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Display

This section contains all the information the installer needs to know about your video hardware. This information will not be used if from Section 1.9 you have chosen a MINIMAL INSTALLATION or a CUSTOM INSTALLATION that doesn't include the X-window system. If you plan to use a graphical interface with your SOT Linux 2003 system however, you need to complete this screen. If the installer detects your video card automatically, it will silently configure it for you. Otherwise you will need to enter the appropriate details.

Video Card

Figure 1.18: Selecting your Video card

If the installer can not determine your card automatically, it's a good idea to hit the PROBE button. Probing can usually discover some additional information about certain video cards. If you elect to make a probe, your screen will turn black for a few moments while the installer tests the card. After a few seconds you should be informed that probing was successful and the installer will have entered the appropriate values into the text boxes. If the probe causes the computer to hang you should try the installation again, without using the probe option. If the installer cannot detect your video card, even with a probe, you should choose the manufacturer and model from the CARD TYPE list and consult your hardware documentation for information about the amount of RAM and the clock frequency.

Monitor

This screen, shown in Figure 1.19, is used to select appropriate settings for your computer's monitor. Take care that you don't choose settings with higher sync rates than those of your monitor-this can cause damage to older monitors!

Figure 1.19: Monitor Selection screen

You have three options for providing the correct settings. If you select the USE TYPICAL MONITOR TYPE radio button, you will be able to select your monitor from a list. Find the manufacturer of your monitor and click on the small arrow beside the name. This will open a list of models. Be sure to pick the model that exactly matches your monitor.

If your monitor came with a set of Windows 9x drivers on a floppy disk, you can use these to correctly configure your monitor instead. Place the driver diskette in the floppy drive and click the USE WINDOWS 9X DRIVERS button. You can then select the correct driver file from the floppy.

If neither of the above methods work, you can enter your monitor settings manually. Choose the ENTER CUSTOM MONITOR DETAILS option and enter your monitor's horizontal and vertical sync ranges. You can find this information in your monitor's user manual.

When your monitor is configured to your satisfaction, clicking the > button will take you to the video mode selection screen.

Video Mode

Figure 1.20: Selecting a video mode

In this screen you will choose your video mode, consisting of screen resolution, refresh rate, and number of colors. You will be shown a list of possible modes based on your monitor. Larger resolutions imply a more finely-detailed screen. Click on your desired screen resolution and choose the number of colors you'd like to have available from the option box.

Tip! Your video card governs how many colors can be displayed at each resolution. You may be able to attain a higher screen resolution by reducing the number of colors. Alternatively, to have more colors available reduce the screen resolution. Your choices will still be limited by the capabilities of your monitor, however.

By default, you can only select those video modes supported by your monitor. To see the complete list of video modes, check the SHOW ALL MODES button.

If you wish, you can choose to have a desktop area larger than your physical screen size by changing the NO VIRTUAL DESKTOP button to an appropriate size. In this case, you will only be able to view part of the desktop at a time, and can scroll to other areas by moving your pointer to the edge of the screen in the direction you want to scroll.

You can get a preview of what the video mode will look like by clicking the TEST THIS MODE button. When you find a combination you're happy with, click the > button to continue the installation.

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