# Cannot select monitor resolution - have I tried every possible thing?



## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

Hi,

I've just bought a lovely new Samsung monitor. It's native resolution is 1920x1080. It worked out of the box in linux. I dual boot with windows XP for gaming. Unfortunately I cannot select the correct resolution in windows. The highest available is 1680x1050. 

Details:
Laptop - Acer 4720
Chipset - Mobile Intel® 965 Express Chipset Family
Monitor - Samsung SyncMaster F2380

I have installed the Samsung drivers, and these are displaying correctly in device manager. I have installed every piece of Windows software that came with the monitor - all to no avail!

If I go to SyncMaster F2380 (Analog) Properties and click Driver Details, it lists the .icm file but not the .inf file. I ran a search for the .inf file but could not find it anywhere on the computer. Is there a chance that it hasn't installed properly? Can I just copy the .inf file from the CD to a windows folder? If so, which one?

I have tried several different versions of the Intel drivers, including the latest and an older version for reasons described on this page, as well as uninstalling all drivers and trying that. I also found NVIDIA and ATI drivers for this laptop on the Acer website, but these refused to install, saying I didn't have the appropriate hardware.

When I go to 'information' in the Intel Graphics settings, the funny thing is that it correctly lists all of the supported modes from my monitor. Here is it's report:


```
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile Report


Report Date:		11/24/2010
Report Time[hr:mm:ss]:	14:14:51
Driver Version:		6.14.10.5218
Operating System:		Windows XP* Professional, Service Pack 3 (5.1.2600)
Default Language:		English
DirectX* Version:		9.0
Physical Memory:		1014 MB
Minimum Graphics Memory:	8 MB
Maximum Graphics Memory:	384 MB
Graphics Memory in Use:	13 MB
Processor:		x86 family 6 Model 15 Stepping 13
Processor Speed:		1795 MHZ
Vendor ID:		8086
Device ID:		2A02
Device Revision:		03


*   Accelerator Information   *

Accelerator in Use:		Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
Video BIOS:		1436
Current Graphics Mode:	1680 by 1050 True Color (60 Hz)



*   Devices Connected to the Graphics Accelerator   *


Active Monitors: 1
Non Active Notebook Displays: 1


*   Monitor   *

Monitor Name:		Plug and Play Monitor
Display Type:		Analog
Gamma Value:		2.20
DDC2 Protocol:		Supported
Maximum Image Size:	Horizontal: 20.0  inches
			Vertical:   11.0  inches
Monitor Supported Modes:
640 by 480 (60 Hz)
640 by 480 (67 Hz)
640 by 480 (72 Hz)
640 by 480 (75 Hz)
720 by 400 (70 Hz)
800 by 600 (56 Hz)
800 by 600 (60 Hz)
800 by 600 (72 Hz)
800 by 600 (75 Hz)
832 by 624 (75 Hz)
1024 by 768 (60 Hz)
1024 by 768 (70 Hz)
1024 by 768 (75 Hz)
1152 by 864 (75 Hz)
1152 by 870 (75 Hz)
1280 by 960 (60 Hz)
1280 by 1024 (60 Hz)
1280 by 1024 (75 Hz)
1280 by 1280 (60 Hz)
1440 by 1440 (60 Hz)
1600 by 1200 (60 Hz)
1680 by 1680 (60 Hz)
1920 by 1080 (60 Hz)
Display Power Management Support:
	Standby Mode:	Not Supported
	Suspend Mode:	Not Supported
	Active Off Mode: Supported
Raw EDID:
00 ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 4c 2d 6f 05 33 32 56 4e
34 13 01 03 0e 33 1d 78 2a ee 91 a3 54 4c 99 26
0f 50 54 bf ef 80 81 00 81 40 81 80 95 00 b3 00
a9 40 71 4f 01 01 02 3a 80 18 71 38 2d 40 58 2c
45 00 fe 1f 11 00 00 1e 00 00 00 fd 00 38 4b 1e
51 11 00 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 fc 00 53
79 6e 63 4d 61 73 74 65 72 0a 20 20 00 00 00 ff
00 48 4d 47 53 43 30 30 30 30 38 0a 20 20 00 62


*   Notebook   *

Monitor Name:		Plug and Play Monitor
Display Type:		Digital
Gamma Value:		2.20
DDC2 Protocol:		Supported
Maximum Image Size:	Horizontal: Not Available
			Vertical:   Not Available
Monitor Supported Modes:
1280 by 800 (60 Hz)
Display Power Management Support:
	Standby Mode:	Not Supported
	Suspend Mode:	Not Supported
	Active Off Mode: Not Supported

* Other names and brands are the property of their respective owners.
```
In display properties >> settings >> advanced >> monitor, I tried un-checking 'hide modes that this monitor cannot display', but when I click on In display properties >> settings >> advanced >> adapter, (Intel), then 'list all modes', there is no 1920x1080.

I am not using extended desktop or any dual/clone monitor mode. There is no signal going to the laptop screen, only the big monitor. 

I have been told to upgrade my BIOS, and check my cables, but these are obviously out of the question as it's working fine in Linux.

I am frankly amazed that it worked out of the box in Linux but Windows seems just not to work. This is a first for me. 

Where is my problem? :4-dontkno I don't want to buy a new graphics card!


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## pip22 (Aug 22, 2004)

You need to increase the amount of RAM available to the graphics card if possible, this will in turn make higher resolutions available (your graphics card uses "shared" memory with the installed RAM used by the system).

Currently the graphics card hasn't got enough shared memory to give you a higher resolution. It can use up to 384MB but is currently using only 13MB - nowhere near enough.

Be aware that increasing RAM to the graphics card will decrease the amount of RAM available to Windows by the same amount, so don't get too ambitious as you only have 1Gb to play with. 128MB in total for the graphics card should be sufficient, or 256MB if that doesn't do it. But I wouldn't go above that or Windows will slow down noticeably. Ideally, try to find the minimum you need to get the resolution you're after.


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## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

pip22 said:


> You need to increase the amount of RAM available to the graphics card if possible, this will in turn make higher resolutions available (your graphics card uses "shared" memory with the installed RAM used by the system).
> 
> Currently the graphics card hasn't got enough shared memory to give you a higher resolution. It can use up to 384MB but is currently using only 13MB - nowhere near enough.
> 
> Be aware that increasing RAM to the graphics card will decrease the amount of RAM available to Windows by the same amount, so don't get too ambitious as you only have 1Gb to play with. 128MB in total for the graphics card should be sufficient, or 256MB if that doesn't do it. But I wouldn't go above that or Windows will slow down noticeably. Ideally, try to find the minimum you need to get the resolution you're after.


Thanks for a new lead. I've had a poke around and cannot see how to change the amount of RAM available to the graphics card. 

I've tried it with my girlfriend's acer laptop, same graphics card, but windows 7. Same problem. 

Can anyone advise how I can do this in windows XP / 7? I can't see any options for it, within the windows settings or the intel graphics media accelerator driver.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

kitjohnson said:


> Thanks for a new lead. I've had a poke around and cannot see how to change the amount of RAM available to the graphics card.
> 
> I've tried it with my girlfriend's acer laptop, same graphics card, but windows 7. Same problem.
> 
> Can anyone advise how I can do this in windows XP / 7? I can't see any options for it, within the windows settings or the intel graphics media accelerator driver.


If there is an option to increase the amount of shared RAM dedicated to video, it would be in the BIOS setup utility, not in the OS.


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## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

gavinzach said:


> If there is an option to increase the amount of shared RAM dedicated to video, it would be in the BIOS setup utility, not in the OS.


In the original post I said that it's all working fine in linux, same BIOS.


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## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

And I should add, I don't want to do anything that will change the way it's working for me in linux. I don't want to give the graphics card any more RAM for linux, as I sometimes use it for things that require every last drop of RAM I can get (like using virtualbox). So I don't want to touch the BIOS.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Everything done is entirely up to you. I just wanted to point out that the only way to dedicate more system ram to video is in the BIOS, it is not even a guarantee that your BIOS will have that option.

One thing you may want to try is updating the GMA graphics drivers from the Intel website. 

Also, see if your nice new monitor has any drivers available for it. It seems as though your GPU drivers cannot detect all of the supported modes.

And I just noticed, and remembered, that Intel GMA graphics support dynamic video memory. The memory used increases as needed.


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## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

gavinzach said:


> Everything done is entirely up to you. I just wanted to point out that the only way to dedicate more system ram to video is in the BIOS, it is not even a guarantee that your BIOS will have that option.
> 
> One thing you may want to try is updating the GMA graphics drivers from the Intel website.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the ongoing support.

So far I have tried, without success:

updating the drivers for the Mobile Intel 965 Chipset graphics accelerator
using a special version of the above driver for monitors with 'strange' resolutions like mine (1920x1080)
Installed the drivers for the new monitor, Samsung F2380
Can't increase graphics memory, as noted above this is increased dynamically by the driver
I don't want to interfere with the BIOS because it's working fine for my primary OS, Ubuntu Linux.

Is there anything else I can do? Are there some 'generic' drivers I can use in place of the Intel ones? I ask because in Linux I'm not using any proprietary drivers at all, and it's working fine. Are there generic drivers available for Windows?


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

There are Windows generic display drivers, trust me... you don't want to use those... They are very basic.


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## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

gavinzach said:


> There are Windows generic display drivers, trust me... you don't want to use those... They are very basic.


So it looks like my nice new monitor and windows don't have any future together...


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Possibly the drivers for windows won't allow that resolution.

You tried both the Intel Control Panel, and the Windows Display Properties, right?

One last trick for you to try.

Right click on the desktop to open Display Properties (Screen Resolution)
Select the "Advanced Settings" option.

In the "Adapter" tab select "List all modes"
If 1920x1080 is shown, select it and hit apply.

If not, see if the "Change Settings" box is accessible to you.

Maybe Windows just hides that resolution when using analog signal.


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## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

gavinzach said:


> Possibly the drivers for windows won't allow that resolution.


I uninstalled the Intel drivers to see what the windows 'defaults' were like - unusable. Is that as far as I can go, or are there any generic drivers I can download from elsewhere?



> You tried both the Intel Control Panel, and the Windows Display Properties, right?


Right.



> One last trick for you to try.
> 
> Right click on the desktop to open Display Properties (Screen Resolution)
> Select the "Advanced Settings" option.
> ...


I've tried that and it doesn't list 1920x1080. It showed something similar, but my monitor didn't like it.

It looks like I'm out of options...

Surely there must be some people using this graphics chipset that are able to use a large resolution?


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## kitjohnson (Oct 6, 2008)

Finally solved, hurray! It was a long workaround, but I got there. 

All the details are here: http://komku.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-get-1920x1080-full-hd-resolution.htm

I am definitely not the only one with this problem.

There is also another howto which sounded more expert, but which I did not have to try: Custom Resolutions on Intel Graphics - Intel® Software Network


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