Description of problem: I have a dell X1 notebook (1280x768) and a dell 2001FP (1600x1200) monitor. If I boot the machine with the monitor connected I find I cannot get the resolution higher than 1280x1024. If I set it to 1600x1200 I get some sort of virtual screen/expansion. If I try to switch over after I have booted the machine I still get the same problem. If I 1) connect the monitor, 2) switch to it using the function keys of the laptop 3) disconect it 4) press enter at the grub screen so the machine boots 5) reconnect the monitor *after x has started* All is ok I get 1600x1200. *Once I log in I get back to the virtual screen expansion* *If I log in blind then connect the monitor I get 1600x1200!!!* Seems every time X starts it over rides the settings. It seems to want to drive the monitor at 75Hz even though I've set 60.0-60.0 in my /etc/xorg.conf. I also had to use the 855resolution to get the 1280x768 working and add a modeline to my xorg.conf file. Here is a copy: # Xorg configuration created by system-config-display Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "single head configuration" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "Synaptics" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Mouse0" "AlwaysCore" EndSection Section "Files" # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together) # By default, a font server independent of the X server is # used to render fonts. FontPath "unix/:7100" EndSection Section "Module" Load "dbe" Load "extmod" Load "fbdevhw" Load "glx" Load "record" Load "freetype" Load "type1" Load "synaptics" Load "dri" EndSection Section "InputDevice" # Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1)) # Option "Xleds" "1 2 3" # To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable. # Option "XkbDisable" # To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the # lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S. # keyboard, you will probably want to use: # Option "XkbModel" "pc102" # If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use: # Option "XkbModel" "microsoft" # # Then to change the language, change the Layout setting. # For example, a german layout can be obtained with: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # or: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys" # # If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and # control keys, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps" # Or if you just want both to be control, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps" # Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd" Option "XkbModel" "pc105" Option "XkbLayout" "gb" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes" EndSection Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Synaptics" Driver "synaptics" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" Option "Protocol" "auto-dev" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes" EndSection Section "Monitor" ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC: ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC: ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC: ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC: ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC: Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Monitor Vendor" ModelName "LCD Panel 1600x1200" DisplaySize 410 310 ### Comment all HorizSync and VertSync values to use DDC: HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0 VertRefresh 60.0 - 60.0 ModeLine "1280x768" 111.7 1280 1336 1616 1728 768 770 782 808 Option "dpms" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "i810" VendorName "Videocard vendor" BoardName "Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 16 Modes "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 Modes "1600x1200" "1400x1050" "1280x960" "1280x768" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection EndSection Section "DRI" Group 0 Mode 0666 EndSection Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): latest How reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: As above Actual results: get a virtual desktop, i.e. can scroll around the screen, e.g. actual screen displays 1024x768 pixels, virtual screen is made up of 1600x1200 pixels (ati graphics cards do this) Expected results: plug monitor in and get 1600x1200 Additional info: I have installed the 855resolution package.
The i810 video driver uses the video BIOS for all mode setting (VBE) as the driver does not contain any code to set the video mode directly to the hardware. This is due to programming information being unavailble to do this in the open source drivers properly. As a result, the driver is limited to using the video modes that the video BIOS provides. There are a number of Dell laptops and personal computers, as well as computers from other vendors, which use Intel video hardware but unfortunately they do not all program their video BIOS mode tables properly to include the mode for the native LCD panel size in many laptops, or which is used by many DFPs nowadays. The unfortunate result of this is that many users will be unable to run their LCD or DFP at its native resolution, in particular with widescreen displays. This is a driver limitation caused by broken video BIOSes. Intel has begun working on next generation video support, which may be available in the near future which can directly program video modes with some of the more recent Intel video hardware, however that support is currently an experimental work in development currently. Users of Fedora Core 5 and earlier OS releases may or may not be able to use the i8xxresolution or i9xxresolution utilities floating around the net to hack around this problem. These utilities rely on the video BIOS being shadowed into RAM, and then overwrite the mode tables in shadow RAM with new video modes. The result of this is that sometimes you can coax the BIOS into displaying the proper native video mode of your LCD/DFP. The downside is that it is not guaranteed to work, and since it is only an ugly hack, there may be various problems that occur as a result, which may include instabilities, or corruption or other problems. You already indicated that you have been using the i855resolution utility, so there is nothing more that can be done about this at this point in time, until the new Intel video driver is available, which has native modesetting support - assuming that it supports your particular chipset. You may wish to follow the new driver's development by joining the xorg.org mailing list, and reading the archives. The new driver effort is lead by Eric Anholt. Setting status to CANTFIX.