Display is failing with the error "Cannot display this video mode, optmum resolution 1280x1024 60hz"

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

Issue

  • While trying to change the display resolution in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the GUI does not come up and the following error is seeen :

    CANNOT DISPLAY THIS VIDEO MODE, OPTMUM RESOLUTION 1280X1024 60HZ.

Resolution

  • Boot the server in runlevel 3, which is a non GUI mode :

1. During the system boots, press escape so that the grub menu is visible,
2. Highlight the default entry (usually the first one) and press "e" to edit it.
3. Highlight the "kernel" line and press "e" again
4. Add the number "3" at the end, after "rhgb quiet"
5. Press escape and "b" to boot.

  • The system should boot and give you a login prompt. Login to the system as root and run the following :

    #mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.orig

and reboot the system.

  • When the system boots again, the Xserver will recreate the xorg file with the original defaults and the GUI should start working.

Root Cause

  • Display does not support the resolution set, and the xorg.conf configuration keeps starting the display at the unsupported resolution.

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