Stupid Gnome Question

I’m trying to learn a little Unix in my spare time. I have Mac OS X Server and Red Hat Linux available to me, and have learned how to do some basic chores from the command line window (restart, change login, create file or folder, rename file or folder, move file or folder, delete file or folder, etc.) and how to use the GUIs the same way I’d use my regular computer environment (MacOS 8.6).

First sticking point: Linux boots into an 800 x 600 window on a monitor /video card combo capable of doing 1024 x 768 with ease. I’d prefer it to boot at a 1024 x 768 resolution. I’ve poked around in controls and preferences and have yet to find Gnome settings that will let me specify screen resolution (or screen depth either one for that matter). How do I get out of Big Pixel City?


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Let me direct my husband (UndeadDude) to this thread. I’m sure he can help ya :wink:



I have over 2000 posts, dammit! Show some respect.
http://fathom.org/opalcat/showmerespect.jpg
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com

Yeah, you won’t find a setting in GNOME, because this is below GNOME – it’s an XFree86 setting.

First thing to do is make a backup copy of /etc/X11/XF86Config. If you run into trouble you can restore this file, and get back to where you were.

After that run (as root) xf86config. If it’s not in your path, you can probably find it as /usr/X11/bin/xf86config

This will give you an interactive process to to set up your monitor and video card again. If you don’t remember what you originally used for things like your refresh rates, you might want to print out /etc/X11/XF86Config as a reference.

In part of the process, it will have you make resolution choices. It will encourage you to choose everything your card supports.
The best way to avoid the problem of getting the wrong resolution is to only choose the one you want.

UDD wanted me to make sure that answered your question ?



I have over 2000 posts, dammit! Show some respect.
http://fathom.org/opalcat/showmerespect.jpg
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com

Hi Undead Dude, Hi Opal!

We-elll…

From the terminal window I know how to create directories, move directories and files, rename them; and how to move up and down the hierarchy. From the GUI…well, hell, it’s a GUI, you double-click on things and they open or they launch, right?

…right…??

yeah right. I’m root. Found xf86config. In the GUI, it looks like a gear and identifies itself as an executable in the Gnome mouse-hover-identify place at the lower left. Double-clicking on it does nothing. Right-clicking on it gives menu options that include “Run…” …

“Run…” brings up a window that asks, essentially, “Run this sucker with WHAT?”. Huh? Whaddaya mean, with what? With flair? With parachutes? It’s a freakin’ PROGRAM, ain’t it? OK, try the command line…

Had some difficulty arriving there via terminal.

The X11 directory in my Linux seems to be titled X11R6; there was no stand-alone X11 directory in there.

/usr/X11/bin/xf86config…well, from “/” I could obtain “/usr” with no problem, but whenever and however I tried to arrive at
“/usr/X11R6/bin/”, I found myself at “/bin”.
Daemons? (Nosferatu, perhaps?)

Bash from the command line does not understand xf86config as an instruction (thinks I wanna create such a directory in
/tmp). Bash doesn’t know “run xf86config” either. “Run? Do I look like an Adidas commercial?”

Fooey. Close up shop. Asked if I wanna save settings. Thought I’d save time by saying “no”, hadn’t changed none of 'em yet. Uh…
can’t boot to Gnome now. Time to reinstall.

How does one run an application? Is an application in Unix the same as a program, i.e., it “runs itself”? Or it it closer to a document, i.e., it needs a program to create the environment in which for it to run? Is it customary to bribe it first in order to get it to run? Ought I to sacrifice a floppy disk at a crossroads at midnight or something like that?


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First of all, exit out of x-windows. This is not straightforward to a newby. For most setups, this means you become root, and edit /etc/inittab

There’s a line that says:
id:5:initdefault:

change the 5 to a 3. Save. Reboot.

You now should not have any x-windows.

Now, run the command, as root:
xf86config

That’s all you have to type.

If it doesn’t work, type
/usr/bin/X11/xf86config

Use xf86config to configure the thing.

Test it by running xinit as root. Do you get a workable x-windows system? If so, everything is fine.

Change the inittab entry from 3 back to 5. Reboot.

That’s all you have to do. yes, I know, a big pain in the ass. You could do it easier by hand (directly editing the configuration file), probably, without needing to reboot. You could set it up so that you have a range of resolutions, and easily switch between them. But, unlike Windows, you can’t switch color depths (go between 256 and 65k colors, for example).

My advice is scrap Linux and stick with Mac OS X. Or if you just wanto learn, just stick with the command line in Linux, don’t even deal with X-Windows at all.

I am here posting this from within Linux Gnome so as to disguise the fact that I still feel like a complete idjit.

I’m still staring at an 800 x 600 pixel screen.

I can’t believe that in order to switch the screen res, I have to run one program to make it possible to run another program to edit something else in a less-than-obvious way and reboot with fingers crossed…??

C’mon…there must be some little freeware app for Linux that does this. You can’t tell me that the flurry of folks using Linux has NOT caused a rather insistent outcry for an accessible way to do this!

Okay, so you want a higher res, do you? Here is what to do:in Gnome, start up a terminal (its the little black icon near the netscape one). Then, in the terminal, type the following

su (enter)

Enter your root password on the next line. Then type the following:

/sbin/init 3 (enter)

Wait until you see a prompt asking you to login. Then, login as root

Type the following

whereis xf86config

It should list a few directory paths, you are looking for one that has ‘bin’ in it, and ends with EXACTLY xf86config (not xf86config.man.1, etc). Type that path exactly as you see it, then press enter

Example

#whereis xf86config
xf86config:/usr/X11R6/bin/xf86config:/usr/local/doc/xf86config.man.1;/usr/doc/xf86config.tgz

#/usr/X11R6/bin/xf86config

Now, xf86config should start
Before doing anything, open up another virtual terminal (alt-F2), and login as root again. Then type

pico /etc/X11/XF86Config

to open the configuration file. Switch back to the first virtual terminal (alt-F1), and answer the questions, referring back to the second virtual terminal (alt-F2) for reference. (use the arrow keys to scroll around)

When you finish, type

startx

to boot X
If X dies or freezes or otherwise craps out, hit CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit back to a terminal.

If all this doesn’t work, email me – avalys@optonline.net.

Make sure you backup your XF86Config file before doing all this!! Use the following command (as root)

cp /etc/X11/XF86Config /root/

Good Luck!

I’m assuming you’re using LinuxPPC. If you are, you may be using XPmac instead of XFree86, which works differently. Depending on your BootX/yaboot/miboot settings, you may or may not be using the open firmware video driver. The best place for you to get help is the LinuxPPC mailing list, at http://lists.linuxppc.org/