Setting 1280x800 Resolution on Dell B130 [SOLVED]

Hi All,

I promised to provide more information on how my Dell Inspiron B130 loptop workes with Mepis. So this is one installment. As I've posted elsewhere
http://www.mepis.org/node/10245
Initial installation of Mepis 6.0 has been flawless. I shall post separate threads on different "minor issues and annoyances", and also their solution if they exist. This thread is on how I successfuly set up 1280x800 screen resolution on a Dell Inspiron B130 laptop.

This computer is capable of 1280x800 (24-bit) resolution. The Mepis 6.0 Live CD has the option, by pressing the F3 button on startup to choose that resolution. However, it will not "take" upon installation to the hard drive. I even tried the suggestion of first installing the OS and then going back to the Live CD and choosing F3, and "reinstalling X config" from the mutilities tool. That does not work.

Let me clarify that last statement. Apparently it "does work", only it doesn't do anything

My /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, down in the 'Section "Screen"' section only has info for 1280x800 but it doesn't do anything! And when I start up KDE's KinfoCenter and look at the X-Server section it only showed 1024x768. So what was going on??

I started digging around, and found a few references on mepis.org inidicating that perhaps I should place an entry "xres=1280x800" at the very end of the "kernel" line in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. Nope, that didn't work.

Then I remembered a "fix" that had been done, not too long ago, with the "915 fix". It turns out that the "915resolution" package is installed in 6.0 it just doesn't do anything. It needs to be configured. That was the solution.

Here's what I did. Start a konsole and enter the following command as user root:

915resolution -l  # that's a lower-case letter "L" at the end

This will display a number of "modes". Here's what I got:

root@1[grub]# 915resolution -l
Intel 800/900 Series VBIOS Hack : version 0.5.2


Chipset: 915GM

BIOS: TYPE 1

Mode Table Offset: $C0000 + $269

Mode Table Entries: 36

Mode 30 : 640x480, 8 bits/pixel

Mode 32 : 800x600, 8 bits/pixel

Mode 34 : 1024x768, 8 bits/pixel

Mode 38 : 1280x800, 8 bits/pixel

Mode 3a : 1600x1200, 8 bits/pixel

Mode 3c : 1920x1440, 8 bits/pixel

Mode 41 : 640x480, 16 bits/pixel

Mode 43 : 800x600, 16 bits/pixel

Mode 45 : 1024x768, 16 bits/pixel

Mode 49 : 1280x1024, 16 bits/pixel

Mode 4b : 1600x1200, 16 bits/pixel

Mode 4d : 1920x1440, 16 bits/pixel

Mode 50 : 640x480, 32 bits/pixel

Mode 52 : 800x600, 32 bits/pixel

Mode 54 : 1024x768, 32 bits/pixel

Mode 58 : 1280x800, 32 bits/pixel

Mode 5a : 1600x1200, 32 bits/pixel

Mode 5c : 1920x1440, 32 bits/pixel

Notice that "Mode 49" shows 1280x1024, 16 bits/pixel? Well, that's "close enough" You need to modify the /etc/default/915resolution file. This must be done as user root too. back the file up before you make any changes

I modified mine as follows:

Change the line that says MODE=auto to MODE=49 (no spaces)

Change the line that says XRESO= to XRESO=1280

Change the line that says YRESO= to YRESO=800

File the changes.

Notice that I put "800" rather than "1024" for YRESO above.

Next, (and this might be a bug), you need to create a link to autostart the 915resolution when your system boots and X Window begins. As user root create the following link:

ln -s ../init.d/915resolution /etc/rc5.d/S12915resolution

The other "start" and "stop" entries in the rc*d files exist, but the important one in run-level 5 is missing.

You can test it by issuing "/etc/init.d/915resolution restart" as user root and then pressing ctrl+alt+backspace to restart X. Test that the whole thing starts automatically (using the above link) by restarting your system.

I do not know if this is the solution to other laptops that provide 1280x800 resolution. If you have that setting on your system and it works (or doesn't) please post to this link so that we can document it for others

I have subsequently modified my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file so that I have 1024x768 and 800x600 resolutions added. That way, if I want a really big screen I just have to press ctrl+alt+numericplussign to change the mode. Oh, that reminds me, on a laptop you might have to press ctrl+alt+Fn+numericplusorminus where "Fn" is the key down on the bottom row, just after the ctrl key (at least on a Dell). This "function" key enables the numeric plus (and minus) signs that are printed in blue. The "regular" plus and minus signs will not change X resolution

Now that my display can support 1280x800 I just need to get eyes that support it also

Jon