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Some XGI video cards misbehave in Ubuntu and Linux Mint: they present you by default with a maximum display resolution of 800x600. Normally, that's completely wrong for your monitor. But thankfully you can improve that with a simple system hack.

This is how to do it:

1. Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)

Type (use copy/paste):
lspci | grep -i vga

Press Enter.

Now you should see something roughly like this:
05:07.0 VGA compatible controller: XGI Technology Inc. (eXtreme Graphics Innovation) Z7/Z9 (XG20 core)

If so, proceed like this:


2. Make a note of the BusID of your video card: the first 7 characters of  the terminal output are the BusID. In the example: 05:07.0, which translates into: PCI:5:7:0 (this "translation" is very important!).


3. First make sure that you have installed the applications gksu and leafpad:

Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)

Type (or copy/paste):
sudo apt-get install gksu leafpad

Press Enter and submit your password. Please note that the password will remain invisible, not even asterisks will show, which is normal.


4. Then type in the terminal (use copy/paste):
gksudo leafpad /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Press Enter.

Now text editor Leafpad launches with an empty text document. Use copy/paste to transfer the following blue text into that document:

Section "Device"
        Identifier      "XGI - Xabre Graphics Inc Volari Z7"
        Driver          "sis"
        BusID           "PCI:5:7:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "XGI - Xabre Graphics Inc Volari Z7"
        Monitor         "My Monitor"
        DefaultDepth    24
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           1
                Modes           "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           4
                Modes           "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           8
                Modes           "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           15
                Modes           "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           16
                Modes           "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth           24
                Modes           "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
EndSection


If the BusID of your video card differs from the example above, adapt it accordingly (the BusID is in the Section "Device" in the beginning of the blue text). It should be typed as PCI value!


5. Save the modified text document and close Leafpad.


6. Reboot your computer (full reboot). Now your display should offer a maximum resolution of 1280x1024.


Want more tips?

Do you want more tips and tweaks for Ubuntu? There's a lot more of them on this website!


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