XFree86 (RedHat 7.3) and Resolution Why am I Limited?

[BDawg]

I have no idea why, but it seems that I'm being limited to 800x600 resolution. I really don't know what bit depth I using...it's at least 256 colors. What am I doing wrong in the XF86Config file (listed below). The only things I've done is 1. Comment out every resolution below 1024x768, and 2. change the driver from "svga" to "mga" (which I've seen referenced as the correct driver for matrox cards some places. My card is a 4MB PCI Matrox Millenium. I've posted the important section of my configt below.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of graphics device sections may be present

Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic VGA"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "Unknown"
Chipset "generic"

# VideoRam 256

# Clocks 25.2 28.3

EndSection

# Device configured by Xconfigurator:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Matrox Millennium"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "Unknown"
VideoRam 4096
Option "sw_cursor"
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************

# The Colour SVGA server

Section "Screen"
Driver "mga"
# Use Device "Generic VGA" for Standard VGA 320x200x256
#Device "Generic VGA"
Device "Matrox Millennium"
Monitor "GDM-4011P"
DefaultColorDepth 32
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection

# The 16-color VGA server

Section "Screen"
Driver "vga16"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "GDM-4011P"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "1024x768" #"640x480" "800x600"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection

# The Mono server

Section "Screen"
Driver "vga2"
Device "Generic VGA"
Monitor "GDM-4011P"
Subsection "Display"
Modes "1024x768" #"640x480" "800x600"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection

# The accelerated servers (S3, Mach32, Mach8, 8514, P9000, AGX, W32, Mach64
# I128, and S3V)
Section "Screen"
Driver "mga"
Device "Matrox Millennium"
Monitor "GDM-4011P"
DefaultColorDepth 32
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection

 

[TJ69]

Run XConfigurator as root to change the resolution.

 

[BDawg]

If I try to set anything with Xconfigurator, it switches to the screen with a grey background and an x cursor and never changes. I have to switch to the ctrl-f7 session and I'm told that there is a problem with my X Configuration (which I know there isn't).

I can switch resolutions with ctrl-alt-+/-, but they're always the virtual desktops with the huge icons and scrolling to see the standard desktop. If I log off, or restart the X server, it just resets to the original 800x600 resolution. 😛

 

[LNXman]

Originally posted by: BDawg
If I try to set anything with Xconfigurator, it switches to the screen with a grey background and an x cursor and never changes. I have to switch to the ctrl-f7 session and I'm told that there is a problem with my X Configuration (which I know there isn't).

I can switch resolutions with ctrl-alt-+/-, but they're always the virtual desktops with the huge icons and scrolling to see the standard desktop. If I log off, or restart the X server, it just resets to the original 800x600 resolution. 😛

What is defined in your Monitor section?
What does /var/log/XFree86.0.log say? <- this should tell you why it defaults back to 800x600@256, and if there are any problems. . .

 

[BDawg]

S-U-C-C-E-S-S, that's the way you spell success!

Apparently, I have one of the few Matrox Millennium cards with 2MB instead of 4...the RedHat tried to tell me I had 4, but when I tried to use them in XFree, the log said I only had two.

Thanks for pointing out the log's location!