[LAU] [OT] modelines ?

[david]

Paul wrote:
> david <gnome at hawaii.rr.com>, on Fri Dec 14, 2007 [10:16:24 PM] said:
>> Paul wrote:
>>>> One advantage of the older Xorgs was you could REMOVE all the modelines 
>>>> except the one you wanted it to use. This helped prevent rude GUIs such 
>>>> as the thrice-accursed GNOME from forcing my system into a junky 
>>>> 1280x1024xinterlaced mode simply because said-thrice-accursed GNOME was 
>>>> idiotically thinking it was dealing with someone who didn't know his 
>>>> display hardware was capable of any higher resolution than 1024x768. But 
>>>> one of the things I hate about GNOME is its rather Microsoft-ish 
>>>> attitude that "We know best" ...
> 
> [...]
> 
>>> 	Xorg should put the cabosh on any modes that exceed the
>>> highest resolution you specify in the Modes line of the Screen
>>> section. So, if you put "1024x768" there, you should get the
>>> best refresh your monitor is spec'd at for that resolution,
>>> and no other higher res crappier options should exist. (actually,
>>> its probably limited by the 'virtual' resolution, but its
>>> fairly unusual to see anyone choosing a different virtual res
>>> than their highest Mode...)
>>> 	I usually hand roll my main Modeline to maximize
>>> refresh at my desired resolutions, and specify that. Fortunately,
>>> my WM doesnt override my default selection.
>> Here are the complete contents of my Xorg.conf file, as created by 
>> Debian Etch during the installation process:
> 
> [...]
>>                  Modes           "1280x800"
>> Nary a modeline in sight.
>>
> [...]
> 
> 	If you have that and the Xserver is dishing up 1280x1024
> then thats a bug.

Sorry for the confusion - my laptop runs at 1280x800 and is the one on 
which neither KDM nor GDM give a workable login display.

My server runs at 1024x768. When I first installed Etch on the server, 
GNOME adamantly insisted on running at 1280x1024x(a horrible interlaced 
refresh rate) because GNOME is, well, horrible, I guess.

>> It gets the screen resolution right, just the font sizes are massively off.
> 
> 	No idea what that means in the context of this thread.

Quick summary of the original problem:

When either the GNOME Display Manager or the K Display Manager start up, 
they get the screen resolution (1280x800) right on my laptop, but they 
both size the fonts they use as if my screen was 10 times larger. IOW, a 
font that should be a quarter-inch high comes out half the height of the 
screen.

>>> ps. I hope the entities that are forcing you to use gnome also
>>> arent imposing your email address upon you as well... ;)
>> I was going to answer that I've been using gnome as my email ID for 
>> longer than GNOME has been around, but I don't know how long GNOME has 
>> been around ... anyway, my use of gnome predates my use of Linux, and 
>> I've been using Linux for eight years now ...
>>
>> Actually, I'm not using GNOME - I'm quite happy to login at a text login 
>> prompt and manually startx. I figure if any Windows user tries to start 
>> up and use my laptop, they'll think it's broken and just give up. ;-)
> 
> 	Thats a joke, son. [foghorn leghorn]

I know, that's why I mentioned what I did.

> 	Anyway, Im not picking a fight, I was just trying to impart some
> of my imperfect knowlege about how Xorg works.

Thanks, my problem is that I understand how it should be working, but it 
isn't.

-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community