From: "village idiot" <village_ldi0t@yahoo.com>
> Do I actually need to know the hardware
> specifications?

As Jeremy has said, this isn't so critical, and XFree 4.2+ should be able to
auto-detect and -configure the appropriate server for you.

> I get the startx to fire up the windowmanager, but it
> has a Forrest Gump kind of look. Large fonts, looks
> like windows safe mode, only a little worse.

Try using Ctrl-Alt-kb+.  This will cycle through the resulutions specified
for your setup.

> I have no specifications for my monitor either, but
> that I guess is easier to get hold of, since I know
> that model. I have tried mocking a little around with
> the vertical sync rates and stuff like that, but to no
> avail so far.

You have to specify the H and V sync for each resolution.  Sounds nasty, but
if you specify the range of rates your monitor can handle, XF86Setup will
calculate and specify the possible resolutions for you.  If you aren't sure
of the ranges, be conservative.  I remember blowing the fuse on a monitor
while debugging an ANSI driver (wow, was that really twenty years ago?),
it's easier than you think to overdrive a monitor and potentially damage it.

> Any ideas? Do I need to chuck out the graphic card and
> get one with documentations?


ISTR XF86Setup will auto-detect to a degree, and you know how much memory is
on board, which is good.  I think it's more important to get your monitor's
sync rates.  XF86Setup also has a long list of supported monitors, I
believe, maybe you'll get lucky and yours will be listed.

> Why is this stuff easier on Linux, should be some kind
> of autodetect here...

My experience was that the process was almost identical under Linux (RH5.2
and Debian "Potato", anyway, haven't played with it much recently).

Cheers!
-- Tracy Nelson