[ SOLVED ] Can't change resolution (currently 640x480)

[Moltke]

Moltke you're a God!   

Thanks so much for the very specific instructions that I combined with the link you sent me.  I now have the proper resolution.

Since doing what you said when I now go into display I have three options for the resolution.  This is terrific.

As Trinidad recommended I did go in and disable the Network boot, however didn't do anything other than that and what Moltke suggested.

Thank you again to the great forum members & contributors!

Hi @JanetBiggar

You're welcome! Always happy to help Glad to know it all worked out well for you!

[JanetBiggar]

Moltke you're a God!   

Thanks so much for the very specific instructions that I combined with the link you sent me.  I now have the proper resolution.

Since doing what you said when I now go into display I have three options for the resolution.  This is terrific.

As Trinidad recommended I did go in and disable the Network boot, however didn't do anything other than that and what Moltke suggested.

Thank you again to the great forum members & contributors!

[JanetBiggar]

Thanks Moltke, I will start with what Trinidad suggested and move on to your suggestions. I will report back 

[Moltke]

Hi @JanetBiggar

What is GUI? and where do I find it

GUI stands for Graphical User Interface, I don't know exactly which GUI he's referring to though, unless by GUI he meant the desktop, but again, I don't know.

Is this pc an Acer Aspire 5000? This one uses a SiS Mirage 2 graphics processor, you can check that by running on your terminal

Code: [Select]

$ lshw -numeric -C display The lshw command above will show relevant info about the GPU.  According to this post https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/support-for-sis-graphics-cards-please/3378 it seems Ubuntu 16.04 doesn't support these ones, it's 2005 old, although someone else posted a solution here https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/set-sis-graphics-1024x768-l-ubuntu-mate-14-04-and-16-04-16-10/3553. You could try that and see if that works.

In case you feel like trying the solution above, that was implemented in a Mate desktop while LL uses XFCE desktop, so instructions change for some steps as follows:
1. - Go to > Applications > Accessories > Leafpad  and paste the following text in the new file:

    Section "Device"
      Identifier "Configured Video Device"
      Driver "vesa"
    EndSection
Now click on "File > Save as" and give it the following name:
use-vesa.conf

2. - Open thunar and navigate to this directory /usr/share/x11/xorg.conf.d

3. - Rick-click on an empty space inside the folder and select "open as administrator or root"  - can't remember the exact option name and my system's in spanish - A new window will open in root mode, copy/paste the use-vesa.conf file you just created, close all windows and restart your PC. According to the author and people's comments you should now have a res of 1024x768 without the need for other drivers.

Hope this helps!

[JanetBiggar]

Earlier today I did look in display and checked the default and only the 640x480 showed, no other choices regardless of whether I looked in default or underneath that which showed the 640x480 with the little arrow down that suggests options yet no other options existed.

What is GUI? and where do I find it.

I will do the other things you suggested, but may not get a chance till Friday am.

Thanks so much for your suggestions.

[trinidad]

You're thinking to hard. First > Look under >display in system settings and see what is listed under default display and report back. Use the GUI first and also disable "network boot" in the BIOS before you go any further with any changes or command lines. Your default screen resolution should be 1024X768.

TC

[JanetBiggar]

I looked at a similar post and almost exactly like that post there are no other choices for screen resolution except in this case: 640-480

I ran xrandr in terminal and this is what I got:

administrator@administrator-Aspire-5000:~$ xrandr
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 640 x 480, maximum 640 x 480 default connected 640x480+0+0 0mm x 0mm
640x480 73.00* administrator@administrator-Aspire-5000:~$

I also checked for drivers and the only thing that came up was:

Unknown: Unknown
This device is using an alternative driver.
O Using Processor microcode firmware for AMD CPUs from ad64-microcode (proprietary)
O Do not use this device.

I tried changing it to the first choice, restarting then going to display - still no choice for resolution change and then I went back and reverted to "Do not use this device" and still exactly the same, no choice for resolution.

Not sure what I should do now.  It is liveable, however all the windows I open are too large for the laptop screen so a bit of a pain to move it around to close or view.