[Wftl-lug] Screen Resolution of 1440x900

[Peter Garrett]

On Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:29:53 -0800
John N <jen17 at pacbell.net> wrote:

> I then ran "sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg" and re-started X 
> with "ctl-alt-backspace"...

Which is the approved Debian Way (tm)  ;-)
> 
> After the GUI kicked in again there was the desired resolution as an 
> option! Hallelujah...
> 
> I have absolutely no idea what the above dpkg command actually did, but 
> it worked...

Basically, it probes your hardware and then rewrites your xorg.conf.  The
package configuration it reconfigures is for the package "xserver-xorg"

How's that for a highly technical explanation ?    *g*

>From "apt-cache show xserver-xorg" :

"Description: the X.Org X server
 This package depends on the full suite of the server and drivers for the
X.Org X server, as well as providing a configuration infrastructure to
manage xorg.conf.  It does not provide the actual server itself, but
removing it is strongly discouraged."

If you choose the "advanced" option, or whatever the utility calls it, and
enter your synch rates etc from your monitor's manual ( assuming you have a
manual - otherwise Google is your friend ;-)  ) , dpkg-reconfigure
xserver-xorg plonks the right numbers you entered, in the right places in
the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file for you ....

People used to constantly wreck their xorg.conf ( and xfree86 configuration
before xorg) , and nobody *ever* seemed to read the warning at the top of
the file before editing it ...  I had hours of fun on IRC with people who
came from Gentoo and thought they knew what they were doing, but
apparently had problems reading the comments in the file.  Evidently you
read them !

It's a bit less confusing than it was a couple of years ago - you used to
have to use an md5sum of the file, and generally fool around with a number
of back-and-forth commands to be sure not to break  the X debconf on your
next upgrade.

Peter