Need higher screen resolution

[mpspence]

Dr. Creel, et. al.,

   First to Dr. Creel:  Thank you very much for PelicanHPC!

   My main question is: How do I boot up the Xfce Desktop at greater than 800x600?
   I'm using Matrox's Millenium 450 video card which I've used at many higher resolutions before.
   At the initial (menu) screen, (choosing the default option), and hitting the "Tab" key, I've tried adding
   each of these to the list of boot parameters:

   screen=1024x768
   screen=1280x1024
   screen=1600x1200
   xmodule=mga
   xmodule=svga
   vga=normal
   vga=771

   But there is no change. The Desktop is always at 800x600, and that is the maximum resolution
   listed in "Display Settings".

   I've even tried entering "sudo startx -- -dpi 100" instead of just "startx" when I want to get the GUI.

   Does anyone know what I should do?  Have I missed something simple/obvious?

                                                  Thanks in advance,

                                                  Mitch

[Michael Creel]

I'm glad you like it. For higher screen resolutions, there are cheat codes, such as vga=792. Just press tab when at the syslinux menu, and add that. For other resolutions, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_BIOS_Extensions#Modes_defined_by_VESA . I _think_ this will work, but I haven't experimented with it.  Please let me know if it works.
Cheers, M.

[mpspence]

Dr. Creel,

   Thanks very much for your reply.

   Yes, I tried appending "vga=7**" to the boot string, and it worked fine as long as I was in terminal    
   mode.  But after I entered "startx", the Xfce4 desktop STILL came up at its *maximum* resolution of
   800x600.

   In perusing the PelicanHPC v.1.9 CD, I looked into the "live" folder, and then at the "parameters"
   file.  It showed a boot option of "xvideomode=RESOLUTION", where I presume RESOLUTION to be a
   string like "1024x768","1280x1024",...,"2048x1536"(my card's maximim res.).  So I tried appending
   "xvideomode=various resolutions greater than 800x600"... all to no effect.

   The last idea I tried was to look into the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file for any clues (such as lines that
   start with "(WW)" or especially "(EE)"), and there were some -- the lines with "(WW)" were innocuous
   though (based on past experience); but the lines with "(EE)" weren't particularly enlightening.  They
   complained that AIGLX couldn't find mga_drv.so (the mga driver my card uses) at the location expected,
   which was a different location from where the X server successfully found the mga driver.

   I doubt that this was the problem though, since 1) I didn't get a "signal 11", i.e., the log file was named
   "Xorg.0.log", not "Xorg.fail.log", and 2) a "fallback" solution was used - the AIGLX routines were simulat-
   ed in software.

   So, bottom line (do econometricists use that term alot?), the 800x600 resolution limit is still an unsolved  
   mystery.

   One suggestion for your next release I'd like to leave you with though:

   Please have AIGLX find the mga driver at the same location that the X server finds it.

   Thanks again for your time and attention to my email.

                                                             Sincerely,

                                                      Mitchell Spence

[Michael Creel]

It seems like PelicanHPC is having a hard time with your video card, for some reason. I know that people have used cheat codes to increase screen resolution, so that works. The fact that the proper driver is not found is significant, I think. PelicanHPC relies on the autoconfiguration tools that are used by Debian Live, there is no extra stuff for hardware configuration. Perhaps there is a nonfree video driver for your card that could be added (apt-get will work on the frontend if you have an Internet connection).

Thanks for the feedback.

[calcpage]

I thought my resolution was incorrect until I right clicked the panel a chose desktop #2.  The panel at the bottom of the screen was up in the middle and I couldn't maximize a pdf (for example) until I did that.

Just a thought,
AJG