Screen Resolution struck in Ubuntu

I installed Ubuntu 6.06 from a live CD. After I configured internet, lots of packages got updated. Not sure which one corrupted the settings, but my screen resolution changed to 640×480. I tried System->Preferences->Screen Resolution. But no higher resolution was listed there. I remember using xconfig or something similar in past. But no such commands were available. Google gave me the answer. We need to manually edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

Earlier the Screen section had

SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1024×768″ “800×600″ “640×480″
EndSubSection

I changed it to:

SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1024×768″
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubSection

Having only one resolution mode and only one Depth, makes it the default one. Additionaly I’ve to add the ViewPort (not sure why it was needed). Now the screen is back to normal resolution

[Update 8-Nov-06] The ViewPort is not needed. Resolution is fine without it. But after upgrading to Edgy, the resolution went back to 640×480. Either simply adding an empty line at the end of the xorg.conf file or executing a “sudo touch /etc/X11/xorg.conf” and then restarting X (Ctrl+Alt+Backspace), will bring the resolution back to normal. Quirky Linux

Configuring DSL with Ubuntu

I’ve been using Ubuntu for a while. So far its good.  As I’ve a laptop loaded with Windows XP, Ubuntu has not been my primary OS. Since my last date with the present company is this Thrusday & I’ll be returning my laptop, I’ve to make Ubuntu my primary (and only) OS. I’ll pen down my experiences here.

The first thing I needed to configure was my DSL Connection. I searched for any utilities, but I couldn’t find anything (at least not under System->Preferences or System->Adminstration. After a little bit of Googling, I was able to configure. Here are the steps:

• First configure your IP address. Select System->Adminstration->Networking
• In the window, selec the ethernet adapter to which you have connected your DSL modem(mostly you will have only one adapter listed)
• Select the properties of the adater.
• If your ISP supports DHCP, select it, if not key in the static IP address that your ISP gave you
• Go back to the Network settings window and key in the ISP’s DNS server IP addresses
• Now that you have configured your TCP/IP settings, we need to configure the PPPoE settings.
• Open a terminal window and run “pppoeconf” (you need root permission). The wizard should help you configure the settings.
• Now if you have not configured to connect at system start up, use the commands – “pon dsl-provider” to connect; “poff” to disconnect and “plog” to view the current status

How good it would be, if there exists a wizard that will guide you thru all the above steps. Hmmmm. Long way to go for Linux to become a common man’s OS.