How change display resolution settings using xrandr ubuntu 14.04

Question

How can I change my netbook screen resolution permanently ?.

It is what sreen after xrandr command

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 600, maximum 4096 x 4096
VGA-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
LVDS-0 connected primary 1024x600+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 222mm x 125mm
   1024x600       60.0*+
   960x600        60.0  
   960x540        60.0  
   800x600        60.0     60.3     56.2  
   840x525        60.0     59.9  
   800x512        60.2  
   700x525        60.0  
   640x512        60.0  
   720x450        59.9  
   640x480        60.0     59.9  
   680x384        59.8     60.0  
   576x432        60.1  
   512x384        60.0  
   400x300        60.3     56.3  
   320x240        60.1  
DVI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DisplayPort-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
  1024x768_60.00 (0x19c)   63.5MHz
        h: width  1024 start 1072 end 1176 total 1328 skew    0 clock   47.8KHz
        v: height  768 start  771 end  775 total  798           clock   59.9Hz

Could you please expand your question with what kind of netbook you have and what version of Ubuntu you are trying to run this with. CLick the edit link below your question and add the information. — MadMike, Nov 03 '14 at 06:32
Your question suggests the resolution you set does not stick. What you don't mention is what resolution doesn't, and how did you set it, does it work at all? — Jacob Vlijm, May 09 '16 at 15:20

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 27 '16 at 17:04

just type xrandr, this will list all available monitors and possible modes/resolutions that you can use. you will see a star (*) on the current used mode. For instance:

>xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2720 x 1024, maximum 8192 x 8192
VGA-0 connected 1280x1024+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 340mm x 270mm
   1280x1024     60.02 +  75.02* 
   1024x768      75.08    70.07    60.00  
   800x600       75.00    60.32  
   640x480       75.00    60.00  
   720x400       70.08  
HDMI-0 connected primary 1440x900+1280+124 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 477mm x 268mm
   1920x1080     60.00 +
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1440x900      59.90* 
   1280x800      59.91  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      70.07    60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   640x480       66.67    60.00  
   720x400       70.08

To change it, just type:

xrandr --output HDMI-0 --mode 1920x900

this will change my second monitor (connected via HDMI port) to a new resolution.

there are more parameters you can set, like frequency, etc. chenk more details with xrandr --help

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 09 '16 at 15:10

Use this command:

gksudo -k gedit /etc/gdm/Init/Default

to add the following script to the display manager default initialization configuration file:

xrandr --newmode "1600x900"  118.25  1600 1696 1856 2112  900 903 908 934 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode VGA1 1600x900
xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 1600x900

The mode details can be found from the cvt command

cvt -v 1440 900

where 1440 is the screen width and 900 is the screen height. You can get the screen resolution dimensions from the laptop datasheet/manufacturers website. For more details, look at this blogpost

How change display resolution settings using xrandr ubuntu 14.04

2 Answers2