Hello all:
Just bought an old IBM Thinkpad T22 that came with PC LInuxOS installed. I've never used Linux so thought it would be fun to try it and it seems so good that I may keep using it. I've run into one problem though - I have the ThinkPad VGA port connected to a Dell E196FP LCD monitor which runs m/l OK but I cannot get it to switch to 1280x1024 (which is the monitors native resolution). I have gone into Configure Your Computer/Hardware/Configure Video Card and specified the S3 Savage-based card, 8 MB graphics card memory size (the choice list defaults to "4 MB"), Dell E196FP and, 1280x1024 24 bpp resolution. When I click "Test", the screen goes black for a couple seconds, then comes back with a lot of vertically colored stripes and a message box asking if the setting is correct. At that point, the Menu "button" on the monitor reports 1280x1024 resolution and I can tell from the font size that the resolution has increased over what it was before (1024x768). However, even if I click on Yes (for is setting correct?), the screen again goes blank for a couple seconds, returns to the config screen and the monitor then reports only 1024x768.
If I leave the default memory size at the default of 4 MB, the monitor does not switch to 1280 right after "Test" (it only switches to 1280 (until Test is over) if the memory size is set to 8 MB). Now, I wonder if the actual memory size is only 4 MB but, even if so, why does the monitor successfully go temporarily to 1280 during "Test"? Maybe the graphics card actually only has 4 MB (I don't know how to determine that directly) but if it needs 8 MB to support 1280x1024, can an additional 4 MB be added?? I'd really like to get 1280 out of the monitor if possible.
BTW, I recall reading somewhere on a T22 specs page that 1280x1024 is supported at a lower number of colors (64K colors IIRC). The config page only allows the one color resolution of 16 million (24 bits) for the 1280 screen resolution (and seems to allow only the 16 million for whatever resolution is selected). I wonder if a different video driver would help?
Sorry to be so long-winded but TIA for any insights.........
