When I try to play tux racer on my linux computer the monitor goes black and shows a message that says the VGA mode is unsupported. Is there any way I can fix this? I’m using a monitor that has a max resolution of 1024x768, could Tux Racer be trying to set it higher?
Nope. Your problem is that your /etc/X11/XF86Config file doesn’t have a modeline supporting the resolution that Tuxracer wants to use.
You can either change the resolution in your ~/.tuxracer/options file or you can add a modeline to your XF86Config file.
Here are my Modeline settings:
Section “Modes”
Identifier “Modes[0]”
Modeline “1024x768” 71.39 1024 1040 1216 1400 768 768 778 802
Modeline “1024x768” 81.59 1024 1040 1216 1400 768 768 778 802
Modeline “1024x768” 92.96 1024 1040 1216 1400 768 768 778 802
Modeline “800x600” 62.40 800 848 960 1096 600 600 610 626
Modeline “800x600” 68.64 800 848 960 1096 600 600 610 626
Modeline “800x600” 72.80 800 848 960 1096 600 600 610 626
Modeline “640x480” 58.24 640 656 720 904 480 480 490 501
Modeline “397x288” 58 397 410 490 690 288 288 295 306
EndSection
Logon as root and use xvidtune to tweak the settings for your machine. This could cause problems with your monitor if things are too far off track, but most modern monitors can handle this OK.
If you are using Suse, then you could try sax (for XFree version 3) or sax2 (for Xfree version 4) instead of using my modelines and xvidtune.
xf86cfg is the XFree configuration tool, and you should probably try it if you don’t have sax. It doesn’t run for me (I just tried it) but that could be because I’ve got three X displays running with three different users logged on. 
It might also just be easier to change the ~/.tuxracer/options settings to match the resolution and color depth you are currently using on your desktop.
I seem to remember the default settings for tuxracer as being 640x480, and using the desktop bpp automatically.
If your X11 software is significantly older than six months (or so), consider downloading and installing a newer version. In addition to possibly supporting your hardware better, it will probably have bugfixes and support for newer hardware, should you decide to upgrade your video system.
It also just dawned on me that you may be using an LCD monitor that can’t do the default 640x480, in which case you should definitely change the tuxracer options.
If you have a CRT, then the modelines might be set so far off that your monitor can’t display anything. You didn’t say if the message was coming from the PC or from the monitor itself.
If it is coming from the monitor, then you need to use xf86cfg to enter the data for your monitor - if you’ve got a monitor that can only do up to 1024x768, then it is probably old enough that it doesn’t tell the PC what frequencies it can handle. You’ll need to look them up and enter them manually.
Another thing is that if your monitor is that old, how old is your PC? Tuxracer uses open GL. A modern graphic card can do it, but an older one probably won’t. If your PC is so old that the card can’t do openGL, then it is probably also too slow for a software emulation. I know. I tried tuxracer on my old machine, and it sucked. It was a 166MHz PC with a non-openGL graphic card. One frame per twenty seconds is just no fun at all.
More info on your system would help.
It’s an older computer. 500MHz PIII with an ATI Radeon 7000 video card. The monitor is a MAG innovision 15 inch LCD with a max resolution of 1024x768. I didn’t find a “modes” section in my xf86cfg file (or the tuxracer options file).
What version of XFree86 are you using? With recent versions, many cards don’t need to have explicit modelines configured, because the driver can figure things out on its own. I’ve never had a problem with this, despite my card being autoconfigured, but I also don’t have an LCD monitor.
How can I tell? I am running Red Hat 9, so I assume I have a fairly recent version.
If you have vanilla RH9, you probably have XFree86 version 4.3.0, which is the most recent one. If you want to verify, however, just type X -version from any command prompt.
There isn’t a modes section in the tuxracer options file.
Since you are using an LCD screen, I would set the resolution in the tuxracer options to match the resolution of the screen:
set x_resolution 1024
set y_resolution 768
Your Radeon should do just fine with the graphics, and shouldn’t have a problem with the higher resolution.
What I meant was that I couldn’t find the tuxracer options file at all. I looked through the folder the rest of the tuxracer files were in, but I didn’t find it.
I wouldn’t worry about setting Modelines in your XF86Config file. I haven’t needed those for several years. X will figure them out for you automatically as long as you specify the correct horizontal and vertical refresh values for your monitor.
For example, my Monitor definition:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Samsung SyncMaster 955DF"
HorizSync 30-85
VertRefresh 50-160
EndSection
Then, in order for your display to automatically display alternate resolutions, specify the resolutions you want to be enabled in your Screen section for the screen depth you are using. (Tux Racer is probably using 640x480)
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen 1"
Device "NVidia Geforce"
Monitor "Samsung SyncMaster 955DF"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "512x384" "400x300" "320x240"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection
In your home directory, tuxracer creates a directory named .tuxracer
To edit the file, open a text editor and go to open a file. For the file name type in:
~/.tuxracer/options
The ~ is important, as is the dot after the /
The ~ means “my home directory”, and the dot is a valid part of the name. Dot files or directories are normally “hidden” on a Unix system, and you must make a special effort to have them shown in your browser or in a directory listing.
I got the program running without changing the resolution. Once I found the options file it was easy. However, I am getting lower framerates than I expected. I turned on the option to show framerate, and even at 640x480 (windowed) the framerate never exceeds 15/sec. I tried changing some of the options to reduce graphical quality and increase framerate, but the effects were barely noticible. So, is there some thing I can change, or is my hardware insufficient?
I believe Radeon 7000 supports OpenGL, so, is my computer possibly trying to emulate it instead for some reason?
I’ll admit I don’t knwo much about the Radeon.
Poke around here for some info on ATI under Linux:
http://gatos.sourceforge.net/
Also, try running 3Ddiag and post the results here. If there is anything about Mesa in the output, then you’ve got the GL emulation and need to work on your graphic setup some.
www.atitech.com doesn’t list Linux support for the 7000. Gatos is your only hope.
http://dri.sourceforge.net has Radeon stuff which I guess might work.