iMac display numbers

Whitehill

Whitehill

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Does anyone know where I can find the 'refresh' rate for an iMac display. I have installed Linux in a Parallels VM but the display is too small. I want to modify xorg.conf to make it bigger.

Or is there a better way?
 
What distribution of GNU/Linux are you running? Also, what version of that distribution? You might need to modify the xorg.conf file, but remember that the latest version of Xorg is supposed to automagically detect everything. The only reason to use xorg.conf now is t override what Xorg "thinks" should be your settings.
 
It's Ubuntu 8.04.1. After installation, Linux starts in a Mac window completely filled with a Gnome desktop about 11" by 6.5". It looks and operates OK, but it's only 1/4 of my physical display.

Maybe Parallels is emulating a display and Xorg is just doing what it should.
 
Can you specify any screen settings in Parallels that Xorg might be able to autodetect?
 
Below is from the Parallels documentation. It's where I started from earlier and why I asked about 'refresh'. I have a 24" iMac which is 1920x1200. What I want is a Linux display of, say, 1400x900. They seem to be telling me to change xorg.conf.

-------------------
To run a Linux virtual machine with a non-standard resolution do the following:

In a terminal, generate xorg.conf modeline by executing
gtf <width> <height> <refresh>
Note. For LCD displays, used in notebooks, the refresh should be no more than 60.

The output string may look for example as follows:

Modeline "1440x900_60.00" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync

"1440x900_60.00" is the mode name; 1440 is width, 900 is height, and 60 is refresh of the new mode that were given to the gtf.

Open xorg.conf and paste the output of gtf to the Monitor section. The Monitor section looks as below:
Section "Monitor"

Identifier "monitor1"

VendorName "Generic"

ModelName "1024x768 @ 70 Hz"

HorizSync 31.5-57.0

VertRefresh 50-70

# TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.

# 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync

ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630

# 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync

ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616

Modeline "1440x900_60.00" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904

932 -HSync +Vsync

EndSection

In xorg.conf, locate the Screen section, the Display subsection, and string that begins with the "Modes" keyword. It contains modes list. Insert name of the new mode in the beginning of the modes list.
Note. Make sure, that "Depth" property of the subsection "Display" equals to "DefaultDepth" value defined in section "Screen".

If you use Macintosh computer of ordinary size, just restart X Server.
If you use MacBook or MacBook Pro, you have to take one more step. In the "Device" section change the driver from "fbdev" to "vesa". Now, save the changes and restart your virtual machine.
 
That "Monitors" section should look more like this in your xorg.conf:
Code: 
Section "Monitor"
	Identifier "monitor1"
	VendorName "Generic"
	ModelName "1024x768 @ 70 Hz"
	HorizSync 31.5-57.0
	VertRefresh 50-70
	# TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.
	# 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync
	ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630
	# 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync
	ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616
	[COLOR="Red"]Modeline "1440x900_60.00" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -HSync +Vsync[/COLOR]
EndSection

The line in red is the line that tells Xorg to use that resolution and refresh. You have to specify that as default in the Subsection "Display" of your choosing under Section "Screen" as the following:
Code: 
Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Card0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth    24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
                Modes   "1440x900_60.00"
        EndSubSection
EndSection
 
Last edited:
nixgeek, I tried your suggestion and it drew an error during start-up. It dropped me into part of the manual configuration sequence where - lo! - I could select exactly what I had and wanted. I restarted with trembling fingers ...

*sigh* Now the display is even smaller than what I started with. I attached the xorg.conf that it composed.
 

Attachments

  • xorg-conf.txt
    1.8 KB · Views: 12
Do you know what the error was? Can you post it here?

Try and change the designation "1440x900@60" to just "1440x900" wherever you see it. Do the same for the other resolutions....just remove the "@60" from the end and see if it works. There might also be an issue with the hsync/vsync entries, but try first with them there. If it still doesn't work, remove them.
 
It looks like Parallels is imposing an unexpected default. From /var/log/Xorg.0.log ...

Code: 
(II) VESA(0): initializing int10
(WW) VESA(0): Bad V_BIOS checksum
(II) VESA(0): Primary V_BIOS segment is: 0xc000
(II) VESA(0): VESA BIOS detected
(II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Version 3.0
(II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Total Mem: 16384 kB
(II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM: Virtual VESA BIOS Extension
(II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Software Rev: 1.16 
[B](II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Vendor: Parallels Software International, Inc.[/B] 
(II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product: Virtual Video Adapter
(II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product Rev: 01.03
(==) VESA(0): Depth 16, (--) framebuffer bpp 16
(==) VESA(0): RGB weight 565
(==) VESA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
(==) VESA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
...
(II) VESA(0): Total Memory: 256 64KB banks (16384kB)
(II) VESA(0): Configured Monitor: Using default hsync range of 31.50-37.90 kHz
(II) VESA(0): Configured Monitor: Using default vrefresh range of 50.00-70.00 Hz
(II) VESA(0): Not using built-in mode "1920x1200" (width too large for virtual size)
(II) VESA(0): Not using built-in mode "1600x1200" (width too large for virtual size)
...
(II) VESA(0): Not using built-in mode "840x524" (width too large for virtual size)
(II) VESA(0): Not using built-in mode "640x400" (hsync out of range)
[B](--) VESA(0): Virtual size is 800x600 (pitch 800)[/B] 
(**) VESA(0): *Built-in mode "800x600"
(**) VESA(0):  Built-in mode "800x500"
(**) VESA(0):  Built-in mode "640x480"
(==) VESA(0): DPI set to (96, 96)
(II) VESA(0): Attempting to use 60Hz refresh for mode "800x600" (114)
(II) VESA(0): Attempting to use 60Hz refresh for mode "640x480" (111)
 
Try using this configuration in your xorg.conf. Remember that you have to keep in mind that the commands are case-sensitive. Make sure you input the configuration with the proper case.

Code: 
Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Keyboard"
	Driver		"kbd"
	Option		"XkbRules"	"xorg"
	Option		"XkbModel"	"pc105"
	Option		"XkbLayout"	"us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
	Boardname	"vesa"
	Busid		"PCI:0:2:0"
	Driver		"vesa"
	Screen	0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
	Vendorname	"Generic LCD Display"
	Modelname	"LCD Panel 1440x900"
	HorizSync	31.5-56.0
	VertRefresh	56.0 - 65.0
	ModeLine  "800x600" 36.0 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync
	ModeLine  "800x600" 40.0 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
	ModeLine  "1280x768" 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795 -hsync +vsync
	ModeLine  "1280x720" 74.48 1280 1336 1472 1664 720 721 724 746 -hsync +vsync
	ModeLine  "1280x800" 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828 -hsync +vsync
	ModeLine  "1440x900" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -hsync +vsync
	Gamma	1.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	DefaultDepth	24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth	24
		Virtual	0 0
		Modes		"1440x900"	"1280x800"	"1280x720"	"1280x768"	"800x600"	"800x600"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Default Layout"
 	Screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
EndSection
Section "Module"
	Load		"glx"
	Load		"GLcore"
	Load		"v4l"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection
 
nixgeek, I meant to thank you earlier for your efforts. This problem turned out to be .. ta da .. RTFM! I was supposed to install "Parallels Tools" into the VM. Doing so creates a "Parallels Video Adapter" and an appropriately composed xorg.conf, which one can change from 800x600 to anything reasonable.

That's the good news. The bad news is that it refuses to install on Ubuntu 8.04, an issue well known since late last year! Parallels wants X 1.3, Ubuntu ships with 1.4.

Two steps forward, one step back.
 
Hmm....that's strange that it would not take something equal or greater than the version required. I wonder if it's due to a library incompatibility with the current version of Xorg.
 
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