[Solved] Cannot change display resolution in Display dialog

[Alan_uk]

Hi

I'm struggling with the small text on my screen but cannot change the screen resolution.

When I go to Menu \ Settings \ Display then on the Display dialog there is Default set at 1280x1024, refresh rate 0.0 Hz, rotation: Normal and reflection: none. But on the all the drop down menus there are no other choices for any of these. Also there is no button to add another profile.

xrandr shows

xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 1280 x 1024, current 1280 x 1024, maximum 1280 x 1024
default connected 1280x1024+0+0 0mm x 0mm
  1280x1024      0.0*

Then
xrandr --size 1024x768
shows
Size 1024x768 not found in available modes

Suggestions please.

PS At the moment I'm using a standard square screen but once I'm fully running on Linux then i'll be using my landscape screen. This square screen is using a vga cable as I don't have a spare DVI cable.

Alan

[Scott(0)]

Hi Alan. Does (menu>settings>) install drivers list any video driver options?

[Alan_uk]

Hi Scott

It says "No proprietary drivers are in use on this system" and then lists 3 driver options all for ATI/AMD proprietary FGLRX ([normal], experimental beta, post-release updates)

According to AMD my A4-5300 APU has an AMD Radeon HD7480D R7 graphics.

I decided to activate the [normal] one to start. Driver was downloaded and installed.

Restarted and I can now choose a lower resolution.

Many thanks Scot

[Scott(0)]

You're welcome and happy it worked. My laptop has a resolution of 1920x1200, so I know what it's like to stuggle with small text. 

[Alan_uk]

Just tried the "post-release update" version and so far so good.

I think part of the problem may be the quality of the screen. This square 19 inch screen was bought for my wife who requested that size. It's a Samsung SyncMaster SA450 recently bought new on special offer for $90. My own screen is a 24" ilyama Prolite XB2472HD at 4 times the price. I can run that at 1440x900. Of course, there may be other issues like font quality and driver quality. When I bought the ilyama I read lots of articles saying wide screen were optimised for video and were often poor on graphics and text. The ilyama was stated as an exception.

Alan