24 bit color problem

[xandrosuser]

I just installed Debian 4.0 on my workbench computer and I need to change the color setting from 24 bit to 16 bit. I get sparkels on the monitor in the 24 bit setting. Now in Xandros it was real easy, right click on the desktop, click on settings and change it.

[bwkaz]

I'm guessing that dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg might help. Otherwise you can probably just edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf manually: if you change the line that says DefaultDepth 24 to say DefaultDepth 16 instead, that should make it work. :)

[xandrosuser]

Thanks for the fast response I found the file and changed the value, however it won’t let me save it. So I logged out and tried to log in as administrator but it won’t let me log in. Now I have a habit with my workbench computers to use the same password for everything that I’m working on. Now when I change anything that requires the admin password it takes it. So it seams to be a user name problem, administrator is the default user right

[bwkaz]

I'm not sure how xandros sets up its usernames, but normally the administrative user's name is "root", not "administrator". ;)

(However, I should note that the name really doesn't affect whether the user has administrative privileges or not, so it could really be anything. The system decides who has administrative privileges by looking at which users have a UID of zero. If you want to rename the UID-0 user to "administrator", you can; that's why I don't know for sure that the user's name is really "root" on your system. But "root" is almost always the default.)

[saikee]

One can invoke root privilege in any Linux (except those where the root account has been deliberately omitted like the Ubuntu family) by typing
suand then the root password at any terminal. One can do it with Ubuntu after setting up the root password in post-installation.

That works for Xandros as well.

Just use an editor like "vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf"

Here is the portion of my PCLinuxOS that I edited recently from 24 color to 16 color. The red bit was all I did
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 16

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection

The laptop I bought defaults to 16 colors in 1024x768 and does not have enough video memory to support 24 bit 1280x1024 mode.

[xandrosuser]

Thinking like a windows guy my work around for not being able to log into root was to boot into Xandros and edit the xorg.conf file on the Debian partition save it and reboot into Debian. Worked great now I just have to figure out that root log in problem.:)

[saikee]

I forgot to mention it.

The xorg.conf setting does not a need a reboot.

Just press ctrl+alt+backspace and the new X-window will be implemented. You do need a new log in though.

Editing xorg.conf is a sure fire method to re-configure X because it works in every Linux.