Channel Strategies for the CIOYaST in SUSE Linux 10 has changed the way it detects your graphics capabilities. YaST will automatically sense what your current configuration is and will then allow you to change those individual settings.
Configuring your monitor
To change your monitor configuration from what YaST detected, click on the monitor listed under "Graphics Cards." You will be presented with a list of available monitors from which you can choose (see Figure 1-31).
Figure 30
Figure 31
If your specific monitor is listed in the vendor list, select it. If not, choose either LCD (for laptop or flatscreen monitors) or VESA (for CRT monitors). It is usually a safe bet that a resolution of 1024 × 768 will be supported by your monitor.
Every Linux operating system book and piece of documentation on X Windows configuration has a disclaimer about configuring your graphics system. This book is no different because there are real dangers if you set up your monitor incorrectly. Because the graphics card drives the monitor, it is imperative that you either configure the graphics system with standard lower settings, or take a look
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in the documentation that came with both
your monitor and your graphics card and figure out the correct settings for them.
Sax2 comes with well-defined Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) settings
for general setup and also specific configurations from the major manufacturers
of graphics systems. The remainder of this section discusses a low-specification
graphics setup that should be safe for most people. However, you really should know
how hard you can push your system so as not to damage your monitor by overdriving
what your graphics card gives to it. Most of today's monitors have built-in settings
to protect against hardware damage, but you should be especially careful when
configuring the X Window system on an older monitor.
Running your SUSE Linux 10 installation
Home: Introduction
Step 1: Configuring your root password
Step 2: Configuring your network access
Step 3: Setting up your host and DNS addresses
Step 4: Configuring the default gateway
Step 5: Testing your connection and online updates
Step 6: Configuring your modem
Step 7: ISDN and ADSL connections
Step 8: Adding a new user
Step 9: SuSEconfig
Step 10: Reviewing the release notes
Step 11: Configuring your hardware
Step 12: Graphics and sound card configuration
The above tip is excerpted from from Chapter 1, "Installing SUSE 10" our original excerpt of The SUSE Linux 10 Bible by Justin Davies, courtesy of Wiley Publishing. This chapter explains how to successfully install SUSE 10 on your box. Find it helpful? Buy it on Amazon.
This was first published in September 2006