x11 scale desktop to greater virtual resolution

[Pasha]

Hello everyone, I was wondering if there is a a way to make x11 have a resolution greater than that of your screen, but with the same aspect ratio, and then scale it so that it fits your monitor. this would let netbook users like me do things like for instance see the bottom of the vlc options box, play battle for wesnoth, ... it could also be useful for mobile devices with tiny resolutions. the ability to zoom and scroll around would also be nice. If anyone has heard of such things, or has any idea who to contact about possible development of such a project I would love to find out. Thanks very much in advance.

[Roxoff]

You need to edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf if you want to do this.

Back up your original before you start, edit the file in your favourite text editor and look for the 'Screen' section which should be near the bottom. It should be sectioned off with 'Subsection "Display"' blocks, and each of these should contain a 'Depth' line, a 'Modes' line and a 'ViewPort' line. Find the one that you're using and add a new line next to the others that looks a bit like this:

    Virtual     x  y

where x and y are the dimensions of the virtual screen size you want.

Note, the xorg.conf man page suggests using a multiple of 8 or 16 for the x dimension.

You'll need to log off to restart your X server to use the new settings, and if they don't work you may need to drop to a text console to restore your xorg.conf file.