new and can't figure out the books

[kenc3]

I am so new I can't figure out the books.
I was using XP (is that a bad word?) and doing a business there. Found out about Zen-Cart and tried using that. They mentioned that it worked better on Linux. That is the trail that got me here.
Now I am stuck on the problem everyone seems to have.
I downloaded and installed Fedora 10. Screen resolution highest was 800 X 600.
Tried everything I could find and nothing seemed to work.
Downloaded and made a 3 system setup on my computer with Mint6. Same problem.
Now I am in the process of downloading the latest Dist of Ubuntu. If I don't take something off, I will have 4 systems on the same computer. just trying to get the screen resolution right.
I would take XP off if I didn't have the stores to run while I am doing all of this. I need Skype (found that one) and PamFax which is a fax program that works with Skype. Don't think I can use it on Linux though. I will see if I ever get the screen resolution right.
I figure I will give LInux a year or two and if I haven't learned how it works by then, I will either have to give up or extend the time limit.
I am 68 and don't have a lot of extra years left to play with all of this.
American living in the Philippines.
Acer Celeron 2GHZ, with 40 Ghz and 80 GHz hard drives. Also have Nfren lcd monitor.

[saivin]

First of all, welcome to the Linux world.

I was using XP (is that a bad word?)

NO...! XP is also good. But we hate Microsoft's attitude and their way of doing business.

Now I am stuck on the problem everyone seems to have.
I downloaded and installed Fedora 10. Screen resolution highest was 800 X 600.

Ya..it happens at times. Such problems can be solved easily. That's why forums such as this exist, though it is suggested to take the 'Google' road first.

Tried everything I could find and nothing seemed to work.

Now, here is one thing you really need to learn to be helpful, both to us in the forum and to yourself. Avoid being vague. Try to give as much specific details as possible. Even if it is regular xp-style, right-click->select->right-click->select kind of things you tried.

I am 68 and don't have a lot of extra years left to play with all of this.
American living in the Philippines.

Ah.. did not read carefully first time. As it is said, better late than never. Grand welcome to you then.

...with 40 Ghz and 80 GHz hard drives.

Technically, that's 40GB and 80GB, not 40 GHz and 80 GHz for hard drives. But that's ok. Not a big deal...

Now, to your problem, somebody using GNOME may help you better, coz, all the distros you have mentioned are GNOMEs by default. (GNOME, KDE, XFCE etc are Desktop Environments. You may learn about them later).

If I remember correctly, you have to click on System in the top panel, then follow either Preferences or Administration (?), you will find something like 'Display settings'. Click on that, you may be asked to provide the root (administrator) password, once you do that a window will open. In the monitor section, there must be an option (drop-down list) to select the resolutions. Select the resolution your monitor is capable off.

If you don't find your resolution in that list then it means the display driver is not recognized properly. Come back here with that information so that we may further help.

[elija]

Hi Kenc3,

Welcome to Linux Forums.

It may be as simple as installing a driver for your graphics card. In Linux Mint, click on the Menu and then Control Centre. You will see a button labeled "Hardware Drivers". If you click that it will show any proprietry drivers available for your hardware. It will ask you for your password.

Check enabled for the drivers (if any) and they will be downloaded and installed for you.

[jayd512]

Welcome to LinuxForums!

Screen resolution highest was 800 X 600.

As mentioned by elija, it's probably nothing more serious than a video card driver? Do you know what video card is installed? If not, just open up a terminal (just like a command prompt) and type this in:

lspci | grep video

Post the output here and we'll get you taken care of!