Configuring A Widescreen Monitor in Suse Linux

This page describes how to set up a widescreen LCD monitor in Suse Linux. Only one monitor/video card combination is covered: the Dell 2007WFP widescreen flat panel monitor and the nVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 AGP 4x video card. The procedure and combination works in Suse 10.0. However, the general principles may be helpful to users with other combinations.

SaX2

Even an old distribution like Suse 10.0 can be configured for the new widescreen monitors using SaX. However, in this case the results only provide a starting point. It is still necessary to edit xorg.conf manually.

Exit X and type 
su
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
sax2
In SaX, do the following:

  1. Click "Change Configuration".
  2. Under "Monitor", set to "VESA 1600x1200@60 Hz" (If there's a 1680x1050 menu item, select that instead).
  3. Under "Properties", set Resolution=1680x1050 (WSXGA+).
  4. Test the new configuration and save.

Since SaX deletes lines in xorg.conf it doesn't understand, if you've changed anything earlier, you need to edit the file to add your changes back. For example, SaX deletes this line where I set the keyboard repeat rate to something faster than "Arthritic Slug" (under "InputDevice"): 
  Option       "AutoRepeat" "27 250"

Set modelines

Goto http://koala.ilog.fr/cgi-bin/nph-colas-modelines and let it calculate a variety of modelines for various frequencies. For this, you need to know the bandwidth of your video card, the maximum vertical frequency of the monitor, and the maximum horizontal frequency of the monitor. These are the parameters I used:
Device Parameter Setting
nVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 (NV5M64) Bandwidth 1328 MB/s
Dell 2007WFP Max Vertical freq. 81 Hz
Dell 2007WFP Max horiz. freq. 76 kHz
Enter a variety of numbers for Max Vertical Frequency to get several modelines for frequencies between the lower and higher limits of the monitor (53 and 81 in this case). In all likelihood, only one of these modelines will work. The others will look fuzzy. 
ModeLine "1680x1050" 181.96 1680 1752 2112 2256 1050 1052 1064 1090 #74Hz
ModeLine "1680x1050" 147.54 1680 1752 2112 2256 1050 1052 1064 1090 #60Hz
ModeLine "1680x1050" 135.24 1680 1752 2112 2256 1050 1052 1064 1090 #55Hz
Test each modeline by creating a text document with a pattern such as white 'X's on a black background across the width of the screen. Some of the X's will be fuzzy. The goal is to find a modeline in which the fuzzy bands are as wide as possible. Comment out the old 1680x1050 modeline and put the new one first in the appropriate section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

If you find a suitable modeline, change the Pixel Clock and Phase Settings under "Display Settings" in the controls on the front of the monitor to make the fuzzy band disappear. For my particular monitor, the 60Hz modeline, along with a Pixel Clock of 66 and a phase of 23, worked satisfactorily.

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