No GUI way to change screen resolution in Kubuntu

there is a gui once you get into xwindows/kde via system settings. but if a bad config is chosen and xwindows will not start, how could a gui be used then? i understand the fact that someone new to Linux would have an issue with this be it their first time. I agree with you there should be an easier way, but I don't see how it could be done with a gui if there is no X. I am not a coder, so I may not be 100% accurate on this either, if it is a possibility, a coder would know. Also, I don't see how this is a bug, but maybe it has the potential of becoming a specification. I will ask around concerning this, and will subscribe. Thank you for your comments.

This is a valid wishlist/bug and will be looked into further. Thank you.

Hmm... there are two issues here, as I see it.

One - reconfiguring xserver-xorg after a "bad" or suboptimal configuration. It would seem this is what the original reporter had in mind - for reference about Xorg configuration/auto-configuration issues, please see the (closed) bug 11155 and the followup at https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/xorg-config-ui .

Two - if xorg is correctly configured, changing the used resolution. As mentioned by Rich, in this case there is a GUI (either via System Settings, or right-click-on-desktop -> "Configure Desktop).

An additional option is running "krandrtray", which stands for"KDE Resize and Rotate System Tray App", and which resides thereafter in your system tray. (On Breezy, at least, no menu entry for this is included, so you have to start it from the command line.)

Hello,

#1 - actually, no, but it would definitely be useful. Perhaps a reference to such a tool could be mentioned in the x crash message.

#2 - there is no UI for me. I did right click on the desktop, and I did look through the available applets options - none were for screen resizing. I'll check out the command line option when I get home. (NB that this is Kubuntu, not Ubuntu; I know that gnome does have these options.)

Just to be clearer; my scenerio is that I selected a resolution which basically works, but looks like dog's ass. I'd like to be able to change and preview it within a UI context rather than bouncing to text mode and restarting X.

Thanks!

Thanks

On Wednesday 07 June 2006 12:48, Reuben Firmin wrote:
> Hello,
>
> #1 - actually, no, but it would definitely be useful. Perhaps a
> reference to such a tool could be mentioned in the x crash message.
>
> #2 - there is no UI for me. I did right click on the desktop, and I did
> look through the available applets options - none were for screen
> resizing. I'll check out the command line option when I get home. (NB
> that this is Kubuntu, not Ubuntu; I know that gnome does have these
> options.)
>
> Just to be clearer; my scenerio is that I selected a resolution which
> basically works, but looks like dog's ass. I'd like to be able to change
> and preview it within a UI context rather than bouncing to text mode and
> restarting X.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Thanks

Hey Reuben,

I also use Kubuntu. If you have xwindows/KDE up, and you have access to your
Kmenu, you would go there and select System Settings. Once inside system
settings you go to display. As long as your monitor and video card are
properly selected and configured in the hardware section, then you should be
able to use the resolution slider to change your resolution as well as your
refresh rate. I am currently typing this on a system with an ATI x300 (Radeon
9700) and a Samsung 955DF monitor. I can go in and change my settings in real
time.

Now, if you have further issues and have no kmenu but you can right click the
desktop, then goto run command and type "kcontrol" w/o the quotes. In there
you will be able to change your settings within in the "Peripherals" tree. I
hope this helps a little bit. Continue with the updates as the information
you are providing is excellent. Thank you.

--
Rich Johnson (nixternal)
"The best thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do
something stupid."

Ah, that's new to me. Sweet; sorry for the false alarm.

This does work a little differently from the gnome one, however; I recall that their applet actually lets you preview resolution changes on the screen with a 15 second timeout. This one doesn't (or at least it doesn't work with my hardware; Sony 17se; NVidia GForce 5200); it wants me to restart X (let's hope that my changes worked and I don't have to dpkg-reconfigure ...)

Also, this definitely is not present in my desktop's right click menu; that would be a logical place to at least link it from.

Anyway, thanks for the help! Feel free to resolve this issue unless there are tangential issues that you'd like to track.

One further note to clarify; krandrtray does let me preview changes with the 15 second timeout; it's just the more detailed system settings which doesn't.

Outstanding Reuben. I am glad you got this fixed. After everything is setup and running, and the hardware configuration is correct, you should ge the 15 second timeout. I get it when ever I change my resolution. Xorg.conf could be a pain sometimes, no doubt on that. But you have brought up a good idea though with your intial post, concerning a "GUI" for xorg crashes. Somebody had mentioned it to me that SuSe has something like that, I believe SAX? I haven't used SuSe in over 6 years I would say, so I really can't remember. I think this is a good idea and I am sure other's will look into it. Thank you for your curtousy during this situation as it is greatly appreciated, especially during major issues as this. Thank you once again.

I installed Ubuntu and then I installed the KDE desktop afterwards through the command line using aptitude. I set the Gnome desktop at 1024X768 at 60hertz. That was fine. When I went into the KDE session. the resolution was so high it was like looking at the screen from outer space. My monitor is a Viewsonic GS815--vid card is an Nvidia TNT2 16mgs. [450mhz PII, 256mgs Ram, 9GB hard drive--an older Compaq AP200 workstation].

I tried to reset it in KDE to the same resolution as I had in Gnome through the GUI, and it split the screen in half horizontally. I can't get to the kicker menu at ALL, and I don't know how I am going to bail myself out of this. Maybe I could uninstall KDE--it is that bad. I am not sure how to do that though. Gnome is fine...KDE is a mess. I wish I had had a warning about this. I wish I could right click and get to the display resolution that way to reset it.

KDE is broken now.

This is not related to xorg at all

System Settings->Display from guidance.

I couldn't even GET TO the Kicker menu since the screen was cut in half
horizontally--the Kicker was GONE, and all I had was a right click menu and
that was it. I was seeing double horizontally with the top of the screen in
duplicate. One thing that was suggested to me after I reinstalled it was
that I could have created another account through the terminal, and as a NEW
USER with a new login and password, I might have gotten the menus back and
my control over them.

But, anyway, that installation is history, and I learned to be much more
careful if I try and mess with changing the resolution in KDE Kubuntu in the
GUI.

Abha

On 6/20/06, Jonathan Riddell <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> System Settings->Display from guidance.
>
>
> ** Changed in: kubuntu-meta (Ubuntu)
> Status: Unconfirmed => Rejected
>
> --
> No GUI way to change screen resolution in Kubuntu
> https://launchpad.net/bugs/48777
>

I have have trouble getting KDE to accept the changes I'm trying to make to the screen and driver settings. After I've selected the correct versions, if I can click on apply in the first place, it usually does nothing, and the settings aren't changed.

If you are having trouble with the GUI--if it is gone screwy on you--one way
that may help is if you create a different user. My boyfriend had the GUI go
bonkers on him in Mandrake and he simply created a new user ID and it fixed
it. Then he deleted the old user name. If you do that though, make sure to
take all your data off the old user account before you try it.

I have a number of external USB drives and devices and it was easy to get
the data off of it recently when my home partition was way too full.

Some people have told me that if settings are made in the GUI, they may tend
to persist. For that reason many prefer the command line for some
adjustments.

I also noticed that when I was configuring the screen resolution, it asked
me if I wanted to use the gnome screen tool or the KDE tool. I installed
both Ubuntu and Kubuntu so that I had the option of using the KDE window
manager. I installed UBUNTU first, so when I set up KDE, I used what I
thought was the Gnome tool for consistency. On one install I switched it for
KDE after installing Kubuntu and I had bad results. I wish I could remember
the exact name of that, but I installed Ubuntu first and since that was
Gnome, that was the one I chose initially.

The first time I ran into trouble, I just reinstalled everything since I had
no data--that fixed it.

BTW, maybe it would help to install Easy Ubuntu? That tool has drivers in it
for Nvidia and ATI video cards. http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/get.html

Abha

On 9/19/06, Redge <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> I have have trouble getting KDE to accept the changes I'm trying to make
> to the screen and driver settings. After I've selected the correct
> versions, if I can click on apply in the first place, it usually does
> nothing, and the settings aren't changed.
>
> --
> No GUI way to change screen resolution in Kubuntu
> https://launchpad.net/bugs/48777
>

Thanks you so much for your suggestions! I'll try them out and let you know
if they work.

Redge

On 9/20/06, Abhaha <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> If you are having trouble with the GUI--if it is gone screwy on you--one
> way
> that may help is if you create a different user. My boyfriend had the GUI
> go
> bonkers on him in Mandrake and he simply created a new user ID and it
> fixed
> it. Then he deleted the old user name. If you do that though, make sure to
> take all your data off the old user account before you try it.
>
> I have a number of external USB drives and devices and it was easy to get
> the data off of it recently when my home partition was way too full.
>
> Some people have told me that if settings are made in the GUI, they may
> tend
> to persist. For that reason many prefer the command line for some
> adjustments.
>
> I also noticed that when I was configuring the screen resolution, it asked
> me if I wanted to use the gnome screen tool or the KDE tool. I installed
> both Ubuntu and Kubuntu so that I had the option of using the KDE window
> manager. I installed UBUNTU first, so when I set up KDE, I used what I
> thought was the Gnome tool for consistency. On one install I switched it
> for
> KDE after installing Kubuntu and I had bad results. I wish I could
> remember
> the exact name of that, but I installed Ubuntu first and since that was
> Gnome, that was the one I chose initially.
>
> The first time I ran into trouble, I just reinstalled everything since I
> had
> no data--that fixed it.
>
> BTW, maybe it would help to install Easy Ubuntu? That tool has drivers in
> it
> for Nvidia and ATI video cards.
> http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/get.html
>
>
> Abha
>
> On 9/19/06, Redge <email address hidden> wrote:
> >
> > I have have trouble getting KDE to accept the changes I'm trying to make
> > to the screen and driver settings. After I've selected the correct
> > versions, if I can click on apply in the first place, it usually does
> > nothing, and the settings aren't changed.
> >
> > --
> > No GUI way to change screen resolution in Kubuntu
> > https://launchpad.net/bugs/48777
> >
>
> --
> No GUI way to change screen resolution in Kubuntu
> https://launchpad.net/bugs/48777
>

--
Romke van der Meulen
Kunstmatige Intelligentie jaar 2 - RuG
Student 1536516

"The three great mysteries: air to a bird, water to a fish and mankind to
himself."
- Hindu saying

Good Luck. I hope this works for you.

Abha

On 9/20/06, Redge <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> Thanks you so much for your suggestions! I'll try them out and let you
> know
> if they work.
>
> Redge
>