[CS-FSLUG] How do I fix screen configuration from the command line?

[Ed Hurst]

Ruth Marlene Friesen wrote:

> I had quite a time with the Desktop Geometry setting. I set it many times 
> over, and when I went back to check, it had cleared itself. It was NOT 
> saving. Same as on Tues. morning when all this began.

This is a matter of the physical size of your screen display area. I
wrote up the instructions some time ago and paste them here:

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If you know the values claimed by the manufacturer of your monitor,
that's a good place to start. If not, simply measure the viewable size
of your monitor's face with a ruler. Convert to millimeters by
multiplying the number of inches times 25.4. For example, my 19" monitor
is reported by the manufacturer as 353x265. Actual physical measurements
with a ruler it's 14.25x10.75:

   14.25 inches x 25.4 = 361.95mm and
   10.75 inches x 25.4 = 273.05mm

for an actual physical of 361.95x273.05. However, since we cannot have
decimals in the X server config file, I round that to be 362x273. That
is slightly larger, and gives me room to adjust and fudge until I get a
resolution that gives me a square DPI.

The window and monitor size your server is using can be obtained from
the X server using xdpyinfo | grep dimensions:

   dimensions: 1280x1024 pixels (330x250 millimeters)

for example.

We need to adjust the monitor size values so that the derived resolution
values give us a square DPI. The easiest way to come up with corrected
new values is to adjust the given monitor size values until they are in
the same aspect ratio as the graphics window. That's a fancy way of
saying that the dimensions are the same ratio as the display resolution.
That display resolution for mine is 1280x1024, so let's find the ratio:

   1280/1024 = 1.25

We need to adjust the screen face measurements until they yield that
ratio. For some readers, that requires dredging up old and not-so-fond
memories of Algebra. In general, it is a good idea to bump the height
measurment by increments of one, and keep doing this until we get an
even number for the width. The result is often a good bit lower for
width than is actually measured. Using my example above, I will start
with the manufacturer's height of 265, and compute for the ratio to
produce a proposed width setting until it gives me a whole number, with
no decimals.

   1.25 x 265 = 331.25  < not a whole number; try again
   1.25 x 266 = 332.5   < not a whole number; try again
   1.25 x 267 = 333.75  < not a whole number; try again
   1.25 x 268 = 335

That will work. While 335 is lot less than either the manufacturer's 352
and my measured 362, it won't matter that much. I now have a suitable
monitor size of 335x268, which I now plug into my X server config
(/etc/X11/XF86Config for Xfree86):

   Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        Option       "CalcAlgorithm" "CheckDesktopGeometry"
        DisplaySize  335 268
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I get lost in the rest of your message, but that's just a reflection of
where you are in learning Linux, not a matter of bad writing. There is
no shame in trying your Linux installation several times over. With the
proper information, each time around gets better. Soon, you'll have
something you can use. Don't give up!

-- 
Ed Hurst
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