Monitors

Submitted by thorcar on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 18:37. New User
Posts: 7

I am currently use a Dell Optiplex, with a standard VGA output (no video card), and non wide screen 19" lcd monitor. I am thinking about buying a 22" or larger standard lcd monitor. All the new monitors seem to be wide screens.Is there anything I should know about the way Mepis and applications will handle the wide screen or will I just have a square inside of the screen like on my TV or will everything get stretched. If that is the case would I need a much bigger size to see any improvement over my current 19"?
My eyesight is not getting any better so any help on improving the picture size and quality would be appreciated.

Thanks
Thorcar

Wide screen monitor

Submitted by Muskt on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 21:14.
Posts: 60

I have a Samsung 22 inch widescreen monitor with an Nvidia Gforce 6 video card. With Windows, I have updated the driver and have no distortion. With Mepis, I downloaded the driver; however, I haven't a clue as to how to install it. I did view some pics just a few minutes ago, and there is very minimal distortion in any of them. I have some drawings and photos of machinery that have circles included and they all show nearly round. I believe that if I could update the driver, that that would go away.

I find that doing anything in Mepis to be very challenging. I don't mind doing research; however, just looking for a file is like do-it-yourself-dentistry. I was able to download the driver, sucessfully, but trying to "run" it escapes me.

The instructions say to change to the directory, & type "sh xxxxxxxxxx.run". Fine, what program should I type that into????

I apologize for the digression. I get so frustrated with Linux that I may never feel comfortable migrating away from Windows.

Anyway, a widescreen monitor should not cause you major problems.

Good nite,
Jerry in Anchorage, Alaska

More on the wide screen

Submitted by Muskt on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 21:15.
Posts: 60

I totally forgot to mention that the stock driver with Mepis yields full screen on the widescreen.

Jerry in Anchorage,Alaska

Wide screens shouldn't

Submitted by EnigmaOne on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 23:13.
Posts: 1634

Wide screens shouldn't give you problems.

To Muskt:

You downloaded the driver to some directory on your machine.

Open up Konsole (K Menu --> System --> Konsole), type 'su', then enter your root password.
'cd' to the directory where you downloaded the driver. If that's the Desktop directory, then simply type 'cd Desktop'
Then type 'sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-100.14.19-pkg1.run' and follow the directions.

How's my posting?

Please call: 1-800-DEV-NULL

Slow Learner

Submitted by Muskt on Tue, 10/23/2007 - 00:00.
Posts: 60

Thanks for the info. After approx. 53 attempts to type it, I finally got it correct. I was rewarded with an error about running an X-server. I searched the web & located a process for that. Of course, that didn't work correctly, either. Back to the web, & finally got it sorted out. 3 or 4 more attempts at the typing & it started doing its thing. Next it told me that I needed something about a kernal & a compiler. I am lost again. I really have doubts as to whether it is worth all the frustrations. I hate to give up; however, this thing is soooo incredibly frustrating that I (for the sake of sanity) may just do that. If I live long enough, maybe, just maybe, someone will develop Linux to the point that new/casual users can work with it.

Thanks,
Jerry in Anchorage

This can be so much simpler,

Submitted by carlops on Tue, 10/23/2007 - 00:41.
Posts: 2299

This can be so much simpler, but you need to use the MEPIS tools:

- boot with Live CD and set correct resolution at start with F3
- assuming it boots correctly, login to CD and start system > MEPIS > MEPIS X windows assistant
- go to 'Repair' and choose the destination to copy the new Xorg config file
- reboot without CD

If you want 3d effects, once booted from the hard disk, use the MEPIS X windows assistant again to install the native nvdia driver.

Another tip for the future, if you need to type in a long name as with the driver installation, enter the first 4 characters and then press TAB. That will auto complete the name.

You can still choose to install the driver from the command line, but you first need to install build-essentials and the correct headers for your kernel. Just look for 'header' in synaptic and pick the one with the same version number as your kernel. You can find the kernel version by doing 'uname -r' in a console.

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Crud, Jerry. I totally

Submitted by EnigmaOne on Tue, 10/23/2007 - 12:39.
Posts: 1634

Crud, Jerry. I totally forgot about having a running x-server as I do alot of CLI and was trying to make it easy for you.

Yeah, you'll probably need to install the kernel sources and GCC compiler via synaptic and try it again.

It your MEPIS install is 6.0 - 6.5 you should be able to do so.

If you're messing-around with 7.0 betas, you'll need to wait on Warren a bit, as I raised the issue to his attention last week and time just isn't one of those things he has a lot of, right now.

How's my posting?