This tool allows you to configure your graphical display. With it, you can change your video card, your resolution and your monitor. It can be useful if you change one of your graphical components after the initial installation.
![[Tip]](images/tip.png)
The buttons allow you to change aspects of the graphical configuration:
- Graphic Card
-
The button displays the name of the graphic card currently configured. Click on it if you want to change it. Depending on your card, different servers may be available, with or without 3D acceleration. You may need to try different ones until you get the best result.
If you cannot find the graphic card you have, but you know which driver supports it, select it from the Xorg entry at the bottom.
- Monitor
-
Allows you to change the monitor with the tool described in Section 3.2, “Changing the Monitor”.
- Resolution
-
Enables changing the pixel resolution and the color depth with the tool described in Section 3.3, “Changing the Resolution”.
![[Note]](images/note.png)
Other buttons are also available:
-
Allows you to verify that your modifications actually work. It is highly recommended that you do test it, because if it does not work, it will be harder to recover a working graphical environment later. If the test fails, simply wait until it ends. If you are not satisfied with the suggested settings, choose during the test, and you will return to XFdrake's main window.
-
- Graphic card options
-
Depending on your hardware capabilities, you can choose to enable or disable specific features such as hardware acceleration or special visual effects (translucency).
- Graphical interface at startup
-
Use this option to choose whether you want your machine to automatically switch to a graphical interface at boot. Obviously, you may want to disable this option if your machine is to act as a server, or if you were not successful in getting the display configured.
-
If you modify your graphical display in some way, the current configuration is displayed and XFdrake asks you whether you want to keep your changes. This is your last chance to go back to the old configuration. If all seems OK, click on . If you want to restore the previous parameters, click on .
Confirm the changes and restart your graphical environment to activate the new configuration.
Monitor models are listed in XFdrake's window (see Figure 9.4, “Choosing a New Monitor”). If your monitor was automatically detected, it is listed as Plug'n Play along with its model.
If your monitor wasn't automatically detected, you can choose it from the list, from the Vendor entry. If you don't find your monitor or a compatible one, choose one with parameters corresponding to the monitor from the Generic entry, at the bottom.
Simply choose the resolution (800x600, 1024x768, 1152x864, etc.) and the color depth (16 million colors (24 bits), 65 thousand colors (16 bits), etc.) you want from the lists.
The monitor in the window displays what the desktop will look like with the chosen configuration (see Figure 9.5, “Changing the Resolution of Your Screen”). If it looks good, click OK. Depending on the resolution you've chosen you may need to logout and restart your graphical environment for the settings to take effect.
Monitor and Resolution Ratio. By default, the available resolution list only shows resolutions supported by your video card and monitor combination. There is a special entry named Other that adds more possible resolutions along with their ratios. Bear in mind that most monitors are designed with a 4:3 horizontal vs. vertical ratio.