Screen resolution

I have just installed zorin as a double boot with windows 7. I have an HP Compaq 600 pro sff pc
Prior to trying zorin I tried a linux version and came up with exactly the same problem. With windows 7 it picks up all the different screen resolution options, but with zorin and linux I cannot select the higher resolutions that I need.
If I go to the 'Additional Drivers' tab it gives a 'no other drivers installed or available message'. I can't find any way to install different drivers for the video in zorin as all the HP downloads seem to be in .exe format which linux systems don't seem to like.

Anyone any suggestions on if it is possible to fix this problem?

Thanks
Martin

Hi, I am in a different OS at the moment - will get back to you later.

martinw wrote:

I have just installed zorin as a double boot with windows 7. I have an HP Compaq 600 pro sff pc
Prior to trying zorin I tried a linux version and came up with exactly the same problem. With windows 7 it picks up all the different screen resolution options, but with zorin and linux I cannot select the higher resolutions that I need.
If I go to the 'Additional Drivers' tab it gives a 'no other drivers installed or available message'. I can't find any way to install different drivers for the video in zorin as all the HP downloads seem to be in .exe format which linux systems don't seem to like.

Anyone any suggestions on if it is possible to fix this problem?

Thanks
Martin

Are you using Nvidia Graphics?
Please open a terminal and paste in:

Code:

ubuntu-drivers devices

and let us know the output.

This appears to be an older machine. you may need the Nvidia 304 driver for it to work right on Linux. The last Ubuntu-based system with support for that driver was 16.04. Zorin 15 is based on Ubuntu 18 I believe.

One thing to try is to update Zorin if you haven't yet done so, then run Driver Manager again. If no go, you may need an older operating system for this machine, one based on Ubuntu 16. I think Zorin 12 would correspond to that. 2016 systems are supported until April 2021, at least those which are LTS (long term support).

I would be tempted to Edit GRUB - hold left Shift Key during boot to launch GRUB if it doesn't show automatically. Look for the line that starts with Linux then right at the end whrere it should state something like 'quiet-splash' add the following with spaces inbetween:

Code:

acpi=off nomodeset xforcevesa

Keep us posted.

mdiemer wrote:This appears to be an older machine. you may need the Nvidia 304 driver for it to work right on Linux. The last Ubuntu-based system with support for that driver was 16.04. Zorin 15 is based on Ubuntu 18 I believe.

One thing to try is to update Zorin if you haven't yet done so, then run Driver Manager again. If no go, you may need an older operating system for this machine, one based on Ubuntu 16. I think Zorin 12 would correspond to that. 2016 systems are supported until April 2021, at least those which are LTS (long term support).

--------------------------------
Yes you are right. The screen resolution was fine with older linux and zorin. You can't win even by installing the older versions because as soon as you 'update' the system it reverts to useless resolutions.

I will look at this again but I even tried a newer refurb HP and got the same problem.

Thanks
Martin

martinw wrote:Yes you are right. The screen resolution was fine with older linux and zorin. You can't win even by installing the older versions because as soon as you 'update' the system it reverts to useless resolutions.

I will look at this again but I even tried a newer refurb HP and got the same problem.

Thanks
Martin

You can solve that by putting a package hold on the package you want skipped during upgrades.
In terminal, enter in sudo apt-mark hold followed by the name of the package.
I dislike Gimp 2.10, so I keep a hold on Gimp 2.8, for example. Whenever I update or upgrade, Gimp is always skipped.

Aravisian wrote:

martinw wrote:Yes you are right. The screen resolution was fine with older linux and zorin. You can't win even by installing the older versions because as soon as you 'update' the system it reverts to useless resolutions.

I will look at this again but I even tried a newer refurb HP and got the same problem.

Thanks
Martin

You can solve that by putting a package hold on the package you want skipped during upgrades.
In terminal, enter in sudo apt-mark hold followed by the name of the package.
I dislike Gimp 2.10, so I keep a hold on Gimp 2.8, for example. Whenever I update or upgrade, Gimp is always skipped.

---------------------------------
Thanks I do appreciate the advice but i give up with linux based systems. I can't get to grips with all this command typing it's like going back to the old days of dos. It seems as if the developers have created a system for computer geeks rather than for the general public. I detest the thought but may be forced to go with windows 10 when windows 7 becomes too out dated. If only someone could create an operating system similar to windows but I guess it is due to copyright issues that no one has done it.

Martin

martinw wrote:Thanks I do appreciate the advice but i give up with linux based systems. I can't get to grips with all this command typing it's like going back to the old days of dos. It seems as if the developers have created a system for computer geeks rather than for the general public. I detest the thought but may be forced to go with windows 10 when windows 7 becomes too out dated. If only someone could create an operating system similar to windows but I guess it is due to copyright issues that no one has done it.

Martin

You can use Synaptic Package Manager to place a hold on any package.
The onus is on you to ably and reliable learn how to operate your machinery. Whether it is a car, truck, tractor, airplane, sewing machine, stamp press...
If you want a machine to do for you, think for you and control for you, there is Windows. If you detest that thought enough... Then remember that many distros, including Zorin, are very simple and easy to use.
Many users never open a terminal. Whereas I open a terminal before trying anything else.
I am no geek, I moved from Windows to Linux not very long ago- Swarfendor can tell you how much fun that transition was because this was the first Linux Forum I had joined to learn how to use the O.S.
I am a car mechanic.

Now, you are using an Old Computer and running New Operating systems on it and running into trouble. Soon, Zorin will be available in ARM for inexpensive Tablets.
But as it is currently, you may be better off with an older but still supported OS like Zorin 12.4 which is stable and reliable. And using Xenial Main, you won't have to worry about an update trying to put Focal Fossa or Bionic Beaver packages on it.

Yet another reason why I am staying on Zorin OS 12.4!

I am not on a new computer, it was made in 2012, and is already considered outdated in the tech world, considering the speed in which components are made for computers each year. If I were to upgrade to Zorin OS 15, I would loose an official driver support for my Nvidia GPU, since the last official support was Ubuntu 16.04, which is what Zorin OS 12.4 is based on.

Until Nvidia comes out with a new official supported driver for Ubuntu 18.04 or later distro versions, no way am I upgrading my OS version. Its truly amazing how quickly an Nvidia GPU becomes outdated as well. Give it a few years, and its like nobody heard of it anymore. Unless you have the latest and greatest GPU, you get no support, its kind of always been that way.

Now, I don't know what Focal Fossa is or Bionic Beaver, although I have heard of Bionic Beaver before in a joke not that long ago. Linux and their crazy names I tell ya lol.

star treker wrote:Yet another reason why I am staying on Zorin OS 12.4!

I am not on a new computer, it was made in 2012, and is already considered outdated in the tech world, considering the speed in which components are made for computers each year. If I were to upgrade to Zorin OS 15, I would loose an official driver support for my Nvidia GPU, since the last official support was Ubuntu 16.04, which is what Zorin OS 12.4 is based on.

Until Nvidia comes out with a new official supported driver for Ubuntu 18.04 or later distro versions, no way am I upgrading my OS version. Its truly amazing how quickly an Nvidia GPU becomes outdated as well. Give it a few years, and its like nobody heard of it anymore. Unless you have the latest and greatest GPU, you get no support, its kind of always been that way.

I won't even let an Nvidia card into the house...

star treker wrote:Now, I don't know what Focal Fossa is or Bionic Beaver, although I have heard of Bionic Beaver before in a joke not that long ago. Linux and their crazy names I tell ya lol.

Focal Fossa is Ubuntu 20.04.
Bionic Beaver is Ubuntu 18.04.

They get crazier...
Try the Kernel Names.
Some of my favorite Linux kernel Names:

Woozy Numbat
Affluent Albatross
Avast! A bilge rat!
Jeff Thinks I Should Change This, But To What?
Holy Dancing Manatees, Batman!
Pink Farting Weasel
Funky Weasel is Jiggy wit it
Trembling Tortoise
Killer Bat of Doom
Er0tic Pickled Herring (The forum asterisked out the word "er0tic in this one. The kernel name ran afoul of the forums morality.)
Man-Eating Seals of Antiquity
Sheep on Meth
Saber-toothed Squirrel
Displaced Humerus Anterior
One Giant Leap for Frogkind
Shuffling Zombie Juror
Hurr durr I'ma sheep
Series 4800
Blurry Fish B-utt (go figure... another asterisk nightmare...)
Psychotic Stoned Sheep
Kleptomanic octopus

ROFLMAO! Those are good!

Just to be clear, all the animal names are specific to Ubuntu releases, not Linux in General!

I think the kernel named sabre-toothed squirrel should have been Scrat - much better name!

Aravisian wrote:

martinw wrote:Thanks I do appreciate the advice but i give up with linux based systems. I can't get to grips with all this command typing it's like going back to the old days of dos. It seems as if the developers have created a system for computer geeks rather than for the general public. I detest the thought but may be forced to go with windows 10 when windows 7 becomes too out dated. If only someone could create an operating system similar to windows but I guess it is due to copyright issues that no one has done it.

Martin

You can use Synaptic Package Manager to place a hold on any package.
The onus is on you to ably and reliable learn how to operate your machinery. Whether it is a car, truck, tractor, airplane, sewing machine, stamp press...
If you want a machine to do for you, think for you and control for you, there is Windows. If you detest that thought enough... Then remember that many distros, including Zorin, are very simple and easy to use.
Many users never open a terminal. Whereas I open a terminal before trying anything else.
I am no geek, I moved from Windows to Linux not very long ago- Swarfendor can tell you how much fun that transition was because this was the first Linux Forum I had joined to learn how to use the O.S.
I am a car mechanic.

Now, you are using an Old Computer and running New Operating systems on it and running into trouble. Soon, Zorin will be available in ARM for inexpensive Tablets.
But as it is currently, you may be better off with an older but still supported OS like Zorin 12.4 which is stable and reliable. And using Xenial Main, you won't have to worry about an update trying to put Focal Fossa or Bionic Beaver packages on it.

----------
>The onus is on you to ably and reliable learn how to operate your machinery.
I don't disagree with that but using the linux command system seems like a backward step similar to dos. I use windows XP most of the time on a very old computer because I know where it hides logs and all kinds of built in spyware, so It has been tweaked for my security and how i prefer to use it. The only reason to use windows 7 on the HP machine was due to all the stuff on the net about XP security being compromised so I use W7 for internet use. With linux it's not just the commands that bug me it is other things such as installing programs. Windows just makes life easier as far as use is concerned but I do realise W10 is suspect over microsoft access and the data they are collecting so will hold off as long as things on 7 still work.

Martin

martinw wrote:>The onus is on you to ably and reliable learn how to operate your machinery.
I don't disagree with that but using the linux command system seems like a backward step similar to dos. I use windows XP most of the time on a very old computer because I know where it hides logs and all kinds of built in spyware, so It has been tweaked for my security and how i prefer to use it. The only reason to use windows 7 on the HP machine was due to all the stuff on the net about XP security being compromised so I use W7 for internet use. With linux it's not just the commands that bug me it is other things such as installing programs. Windows just makes life easier as far as use is concerned but I do realise W10 is suspect over microsoft access and the data they are collecting so will hold off as long as things on 7 still work.

I think perspectives matter.
The keyword you used was "Seems."
It seems like a backward step- I assure you, it is not. Flashy GUI apps are not a forward step, even if they look flashy.
The terminal is a VERY powerful and well developed tool. Any single thing you want to do, you can do from terminal. Show me a GUI app that can do that. You cannot.

But you have been trained for many years to rely on the flashy GUI- thus - Your perceptions.

Last year when I was starting out on Zorin, my first Linux Distro, I struggled heavily with installations, too. As I mentioned above, Swarfendor can attest that I was a handful. I recall at one point posting on the forum that I "hated Zorin O.S. Absolutely hated it."
But I stuck to it and Learned a lot. Now, a Zorin User for many years to come if not life, I have learned many neat tricks to installations and how to make them go smoothly. Knowing what I know now, I would never trust an installation to Microsoft, again.

If I can question my assumptions and re-examine my perceptions, I am sure that you can, too. I encourage you to do so.
If you have troubles with installations, please ask and we can take each trick I have learned step-by-step and soon, you won't find yourself needing to ask, anymore.
But what you could find is a feeling of Power and Control over your machine that for many years, was lacking in Windows.


Besides...My terminal is very flashy.

And to add another perspective, bugs, viruses and malware became more prevalent when systems started using GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces).

If you want to be really secure: