Change resolution

From Fluxbox-wiki

Contents 1 Xrandr 2 Xorg.conf, permanent solution

Xrandr

Xrandr should come with X on any distribution, and can be used to change resultion.

For changing resolution, first run the the following command on a terminal of your choice.

xrandr

You should get output like following:

  SZ:    Pixels          Physical       Refresh
 *0   1600 x 1200   ( 406mm x 305mm )  *75   70   65   60  
  1   1280 x 1024   ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75   60  
  2   1024 x 768    ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75   70   60   87  
  3    800 x 600    ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75   72   70   65   60   56  
  4    640 x 480    ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75   73   60  
  5   1400 x 1050   ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75   70   60  
  6   1440 x 900    ( 406mm x 305mm )   60  
  7   1280 x 960    ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   60  
  8   1280 x 800    ( 406mm x 305mm )   60  
  9   1152 x 864    ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75  
  10  1280 x 768    ( 406mm x 305mm )   60  
  11  1152 x 768    ( 406mm x 305mm )   55  
  12   960 x 720    ( 406mm x 305mm )   60  
  13   928 x 696    ( 406mm x 305mm )   60  
  14   896 x 672    ( 406mm x 305mm )   60  
  15   960 x 600    ( 406mm x 305mm )   73   60  
  16   832 x 624    ( 406mm x 305mm )   75  
  17   840 x 525    ( 406mm x 305mm )   60  
  18   700 x 525    ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75   70   60  
  19   640 x 512    ( 406mm x 305mm )   85   75   60  
 Current rotation - normal
 Current reflection - none
 Rotations possible - normal 
 Reflections possible - none

To change resolution issue the following command to xrandr: xrandr -s <size>/<width>x<height>

So you can use

 xrandr -s 3

where 3 is the SZ -column of the wanted mode. In this case it would set 800x600.

Or you can use

xrandr -s 1024x768

That is obvious, it is same as xrandr -s 2 and sets, surprise, 1024x768 mode.

If you also want to set the framerate, use the -r <rate> parameter. Like this:

xrandr -s 800x600 -r 60

To set an ugly 800x600 mode with 60 Hz refresh rate.

Xorg.conf, permanent solution

This one makes the changes to be permanent, meaning that it will be set every time you start X. With xrandr you must set it on startup or something.

Make yourself root and then edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf or /etc/X11/XF86Config

Search for Section "Screen" and you should see something like this:

Section "Screen"
       Identifier      "Default Screen"
       Device          "geforce256"
       Monitor         "S/M 950p"
       DefaultDepth    24
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           8
               Modes           "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
       EndSubSection
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           16
               Modes           "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
       EndSubSection
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           24
               Modes           "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
       EndSubSection
EndSection

(On multi monitor systems check the Device and Monitor so that you are modifying the lines for correct monitor)

Now you have to add the mode you want to use to the beginning to all those Modes lists. So if you want to use 1024x768 instead of 1600x1200 (that one is the first so it will be used as the display supports it), make the section to be like this:

Section "Screen"
       Identifier      "Default Screen"
       Device          "geforce256"
       Monitor         "S/M 950p"
       DefaultDepth    24
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           8
               Modes           "1024x768" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "800x600" "640x480"
       EndSubSection
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           16
               Modes           "1024x768" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "800x600" "640x480"
       EndSubSection
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           24
               Modes           "1024x768" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "800x600" "640x480"
       EndSubSection
EndSection

Note that all modes must be in double quotes. You also could remove all other modes you don't need, but better have them in case your mode is not supported, it will just use some other mode. If there are no modes, X will not start and you may be stuck with commandline.