From Knowledge76

Overview

This article describes how to setup 1440x900 resolution with the Intel 945GM graphics chipset. This is the native resolution and chip set for the Dell Inspiron 9400 (with no upgraded screen or graphics card). This How To is for Ubuntu Dapper 6.06.

The How To

First, Ubuntu won't install correctly from the live CD in standard mode. You have to boot it in safe video mode which gets you 1024x768 resolution. Then, install Ubuntu on your hard disk and reboot.

Once Ubuntu comes up, install all the latest updates. Maybe by the time you read this all will be fixed and you won't have to do the rest.

Next, run:

• sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

This will convert your kernel from running a vega driver with a 1024x768 screen to running a i810 driver (i=Intel) with a 1440x900 screen. Unfortunately, the BIOS doesn't report that such a screen resolution exists, so if you rebooted at this point, X will fail to start saying "can't find BIOS entry for this resolution" or some such.

So, we've got to hack the BIOS to make that entry. Fortunately, there's a tool called 915resolution to do this. Even better, you can't really break anything because it doesn't hack the BIOS permanently, just tweaks it on each startup.

First, install 915resolution. To do that, download the latest version from http://www.geocities.com/stomljen. I used version 0.5.2(2).

Unpack the gzip'd archive:

• tar zxvf 915resolution-0.5.2\(2\).tar.gz

Install it:

• cd 915resolution-0.5.2
• sudo make install

Pick a mode number to overwrite from the list printed by this command:

• sudo /usr/sbin/915resolution -l

There should be a bunch of resolution modes, pick one that you don't want to use. I picked 5c, the ~1900x1200 to overwrite as my screen can't handle that many pixels.

Test your overwrite command using your mode number, desired resolution and depth:

• sudo /usr/sbin/915resolution 5c 1440 900 32
• sudo /usr/sbin/915resolution -l

Note that changing one mode seems to change the other modes with the same resolution but different depth. I'm not sure why this is.

Put your overwrite command (minus the "sudo") in /etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh just before the ": exit 0" line.

• sudo pico /etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh
• add "/usr/sbin/915resolution 5c 1440 900 32" near the end.

Reboot, and you should now be in 1440x900 mode.