Ok i have done some reading on this and heres my Xconfig4 file

# HorizSync 30 - 50 # Warning: This may fry very old Monitors
HorizSync 30 - 50 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors
VertRefresh 60 # Very conservative. May flicker.
# These are the DDC-probed settings reported by your monitor.
# 1280x1024, 75.0Hz; hfreq=79.98, vfreq=75.03
ModeLine "1280x1024" 135.00 1280 1296 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
# 1152x864, 75.0Hz; hfreq=67.50, vfreq=75.00
ModeLine "1152x864" 108.00 1152 1216 1344 1600 864 865 868 900 +hsync +vsync
# 1024x768, 85.0Hz; hfreq=68.68, vfreq=85.00
ModeLine "1024x768" 94.50 1024 1072 1168 1376 768 769 772 808 +hsync +vsync
# 1024x768, 75.0Hz; hfreq=60.02, vfreq=75.03
ModeLine "1024x768" 78.75 1024 1040 1136 1312 768 769 772 800 +hsync +vsync
# 1024x768, 70.0Hz; hfreq=56.48, vfreq=70.07
ModeLine "1024x768" 75.00 1024 1048 1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync
# 1024x768, 60.0Hz; hfreq=48.36, vfreq=60.00
ModeLine "1024x768" 65.00 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync
# 800x600, 85.0Hz; hfreq=53.67, vfreq=85.06
ModeLine "800x600" 56.25 800 832 896 1048 600 601 604 631 +hsync +vsync
# 800x600, 75.0Hz; hfreq=46.88, vfreq=75.00
ModeLine "800x600" 49.50 800 816 896 1056 600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync
# 800x600, 60.0Hz; hfreq=37.88, vfreq=60.32
ModeLine "800x600" 40.00 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
# 800x600, 56.0Hz; hfreq=35.16, vfreq=56.25
ModeLine "800x600" 36.00 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625 +hsync +vsync
# 640x480, 75.0Hz; hfreq=37.50, vfreq=75.00
ModeLine "640x480" 31.50 640 656 720 840 480 481 484 500 -hsync -vsync
# 640x480, 72.0Hz; hfreq=37.86, vfreq=72.81
ModeLine "640x480" 31.50 640 656 696 816 480 481 484 504 -hsync -vsync
# 640x480, 60.0Hz; hfreq=31.47, vfreq=59.94
ModeLine "640x480" 25.17 640 648 744 784 480 482 484 509 -hsync -vsync

I was told to change my resoltion here..but What modeline do i change.. there is soooo many resoutions here.. How do i tell which one is in use??
any help would help

You don't change the resolution by changing your modelines. Perhaps you should take a look at the "Screen" section of your XF86Config-4(back it up first...).

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When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultColorDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection




I see lots of resoluttions here.. which one is the defualt? Which line do i change? i did back it up..

The first one associated with the default color depth.

BTW - Depending on the type of graphics chip maybe that should be 24 rather than 16...

plus on nvidia tvout with those refresh rates which are correct for tvout 1024x768 will be out of spec and ignored. If you want to use 1024x768 you have to use a modeline calculator to get one that uses 60Hz fixed vert refresh.

1024x768? I didn't think you couild even get a TV to do that, and that 800x600 was the max possible resolution...

yup I used a modeline generator and use 1024x768 a while back to see what would happen, not much difference, but it did use the higher resolution. Although I do have a hdtv capable of 1200 lines of resolution. not that it does me much good without the component video cables.

Hi thanks for all the replys but i still have no idea howto change the resolution...or even what the resolution is set to on my box
about the only thing i did understand in the config file was the color depth..

most likely the resolution on your box is 800x600, and that should be more than enough. why do you want to change the resolution? you shouldn't see any difference at all in mythtv with higher resolution.

becuase it REALy bothers me to be a network admin for over 5 years and not know how to change resolution on my mythbox. I am using knoppmyth more as a learning tool then a mythbox.. It just so happens my learning tool has some AWSOME features. when i get tired of playing (this also justifys the computer i buildt to my wife.) I did post my Xfconfig-4 file up the thread?



does that mean you cant tell your resolution from the Xfconig-4 file?? why the #$!@ is it soo hard to tell the resolution

-depressed one

ok well here's the deal you can tell what resolution you put in and want, however with the refresh limitations of tv output you don't always get what you put in, and you have to look at the /var/log/Xsomethingoroter.log obviously it's not called that, but tab completion will find it from the X

Now to walk through and explain what the pertinant sections of the config file you posted mean.



this is rather self explanatory. it is the refresh rates your monitor supports, As you probably know crt monitors support much higher refresh rates than this, but this is what a NTSC tv works with.



lots of lines like this. these are modelines, and I don't even really understand exactly how they work and use some major vodoo math, but there are modeline generators on the web that will let you put in the resolution you want and the refreshes you have to use and generate them for you. Now that being said on a standard monitor these are not really needed in modern linux distrobutions, the monitor is probed and everything is handled automagically, however unfortunately tv's don't support probing and the magic can't work.



this is the color depth that X will use 16bit = 65,000 colors just like in windows 24bit= 16.7mil.

from this line you know which color depth is going to be used so you go down to the section for that color depth.



this tells us that it's going to try to use "1024x768" first then try "800x600" etc. And generally it will use the first one if the monitor supports it, and we all know most monitors support 1024x768, however not so with tv. so it takes it's standard 1024x768 specs and tells you they won't fit in the refresh rates that you have specified and moves on to 800x600 which usually works.

now if you really wanted 1024x768 you would have to use a modeline generator, and it would create you a modeline and probably call it something like "1024x768@60hz" then you would put that first in the colordepth 16 section and you can get 1024x768. Now in mythtv the only way you will know it worked other than looking at the log file is that when mythtv starts it will prescale everything again then it will look just like it did before, but it will be running in the higher resolution.

Wow. my fingers are getting sore, but maybe that will give you a better understanding of how it all works if you don't get too tired of reading before the end of the thread.

<single tear rollls down cheek> your a beuatiful man Xsecrets!! im going to name my first born X after you!

There are a couple of other things that you can do.

I have a scan converter hanging off my video card to feed my TV. This does a very nice job of hiding what screen resolution X has selected. A side effect is that when I hang my flat panel monitor off the vga feed through I end up with display problems, as it is not able to handle the 1280x1024 that the scan convert deals with so nicely.

If you have a standard keyboard hanging off your myth box, you can change modes using the ctrl + left-shift + [+|-] key combinations. The + and - keys are the ones on the numeric keypad. This does change the resolution, however it does not change the "screen size" that applications believe they are using. X 'solves' this by allowing you to move the screen around by bumping the mouse pointer up against the edges of the screen.

Using this capability, you can walk through the screen resolutions, and see what resolution feels most comfortable for you.

Once you have decided that, (and using the instructions Xsecrets provided) you can find the line that sets the screen resolution for your system, and modify it.

I usually do my modifications something like this:



Or even



Both of which give me back the original format at a later date if I wish to put in a DVI capable video card and hdtv display.

-Rusty

_________________
Master:
- AMD 1800XP on a MSI KT4V motherboard, via KT400 bios
- 120 G Segate Baracuda /, /cache, /myth, swap
- 200 G Segate Baracuda /myth/tv
- 3 Haupauge! WinTV PVR250s
- 19" Daewoo Monitor (1280x1024 ni)

Thanks Xsecrets for the valuable information!
To answer the question of why changing the resolution: think outside the box - not everyone is hooking up Mythtv to a TV. I for example have a XGA projector and I had a hard time setting a fixed resolution of 1024x768@60Hz. The DDC feature (or how it's called) isn't, or simply can't, working because I have a VGA splitter in between that sends the signal to a flatscreen so I don't have to switch on the projector if I just want to watch the news...

Anyways, to help other folks: have a look at: http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/faq/ ... /calc.html
this is a nice video timing calculator, just copy paste the calculated modline into your XF86Config-4 file.

I'm using: Modeline "1024x768" 65 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync

But it still bothers me why this whole thing is so f#%@^$&! complicated! Isn't there a simpler way in Debian? Maybe I'm just spoiled from SuSE's sax2 tool...

well there's not really an easier way in knoppmyth. You could dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86, and walk through all the steps which allows you to set the refresh rates if you choose advanced, but it's actually just easier to do it manually, and then of course kde and gnome have tools to make these changes, but we aren't running them in knoppmyth for reasons discused before.

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Xsecrets