I’m running OpenSuSE 11.3, upgraded from 11.1, with the Nvidia video driver. The font size for Yast, Firefox, and several other things is too small. I’ve tried changing it using the Appearance section of Personal Settings. That changes the font size in some contexts such as the window titles and task manager, but not in all contexts. In Firefox I’ve tried something similar, but it doesn’t affect the font used in the tabs, function bar on the top, etc. The font in those parts of Firefox is the same as the one in Yast. So there’s some other font setting around, but I haven’t been able to find it. I’ve tried Google and SDB, but have no success searching there.
Can I please have a look at your xorg.conf? Paste the output of:
cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
And also, did you manually install the nvidia driver or is it off the nvidia repo?
xorg.conf:
/…/
SaX generated X11 config file
Created on: 2010-10-05T21:28:46-0400.
Version: 8.1
Contact: Marcus Schaefer <sax@suse.de>, 2005
Contact: SaX-User list <https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/sax-users>
Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)
PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
Section “Files”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/local”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/Type1”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/URW”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/Speedo”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/PEX”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/kwintv”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/truetype”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/CID”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled”
FontPath “/usr/share/fonts/xtest”
FontPath “/opt/kde3/share/fonts”
InputDevices “/dev/gpmdata”
InputDevices “/dev/input/mice”
EndSectionSection “ServerFlags”
Option “AllowMouseOpenFail” “on”
EndSectionSection “Module”
Load “glx”
Load “type1”
Load “extmod”
Load “dbe”
Load “freetype”
EndSectionSection “InputDevice”
Driver “kbd”
Identifier “Keyboard[0]”
Option “Protocol” “Standard”
Option “XkbLayout” “us”
Option “XkbModel” “microsoftpro”
Option “XkbRules” “xfree86”
EndSectionSection “InputDevice”
Driver “mouse”
Identifier “Mouse[1]”
Option “Buttons” “5”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/mice”
Option “Name” “ImPS/2 Generic Wheel Mouse”
Option “Protocol” “explorerps/2”
Option “Vendor” “Sysp”
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5”
EndSectionSection “Monitor”
Option “CalcAlgorithm” “XServerPool”
DisplaySize 370 301
HorizSync 31-70
Identifier “Monitor[0]”
ModelName “1280X1024@75HZ”
Option “DPMS”
Option “PreferredMode” “1280x1024”
VendorName “–> VESA”
VertRefresh 50-75
UseModes “Modes[0]”
EndSectionSection “Modes”
Identifier “Modes[0]”
EndSectionSection “Screen”
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection “Display”
Depth 15
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1280x800” “1152x864” “1280x768” “1280x720” “1024x768” “1280x600” “1024x600” “800x600” “768x576” “640x480”
EndSubSection
SubSection “Display”
Depth 16
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1280x800” “1152x864” “1280x768” “1280x720” “1024x768” “1280x600” “1024x600” “800x600” “768x576” “640x480”
EndSubSection
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1280x800” “1152x864” “1280x768” “1280x720” “1024x768” “1280x600” “1024x600” “800x600” “768x576” “640x480”
EndSubSection
SubSection “Display”
Depth 8
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1280x800” “1152x864” “1280x768” “1280x720” “1024x768” “1280x600” “1024x600” “800x600” “768x576” “640x480”
EndSubSection
Device “Device[0]”
Identifier “Screen[0]”
Monitor “Monitor[0]”
EndSectionSection “Device”
BoardName “Framebuffer Graphics”
Driver “nvidia”
Identifier “Device[0]”
Screen 0
VendorName “VESA”
EndSectionSection “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Layout[all]”
InputDevice “Keyboard[0]” “CoreKeyboard”
InputDevice “Mouse[1]” “CorePointer”
Option “Clone” “off”
Option “Xinerama” “off”
Screen “Screen[0]”
EndSectionSection “DRI”
Group “video”
Mode 0660
EndSectionSection “Extensions”
EndSectionpwa@suillus2:~> cd /etc/X11
pwa@suillus2:/etc/X11> ls
XF86Config Xresources x11perfcomp
XF86Config-20051030 fs xdm
XF86Config-20051030-0 fvwm2 xim
XF86Config-20060408 gdm xim.d
XF86Config-20060507 kconfigrc xinit
XF86Config-20060820 lbxproxy xorg.conf
XF86Config-20060919 proxymngr xorg.conf.backup
XF86Config-suillus qt_plugins_3.1rc xorg.conf.d
XF86Config.YaST2save qt_plugins_3.2rc xorg.conf.install
XF86Config.install qt_plugins_3.3rc xorg.conf.md5
XF86Config.saxsave qtrc xorg.conf.saxsave
Xmodmap rstart xsm
Xmodmap.remote susewm
My Nvidia version came from the nvidia repo (I think). I got it using the one-step installation accessible via the SDB (SDB:Nvidia drivers).
I had the same problem. These are the steps I took to solve it. Run all these commands as root (by doing su -) -
- Make a backup of xorg.conf incase anything goes wring:
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak
- Modify xorg.conf and add these two lines under the “Monitor” section
Option "UseEdidDpi" "FALSE"
Option "DPI" "96 x 96"
So it should end up looking like:
Section "Monitor"
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
DisplaySize 370 301
HorizSync 31-70
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "1280X1024@75HZ"
Option "DPMS"
Option "PreferredMode" "1280x1024"
VendorName "--> VESA"
VertRefresh 50-75
UseModes "Modes[0]"
Option "UseEdidDpi" "FALSE"
Option "DPI" "96 x 96"
EndSection
- Save and close the file. Now log off KDE and when you log back on the fonts should be fine
The fonts in Yast are still too small, though the other ones I’ve looked at seem OK (Firefox in particular). I don’t remember having this problem when I was running 11.1, so it’s not too likely that it’s merely an 11.1 carryover.
How did you come up with that magic incantation?
I remember reading it somewhere (think it was the Ubuntu forums) where someone else was experiencing a similar issue and by forcing the DPI (Dots Per Inch) in xorg.conf the fonts looked OK. If you want to change the font size in YaST log in as root (by doing su -) in Konsole and run:
qtconfig
Then you can change font options under the Fonts tab
I did the qtconfig thing and discovered that according to qtconfig, the standard font is what it is supposed to be – and the apps I’ve looked at now have the correct font.
Except, that is, for Yast. I tried reinstalling Yast but that made no difference. As far as I can tell, Yast has no place for setting that kind of thing.
Did you run qtconfig as root? I have successfully changed my font in YaST running qtconfig as root
Hi
It’s best to verify first using xdpyinfo as to the DPI;
eg for my setup it’s;
xdpyinfo |grep resol
resolution: 104x102 dots per inch
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 (x86_64) Kernel 2.6.32.24-0.2-default
up 3 days 20:25, 2 users, load average: 0.11, 0.07, 0.02
GPU GeForce 8600 GTS Silent - Driver Version: 260.19.21
Running qtconfig as root was the trick. Thanks much!
No problem, glad it worked 
I am using a television with an HDMI cable coming from a nvidia gt240. I tried the qt config fix and it did not work. The fonts are unreadably small. I cannot even use kmag as the font just magnify and are still unreadable. I tried the command for xorg.conf and it said no such file or directory (i have been cutting and pasting into open office which is appropriately sized to read my terminal readout). Any ideas?
This may (or may not) be relevant, but is this really your display size?
DisplaySize 370 301
Nevermind. I just needed to change the dpi in my font settings.
Nevermind. I just needed to change the dpi in my font settings.
My bad. I thought you were the OP. They’re sorted and so are you! 
For anyone reading this thread, you might profit by reading this other one: Advice on font size.