[HOW TO] - Fixing ATi Boot Resolution

[Takuro]

People who used the "Boris" method with their ATi cards often notice that OS X boots into the incorrect resolution at the login screen. After fiddling around a little, I found a permanent fix!

 

Step 1: Get DisplayConfigX. This program overwrites your default resolutions. We need this to make a profile of resolutions that can be modified at a later time. It's a PowerPC application, but it still works fine for all purposes.

 

Step 2: Configure DisplayConfigX to include all the resolutions that are listed in your System Preference's "Display Preferences." If you only need one resolution, then feel free to include only that one resolution. However, certain games WILL give errors unless you have multiple resolutions supported. It's best to include standard resolutions like 800x600, etc.

 

Step 3: In DisplayConfigX, go to the "Install" tab and click "install." Before you close the window, take note of the path listed at the bottom of the window. That is the path to the new file that has been generated. It includes your new resolutions.

 

Step 5: Make sure you are logged in as "root." Navigate to the path of the newly generated file. (It should be /System/Library/Displays/Overrides/DisplayVendorIX-something/) Open "DisplayProductID-..." with TextEdit and scroll down. Look for

<key>UiResolutionData</key>

This is where the resolutions are listed.

 

Step 6: Look for the desired resolution. It isn't clearly written as "1680x1050x32" or anything like that. Instead, each resolution is represented by a long line of numbers and letters that contain information for resolution size, refresh rate, and other data. I wanted to boot into 1680x1050, my monitor's largest supported resolution. Since the list is in size order from smallest to largest resolution, I scrolled to the last item, which looked something like this:

<data>
		AAAGkAAABBpCcAAABADgAHo5kEBiGiVAaLgTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
		AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
		AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
		AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=
		</data>
	</array>

I copied the first 16 characters of the listed item after the tag

AAAGkAAABBpCcAAA

Your code may look different.

 

Step 7: Find

	<key>default-resolution</key>
<data>
(16 characters here)
</data>

and replace the characters with the other 16 digits that you had copied earlier. This tells the profile to use the last listed resolution (the largest resolution) as its default resolution.

 

Step 8: Reboot and enjoy!

 

I'm not the best at typing tutorials. If anybody understands my ramblings and can make it easier to follow, I'd appreciate it.

[~Neo]

GREAT! This is the only thing I need to make my Macintel perfect! So, thanks Takuro! I will test it tomorrow.

[nicko_029]

Or you can just edit com.apple.Boot.plist at

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist and add the following (use your own resolution in this):

 

<key>Graphics Mode</key>

<string>1680x1050x32</string>

 

[xtraa]

Or you can just edit com.apple.Boot.plist at

 

well, you can do that but that will make you unable to change your resolution with callisto.

[voxxdigital]

well, you can do that but that will make you unable to change your resolution with callisto.

 

 

I did that and I can change resolutions with Callisto. My usual resolution is 1280x1024, and so is the gray apple boot screen - but it then switches to 1024x758 at the blue boot screen (with the Mac OS X logo and progress bar) - and when I get to the desktop it switches back to 1280x1024, which is the resolution I set. If I log out the login window is again at 1024x768 - with no anti-aliasing and some artifacts, and I tried a lot of things so far with no results. Any ideas?

[AaronR]

Or you can just edit com.apple.Boot.plist at

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist and add the following (use your own resolution in this):

 

<key>Graphics Mode</key>

<string>1680x1050x32</string>

 

 

I did that and got a blank screen after reboot. Anyone else had success with DisplayConfigX? or is there any other way to get the resolution right for login window?

 

[update]

 

WOW, DisplayconfigX does work! Thanks for this great tip.

[bliss]

hmm didnt work for me, because this program's just a demo and cant hadle with my display resolution of 1440x900

 

isnt there any other resolution.

 

i need some info. i tried to log in as root, but root has the correct resolution. i need to know the "user" of the login window screen so i can log in and change it....

 

Edit: First register and activate program then it works with higher resolutions ;-)

 

works now!

[chico_stang]

I know this topic is old but, following the steps of Takuro I was finally able to solve the problem I was having with my X1650 Pro card. It used to boot in a different resolution and switch back to the correct resolution before loading the desktop. The login screen was also messed up with a different resolution. Now, however, the problem's been solved after trying many different things. So thanks Takuro for the fix!