Solaris 10 Installation Notes

When I booted from the boot DVD, I saw the information below:

SunOS Release 5.10 Version Generic_118855-14 32-bit
Copyright 1983-2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
Configuring devices.
-


    1.     Solaris Interactive (default)
    2.     Custom JumpStart
    3.     Solaris Interactive Text (Desktop session)
    4.     Solaris Interactive Text (Console session)
    5.     Apply driver updates
    6.     Single user shell

Enter the number of your choice.
Please make a selection (1-6).1
Selected: 1

Solaris Interactive

Using install cd in /dev/dsk/c0t1d0p0
Using RPC Bootparams for network configuration information.
Attempting to configure interface e1000g0...
Skipped interface e1000g0
Beginning system identification...
Searching for configuration file(s)...
Search completed.

Proposed Window System Configuration for Installation:

    Video Device:       NVidia Corporation GeForce 7300 GS
    Video Driver:       XF86-NV
    Resolution/Colors:  1024x768 - 256 colors @ 70 Hz
    Screen Size:        17-inch (43cm)
    Monitor Type:       MultiFrequency 56kHz (up to 1280x1024 interlaced)
    Keyboard Type:      Generic US-English(104-Key)
    Pointing Device:    Generic USB Mouse (3 Button)

Press  <ENTER>      to accept proposed configuration
or     <ESC>        to change proposed configuration
or     <SPACE>      to pause

I pressed ESC to change the configuration.

Current or Proposed Window System Configuration:


       Video Deivce: NVidia Corporation GeForce 7300 GS
       Video Driver: XF86-NV
  Resolution/Colors: 1024x768 - 256 colors @ 70 Hz
        Screen Size: 17-inch (43cm)

       Monitor Type: MultiFrequency 56kHz (up to 1024x768 interlaced)

      Keyboard Type: Generic US-English(104-Key)

    Pointing Device: Generic USB Mouse (3 Button)

    Configure Devices
    ------------------------------------------
    [X] No changes needed - Test/Save and Exit
    [ ] Change Video Device/Monitor
    [ ] Change Keyboard
    [ ] Change Pointing Device

   F2_Continue    F3_Quit Without Save   F6_Help

I wanted to increase the number of colors displayed, so I used the cursor keys to move down to "Change Video Device/Monitor" and then hit the space key to select that option. When I hit F2, I was then shown a "Video Device Selection" screen with "XF86-NV NVidia Corporation GeFOrce 7300 GS" selected. Since that matched the video card in the system, I hit F2 to continue.

I then saw a "Monitor Type Selection" screen. with "MultiFrequency 56KHz (up to 1280x1024 interlaced)" was selected. A 15-inch Dell D828L monitor is attached to the system.

^*The highest capable video resolution supported is 1024 x 768 at 60 Hz. But this mode is not recommened as 60 Hz vertical refresh will cause the video to flicker. The optimal video mode for this 15" monitor is 800 x 600 at 80 Hz.

The settings supported by the monitor are shown in the table below:

I selected "MultiFrequency 38kHz (up to 1024 x 768 interlaced)" instead. The next screen allowed me to slect the screen size. I chose "15-inch (38cm)". The next screen allowed me to pick resolutions and the number of colors.

You must specify the display resolution and color depth for the video
device and monitor.  256 colors is depth 8; 65536 colors is depth 64;
16,777,216 colors is depth 24.  NOTE: not all applications work correctly
at color depth 16 and it is not recommended.

The referesh rate (value in Hz) approximates the highest vertical frequency
that will be used for the monitor.  NOTE: entries with "***" at a the end
may not work with your monitor and they are not recommended.

To select an entry, use the up and down arrow keys.
Press <ENTER> to mark your selection [X].

    Resolution/Colors Referesh Rate
    ------------------------------------
^   [ ] 1920x1440 - 65536 colors ***
|   [ ] 2048x1536 - 65536 colors ***
|   [ ] 640x480 - 256 colors @ 75Hz
|   [ ] 800x600 - 256 colors @ 72 Hz
|   [X] 1024x768 - 256 colors ***
v   [ ] 1152x864 - 256 colors ***

   F2_Continue    F3_Go Back   F4_Set Virtual Resolution    F6_Help

Since the monitor is capable of a resolution of 800x600 at 75Hz, I moved to the top of the list using the upward arrow key and selected "800x600 - 16777216 colors @ 72Hz". Since 72Hz is less than 75Hz, the monitor should not have any problems displaying that many colors and I wanted to get the highest number of colors possible. When I hit F2 to continue, I was returned to the kdmconfig screen where I started, but with my new selections listed.

Current or Proposed Window System Configuration:


       Video Deivce: NVidia Corporation GeForce 7300 GS
       Video Driver: XF86-NV
  Resolution/Colors: 800x600 - 167772 colors @ 72 Hz
        Screen Size: 15-inch (38cm)

       Monitor Type: MultiFrequency 38kHz (up to 1024x768 interlaced)

      Keyboard Type: Generic US-English(104-Key)

    Pointing Device: Generic USB Mouse (3 Button)

    Configure Devices
    ------------------------------------------
    [X] No changes needed - Test/Save and Exit
    [ ] Change Video Device/Monitor
    [ ] Change Keyboard
    [ ] Change Pointing Device

   F2_Continue    F3_Quit Without Save   F6_Help

The system actually has a 105-key keyboard, but that option was not listed under the "Keyboard Type Selection" screen, so I hit the F2 key to continue. I then saw a "kdmconfig Window System Configuration Test" screen.

You can test the current or proposed window system configuration
now by pressing F2.   If the configuration is okay, you will see
the sample image, be able to move the pointer, and click on
a button.  If you see a blank or improper screen, press any
key.  If kdmconfig does not regain control within a minute,
you will have to reboot your system.

Press F3 to quit kdmconfig without saving any changes to the
current configuration

Press F4 to bypass the test. The current or proposed configuration
will be saved without being tested.

   F2_Test    F3_Quit Without Save   F4_Save and Exit   F6_Help

I pressed F2 to test the configuration. I then saw a screen with 16 different colors displayed in ovals. I was able to move the "X" on the screen with the mouse and click on the colored ovals. There was a prompt asking "Is this display okay?". I clicked on "Yes".

A GUI display then appeared, where I was prompted to select a language. I chose "0" for English. The next choice was to select whether the system was networked on non-networked. I chose "networked", which was followed by a prompt for whether I wanted to "use DHCP for e1000g0". I chose "no". I was then prompted for the system name, which I entered. I then provided the following information for subsequent prompts.

I chose to enable IPv6 support, though I don't need it at the moment, so I could do testing later with IPv6. The text displayed at the prompt for IPv6 support stated "Enabling IPv6 will have no effect if this machine is not on a network that provides IPv6 service. IPv4 service will not be affected if IPv6 is enabled."

After confirming the choices I made, I was taken to a welcome screen, which led to installer options.

After making those choices, I was then taken to the license agreement screen, where I accepted the software license agreement. I was then given the choice of a default or a cutom install. The default selection will install basic Solaris products into their default directory locations, whereas a custom install provides a choice of which Solaris products to install. For each product, it also provides an option to customize the products to install. I chose "custom install".

I was then prompted to select "software localizations". Since the English version of Solaris is installed by default, I just clicked on "next". The next screen showed me that the initial locale to be used after the system is installed was "English (POSIX C) (C)". There were on other choices listed, so I just clicked on "Next".

The next window allowed me to select additional products. I chose "Solaris 10 Extra Value Software", which includes the "Sun Validation Test Suite 6.2" and "Sun Install Check 2.0.2", but not "Java Enterprise System".

Sun Validation Test Suite 6.2 is a diagnostics hardware testing tool. It enables users to selectively do functional testing on various hardware components in the system.

Sun Install Check 2.0.2 is designed to assist with basic installation configuration for your Sun server. Sun Install Check gathers configuration information and deploys rules that verifies patches for your Solaris™ Operating Environment. This tool can also identify unsupported firmware and hardware configurations. Sun Install Check identifies conflicts with these rules and provides recommendations for self-remediation to help you configure your system with th emost current patches for stable operation.

The Java Enterprise System is a fully integrated software system that serves as a foundation for worldclass business applications. It provides the following core set of network services: Directory and Identity Services; Web and Application Services; Collaboration and Communications Services; Availability Services; Administrative Services; and Security Services.

At the next prompt, which allows you to specify a "Web Start Ready product scan location", I chose the default option of "none". After that I could specify a Solaris Software Group, where I had the following options:

Entire Group Plus OEM
Entire Group
Developer Group
End User Group
Core Group
Reduced Networking Group

I chose "Entire Group Plus OEM". The entire Solaris SOftware Group Plus OEM Support consists of the Entire Solaris Software Group plus additional hardware drivers, including drivers for hardware not present at the time of installation.

The next screen was for disk selection. The only available disk drive, C0d0 was selected as the bootdisk.

When the installation procedure showed the proposed disk layout, it displayed the following:

I modified the layout.

I had to leave a few MB (1 cylinder) free to get the rounding error to 0. Returning afterwards to the "Lay Out File Systems" screen showed the following:

The next "Ready to Install" screen showed the following information for the system:

Solaris Operating System: Solaris 10 Software

Solaris Software Group: Entire Group Plus OEM

Root Device: c0d0

Fdisk Partitions

   Disk       Type       Start Cyl     Size      Action
   c0d0       Solaris    1             14592     add

File Systems:

   c0d0s0 / 75015 MB
   c0d0s1 swap 1028 MB
   c0d0s7 /export/home 38375 MB

Region and Locales:
  
  English (POSIX C) (C)
 
System Locale: English (POSIX C)(C)

Products:

  Solaris 10 Software 5     33.6 MB
    Sun Validation Test Suite 6.2     16.3 MB
    SUn Install Check 2.0.2     17.4 MB

I then clicked on "Install Now" to proceed with the installation. Unfortunately, the installation failed. I saw the following information when I checked the details:

Pfinstall failed. Exit stat= java.lang.UNIXProcess@15dc721 11

.....
More Information:
   Log file: /tmp/install_log

Clicking on next yielded a shell prompt. Looking at /tmp/install_log yielded only the same useless "Pfinstall failed. Exit stat= java.lang.UNIXProcess@15dc721 11" message.

Fortunately, I was able to find informatoin on the error within the Solaris 10 Release Notes, which had a Solaris Installation GUI Program Might Fail on Systems with X86 fdisk Boot Partitions (6186606) section. That section stated "The Solaris installation GUI might fail on a system with an existing x86 boot partition. The failure occurs if the existing x86 boot partition was created with the Solaris text-based installer. The following error message is displayed." The error message shown had a "Pfinstall failed. Exit stat= java.lang.UNIXProcess@89ce3 2" line that was similar to what I had seen, though I had not seen any of the other information listed.

I had previously installed Solaris 10 on the system, but then decided to download a later version, the 6/06 version, of Solaris 10 when I learned it had enhanced features. I had then booted the system from a Linux rescue disc and thought I had wiped out the existing partitions on the drive using fdisk from that disc. But perhaps I had not successfully wiped out the existing partitions.

The Solaris 10 Release Notes listed wo workarounds to use in dealing with the problem.

Workaround 1: When the installation program prompts you to select an installation type, select 3 Solaris Interactive Text (Desktop Session).

Workaround 2: If you use the Solaris installation GUI program, follow these steps.

1. Begin the installation.
2. At the prompt to select an installation type, select Custom Install. The custom installation panels prompt you for information abot the locales, software, and disks that you want to install.
3. Answer the questions on the screens as appropriate for your system.
4. On the Fdisk Selection screen, check the disk that contains the x86 boot partition.
5. Remove the x86 boot partition by changing it to UNUSED in the pull-down menu.
6. Add the x86boot partition back by changing the UNUSED back to x86boot.
7. Contine the installation.

I restarted the installation and when I got back to the "Customize fdisk Partitions-- Disk c0d0" screen, which followed the screen where you "Select Disks for fdisk Partition Customization", I changd the first partition labelled "Solaris" to "Unused" and then changed it back to "Solaris". I also changed the size back to the drive's full capacity.

I then clicked on "Next". I then modified the partition information to match what I had used previously. As I watched the installation proceed, I saw it "Creating and checking file systems" at the 3% stage. I then saw it start installing SUNWocfd, still at the 3% stage. It proceeded to "Installing SUNWcnetr" and through the installation of various other components. The installation then proceeded successfully to its conclusion.

When the system rebooted, I saw the following.

SunOS Release 5.10 Version Gerneric_118855-14 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
APIC Error interrupt on CPU 0. Status 0 = 0, Status 1 = 40
APIC Error interrupt on CPU 0. Status 0 = 40, Status 1 = 40
Hostname: myhostname
COnfiguring devices.
Loading smf(5) service descriptions: 122/122
checking ufs filesystems
/dev/rdsk/c0d0s7: is loggin.
Creating new rsa public/private host key pair
Creating new dsa public/private host key pair
All devices are configured...


        This system is configured with NFS version 4, which uses a domain
        name that is automatically derived from the system's name services.
        The derised domain name is sufficient fo rmost configurations. In a
        few cases, mounts that cross different domains might cause files to
        be owned by "nobody" due to the lack of a common domain name.

        Do you need to override the system's default NFS version 4 domain
        name (yes/no) ? [no] : _

I hit enter to accept the default of "no". The DVD was then ejected and I received a login screen. I was prompted to select a desktop after entering the password for the root account. I could choose from "Common Desktop Environment (CDE)" or "Java Desktop System, Release 3". I chose the latter. I saw a Window titled "About the GNOME Desktop" and was taken to the Sun Java Desktop System desktop.

The screen resolution was lower than I wanted. I clicked on the Launch button, then selected Preferences, Desktop Preferences, Display, and Screen Resolution. The screen resolution was 640x480 with a refresh rate of 60 Hz. I couldn't select another resolution or another refresh rate.

I changed to working directory to /usr/X11/bin and ran ./xorgconfig.

# ./xorgconfig

This program will create a basic xorg.conf file, based on menu selections
you make.  It will ask for a pathname when it is ready to write the file.

The xorg.conf file usually resides in /etc/X11.  If
no xorg.conf file is present there, Xorg will probe the system to
autoconfigure itself.  You can run Xorg -configure to generate a xorg.conf
file based on the results of autoconfiguration, or let this program
produce a base xorg.conf file for your configuration, and fine-tune it.
A sample xorg.conf file is also supplied with Xorg; it is configured
for a standard VGA card and monitor with 640x480 resolution.

There are also many chipset and card-specific options and settings available,
but this program does not know about these. On some configurations some of
these settings must be specified. Refer to the X driver man pages and the
chipset-specific READMEs in /usr/X11/share/doc for further details.

Before continuing with this program, make sure you know what video card
you have, and preferably also the chipset it uses and the amount of video
memory on your video card, as well as the specifications of your monitor.

Press enter to continue, or ctrl-c to abort.

First specify a mouse protocol type. Choose one from the following list:

 1.  Auto [Auto detect]
 2.  VUID [Solaris VUID protocol (SPARC, USB, or virtual mouse)]
 3.  SysMouse [SysMouse]
 4.  MouseSystems [Mouse Systems (3-button protocol)]
 5.  PS/2 [PS/2 Mouse]
 6.  Microsoft [Microsoft compatible (2-button protocol)]
 7.  Busmouse [Bus Mouse]
 8.  IMPS/2 [IntelliMouse PS/2]
 9.  ExplorerPS/2 [Explorer PS/2]
10.  GlidePointPS/2 [GlidePoint PS/2]
11.  MouseManPlusPS/2 [MouseManPlus PS/2]
12.  NetMousePS/2 [NetMouse PS/2]
13.  NetScrollPS/2 [NetScroll PS/2]
14.  ThinkingMousePS/2 [ThinkingMouse PS/2]

The recommended protocol is Auto. If you have a very old mouse
or don't want OS support or auto detection, and you have a two-button
or three-button serial mouse, it is most likely of type Microsoft.

Enter a protocol number: 1


If your mouse has only two buttons, it is recommended that you enable
Emulate3Buttons.

Please answer the following question with either 'y' or 'n'.
Do you want to enable Emulate3Buttons? y

Now give the full device name that the mouse is connected to, for example
/dev/tty00. Just pressing enter will use the default, /dev/mouse.

Mouse device:

Please select one of the following keyboard types that is the better
description of your keyboard. If nothing really matches,
choose "Generic 104-key PC"

  1  Sun Type 6 or 7 USB
  2  Sun Type 6 or 7 USB (European layout)
  3  Sun Type 6 or 7 USB (Unix layout)
  4  Sun Type 6 USB (Japanese layout)
  5  Sun Type 7 USB (Japanese layout) / Japanese 106-key
  6  Generic 101-key PC
  7  Generic 102-key (Intl) PC
  8  Generic 104-key PC
  9  Generic 105-key (Intl) PC
 10  Sun Type 4
 11  Sun Type 4 (Canadian layout)
 12  Sun Type 4 (Japanese layout)
 13  Sun Type 4 (European layout)
 14  Sun Type 5
 15  Sun Type 5 (European layout)
 16  Sun Type 5 (Japanese layout)

Enter a number to choose the keyboard.

Press enter for the next page
9

Please select the layout corresponding to your keyboard

  1  U.S. English
  2  Arabic
  3  Albania
  4  Armenia
  5  Azerbaijan
  6  Belarus
  7  Belgium
  8  Bangladesh
  9  India
 10  Bosnia and Herzegovina
 11  Brazil
 12  Bulgaria
 13  Myanmar
 14  Canada
 15  Croatia
 16  Czechia
 17  Denmark
 18  Netherlands

Enter a number to choose the country.
Press enter for the next page

1

Please enter a variant name for 'us' layout. Or just press enter
for default variant

Please answer the following question with either 'y' or 'n'.
Do you want to select additional XKB options (group switcher,
group indicator, etc.)? n

Now we want to set the specifications of the monitor. The two critical
parameters are the vertical refresh rate, which is the rate at which the
the whole screen is refreshed, and most importantly the horizontal sync rate,
which is the rate at which scanlines are displayed.

The valid range for horizontal sync and vertical sync should be documented
in the manual of your monitor.

Press enter to continue, or ctrl-c to abort.

You must indicate the horizontal sync range of your monitor. You can either
select one of the predefined ranges below that correspond to industry-
standard monitor types, or give a specific range.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you do not specify a monitor type with a horizontal
sync range that is beyond the capabilities of your monitor. If in doubt,
choose a conservative setting.

    hsync in kHz; monitor type with characteristic modes
 1  31.5; Standard VGA, 640x480 @ 60 Hz
 2  31.5 - 35.1; Super VGA, 800x600 @ 56 Hz
 3  31.5, 35.5; 8514 Compatible, 1024x768 @ 87 Hz interlaced (no 800x600)
 4  31.5, 35.15, 35.5; Super VGA, 1024x768 @ 87 Hz interlaced, 800x600 @ 56 Hz
 5  31.5 - 37.9; Extended Super VGA, 800x600 @ 60 Hz, 640x480 @ 72 Hz
 6  31.5 - 48.5; Non-Interlaced SVGA, 1024x768 @ 60 Hz, 800x600 @ 72 Hz
 7  31.5 - 57.0; High Frequency SVGA, 1024x768 @ 70 Hz
 8  31.5 - 64.3; Monitor that can do 1280x1024 @ 60 Hz
 9  31.5 - 79.0; Monitor that can do 1280x1024 @ 74 Hz
10  31.5 - 82.0; Monitor that can do 1280x1024 @ 76 Hz
11  Enter your own horizontal sync range

Enter your choice (1-11): 6

You must indicate the vertical sync range of your monitor. You can either
select one of the predefined ranges below that correspond to industry-
standard monitor types, or give a specific range. For interlaced modes,
the number that counts is the high one (e.g. 87 Hz rather than 43 Hz).

 1  50-70
 2  50-90
 3  50-100
 4  40-150
 5  Enter your own vertical sync range

Enter your choice: 3

You must now enter a few identification/description strings, namely an
identifier, a vendor name, and a model name. Just pressing enter will fill
in default names.

The strings are free-form, spaces are allowed.
Enter an identifier for your monitor definition: Dell D828L

Now we must configure video card specific settings. At this point you can
choose to make a selection out of a database of video card definitions.
Because there can be variation in Ramdacs and clock generators even
between cards of the same model, it is not sensible to blindly copy
the settings (e.g. a Device section). For this reason, after you make a
selection, you will still be asked about the components of the card, with
the settings from the chosen database entry presented as a strong hint.

The database entries include information about the chipset, what driver to
run, the Ramdac and ClockChip, and comments that will be included in the
Device section. However, a lot of definitions only hint about what driver
to run (based on the chipset the card uses) and are untested.

If you can't find your card in the database, there's nothing to worry about.
You should only choose a database entry that is exactly the same model as
your card; choosing one that looks similar is just a bad idea (e.g. a
GemStone Snail 64 may be as different from a GemStone Snail 64+ in terms of
hardware as can be).

Do you want to look at the card database? y

  0  * Generic VESA compatible                         -
  1  * Generic VGA compatible                          -
  2  * Unsupported VGA compatible                      -
  3  ** 3DLabs, TI (generic)               [glint]     -
  4  ** 3Dfx (generic)                     [tdfx]      -
  5  ** AST (generic)                      [ast]       -
  6  ** ATI (generic)                      [ati]       -
  7  ** ATI Radeon (generic)               [radeon]    -
  8  ** ATI Rage 128 based (generic)       [r128]      -
  9  ** Alliance Pro Motion (generic)      [apm]       -
 10  ** Ark Logic (generic)                [ark]       -
 11  ** Chips and Technologies (generic)   [chips]     -
 12  ** Cirrus Logic (generic)             [cirrus]    -
 13  ** Cyrix MediaGX (generic)            [cyrix]     -
 14  ** DEC TGA (generic)                  [tga]       -
 15  ** Intel i740 (generic)               [i740]      -
 16  ** Intel i810 (generic)               [i810]      -
 17  ** Linux framebuffer (generic)        [fbdev]     -

Enter a number to choose the corresponding card definition.
Press enter for the next page, q to continue configuration.

 18  ** Matrox Graphics (generic)          [mga]       -
 19  ** NVIDIA (generic)                   [nv]        -
 20  ** NeoMagic (generic)                 [neomagic]  -
 21  ** Number Nine I128 (generic)         [i128]      -
 22  ** Rendition (generic)                [rendition] -
 23  ** S3 (not ViRGE or Savage) (generic) [s3]        -
 24  ** S3 Savage (generic)                [savage]    -
 25  ** S3 ViRGE (generic)                 [s3virge]   -
 26  ** SiS (generic)                      [sis]       -
 27  ** Silicon Motion (generic)           [siliconmotion]-
 28  ** Trident (generic)                  [trident]   -
 29  ** Tseng Labs (generic)               [tseng]     -
 30  ** VMWare guest OS (generic)          [vmware]    -
 31  2 the Max MAXColor S3 Trio64V+                    -
 32  2-the-Max MAXColor 6000                           ET6000
 33  3DLabs Oxygen GMX                                 PERMEDIA 2
 34  928Movie                                          S3 928
 35  AGX (generic)                                     AGX-014/15/16

Enter a number to choose the corresponding card definition.
Press enter for the next page, q to continue configuration.

19

Your selected card definition:

Identifier: ** NVIDIA (generic)                   [nv]
Chipset:    -
Driver:     nv

Press enter to continue, or ctrl-c to abort.

Now you must give information about your video card. This will be used for
the "Device" section of your video card in xorg.conf.

It is probably a good idea to use the same approximate amount as that detected
by the server you intend to use. If you encounter problems that are due to the
used server not supporting the amount memory you have, specify the maximum
amount supported by the server.

How much video memory do you have on your video card:

 1  256K
 2  512K
 3  1024K
 4  2048K
 5  4096K
 6  8192K
 7  16384K
 8  32768K
 9  65536K
10  131072K
11  262144K
12  Other

Enter your choice: 1

You must now enter a few identification/description strings, namely an
identifier, a vendor name, and a model name. Just pressing enter will fill
in default names (possibly from a card definition).

Your card definition is ** NVIDIA (generic)                   [nv].

The strings are free-form, spaces are allowed.
Enter an identifier for your video card definition: nVIDIA NX7300GS

For each depth, a list of modes (resolutions) is defined. The default
resolution that the server will start-up with will be the first listed
mode that can be supported by the monitor and card.
Currently it is set to:

"640x400" for 8-bit
"640x480" for 16-bit
"640x480" for 24-bit

Modes that cannot be supported due to monitor or clock constraints will
be automatically skipped by the server.

 1  Change the modes for 8-bit (256 colors)
 2  Change the modes for 16-bit (32K/64K colors)
 3  Change the modes for 24-bit (24-bit color)
 4  The modes are OK, continue.

Enter your choice: 3

Select modes from the following list:

 1  "640x400"
 2  "640x480"
 3  "800x600"
 4  "1024x768"
 5  "1280x1024"
 6  "320x200"
 7  "320x240"
 8  "400x300"
 9  "1152x864"
 a  "1600x1200"
 b  "1800x1400"
 c  "512x384"
 d  "1400x1050"

Please type the digits corresponding to the modes that you want to select.
For example, 432 selects "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480", with a
default mode of 1024x768.

Which modes? 342

You can have a virtual screen (desktop), which is screen area that is larger
than the physical screen and which is panned by moving the mouse to the edge
of the screen. If you don't want virtual desktop at a certain resolution,
you cannot have modes listed that are larger. Each color depth can have a
differently-sized virtual screen

Please answer the following question with either 'y' or 'n'.
Do you want a virtual screen that is larger than the physical screen?n

For each depth, a list of modes (resolutions) is defined. The default
resolution that the server will start-up with will be the first listed
mode that can be supported by the monitor and card.
Currently it is set to:

"640x400" for 8-bit
"640x480" for 16-bit
"800x600" "1024x768" "640x480" for 24-bit

Modes that cannot be supported due to monitor or clock constraints will
be automatically skipped by the server.

 1  Change the modes for 8-bit (256 colors)
 2  Change the modes for 16-bit (32K/64K colors)
 3  Change the modes for 24-bit (24-bit color)
 4  The modes are OK, continue.

Enter your choice: 4

Please specify which color depth you want to use by default:

  1  1 bit (monochrome)
  2  4 bits (16 colors)
  3  8 bits (256 colors)
  4  16 bits (65536 colors)
  5  24 bits (16 million colors)

Enter a number to choose the default depth.

5

I am going to write the xorg.conf file now. Make sure you don't accidently
overwrite a previously configured one.

Shall I write it to /etc/X11/xorg.conf? y

File has been written. Take a look at it before starting an X server. Note that
the xorg.conf file must be in one of the directories searched by the server
(e.g. /etc/X11) in order to be used. Within the server press
ctrl, alt and '+' simultaneously to cycle video resolutions. Pressing ctrl,
alt and backspace simultaneously immediately exits the server (use if
the monitor doesn't sync for a particular mode).

For further configuration, refer to the xorg.conf(4) manual page.

I was then able to restart the system with a default resolution of 800 x 600. I could also select 1024 x 768, if I wished.

 

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Created: Thursday November 2, 2006 12:41 PM