How to save xorg.conf file to add new screen resolution

[jchw]

Hi,
I am trying to get 1600 X 900 screen resolution in my Mint 17.1 system. I had a solution in Mint 13 which was to amend the xorg.conf file and save that in etc/X11 and it worked fine for several years.

Trying the same solution I have edited the xorg.conf file to add the new resolution shown here.

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
FontPath "built-ins"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
Modeline "1600x900 60.00" 118.25 1600 1696 1856 2112 900 903 908 934 -hsync +vsync
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
Modeline "1600x900 60.00" 118.25 1600 1696 1856 2112 900 903 908 934 -hsync +vsync
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
### <percent>: "<f>%"
### [arg]: arg optional
#Option "NoAccel" # [<bool>]
#Option "AccelMethod" # <str>
#Option "Backlight" # <str>
#Option "DRI" # <str>
#Option "ColorKey" # <i>
#Option "VideoKey" # <i>
#Option "Tiling" # [<bool>]
#Option "LinearFramebuffer" # [<bool>]
#Option "VSync" # [<bool>]
#Option "PageFlip" # [<bool>]
#Option "SwapbuffersWait" # [<bool>]
#Option "TripleBuffer" # [<bool>]
#Option "XvPreferOverlay" # [<bool>]
#Option "HotPlug" # [<bool>]
#Option "ReprobeOutputs" # [<bool>]
#Option "XvMC" # [<bool>]
#Option "ZaphodHeads" # <str>
#Option "VirtualHeads" # <i>
#Option "TearFree" # [<bool>]
#Option "PerCrtcPixmaps" # [<bool>]
#Option "FallbackDebug" # [<bool>]
#Option "DebugFlushBatches" # [<bool>]
#Option "DebugFlushCaches" # [<bool>]
#Option "DebugWait" # [<bool>]
#Option "BufferCache" # [<bool>]
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "intel"
BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
### <percent>: "<f>%"
### [arg]: arg optional
#Option "NoAccel" # [<bool>]
#Option "AccelMethod" # <str>
#Option "Backlight" # <str>
#Option "DRI" # <str>
#Option "ColorKey" # <i>
#Option "VideoKey" # <i>
#Option "Tiling" # [<bool>]
#Option "LinearFramebuffer" # [<bool>]
#Option "VSync" # [<bool>]
#Option "PageFlip" # [<bool>]
#Option "SwapbuffersWait" # [<bool>]
#Option "TripleBuffer" # [<bool>]
#Option "XvPreferOverlay" # [<bool>]
#Option "HotPlug" # [<bool>]
#Option "ReprobeOutputs" # [<bool>]
#Option "XvMC" # [<bool>]
#Option "ZaphodHeads" # <str>
#Option "VirtualHeads" # <i>
#Option "TearFree" # [<bool>]
#Option "PerCrtcPixmaps" # [<bool>]
#Option "FallbackDebug" # [<bool>]
#Option "DebugFlushBatches" # [<bool>]
#Option "DebugFlushCaches" # [<bool>]
#Option "DebugWait" # [<bool>]
#Option "BufferCache" # [<bool>]
Identifier "Card1"
Driver "intel"
BusID "PCI:0:2:1"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 1
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 4
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 15
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Card1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 1
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 4
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 15
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1600x900"
EndSubSection
EndSection

I then tried to save the amended xorg.conf file using the command sudo cp xorg.conf /etc/X11 but it fails in the terminal.

john@john-Latitude-D630 ~ $ sudo cp xorg.conf /etc/X11
[sudo] password for john:
john@john-Latitude-D630 ~ $ sudo cp xorg.conf/etc/X11
cp: missing destination file operand after ‘xorg.conf/etc/X11’
Try 'cp --help' for more information.
john@john-Latitude-D630 ~ $

In an attempt to solve the immediate problem I reinstalled Mint 13 but find I am unable to save the modified xorg file in either of the two versions.

Any ideas what I am doing wrong here or is there a better method? My technical ability is quite limited

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

[Pjotr]

Please generate an overview of your system like this:
- Launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window);
- make the terminal window fullscreen, in order to avoid chopped lines;
- copy/paste this command into the terminal:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

if you type: the letter F is a capital letter

Press Enter.

Copy/paste the output in your next message.

[jchw]

his is the result from the inxi -Fxz command.

john@john-Latitude-D630 ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: john-Latitude-D630 Kernel: 3.13.0-37-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
Desktop: N/A Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine: System: Dell (portable) product: Latitude D630
Mobo: Dell model: 0KU184 Bios: Dell version: A03 date: 07/23/2007
CPU: Dual core Intel Core2 Duo CPU T7300 (-MCP-) cache: 4096 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 7977.92
Clock Speeds: 1: 800.00 MHz 2: 2001.00 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary) bus-ID: 00:02.0
X.Org: 1.15.1 driver: intel Resolution: 1280x800@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 965GM x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card: Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-37-generic
Network: Card-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5755M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express driver: tg3 ver: 3.134 bus-ID: 09:00.0
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Card-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection driver: iwl3945 ver: in-tree:s bus-ID: 0c:00.0
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (32.4% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: HGST_HTS545050A7 size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID: / size: 168G used: 152G (96%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 2.14GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info: Processes: 158 Uptime: 4 min Memory: 496.7/2006.5MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4
john@john-Latitude-D630 ~ $