15.4 Widescreen and linux

[geejo]

15.4 Widescreen and linux

Have any one tried Linux with wxga or wsxga+ resolution on those widesceen laptop .
Do we have to edit Xfree to get it working?

Most Live cd (knoppix,slax) use 1024x768 as default resolution .Did any one face a problem using these live cd ( like having to enter resolution manually to get it working)

and what about ATI9700 graphics support in linux

 

[phisrow]

You may well have to manually edit the available resolutions in your xconfig file. This should Just Work(tm) assuming things are otherwise set up correctly. I don't know what the physical pixel resolution of your screen is offhand, but you probably do. Just be sure to edit the available resolutions under your preferred colour depth.
As for ATI9700 driver support, I have rather bad news. It sucks, badly. You have your choice of either the open source radeon generic drivers, which are easy to install, and relatively clean, stable, sane, and compatable. Unfortunately, they are near worthless for 3D work. ATI's binary drivers have actual acceleration support; but they are a ghastly, abortive, hack-job. I've not yet gotten them working on my 9600 and have been using the radeon generics for the moment.

 

[geejo]

here's the thread i came across in another linux forum might be useful for those try to get wxga to work with linux (855 chipset)
editing xfree for xwga http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=221053

 

[Abhi]

XFree86 - NVidia GeForce 4200 Go

For the NVidia cards there is the official XFree86 driver (i.e., "nv") that comes bundled with Red Hat 9 or the binary driver provided by NVidia (i.e., "nvidia"). Note that 3D acceleration is only available when the nvidia driver is used. Besides that both drivers work well. Here is my XFree86 config file.

The nvidia driver can be downloaded from from NVidia's web site. Installation is straightforward following the included instructions. I have tested the 1.0-4363 and 1.0-4496 release without trouble.

8600 note: It has been reported that the 4496 release has troubles on the 8600 (at least with the 1680x1050 display), but that the 4363 works OK.

The 1680x1050 resolution of the display (and probably other wide resolutions) is not recognized by XFree and it has to be added. Add the following section to your /etc/X11/XF86Config file:

Section "Modes"
# Here we define 16:10 modes
Identifier "16:10"
# 1280x800 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 49.68 kHz; pclk: 83.46 MHz
ModeLine "1280x800" 83.5 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828
# 1280x800 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 62.62 kHz; pclk: 107.21 MHz
Modeline "1280x800" 107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835
# 1280x800 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 71.40 kHz; pclk: 123.38 MHz
Modeline "1280x800" 123.38 1280 1368 1504 1728 800 801 804 840
# 1280x800 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 84.80 kHz; pclk: 147.89 MHz
Modeline "1280x800" 147.89 1280 1376 1512 1744 800 801 804 848
# 1680x1050 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 65.22 kHz; pclk: 147.14 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
# 1680x1050 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 82.20 kHz; pclk: 188.07 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096
# 1680x1050 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 93.76 kHz; pclk: 214.51 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103
# 1680x1050 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 111.20 kHz; pclk: 256.20 MHz
Modeline "1680x1050" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112
# 1920x1200 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 74.52 kHz; pclk: 193.16 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200" 193.2 1920 2048 2256 2592 1200 1201 1204 1242
# 1920x1200 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 93.97 kHz; pclk: 246.59 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200" 246.59 1920 2064 2272 2624 1200 1201 1204 1253
# 1920x1200 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 107.10 kHz; pclk: 282.74 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200" 282.74 1920 2072 2280 2640 1200 1201 1204 1260
# 1920x1200 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 127.10 kHz; pclk: 337.58 MHz
Modeline "1920x1200" 337.58 1920 2072 2288 2656 1200 1201 1204 1271
EndSection


And then add the following line to the "Monitor" section:

UseModes "16:10"

Finally add the 1680x1050 (or whatever non-standard wide mode is applicable to your display) to the front of the mode lists in the "Screen" sections.

Note that I experienced problems when coming from graphical mode back to text mode in that the screen would be all garbled. I disabled the display expansion in the BIOS and the problem disappeared. Your mileage might vary.

 

[Abhi]

Got the above form a website i consulted about getting linux to run on my inspiron 8500.

Hope it helps.