low resolution on Dell OptiPlex 745 with Intel 82Q963/Q965 graphics

[jarrwlee]

I'm using a Dell OptiPlex 745 with a built-in Intel graphics card. The monitor is a Dell E178FP connected through one of those Cat-5-based KVM extenders.

When using the default Xorg setup, with no xorg.conf file, I'm stuck at 800x600 or 640x48 as resolution options.

Installing system-config-display and changing the monitor to the correct model does not help.

I've also tried running X -configure from run level 3 to generate an xorg.conf file to try out. When I use it, I get a blank screen and have to use ctrl + alt + backspace to kill X. I've tried adding the mode lines to this file, the ones that specify 1280x1024, and have also tried adding the "NoDRI" driver option to the Device section.

Any suggestions?

[multescugeorge@]

reboot
press any button to get the boot menu, choose to edit the options for the kernel you are booting, add:

nomodesetting

parameter to the kernel start parameters. See what happens

Edit: it could be this lil' bug: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=537647, if this fix works for you, then please report so in the bug page i linked

[jarrwlee]

That got me up to 1024x768, but still no 1280x1024.

Edit: I installed CentOS 5.4 on the PC next to it and it had the following in the "Monitor" Section of an xorg.conf after using system-config-display to configure it:

HorizSync 31.5 - 64.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 65.0

Adding that to the Monitor Section in Fedora 12, adding nomodesetting to the kernel line, and adding the following line has fixed it:

Modes "1280x1024"

[multescugeorge@]

is it still fixed even after you remove "nomodesetting" line from the kernel comand?

[jarrwlee]

No, it still requires "nomodesetting" set in the kernel.

[AdamW]

if your KVM doesn't correctly pass on the monitor capability report there's no way this can be handled automatically. Manual configuration is the only route. s-c-d is unfortunately a bit deprecated these days and doesn't always do the right thing. http://wiki.debian.org/XStrikeForce/HowToRandR12 is a better reference for modern configuration.

[whoaminot]

I have the same Dell hardware, just installed FC12, tried nomodesetting but can only get to "1024x768"
what is the situation of this bug? is it fixed? I want to use this HW on a screen with 1680x1050 resolution, does this means I need to install FC11 or even earlier?

[jarrwlee]

Have you tried adding the proper refresh rates for your monitor to xorg.conf? Try the full instructions I gave in a previous post and see if that works for you.

[whoaminot]

I did, the results were very weird since xrandr actually showed that my monitor (this I used a small TV I have, LG LC37D) is supporting resolution of 1440x900, but the TV spec clearly show the limit to be 1370*800 (don't remember the exact number, but it was lower), so this sound strange to me (of course switching to 1440 made the TV complain about un-supported format).
so not really sure how to continue with this one...

[lypef]

Tell us how you did it because I have a machine of the same and have the resolution 1600x900 logo.