Setting a Default/Changing Resolution

[DoomUs]

Is there any mechanism anyone knows of to set a Default resolution?

I'm using IceWM, and as far as I can tell, there are no resolution options accessible from the GUI.
This is a LiveCD I'm building/configureing, so I'd strongly prefer not to add any new software (X software or otherwise).

What I'd REALLY like is to have resolution options at the syslinux boot menu, and I haven't figured out how to do that yet. By the way the "vga" boot parameter has no effect whatsoever on the resolution my OS boots to.

Here are the facts:
(1) My system boots
(2) When it boots, there's a GUI
(3) That booted GUI is IceWM
(4) That IceWM GUI has a resolution (I think it's 800x600 but the point is that it is displaying and there is a resolution)

Given these facts, it seems sensible to conclude that the resolution booted to IS SET SOMEWHERE.

My question is, WHERE IS THAT SOMEWHERE?

It has been suggested to me that xorg.conf or a similar file holds these properties, HOWEVER, xorg.conf does not exist, and I'm having trouble creating one with Xorg -configure or other methods.
(See "Debian Live Project LiveCD Resolution settings (X, IceWM)" in the Debian section of this site)

Because this is a LiveCD system, I'd like to modify the resolution options/settings before ever booting the LiveCD, i.e. There must be a solution that doesn't require me to boot the system, install software, run more/other software...

I'm sure an Xpert could do this, I unfortunately am not one. I hope there's one out there who will help me. Thanks.

[jayd512]

Is this something along the lines of what you're looking for?
IceWM FAQ and Howto: Miscellaneous Questions

[DoomUs]

This isn't a bad solution, but my biggest issue is that because it's a live CD, the xrandr options will be different on different systems, and the resolutions will all be wrong.

[jayd512]

In that case, the best I could suggest is having the CD use a generic driver that should work on most any machine to give you the best possible options.

[DoomUs]

In that case, the best I could suggest is having the CD use a generic driver that should work on most any machine to give you the best possible options.

Can you give me an example of what you're talking about? Would I go searching the internet for a driver file? a module? where would I put it in my OS? And, once I had that, and it was all set up, would that driver then give me a static set of "xrandr" options from which I could generate a toolbar menu to choose from or something?

Please go into your solution a little deeper and help me understand. My goal again, is to give the user options for resolution. Would this driver solution automatically change the syslinux menu to include resolution settings to choose from, or automatically add a GUI selector for resolution?

Thanks.

[jayd512]

I've never made my own custom LiveCD, so I can't go into depth on this...
But I'm thinking that you should be able to include something along the lines of the vesa driver. While you wouldn't have any 2D or 3D acceleration options, vesa handles quite a large number of graphic chipsets.