[Discuss] Wide screen monitor

[stanfish]

Gustavo,
I followed your instructions, and using "vi" (which was the only text 
editor that seemed to be available in Mepis 7.0)...(and figuring out how 
to use 'mode' and 'text' took some fooling around..blew my morning), but 
I did finally edit the xorg.conf file back to the 'vesa' driver in both 
card0 and card1 which allowed me to get back to the mepis GUI with 
'startx'.

I had previously downloaded a file from the AMD/ATI website (/ 
ati-driver-installer-8-4-x86.x86_64.run/ ). So I opened root and in a 
terminal window did: sh / ati-driver-installer-8-4-x86.x86_64.run 
/ which started an automatic installation process, but at the end there 
was no difference in the screen resolution. Still couldn't get a 
1680x1050 resolution.
The file was  designed for RedHat and SuSE specifically so I guess that 
was why it did not have any affect.
Thanks again for your help .
Stan Fisher

Gustavo González wrote:
> 2008/5/7 stanfish <stanfish at shaw.ca>:
>   
>>  Is there any way I can get into Mepis again and recover from this or is
>> this a re-install. I could try a live version of Mepis, but I wouldn't know what to change to
>> get rid of the incorrect driver. Re-install is not too much of a problem because I have no files yet in the
>> Linux (just a beginner y'know)
>>  Stan Fisher
>>     
>
>    "Hey! Relax. Take a deep breath. when life gets you down, know what
> you got to do?
>     Just keep swimming... Just keep swimming..."
>
>      Dory, From "Finding Nemo"
>    ===========================================================================
>
>    Ok... this is part of the process of leaving the beginner label...
> so, do not worry, growing up normally hurts...
>
>    But it was my fault too, i forgot to tell you: "Before anything,
> make a backup of your config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf"
>    Something simple like:
>    % cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup
>
>   Forgive me, sometimes is hard to explain all the technical details
> in just one mail. Anyway, you know something new
>   very important: before test anything, make a copy of the files you
> are going to modify. If something goes wrong, then you
>   can undo your actions and none gets hurt.
>
>   I guess this is the right moment to start learning about the
> graphical environment (Xorg) in your linux system. As you noted some
>   lines above, the "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" is the file where you define
> all the details about your graphical configuration.
>   Features like: video driver, mouse options, keyboard language,
> monitor options, etc.
>
>   This file is text-plain, so you can edit it with any program like
> "vi", "emacs", "gedit", etc, etc. So, my first invitation to you is:
>   study the xorg.conf syntax, look for manuals like this:
> http://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.0/doc/xorg.conf.5.html
>
>   About how to resolve your specific problem right now, we have two options:
>
>   1. Edit the xorg.conf file and change the line where the video
> driver is defined. Look for something like:
>
>     Section "Device"
>                  Identifier  "Something_like_Card0"
>                  BoardName   "Your_Board_Reference"
>                  VendorName  "Video_Card_Company"	
>                  Driver      "YOUR_CARD_DRIVER"
>     EndSection
>
>     Sometimes xorg.conf files have more options or less... so, do not
> worry if your file is a little different.
>     On this case, the option we care is in the Driver line. Where i
> put "YOUR_CARD_DRIVER" you should
>     put something like "vesa" (which is a generic driver very useful
> for situations like this).
>     If you do "startx" from console and you get your normal graphical
> environment, then you can keep trying
>     new configurations to get your ATI card working well. Someday,
> after a lot of readings and mess, you will
>     have your video perfectly configured, then you become an expert on
> this specific topic.
>
>    2. When your system boot, and you get the black console... log in
> as root, and run this command:
>        X -configure
>
>     This command try to create an xorg.conf file, guessing what kind
> of hardware you have. The file is created in
>     your current directory with a name like xorg.conf.new and you can
> test it from console, doing:
>     X  -config xorg.conf.new
>     If the graphical display shows you a mouse cursor on a gray
> screen, it works, so you can replace your real
>     xorg file, doing: cp xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf
>
>     Note: To kill your test environment running, do: Ctrl + Alt + Backspace
>
>     One of this procedures should help you to restore your "X" without
> reinstalling your system.
>
>     Let me know if you can make it or if you have new problems. Good luck!
>
>