How can I fix my Debian screen resolution?

Post Reply New Topic

I left Debian to go into XP for a bit, and now my Debian resolution is 800 X 600 and there is no higher resolution available in my list of two options (including 640 X 480).

How did that happen, and now what do I need to do?

does it work if you add the mode you want to /etc/X11/xorg.conf

I do not know how to do that, but this morning all is again well at 1440 X 900 and with all other options available. I use a KVMP switch and I know to not switch away during bootup or shutdown, but maybe yesterday I had switched away at some wrong time and my switch and its defaults were all Debian could see at a crucial moment.

I'm glad you got it going again. Xorg/X11 has always been a giant pain in the rear, at least for me. Even when I've added my desired mode in the xorg.conf file, it still sometimes wouldn't use it, even after rebooting or restarting the X server.

I hope to eventually learn about some of that stuff, but now this afternoon I am pretty sure my resolution problem is actually external to this machine. The problem has returned, but now I think it happens (even in Win2k) because my monitor/display and/or my KVMP switch are/is being confused by two machines not running at the same resolution. So at the moment I am here in XP, and please pardon me, because it is not affected by whatever is going on.

Confirmed! I shut everything down for a couple of minutes, then booted back into Debian and all is well. So, that means Debian checks for available resolutions (of course) each time it is booted, and it is getting some kind of low-resolution signal either from my switch or from my display when another machine is already running at a lower resolution. Win2k seems to be doing the same, but not XP ... and now this is a new-found challenge within my overall multi-boot, multi-machine setup!

Please excuse the ring.

I use Ubuntu (Debian-based) and this varies from one version to another. When 9.10 first launched, if my primary display was turned off during boot, I would get the wrong resolution once I turned it on. This went away in an update, but I don't know which one, and hasn't ever been an issue in 10.04. So I'm just guessing here, but are you using Debian stable, and if so is it possible that this update never made it into that branch?

I certainly do not know enough here to say for sure, but yes, I was already suspecting something along that line even before you mentioned it. Some of my Windows operating systems will boot in the dark and still display okay, and now I know at least XP will retain its resolution setting irregardless of my switching. But, my Debian 5 stable needs to see my monitor in its native mode while booting, and my browser in Win2k needs the computer on the other side of the switch to be in the same resolution in order to keep its own setting straight!