about problems getting XFree to properly display resolutions above 1280x1024 (or something close to that).

 

The author had a 21 inch monitor and had to jump through a few hoops before she could get a res of 1600x1200.

 

I suspect your problem is similiar. Problem is that I can't remember where the article was, or what the solution was.

 

But I suspect that it is a problem with XFree86 and not your notebook.

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But I suspect that it is a problem with XFree86 and not your notebook.

i'm sure it's not the notebook, because windows does it fine. i'll hunt around a little and see if i can find an answer.

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tyme,

If u go to http://www.linux-laptop.net/dell.html , u will see three links that describe linux users' experience with the Dell C810 laptop. One of these links ( http://www.m5computersecurity.com/Linux-on-C810.html ) does mention 1600x1200@16bpp using the binary nvidia drivers from http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?IO=linux_di...display_archive on redhat-7.1.

 

Also, a lot depends on the amount of video RAM available. If its too low, then 1600x1200 with 2d and 3d hardware acceleration may be impossible. I know for sure that on 3dfx voodoo3 16MB cards, XFree86 DRI (3d acceleration support) is automatically disabled at resolutions of 1280x1024 and above because 16MB is too less and DRI with insufficient memory can cause lockups. If u are not interested in playing games, u could disable 3d acceleration and get a higher resolution. But ur first attempt should be to get 1600x1200@16bpp (32bpp is too much to expect).

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thanks for the info ndeb. i had gone to linux-laptop.net when i first installed onto this system, but I must have missed that one or not payed attention enough to pick up on the resolution issue.

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tyme,  

Are u getting 1600x1200@16bpp on XFree86 now ?

although the monitor works when i set it to 1600x1200, @16bpp or @32bpp, it still does not appear to be _true_ 1600x1200. regardless of the bpp. It's still taking the 1400x1050 and scaling it to look like 1600x1200.

 

I took a look at my XF86Config (oddly enough, there's no -4 file, just the regular file) and in the monitor section all the lines start w/1400x1050, if i remember correctly. there are no 1600x1200 lines tho. I was going to check and make sure it was using XFree86 4, but I haven't gotten around to that.

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took a look at my XF86Config (oddly enough, there's no -4 file, just the regular file)

Are u using redhat-8.0 ? I though u were using mandrake.

 

I was going to check and make sure it was using XFree86 4, but I haven't gotten around to that.

Its XFree4 for sure since the geforce2 go is supported only in XFree4.x and so are the nvidia drivers.

 

in the monitor section all the lines start w/1400x1050, if i remember correctly. there are no 1600x1200 lines tho.

Are u using the nv driver or nvidia driver? When u r testing X, it is using the nv driver which lacks 3d support (if not 2d support as well). But the nvidia driver has 3d support and hence can't go as high as 1600x1200. Thats my guess.

Can u try and use the nv driver and see if that gives u 1600x1200 during normal X session ?

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Are u using redhat-8.0 ? I though u were using mandrake.

I use Mandrake on my personal system. This is a work system, and I have been instructed to use RH 8.0-it is purely for testing purposes. I'm not even permitted to connect into the network when in Linux.

 

Its XFree4 for sure since the geforce2 go is supported only in XFree4.x and so are the nvidia drivers.

Ok :)

 

Are u using the nv driver or nvidia driver? When u r testing X, it is using the nv driver which lacks 3d support (if not 2d support as well). But the nvidia driver has 3d support and hence can't go as high as 1600x1200. Thats my guess.  

Can u try and use the nv driver and see if that gives u 1600x1200 during normal X session ?

 

I'm not sure the NV driver will work correctly. I will give it a try, but if I remember, it causes the screen to go haywire (as mentioned in the link you provided to me).

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nv driver=no good

 

i tried lower resolutions, but same issue. it seems that things get distorted when the screen is stretched to fit the size of the monitor-that's all I can figure out. issue still remains, because if I can get 1600x1200 working that resolution should be the right size, and things wouldn't get distorted......

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tyme,

What do u mean by screen stretching to fit the size of the monitor ? Does it require use of monitor controls ? If yes, then its not the fault of the nv driver. Also, try using xvidtune to set the refresh rate and other parameters to see if that reduces the distortion. If nothing helps, switch to the nvidia drivers and disable hardware acceleration (u won't need that at work).

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I found that a changing screen size is normaly a refresh rate problem. When I switch to a lower or higher resolution I need to change the refresh rate to get the screen to fill the monitor without having to stretch. Some resolutions use one rate and some another. Since I don't change often its not a problem.

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I have the same experience as Pzatch and thats why suggested using xvidtune. In my experience, increasing the vertical refresh rate expands the screen to fill the monitor.

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