Monitor resolution?

[seven-e]

Hi I'm kind of new to all the linux stuff but the first thing i notice when firing up gnome is that the monitor doesn't display everything too clearly and way to bright. I tried playing with the xorg.conf but still no success. Does it have something to do with a wrong driver because I have no idea how to fix that. Need help!!

I'm using:

Samsung SyncMaster 206BW
Ati Radeon HD 3850

my xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies Inc ATI Default Card"
Driver "vesa"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "SyncMaster"
VendorName "Samsung"
ModelName "206BW"
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
DisplaySize 1680 1050
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies Inc ATI Default Card"
Monitor "SyncMaster"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

[devils casper]

Which version of Debian do you have? You have to install ATI Driver. Execute this

cat /etc/debian-release

Post output here.

[seven-e]

Casper,

I just installed ati's catalyst driver 8.01-x86 but when I restarted Xorg the screen just got worse and text was ubersmall at login and some other apps. Also, the windowmanager lags big time now. I tried the aticonfig --initial -f command but still got these problems. Anyway the output of the file you requested doesn't exist but I do have debian_version file. The output is:

lenny/sid


thanks for you reply

[devils casper]

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "SyncMaster"
VendorName "Samsung"
ModelName "206BW"
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
DisplaySize 1680 1050
EndSection

Are HorizSync and VertRefresh rates supported by your Monitor? Check Monitor's Manual. Check Resolutions too. You have to edit xorg.conf file manually.

Anyway the output of the file you requested doesn't exist but I do have debian_version file. The output is:

lenny/sid

My mistake. Correct filename is debian_version only.

[seven-e]

Yes, I've checked the manual that these are correct settings. The perfect setting for this monitor would be 1680x1050@60Hz. Although I manage to get that setting, the quality still isn't what it should be. Could this be driver related ?

Regards

on a sidenote: when I try to switch back to my original xorg.conf file, I get the login screen but when I try to log in, the screen flickers and xorg seems to reset so I get the login screen again. what's happening ? I want to get rid of the ati driver =(

[devils casper]

Press Alt+F2 and type this

gksu gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

It will open xorg.conf file in Gedit with root privileges.
Replace Driver "ATI" with "vesa", save file and press Alt+Ctrl+Backspace OR reboot machine.

[seven-e]

I changed it into vesa like you said but when restarting xorg results in not being able to log in. So when I get the login screen but when it tries to log in it gets back to the login screen.

[devils casper]

Press Alt+Ctrl+F1. It will drop you at command line login prompt. Check if it allows you to log in. If you logs in successfully, execute this

su -
/etc/init.d/gdm stop
startx

Post error message here, if any.

[seven-e]

I got this message:


Fatal server error:
Caught signal 11. Server aborting
xinit: connection to x server lost


Do you think it's a better idea to install the free open source drivers?
I got the xf86-video-ati-6.7.197.tar.bz2 file

[devils casper]

Try it. Extract tar file and read instructions carefully in ReadMe file first.


Have you tired executing this

su -
dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Select default options and select 'vesa' driver in Drivers List.