Ubuntu, KVM and Resolution

Ubuntu is a nice alternative to Windows.  I have tried few distros like Redhat, SuSe, Mandrive, and Ubuntu is the distro I finally settle mainly because of the APT package system.  I do like to use Linux but I don't like to "fix" Linux.  Flexibility and customizability of Linux to me is a double edged sword, it is great for enthusiasts, but terrible to people just want to use.  Ubuntu is closest I can found (mind you, there is always something better in Linux world)

However, there is one essential thing I really hope can get fixed that is setting the resolution of a monitor.  Yes, there are GUI tools for it but they all seem to work only if the auto detection work.  For instance, if the monitor is connected through KVM, you are out of luck.  You are most likely need to set it manually, and doing so it isn't not nice at all.

For instance, I have recently moved to a newer version of Ubuntu which uses a newer implementation of XOrg.  Unfortunately, the changes made in the new XOrg breaks the driver of my old AGP GeForce graphics card.  I don't really bother too much about all these 3D thing, but one nice feature of a property GeForce driver is its ability to force a resolution and a refresh rate graphically (okay I am still using a CRT monitor).  Without the nVidia driver, I need to do things manually.  To make things even more complicate, the old xorg.conf has been demoted in favor of something else (though you can still use it)

Anyway, cutting a long story short, I had tried a few settings combinations and with my limit knowledge and impatience, I gave up after ending up many times in recovery mode (so I can change my xorg.conf settings)  I finally gave up on my GeForce 400MX card and replaced it with a Radeon 9600 card.  And this time, things is a bit easier.  I can use the xrandr to set the resolution and refresh rate using the instructions from this site:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-change-display-resolution-settings-using-xrandr.html

Except, I put all these commands in a script file, and call this script file within the /etc/gdm/Init/Default

As I said at the beginning, I would prefer this can be done graphically so average users like myself can do simply basic things such as setting resolutions and refresh rate easily without the need of editing setting files with text editors.

Broken Ubuntu 10.10

I have just upgraded my desktop to Ubuntu 10.10 after I have tried it on my laptop. Unfortunately, it wasn't that smooth this time. It seems the nVidia driver for my GeForce MX card is very broken in the new version. I do manage to get the graphical interface back after using the generic driver rather than the propriety driver.

Since I am using a KVM switch, the DPMS didn't quite get detected properly and I were left with this nasty 1024x768@60Hz resolution. One thing that I had kept complaining is how nasty of Linux to configure simple thing as resolution. After a few search, I finally found this blog which describes the use of xrandr to set a custom resolution. After a few attempt, I finally get my 1152x864@70Hz resolution back. Here is the link to the blog if you have a similar problem. Good luck!

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-change-display-resolution-settings-using-xrandr.html

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Resolution

By the way, here are the commands I used.

1. cvt 1152 864 75


2. xrandr --newmode "1152x864_70.00" 96.75 1152 1224 1344 1536 864 867 871 902 -hsync +vsync


3. xrandr --verbose --addmode VGA-1 "1152x864_70.00"


4. xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode "1152x864_70.00"

The changes above is temporary, to make it permanent, you have two options:

1) store these lines onto a file called ~/.xprofile on your home directory to make them permanent for a particular user

2) Modify the /etc/gdm/Init/Default file, and add the lines after right after the

PATH=/usr/bin:$PATH

OLD_IFS=$IFS

p.s. instead of adding the lines directly to the Default file, I chose to create a CustomResolution file with permission sets to 555 , and placed this file in my /usr/local/sbin folder, and called this file from the Default.