SuSE Linux: Versions up to (including) 8.0
XFree86: Version 4.2.0
Your mainboard or laptop is equipped with an Intel 830 or 845 graphics chipset and you cannot configure a color depth higher than 256 colors (8 bit) with high resolutions.
The output of
hwinfo --framebuffer
shows that only an 8-bit color depth can be displayed with resolutions above 640x480. The reason is that the graphics chipset is detected with a 832 kb memory. Since the graphics chip runs memory-sharing with the RAM, it is not possible to assign more memory to the chipset.
The output of the root command hwinfo --framebuffer looks like this for an i830 graphics chipset:
02: None 00.0: 11001 VESA Framebuffer [Created at bios.299] Unique ID: rdCR.Z+CliNWHWlA Hardware Class: framebuffer Model: "Almador Graphics Chip Accelerated VGA BIOS Almador Graphics Controller" Vendor: "Intel Corporation" Device: "Almador Graphics Controller" SubVendor: "Almador Graphics Chip Accelerated VGA BIOS" SubDevice: 0000 "?" Revision: "Hardware Version 0.0" Memory Size: 0 MB + 832 kB Memory Range: 0xe0000000-0xe00cffff (rw) Mode 0x0301: 640x480 (+640), 8 bits Mode 0x0303: 800x600 (+800), 8 bits Mode 0x0305: 1024x768 (+1024), 8 bits Mode 0x0311: 640x480 (+1280), 16 bits
or like this for Intel i845G mainboard chipsets:
02: None 00.0: 11001 VESA Framebuffer [Created at bios.299] Unique ID: rdCR.AcZfX19URwA Hardware Class: framebuffer Model: "Brookdale-G Graphics Chip Accelerated VGA BIOS Brookdale-G Graphics Controller" Vendor: "Intel Corporation" Device: "Brookdale-G Graphics Controller" SubVendor: "Brookdale-G Graphics Chip Accelerated VGA BIOS" SubDevice: 0000 "?" Revision: "Hardware Version 0.0" Memory Size: 0 MB + 832 kB Memory Range: 0xe8000000-0xe80cffff (rw) Mode 0x0301: 640x480 (+640), 8 bits Mode 0x0303: 800x600 (+800), 8 bits Mode 0x0305: 1024x768 (+1024), 8 bits Mode 0x0311: 640x480 (+1280), 16 bits
Unfortunately, a solution for this problem has not been found yet. Refer to your laptop or mainboard manufacturer to find out if a BIOS update that could solve this problem is already available. Please note that a BIOS update may cause some problems and that you perform the update at your own risk!