[oclug] Tweak SaX2 or XF86Config for better resolution & refresh

[Brad Barnett]

On Mon, 7 Oct 2002 09:36:01 +0100
Kevin McLauchlan <kevinmcl at magma.ca> wrote:

> At home, I'm doin' OK, visually speaking, with 
> Linux (SuSE 8.0).  At the office, I have a dual-
> boot Dell laptop (Win NT and SuSE 8.0) that is 
> always connected to a 21-inch Dell monitor.
> SaX2 (SuSE's X configuration tool) detects my 
> hardware (ATI Mobility M3 AGP 2X, and the 
> monitor), but won't give me more than 
> 1024x768 at a punishing 60Hz refresh rate.  
> 

SuSE 8.0 should be using X4.1 or 4.2, which means that the configuration
file it will parse _first_ is XF86Config-4.  So, first things first, check
and see whether or not there is an XF86Config-4 file.  If there is, that
is the one that your X server will most likely be using.  IF that file
isn't found, then it will parse XF86Config.

With some distros the order is userdir/XF86Config-4, userdir/XF86Config,
/etc/X11/XF86Config-4, /etc/X11/XF86Config, so check all of those paths.

This file could have different options than the file you listed below, and
may be the reason you have a lower refresh rate.

Next, you should look at the output of /var/log/X.something.log.  This
file will tell you why (or at least give hints) as to why X is limiting
the display resolution.

After checking the log file and the config-4 file, hopefully some things
will resolve themselves.