Hannspree XM New York/NVidia X6600 GT

[Stonelaughter]

I have Ubuntu 8.04 fully updated using the Gnome Desktop (i.e. the default one that came with it). I have the hardware in the title and I have installed Compiz for the funky effects on windows.

I have for weeks been unable to change my screen resolution - it says "This version of the X Server is not compatible with the XRandR extension. Run nvidia-config as root and then restart the X Server." I used to be able to do this and I'm not sure if Compiz has broken it or not. Being a n00b I have no idea what that message means; although I have run the command it suggests and all it seems to do is set the display settings back to "defaults" and disable all my Compiz selected effects!!

Next... on Tuesday I took delivery of the monitor in the title; before I had a bog-standard old CRT. Linux doesn't recognise it and tries to set some "Square" resolutions but doesn't try the (widescreen) 1440x900 which the screen can do... and so I end up (apparently) in 1024x768 - although it doesn't look stretched and it's got no borders.

Can I get Linux drivers for this shiny new monitor, or can I get some that'll work? How do I get back my Compiz? How do I get to choose my resolution again?

Well, actually, my question is "What things do I need to check, and for what, to get my system working the way it should, please?"

I'm familiar with sudo, and with editing config files in a text editor, and with (to an extent) installing packages using either Synaptic or the command line... but please go gentle with me as I'm no expert!

Thanks

[denniscox]

"What things do I need to check, and for what, to get my system working the way it should, please?"

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

That's where you start. You will see your screen resolution listed in the file - this can be painful - but at least it's not sendmail.cf

[Stonelaughter]

OK... and is it likely that putting a "custom" value such as 1440x900 in there might make Linux confused? Is there anything else I can do once I've tried this? Do I need to reboot after I've done it?

Thanks for your help so far BTW

[denniscox]

Yes, find the multiple locations of the screen resolution. Then restart your X server.