[SOLVED] Need to get 1600 x 900 monitor working

[linux-box]

Hi All,
Ive been dabbling with Linux for a few years on and off and
have always been left disappointed because I can never get
the syetm to send the correct resolution and
aspect ratio to my monitor.

I'm now trying to get a (admittedly quite old) hardware
setup to work properly with openSUSE. The Display and
Monitor settings offer a disappointingly small and useless
set of "Sizes" none of which suit my monitor.

Can any one tell me how to get the system to send 1600x900
24bit pixels at 60Hz to my monitor, in a simple step by step
fashion?

This harware was used together with XP and worked perfectly
before I dumped it for Ubuntu/Unity (didn't like
it/wouldn't work) then SUSE/KDE.

My Monitor is a Benq G2020HD

Other details are as follows...

OS: Linux 3.4.11-2.16-default i686
System: openSUSE 12.2 (i586)
KDE: 4.8.5 (4.8.5) "release 2"

HP Compaq DC7100 SFF(PC923A)

Processor (CPU): Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Speed: 2,994.35 MHz
Cores: 2

Graphics card
Vendor: Intel Corporation
Model: 915 G
2D driver: intel
3D driver: Unknown classic (8.0.4)

Many thanks. Any help greatfully received!

Gil.

[atreyu]

Hi,

First and foremost, your monitor must support the resolution you are desiring to use. That should be simple to look up.

Assuming the monitor can handle it, it is possible that you just need to enter the proper Monitor information into an Xorg configuration file. This file is typically located here:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

although these days the config file is not required for X to run. You can still use it though, and often need to, when trying to squeeze the most out of your hardware.

In particular, I think you ought to try setting the right values for VertRefresh and HorizSync in your xorg.conf file. You can create the file (as root) if it does not exist. Try to find the right values for those two parameters in the documentation for your monitor. Then in your xorg file, you'd have something like:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
        ModelName    "Model Name"
        DisplaySize  380        300
        HorizSync    30.0 - 83.0
        VertRefresh  56.0 - 76.0
        Option      "dpms"
EndSection

You also want to set your actual resolution, too. In the same config file you'd have something like:

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Videocard0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     16
                Modes    "1600x900"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Then you'd have to restart X.

[linux-box]

Hi. Thanks for your help with this.

I made the config file and put it where you said. It looks like this...

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "Benq"
        ModelName    "G2020HD"
        DisplaySize  443 248
        HorizSync    30.0 - 83.0
        VertRefresh  56.0 - 76.0
        Option      "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Videocard0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     16
                Modes    "1600x900"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Note my entries for...

        DisplaySize  443 248
        HorizSync    30.0 - 83.0
        VertRefresh  56.0 - 76.0

the docs for my monitor say 1600 x 900 is correct and HSync and VRefresh are 83 and 76. If I enter these numbers only the boot sequence hangs and I have to use safe mode to delete the conf file and reboot. Should I be entering 83.0 - 83.0 and 76.0 - 76.0?

I looked up what DisplaySize expects and have entered the physical size of the screen in mm.

The conf file is doing something because all the text on my screen is smaller now - I guess because the system now knows my screen's true DPI?

I can not see 1600x900 in the monitors control panel. 1024 x 768 is the highest so my image is still very stretched and blocky.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks,
Gil

[atreyu]

i just saw a boo-boo in my config, although don't think it will matter. in the Screen section, change Depth of 16 to match DefaultDepth of 24, e.g:

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Videocard0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
                Modes    "1600x900"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

Edit: Leave off (comment out) DisplaySize and see if it makes a difference. VertRefresh and HorizSync should be all right, but not really sure...

You can also try using X to configure itself, if your version of X supports it. boot into text mode (run level 3 or 2 depending on distro) and run:

X -configure

it should write a temporary xorg.conf in /root. and then test it with something like:

X -config /root/xorg.conf

it should tell you how to test it, though.

[linux-box]

Hi all. Quick update, apology and lesson to be learned.

I'm sorry to have wasted your time with this - the problem was all due to a monitor lead with a missing pins! I installed OpenSUSE on another virtually identical setup expecting the same problem and it all went swimmingly and just automagically worked perfectly. It got me to thinking about the differences so I examined the monitor leads and noticed the one on the problem setup had two missing pins. When I replaced the lead for one with the full compliment of pins, again, just switched it all on and it worked perfectly.

So if anyone comes here with similar issues - get them to check their monitor lead.

Again, many thanks for all the time you spent helping me.

Gil.

[atreyu]

Excellent, glad you got it sorted.

Will mark this thread as Solved for you.