I just installed Suse 11.3 64bit on a new build. My video card is a nvidia gt240. I am using the default drivers. My monitor is a NEC 17" LCD.
When I boot up the screen resolution defaults to 1280x1024. I can go to applications>configure desktop>display and set it to 1024x768, which is my resolution of choice, and it works until I reboot or log out and log back in, then it resets to 1280x1024.
I would like to make 1024x768 the default so I don’t have to keep changing it. Is there a way to do this? The output of xrandr looks like this:
$~> xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 8192 x 8192
DVI-I-1 connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 338mm x 270mm
1280x1024 60.0 +
1152x864 75.0
1024x768 75.1 70.1* 60.0
832x624 74.6
800x600 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
640x480 72.8 75.0 66.7 60.0
720x400 70.1
HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VGA-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Is there something I can change to set a new default resolution?
Thanks caf4926, but I am afraid I am still stuck. The guide goes way over my head with run level 3 and deleting my video drivers and then installing different drivers.
I found the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d folder by starting at the root folder and navigating to it. Inside is several files, including one “50 monitor.conf”. The output of that file is as follows:
Section “Monitor”
Identifier “Default Monitor”
If your monitor doesn’t support DDC you may override the
defaults here
#HorizSync 28-85 #VertRefresh 50-100
Add your mode lines here, use e.g the cvt tool
EndSection
Is there something I can add in this file to set my monitors default resolution? I don’t know what a mode line is, or a cvt tool. I have spent quite a bit of time with Google on this problem but I don’t really seem to find anything I can do short of going back to school for several years to learn computer programming. At 58 years of age I really don’t want to do that. I just wanna surf the innernets.
OK caf4926, I’ll add the nvidia repo. I appreciate the help on this. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Google researching this problem, I am not sure anyone has ever really fixed it, although it seems to be a common problem with 11.3. Can I just install the NV drivers without deleting the nouveau drivers first?
I have used various distros of Suse for years, dating back to when it was SuSE and from Germany before Novell bought it. My last was 11.1, before that 10.0, before that 9.2, which was one of the best, rock solid and it just worked. Thing is, in all of them from 9.2 up I was able to set this same monitor to 1024x768x60. And it always stayed set. 11.3 won’t stay set. For me and apparently a lot of other people. SaX is gone, and the auto configuring replacement doesn’t work very well. The really ironic thing is that most of the other people complaining about this problem have their system defaulting TO 1024x768 and want to change it to something higher. mine is the opposite.
I suppose I can just set it every time I boot up, just takes a few seconds, and I leave my computer running for months at a time anyway so it isn’t really that big of a deal. But it is still an annoyance in what is otherwise a very nice distro. I hope this gets ironed out in 11.4. That should come out about the time SSDs become affordable enough for even a cheap old geezer like me.
Just looked through the thread you linked, that is some good info. I will go over it tomorrow and decide whether or not to use the nvidia drivers. Things are working now and I don’t want to lose my setup.
I’m not sure why you would want to choose another resolution below the native one for your monitor, as it usually results in a blurry looking display. However, you can just add an entry entry to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50 monitor.conf like this
If you decide to install the nVidia driver you can then use Yast to install nvidia-settings then open a terminal and as su type nvidia-settings and you’ll get a very simple GUI tool that’ll even save to the config file as an option.
Mr. deano_ferrari, you sir, are a true hero. That was exactly what I was looking for. It worked great. Thank you, sir.
I need the 1024x768 resolution because at 58 my eyes aren’t what they used to be, at higher resolution it is hard for me to read text. This monitor supports this resolution just fine so I use it. Perhaps I should get a bigger monitor, a 17" with a 4 to 3 aspect is kind of small these days.
caprus, I probably will switch to the nvidia drivers at some point. This is a new computer I just put together and I am still getting things set up. For right now the nouveau drivers are working just fine. I bought this card (a GT240) because it has passive cooling and low power requirements. The GT240s don’t seem to be too popular.
I probably will switch to the nvidia drivers at some point.
FYI:
I only loaded the Nvidia drivers “the hard way” (not very hard really) for a long time. I tried the one click from time to time and always regretted it. Lately I used the NVidia repo from Yast and found it quick, easy and painless. Now I don’t have to remember to update the drivers every time the kernel is updated, Hooray!
>
> caf4926;2251009 Wrote:
>> BTW
>> You might want to consider installing the proper nVidia driver rather
>> than using the default nouveau
>>
>> ‘nVidia Driver via Repo in 11.3 - Guide’ (http://tinyurl.com/29vv32s)
>
> Just looked through the thread you linked, that is some good info. I
> will go over it tomorrow and decide whether or not to use the nvidia
> drivers. Things are working now and I don’t want to lose my setup.
I just fought this when I got a new toy: 1920x1080 monitor to replace the
1440x900 one I had been using. In my case, the Nvidia setup program would
set any desired resolution but, like OP, it wouldn’t survive a restart. In
my case, the problem went away when I removed an old copy of xorg.conf from
/etc/X11 which wasn’t being updated. This musical chairs routine with the
new video setup is getting to be a pain!
I need the 1024x768 resolution because at 58 my eyes aren’t what they used to be, at higher resolution it is hard for me to read text.
If you want a sharp display, you can keep the higher native resolution, and adjust the icon and font sizes to suit your eyes
For Gnome, you can adjust via nautilus. In the edit menu select preferences. Under “Icon View Defaults” and “List View Defaults” change the zoom level to 75% or whatever. I’m not a Gnome user, so there may be other things you can do as well to adjust system-wide fonts and icon sizes.
For KDE, this can be changed via Menu > System Settings > Appearance > Font etc
ditto on deano’s (love that name) advice on using the native resolution for the lcd monitor and adjusting everything else… most times forcing the monitor to translate to another resolution will make a less sharp image especially evident in rendering fonts (in spite of any sub-pixel magic…kinda defeats the purpose).
i think anyone with declining eyesight will find as i have that large monitors are truly a joy… my upgrade to 28in 1920x1080 made my desktop experience fun again by giving space to all the programs and widgets the increased amount of RAM makes possible now. i would really hate giving up the side by side twin full page layout now that i’m used to it.
for a brief time i had a 37in 1080p tv hooked up that eventually ended up in my son’s livingroom, and it was such a nice way of using a computer that i will seriously consider that for myself when i win the lottery
P.S. i am pro-Sax3 on a utility that solves the absence of Sax2 in 11.3, is ati/nvidia compatible and makes opensuse the “go-to” distro for migrants from windows. my 2cents.
P.S. i am pro-Sax3 on a utility that solves the absence of Sax2 in 11.3, is ati/nvidia compatible and makes opensuse the “go-to” distro for migrants from windows. my 2cents.
I hear you on this. Even a basic GUI tool that could list xrandr display modes avaialble, allow the user to select the preferred mode, and tweak of 50-monitor.conf accordingly.
AFAIU, KDE4.6 onwards will allow the user to do this persistently via the display settings utility. (At the moment it does not survive a reboot).
I went to this page SDB:NVIDIA drivers - openSUSE and used the one click install method to add the nvidia repository and install the nvidia drivers. It was actually quite easy, even for me. After a restart I logged in under my normal user name and clicked the lizard kickoff button (KDE desktop) then “applications”, then “system”, then “configuration”, then “Configure NVIDIA X Server Settings”, then “X Server Display Configuration”. That allowed me to set the monitor resolution and apply it but it wouldn’t save it. It wouldn’t survive a restart.
So I logged in as root and ran the same routine. After clicking “apply” I was able to “Save to X Configuration File”.
That’s all there was to it. I am now running with the nVidia drivers. Much better than the nouveau default drivers, at least on my system. For one thing desktop effects now works and I now have wobbly screens and other neat stuff to play with. Under the nouveau drivers some of my icons would show up in the system tray as just a blob of color. That is now fixed.
