Help File Library: Finding your Monitor's Refresh Rates

This Help File only applies to people who are dual booting with Windows (or single booting with Windows but haven't loaded Linux yet), AND your monitor has to tell you the current refresh rate when you access the OSD (on-screen display) - the thing that allows you to do things like change your monitor's geometry, position, color temperature, etc. If you can get into Windows, and your OSD will tell you the horizontal and refresh rates, then this Help File can help you.

First, boot into Windows (I know it's painful sometimes, but it's got to be done). Next, go into the Control Panels folder (can be accessed through Start->Setup or as a folder in "My Computer"). Then, double-click the Display icon to bring up the Display control panel. If you are not already on the "Settings" tab, click on the "Settings" tab at the top. On the right side towards the bottom there should be two important things:

1) A drop down box with various color depths (16 colors, 256 colors, ... all the way up to 32-bit on some monitors)

2) A slider that allows you to set the resolution of your monitor (generally ranging from 640x480 as a minimum to anywhere as high as 1920x1600)

Here's the main process, you need to create a list of ALL possible resolutions you MIGHT run at (keep in mind that you will need those lower resolutions and lower bit depths in case something goes wrong, but typically 640x480 SHOULD be okay for most users).

My list, for example, is the following:

640x480
800x600
1024x768
1152x864
1280x1024

You should also note what bit depth each of these resolutions can be displayed at and put that on the list as well. Once we include that, my final list looks like:

640x480 (256 colors - 24-bit)
800x600 (256 colors - 24-bit)
1024x768 (256 colors - 24-bit)
1152x864 (256 colors - 24-bit)
1028x1024 (256 colors - 16-bit)

All of the resolutions can also handle 16 colors, but I don't anticipate ever having to run at that low of a color-depth. Also, the upper end for my card/monitor combination is 24-bit. Many monitors and cards support 32-bit now, so that may be the upper end for you.

Next, I start at the lowest resolution possible by sliding the slider downto 640x480 and clicking "Apply". Once you are in that resolution (a few dialog boxes may pop up asking if you want to restart - I'd recommend not, it's a waste of time since you are only going to be in it for 5 seconds), bring up the OSD (for my Gateway EV500 that's accomplished by pushing in the wheel on my monitor, and for many other monitors there's a simple menu button). For me, my OSD has information like the following:

640x480
H:  36.4kHz     V:  70.0Hz

So, I write down the H and V values in that row of my list. Next, I step it up to 800x600 and bring up the OSD again and write down the H and V values again. I repeat this process for all resolutions on my list, until I've got them all. That way, I am now ready to configure X for my monitor perfectly.