On Mon, 12 Nov 2001, Erik Curiel wrote:
> The real man's (or woman's) way is to use the xf86config app. This will
> earn you respect. The real hardcore geek's way is to edit the XF86Config
> file by hand (it's in /etc/X11---read the man file). This will earn you
> undying glory and several ulcers.
Bah. That's for pansies, too.
The *REAL* man's way to do it is edit the /etc/X11/XF86Config
file by hand. In my day, you had to figure out your modelines
yourself.
And I'm not kidding.
On with the show:
(Different distros put the XF86Config file in different locations.
Typically this is /etc/X11/XF86Config in most Linuxen; Mandrake
*does* put it there. If you are running XF86 4.0, the file
is named /etc/X11/XF86Config-4)
Chances are you already have the resolution modes you need
*defined* in the XF86Config file; they just need to be
added to the available resolution list for your card. You
can check to see that the mode is there by opening the file
and looking for lines like this:
ModeLine "1024x768" 65.00 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777
806 -hsync -vsync
(on one line - this is for 1024 x 768 @ 65h.).
You can write your own modelines if you like, but I wouldn't do
that just yet, because:
IF YOU PUSH YOUR MONITOR PAST THE LIMITS IT CAN HANDLE IN THE
VERTICAL SYNC RANGE IT *WILL* DESTROY ITSELF.
THIS IS NOT A JOKE.
That said. . .
Go down to where you see the "Device" sections. You're
looking for the one with your video card. For example, if you
have an ATI Mach64, it will say:
Identifier "ATI Mach64"
There are bunch of other lines that are pointless for our
purposes (such as VendorName and BoardName), but make sure that
you have "Chipset" and "VideoRam" commented out (the server
will auto-probe those.
Now, go to the "Screen" section that uses the Device "your
video card". You'll see lots of 'Subsection "Display"' areas.
Each one of these corresponds to a basic color depth. Chances
are you are loading X at 16 or 32 bits per pixel; with a shitty
card it may default to 8, and I don't know of any reason why
you would use 15 or 24, but it is possible. Either way, there
are lines that say this:
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
This is the list of the resolutions you have in order. You
can cyle through them at any time with <CONTROL><ALT><PLUS> or
<CONTROL><ALT><MINUS>. In this instance, the server loads
to 1280x1024 and then can be switched to the others.
You can switch the order of the modes or add new ones.
Very simple.
Once you're done, do not be stupid and just start your X
session. Test it, first:
X --probeonly
If there are no errors, fire up X however your normally
do (startx -- -nolisten tcp -bpp 32 2>&1 | tee $HOME/.X-log)
but keep your fingers over <CONTROL><ALT><BACKSPACE>. If
you hear the monitor start whining, press them immediately
(C-A-B instantly slays an X Server unless you have foolishly
added the DontZap line to the config file).
I have my old X site archived if you want to download it;
it has a much more in depth tutorial about configuring these
things.
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