[HLUG] X easier in Mandriva than Ubuntu

[Jeff Tupholme]

Hi all,

Just passing on a quick tip that someone might find useful now or in  
the future. I was recently trying to get Linux working on an old IBM  
mini-tower (circa 2002) and having problems with Ubuntu 9.10 driving  
the graphics chipset properly. It is a basic Intel 810 setup and would  
run only the lower resolutions, which obviously isn't ideal for any  
recent monitor.

I read that X in Mandriva was a bit easier to get going (i.e., less  
need to configure by hand) and so I installed Mandriva 2010. Indeed, I  
found that using the Control Center I could get resolutions even  
higher than the chipset is supposed to support! The only thing to  
watch out for is that the Display/Monitors preferences only seem to  
change the settings for the current session, so best to stick with the  
MCC during your initial configuration. (Looking under the hood, I  
believe MCC changes the config files whereas the preferences do not;  
they just work with what is there already, right or wrong.)


Best wishes,

Jeff