How To Change the Monitor Resolution on Solaris 10

Fbconfig is the utility that you can use to change the monitor resolution on a Solaris 10 workstation.

Typing fbconfig -res \? will yield a list of valid resolutions, some of them will have a * , these are the resolutions that your monitor does not support.

If you execute the fbconfig command from the console with the wrong parameters, your monitor might become unreadable. All is not lost, ssh into the Solaris 10 box and issue the fbconfig command along with a safe resolution. Most of the time the changes will take place immediately if you issue the "now" option.

fbconfig -res 1152x900x66 try - the system will test the 1152x900x66 resolution for 10 seconds, ctrl+c will stop the test and revert the changes. typing no at the end of the 10 seconds will also have the same result.

fbconfig -res 1152x900x66 now - the system will set the resolution to 1152x900x66 without any sort of test. This change cannot be undone without reissuing the fbconfig command again along with a safe resolution.

Depending on the type of graphics card, also take a look at m64config and ffbconfig.


Here is the manual...
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fbconfig [-list] [-dev devname abbreviation][-res video-mode] [-propt] [-prconf] [-help]

-list List installed and configurable frame buffers

Usage:
ffbconfig [-dev devname] [-file machine system ][-res video-mode [now] [noconfirm] [nocheck] [try]][-deflinear true false] [-defoverlay true false][-linearorder first last] [-overlayorder first last][-expvis enable disable] [-sov enable disable][-maxwids n] [-extovl enable disable][-g gamma-correction value] [-gfile filename][-defaults][-propt] [-prconf] [-help] -dev device to configure.

Default: /dev/fbs/ffb0-file which OWconfig file to update.
Default: machine-res video-mode to set on device.

-res \? will show list of possible video modes.

-deflinear If true, default visual will be linear visual. Default: false.

-defoverlay If true, default visual will be overlay visual. Default: false.

-linearorder If "first", linear visuals will be selected before non-linear visuals. Default: last.

-overlayorder If "first", overlay visual will be selected before non-overlay visual. Default: last.

-expvis If enabled, OpenGL Visual Expansion will be enabled. Default: disabled.

-sov If enabled, Server Overlay Visuals will be available. Default: disabled.

-maxwids number of WIDs to allocate. This option is availble only if extended overlay mode is disabled. Must be between 1 and 64 and an even power of two. Default: 32.

-extovl If enabled, Extended Overlay Mode is enabled. In the Extended Overlay Mode,
-maxwid option is not available. Default: enabled.

-g Gamma Correction Value Default: 2.220000.

-gfile Filename of the file containing Gamma Correction Table.

-defaults set all options for specified device back to default values (except for -dev).
-propt print out current option settings.

-prconf print out device hardware configuration.
-help print out this message.
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