[PLUG] Setting Lucid GDM resolution (Solved. Clues?)

[JP Vossen <jp@jpsdomain.org>]

I got this working, so I'm posting this just in case it helps someone 
else, or if someone has any other clues to impart.

I just installed Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) on an old PC for a friend's kids 
(she will be picking up the PC tomorrow, so I'm pretty much done with 
fiddling with it).  Everything works fine, though some things are a tad 
slow.  But I had an odd problem--the Ubuntu LiveCD and the install 
itself both set a graphics mode the monitor can't handle.  Obviously, 
that should not happen, since it asks the hardware what it can handle 
then uses that...  According to this 
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ubuntu-linux/106551-oversize.html it 
may be a BIOS problem, but I see no useful settings in there and I've 
already yanked the battery and reseated everything as part of the 
initial t-shooting (dead WinXP & hard drive = new drive, +RAM, +Ubuntu).

I used a different monitor and manually set 1280x1024 for the desktop 
and that works fine.  It also auto-logs in, so GDM is usually not a 
problem.  However, if someone accidentally logs out or GDM comes up for 
some other reason, it sets a mode the LCD can't handle, which isn't good.

The PC is an old HP Pavilion 7955 and the monitor is a "KOGi L7EH-TA." 
The monitor's error message is (note spelling error) "OVER SIZE 
RECOMMAND MODE 1280x1024" yet 1280x1024 *is* what I'm using!  Oddly, 
sometimes if I fiddled around with modes and physically swapping VGA 
cables for the two monitors, the KOGi would then work.  And as far as I 
can tell, I *am* always using the 1280x1024 it "recommands."

Anyway, after a bit of Googling and experimenting, the following seems 
to have worked:
	$ sudo vi /etc/gdm/Init/Default

Just before the "/sbin/initctl -q emit login-session-start 
DISPLAY_MANAGER=gdm" line, add:
	/usr/bin/xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode 1280x960

Notes:
1) the full path '/usr/bin/xrandr' is required or else this does not work!
2) '/usr/bin/xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode 1280x1024' does NOT work, even 
though it should.
3) I got the "VGA-1" part and known modes using 'xrandr -q'.

Later,
JP
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JP Vossen, CISSP            |:::======|      http://bashcookbook.com/
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