Installing X

[albert at ccs.neu.edu (Albert Cahalan)]

> - ATI CT Mach64 (Gateway's name for the card)

Get the latest beta X server.

> Right now, I'm just looking for the modeline info for this monitor. I've
> looked at all the modeDB and Monitors files I could find, and didn't see
> anything for this monitor, probably because it's fairly new. The X doc
> says you can use a monitor that's "close", but what the f%$k is "close"?

Close means it doesn't make your monitor go flatline and let out
all the magic smoke.

> Resolution-    1280x1024
> Horiz scan-    31.5 - 64 KHz
> Vert scan -    50 - 120 Hz

Meaning: you have a damn good monitor that will take almost anything
and turn it into a picture.

> There is also a table that shows the 7 factory preset modes the monitor has.
> In addition to these 7, I can have up to 10 user defined modes. The monitor
> then detects what frequency it's receiving and chooses the right mode. Huh?

Monitors don't really know what the current video mode is. They guess.

> 640 x 480        37.5           75                VESA
> 800 x 600        46.875         75                VESA
> 1024 x 768       60.023         75.029            VESA
> 1280 x 1024      63.95          60                VESA 

Those are the good ones. I'd go for 1024x768, both physical and
virtual. It will be good for your eyes and there is a better
chance that your video card can accelerate well in that mode.
(The Cirrus Logic boards lose acceleration above that, maybe ATI too.)

> 2. Any modeline data on this monitor? Any other ideas where to
> look? Is there a database somewhere that gets updated occasionally
> with new monitors?

Run the X config program (might be in a */lib directory) and then
edit the file to match your min/max refresh rates. Leave all the
modelines and just let the X server throw out the invalid ones.