Your Eee PC in 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024 in XP
January 11th, 2008 by antIf you head over to youtube, there are two new videos (link 1, link 2) that claim Eee PC’s can run much higher resolutions than the standard 800×480. In the first video, you can actually see what appears to be an Eee PC running in several different modes including 1024×768. The second video shows a step by step process to downloading and installing the drivers to make it work, with a “Don’t try this at home!” style warning.
The real question, does it work? Of course I had to try it!
I went ahead and installed Windows XP, and followed the instructions in the second video. Low and behold, it actually works! I used it on Windows XP Home and simply ran \utilities\setup.exe from the zip file. It appears as though the driver essentially makes the screen space larger, and then scales the elements on the screen to appear as the proper resolution.
There’s a nine page thread in our forums about the driver featuring posts from LazerTag, the man behind the driver, if you’d like to read it for more information.
I have no idea if there are any possible consequences or problems that can occur with your device (or it’s warranty!) with the use of these drivers. So, use at your own risk, or keep an eye out for more information.
January 11th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Awesome, I wanted to get a bigger resolution for programs that need full 800×600 like pokerstars, etc.
I’m planning on installing XP when I get back home in a few weeks.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I’m a bit confused. I’ve always been able to run all resolutions, 1024×768, 1280×1024, etc. ever since I installed Windows. I didn’t install or do anything special. I just installed the asus Intel windows graphics driver. Then I went under advanced settings and unchecked “hide resolutions that my monitor can’t display.” Then just picked the resolution I want.
I did nothing special as far as I know. I always thought this was normal and no big deal
Anyway, I often use 1024×768 for web browsing, or 800×600. It depends. Somtimes 1024 is too big to deal with.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Umm, i installed the drivers but i just get scrolling when i change display properties, unlike in the video. Is there a way to fix this?
January 11th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
sorry, i installed V15 instead of V01…. now it works
January 12th, 2008 at 1:38 am
The biggest downside is that suspend/resume won’t work correctly. I believe there are also DirectDraw issues with v01. Both are because the driver is technically for embedded IGA, not the type we use in the Eee.
January 12th, 2008 at 4:55 am
I wonder if there is something similar for Packard Bell XS20 maybe?
January 12th, 2008 at 5:28 am
[...] einem Bericht auf Eeeuser.com kann der ASUS Eee mit Hilfe eines speziellen Treibers, auch höhere Auflösungen [...]
January 12th, 2008 at 6:07 am
How can I switch resolutin on my Linux Xandros ?
January 12th, 2008 at 7:03 am
cant this be done via xorg.conf and forcing it with xrandr? i tried but got no where
January 12th, 2008 at 7:13 am
sorry was wrong about that its just scaling it upwards, stil wouldnt mind it in linux. im sure theres some way to scale the res
January 12th, 2008 at 8:17 am
is this drivers XP PRO only???^^
i did use the raondigital’s VEGA (UPPC)
but i sold that because eee pc
here is south korea…^^
asus do not sell eee yet…
so… i bought one in US through internet
there is many tips!!! this eeeuser site
i visit this web everyday but commenting initail OTL
I cannot speak english very well ….. like this
please understand ^^
@.@!!!! the ponit!!! work only PRO??? WHY?^^
THANKS~~~
January 12th, 2008 at 9:11 am
so does this mean widescreen resolutions like 1024×600 or 1200×800 are not possible?
thanks.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:57 am
i mean… does not work this driver in windows lite vision?
because linked web that how to install, the ‘ nine page thread ‘
there is a comment ‘this work only XP PRO’
thanks.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
has anyone attempted this in ubuntu? im tempted to try
January 12th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
C’mon guys. We’re supposed to do the cool stuff in Linux, not XP. Progress, remember?
January 12th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
My bad. I’m and idiot. I wasn’t tuned in to the fact that this scales higher resolutions to the actual screen vs. scrolling like I was doing.
January 12th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
This doesn’t really surprise me as most external monitors will accept non-native resolutions. The results generally look pretty bad, so I’m wondering why people are excited about this…?
January 12th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
@jay_cee
I agree. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. I can’t see how using this could result in a better, more readable computing experience.
January 12th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
remember native OS for this machine is linux not M$ lets develop this baby from its roots.
January 12th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
While the driver isn’t perfect (since it’s not really for this video card), turning off ClearType and then setting to 800×600 I think looks pretty good actually. The extra screen real estate is helpful imo. Standby and monitor sleep are quite the issue though. I hope to figure these out and resolve them.
I have no way currently to test a Linux based build, but I can make one if someone is willing to take it upon themselves do it yourself. I may have made this current Windows build, but the IEGD software is on Intel’s site so anyone can make their own. It does say it supports Linux in the software so have at it.
Cheers
LT
January 12th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I would more then willing to test a Linux Graphics driver for you in fact I think I have a crew of people at my current project that would be willing to give it a try. So build away my friend.
January 13th, 2008 at 7:55 am
JMiahMan great to hear that. please do update us. cheers!
January 13th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I am stunned to see such a great soft !!! Simply excellent !!! I’ll give it a try when the reolution is more suitable to the screen proportions
January 13th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Built a WinXP SP2 Nlite install, then installed the drivers from the CD. Then installed this driver for the video card. Then used the .\driver\utilities\IEGDGUI.exe and selected single LCD. Worked like a charm. 1024×768 scaled to fit on the 800×480 screen without scrollbars. Nice.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Since the Intel drivers for Xorg are Free, I think that asking to some freedesktop hackers you could get the same in Linux…
Anyway, I was wondering that maybe an easier workaround could be a compositing windows hack (= a compiz plugin) that simply allows to unzoom (zoom out). This will also support the same screen aspect ratio, also if it could have some problems with accelerated videos or graphics…
Finally, I’m a bit curious about how this really displays to the user, I can’t see so well looking at the video… Is there anyone here that could post an high-quality photo?
Thanks!
January 14th, 2008 at 2:04 am
I’ve just found the photos I was looking for!
January 14th, 2008 at 5:26 am
I’m planning on installing XP too
January 14th, 2008 at 9:50 am
This doesn’t make sense to me. An LCD is physically limited to a certain maximum resolution - I don’t see how it would be possible to increase the resolution on an LCD that is physically limited to 800×600 - the resolution is limited by the number of transistors on the display; how do you make a single pixel display multiple pixels simultaneously? Are the screens actually 1024×768 (e.g. what’s in some UMPCs) and limited by Linux to 800×600?
I’d be interested in seeing a clear photograph of this mod/change.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:13 am
what is the price in USD? tnx
January 14th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
shifuimam:
The graphics chip/driver takes the non-native resolution and scales it to the physical screen size of 800×600. This is easy to imagine if you are mapping 1600×1200 onto the physical 800×600 - you would just drop every other pixel on each axis. The signal processing is more complicated for other resolutions like 1024×768, but its the same idea.
The results will range from a soft image to an unusable image, so I’m still not certain why people are excited about this.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
@ shifuimam,
I agree with your reservations. I read the whole thread in the forum, and the way this is being presented here is somewhat misleading. They aren’t actually running a 1280 x 1024 resolution on the display, because that’s not physically possible. They simply have a 1280 x 1024 desktop that’s being downsampled to display at the 800 x 480 physical resolution.
January 14th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I agree with jay_cee, there is nothing to be excited about this.
If you want to get more screen estate in linux, here is couple of tips:
1. use sub-pixel rendering, that actually makes your screen effectively 2400×480 (with well-done black on white font).
2. set your fonts smaller (kcontrol for kde-programs) (you can set them even smaller if you did step 1 and still maintain readability). It’s plain fact that you can get that way smaller and still more readable fonts that using that XP-trick.
3. use customized window manager like fluxbox with very tiny window decorations and title bars.
4. make your icons smaller, if any
5. customize your programs to get rid of unnecessary toolbars like bookmarks bar in firefox.
And you have got much more usable screen estate than with XP and this mostly useless trick (ok, there would be use for this trick if you want to play game X that doesn’t run with 800×480)
January 14th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
How do you “use sub-pixel rendering”?
January 14th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I think its interesting that the guy managed to get this to work on XP. But I still don’t understand why this is so great.
The quality of the desktop image, icons and text all drops because pixels are being dropped. I guess I can understand why that would be nice in XP where you are stuck with 1 desktop.
I am currently running Xubuntu with Compiz Fusion installed. This gives me 4 (could be more) desktops to work in. To me having 4 full quality smaller desktops is better than 1 slightly larger lower quality desktop.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Risto:
Hi Risto. Actually, screen res. higher / larger than 800×480 is quite important, not only for games, but also for most desktop apps., becos’ they were designed for 800×600. Small Y screen height omit us from many important buttons / links / etc. (OK, Cancel, Apply, …), causing a lot of inconveniences.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:53 am
dxn: image will be blurred, soft. It’s useless if You do like Your eyes…
January 15th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I still think the more important issue at hand is aspect ratio. Ok, cool, they’ve proven it can do 1280×1024, awesome. But what if I don’t want everything stretched though? What about a REAL usable resolution for the screen like 1280×768? Is this easily accessed as well?
January 16th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Guys, those who prefer non-M$ solutions. I think, we have a petter workaround for this.
1. Remember that in Linux (at least in KDE) we can configure size of every font used in the desktop environment. I suppose that other DEs also provide these configuration options.
2. In compiz fusion there’s a plugin that allows resizing windows with zooming their content.
Forcing LCD to display in non-native resolution isn’t a good idea to me.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:59 am
This works great with XP Magnifier utility. You can read and mouse-select the tiny stuff!!
January 16th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Has anyone done this with LINUX yet?
I am surprised that Xandros folks themselves have not followed this, and pulled off something like this? Of course, when Eee PC has 8.9 inch screen, combined with jkkmobile’s touch screen mod, and the new 5 hour battery (that should be standard with all future Eee PCs if ASUS were serious), then this resolution change concept is even more interesting.
If this can be done with Xubuntu (or the Eee PC version of Xubuntu as a custom distro for the Eee PC, drivers and everything ready to go on the .iso), then this would be interesting to see in these different resolutions.
On top of that Mary Lou Jepsen is licensing the OLPC XO power saving tech, including the dual mode screen that the OLPC XO has, so if ASUS licensed THAT, then wow…
see: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080107182525297#Contents
Combine this OLPC XO power saving advantage, with resolution changing, and touch screen, and a 5 hour battery converted to say a 20 hour battery…??? Well, that would be really an improvement and make any mobile device, a truly mobile device (any device at 2.5 to 3.0 hours of battery just is not mobile enough).
The ability to run LINUX, and even the OLPC XO “Sugar” interface, on the Eee PC is something that folks should try, as that interface is designed from the ground up for smaller screens and simple to use icon placement. I wonder if the OLPC XO’s “Sugar” can be used on Ubuntu and that family of Linux distros as well (it should be natually GPL’d I would think, so could be moved over to any other LINUX as well).
January 16th, 2008 at 9:53 am
If anyone wanted to try the OLPC XO’s Sugar on the Eee PC there are Live CDs with this.
Emulating the XO/Comparison of Alternatives
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Emulating_the_XO/Comparison_of_Alternatives
“This page attempts to collect user experiences in running emulated OLPC-XO images (or sugar-jhbuild environments) on various host Operating Systems with various emulation packages. It is intended to serve as a guide for those looking to set up their own Development Environment”.
For example (one of the OS’s on the above link is here):
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_on_Ubuntu_Linux
January 16th, 2008 at 9:58 am
If anyone wanted to try the OLPC XO’s Sugar on the Eee PC there are Live CDs with this.
Emulating the XO/Comparison of Alternatives
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Emulating_the_XO/Comparison_of_Alternatives
“This page attempts to collect user experiences in running emulated OLPC-XO images (or sugar-jhbuild environments) on various host Operating Systems with various emulation packages. It is intended to serve as a guide for those looking to set up their own Development Environment”.
For example (one of the OS’s on the above link is here):
http://
wiki.laptop.org/go/Sugar_on_Ubuntu_Linux
Sugar on Ubuntu Linux
“So you want to try out Sugar on your Ubuntu machine? No problem! There are three installation options available.
1 The options
* 1.1 Option 1 - Emulated XO
* 1.2 Option 2 - sugar-jhbuild
* 1.3 Option 3 - Deb Packages for Gutsy
January 16th, 2008 at 10:05 am
If anyone wanted to try the OLPC XO’s Sugar on the Eee PC there are Live CDs with this.
Emulating the XO/Comparison of Alternatives
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Emulating_the_XO/Comparison_of_Alternatives
“This page attempts to collect user experiences in running emulated OLPC-XO images (or sugar-jhbuild environments) on various host Operating Systems with various emulation packages. It is intended to serve as a guide for those looking to set up their own Development Environment”.
For example (one of the OS’s found in the chart on the above link is here):
Sugar on Ubuntu Linux
“So you want to try out Sugar on your Ubuntu machine? No problem! There are three installation options available.
1 The options
* 1.1 Option 1 - Emulated XO
* 1.2 Option 2 - sugar-jhbuild
* 1.3 Option 3 - Deb Packages for Gutsy”
— The reason why that “Sugar” is interesting, is that if anyone has a child, then they could be using the same software for the OLPC XO, on the Eee PC. Really, then all the Eee PC would need is “Mesh Networking” to be a totally compatible OLPC XO device (except that the OLPC XO is Red Hat based, and not Ubuntu, so app just need a bit of a mod to be deb files.
Would the OLPC XO’s “Sugar” be anything that “adults” could use as well, but on the Eee PC?
January 16th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
While this is very cool, running a 7 inch screen at 1280×1024 is just not fun… I myself am hoping they bring out a version with a bigger screen (and a bigger harddrive)
January 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Hi there!
Stupid question from my side: How do you guys install XP on this computer that has no cd/dvd drive?
And is Web Browsing really a hazzle with the standart resolution?
Thanks, Silver
January 16th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Silversurfer you can use an external USB CDROM\DVD Drive or you can use the USB Memory stick method both work fine.
As for Web browsing its fine with the standard resolution but some people prefer a higher resolution.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:35 am
[...] und diese in der originalen Auflösung des Displays darstellt. Wie ich auf der Hauptseite von eeeUser gelesen habe, gibt es zwei youtube-Videos, die das ganze ein wenig veranschaulichen sollen ([1] [...]
January 17th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
[...] native, 800×480 is a bit small, but you learn to be very efficient with it. I saw the post on eeeuser.com how LazerTag was able to modify the driver to support the resolution up to 1280×1024. I [...]
January 17th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
The Linux drivers seem to pull the actual panel resolution and there dosen’t appear to be an override, so a recompile is definitely needed to run a different resolution on it. The other trick would be to get compiz-fusion going and use OpenGL to resize all of the windows.
January 19th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
i don’t get it. i thought having this driver would just shrink everything so i wouldn’t have to scroll horizontally, but i guess i’m wrong. not even sure i did it right, the directions are kinda vague, i.e. which driver V15 or V01.
January 19th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
can someone tell me what i’m missing? how to do it and what it should accomplish. my idea was it’d be just like my desktop wide screen view only on a smaller screen. the height and width seem the same.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:01 am
Hi Guys
what maximum resolution does the EEE pc have on the external monitor?
can it goes on 1440×900 on 19 inch LCD?
thanks
February 10th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
What am I doing wrong? I’ve installed the driver and changed the res but it scrolls around i’ve read something about cloning have I just totally missed something!?
February 11th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
[...] The hack is accomplished by staring a vnc server and opening a scaled client. As a result, you may have a few issues with it. However, it’s still a brilliant and easy way to get a little more reading space on your Linux Eee PC (especially if you’ve been jealous of the Windows XP hack!) [...]
March 25th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
So what’s wrong with just setting the desktop size to larger than the resolution in xorg.conf so you have mouse-controlled edge-scrolly desktop in linux?
I’ve done this in the past to overcome limited display hardware on other systems, notably an old custom card isa ex-POS LCD with very touchy hardware. With a larger virtual desktop I could get access to the bottoms of everything I needed to.
I haven’t bothered doing it on my 701 though a I amquite happy with it.
I also remember that oneWM with multiple virtual desktops supported windows overflowing into adjoining desktops if there wasn’t enough screen real estate to contain the whole window. Trouble is I don’t remember which one. Anyone remember?
April 6th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
So far I have found these video tweaks to be nothing more than hacking entertainment. I would not want to run any of these tweaks if I was going to get on an Jet and fly to Japan with only one computer. I do appreciate all of the efforts and encourage everyone to continue. Somebody will find the sweet solution.
http://thepeoplegeek.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/big-trouble-on-the-small-screen/
I took a couple of pictures of my problems and posted them on wordpress
April 17th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Has anyone verified if the videos in the link are just the Eee PC 900 which was just announced that supports 1024×768?
May 12th, 2008 at 5:19 am
i just want to ask a simple question which is how ca i adjudt my pc screan to be 800 by 600 pixels at least to play my video game? i tried to do tis by changing some informations concerning screan resolution by in vain…i am waiting for you helpfull answers and instructions thank you
June 26th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
hi is there a way to put on of my pics on as a screen saver??