Screen Resolution

[Myrax]

Hey, I'm a complete newbie to Linux really and only ever used Ubuntu 8.something before. But that had a GUI option of how change your screen resolution (Windows Fag!) I've manage to get Backtrack4 installed on a physical machine, I was just wondering how to change the screen resolution to say 1280x800?

Thanks

[lupin]

Hey, I'm a complete newbie to Linux really and only ever used Ubuntu 8.something before. But that had a GUI option of how change your screen resolution (Windows Fag!) I've manage to get Backtrack4 installed on a physical machine, I was just wondering how to change the screen resolution to say 1280x800?

Thanks

This command sometimes works for changing the resolution as long as X supports the resolution you are trying to change to.

xrandr -s 1280×800

You can also optionally add a refresh rate to the end of that command using @60 (for 60 Hz refresh).

If it doesn't work you may need to edit your X configuration file (xorg.conf) and/or possibly change your video driver.

[Shnap]

This command sometimes works for changing the resolution as long as X supports the resolution you are trying to change to.

xrandr -s 1280×800

You can also optionally add a refresh rate to the end of that command using @60 (for 60 Hz refresh).

If it doesn't work you may need to edit your X configuration file (xorg.conf) and/or possibly change your video driver.

When I type that, it looks fine, until I open a new window of something, then they text of the new windows is bigger then the text on old windows. How do I fix that?

[lupin]

When I type that, it looks fine, until I open a new window of something, then they text of the new windows is bigger then the text on old windows. How do I fix that?

Is that a problem?

Anyway, I've never had that happen to me. You may want to run the command immediately after starting X on the system, before opening any other windows. Then all the windows should have similar sized text.

[Shnap]

I'm using it in vmware, might that be the problem? I tired using the command first thing and it doesn't fix the problem.

[mcjon3z]

I had the same issue in VMWare and figured that the size differential was based upon the change from the initial monitor resolution that is set in the display setup to the active resolution. The VMWare image that I was using was set to use the Plug & Play monitor, which initially defaulted to the 1024x768 resolution. Upon resize to a larger resolution to fit the screen, everything else was enlarged accordingly.

To correct, I changed the monitor (tray icon, hardware tab...sorry, linux noob) to a generic monitor with a screen size that was comparable to my physical machine (I have a laptop with a 1920x1200 screen so I set it to 1920x1080) and the resize had a minimal effect when fitting the screen (refit size was 1677x999). Looks much nicer!

Restart x after you change the monitor...

[Eatme]

why not use the auto fit feature...it fits ur default OS.

before u startx make sure its enabled. If it doesn't auto change, you will have to minimize vmware window and then maximize it.

Hope this helps..

[mcjon3z]

In my experience, the autofit has the same effect - once the screen autofits, the windows and fonts are distorted...i am assuming this is what the thread is referring to.

If screen is originally set to 1024x768 and then autofits to 1920x1200 then the windows and fonts are huge and take up the same % of the window that they did under 1024x768.

Changing the initial monitor size minimizes the amount of the refit and thus minimizes the amount of size distortion.

[Eatme]

In my experience, the autofit has the same effect - once the screen autofits, the windows and fonts are distorted...i am assuming this is what the thread is referring to.

If screen is originally set to 1024x768 and then autofits to 1920x1200 then the windows and fonts are huge and take up the same % of the window that they did under 1024x768.

Changing the initial monitor size minimizes the amount of the refit and thus minimizes the amount of size distortion.

can u screen shot it, i wanna see how big it gets cuz mine never does that.

[mcjon3z]

Looks like the screenshot above - see relative size of the front shell window to the back shell window. Back shell was opened before VMWare resized the desktop, front shell was opened afterwards.