Correct Screen Resolution Ubuntu 7.04 on Satellite 4100XCDT

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: alorane <alorane-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>

| I installed Ubuntu 7.04 (feisty) with a lot of problems on an old Toshiba
| Satellite 4100XCDT laptop last year.
| memory 123.1MB(reason while I had a lot of problems), mobile Pentium II.
| Everything is working so far except the screen resolution: it does only
| allow me to change between
| 832x624, 800x600 and 640x480. The laptop screen does have a resolution of
| 1024x768.
| How can I get my full screen?

I don't know enough about the 4100XCDT.  This seems to have the
specifications:
http://resource.toshiba-europe.com/europe/bv/computers/technical/satellite/Satellite4100XCDT_tech_e.doc

This says that your computer has 2.5MB video RAM.  That seems rather
light (and not a power of two).  If it is correct, and you want
1024x764, you can have no more than 3 bytes per pixel (assuming that
nothing else uses video RAM).

I don't know whether the Trident Cyber9525 supports 3 bytes per pixel
or rounds up to 4 bytes per pixel) -- some video controllers do that.
So you might have to go with 2 bytes per pixel.

The specs seem to limit 1024x768 to 64k colours (i.e. 2 bytes per
pixel).

I have an old notebook with an old Linux distro that also has a
Trident video controller.  The X driver never was 100%.  But I could
get 1024x768 (16 bits/pixel).  This bug hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
  https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=61834
Read the second last comment here:
  https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=41150

Current X seems to ignore modelines in xorg.conf, at least under
certain conditions.  Very annoying.  Perhaps it depends on the driver
used.

/var/log/Xorg.0.log tells you a lot about what X is thinking about
your system.  If you can decode it, you should be able to find out
what is going wrong.  Here's a log from my notebook about 7 years ago:
  https://bugzilla.redhat.com/attachment.cgi?id=19451

A 128M SODIMM would do a lot to help Linux on your machine (I assume
that you have 64M soldered on the motherboard and a 64M SODIMM in a
socket.  Some Toshibas have two sockets in addition to the 64M
soldered on the MB.  Even so, the live Ubuntu 7.10 install CD still won't
do: it requires something like 385M.
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