Re: [tlug] Newbie buying a computer and installing Linux on it --screen resolution on PowerBook G4

["Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon" <ronfaxon@example.com>]

Joseph Essertier wrote:

> I have only one major problem that i need to fix before i can actually 
> start using the applications in Ubuntu Linux.  The screen resolution 
> is not right for my screen.  Normally in OS10 it's 1152 X 768.  (It's 
> a wide display, 15 inches).  In Ubuntu it's something like 640 X 480, 
> and that's the only option i have.  So the screen is too big for the 
> display?  I don't know what the correct terms are to describe the 
> problem, but one negative effect is that i cannot click on many 
> buttons because they are "below" the display.  I cannot see or click 
> on certain things on the left and right sides either.


I had a similar problem when I installed (SuSE) Linux on an NEC laptop.  
What I did worked, but it was a sloppy way of going about it.  Using 
Knoppix (sp?), I took a digital photo of the screen as it was shutting 
down - as it listed the resolution(?) of the screen (and other 
information) before shutting down.  I then had a careful look at those 
numbers on anther computer, and - using YAST (formerly only on SuSE I 
think?  Is it being used by other distros now?) - I manually set the 
screen size and (very important) the screen refresh rate.  As long as 
you have this information, you can manually set them, but be careful not 
to make wild guesses about the refresh rate, as you can burn out the 
monitor that way.  In any case, since setting the NEC that way, it's 
been working fine (except the BIOS thing, which is not related to the OS).

Sorry for the sloppy reply, but that's the best I can do.

Lyle