Can't even get 2D Working beyond 640x480

[Longman, Bill]

> Newb and can't get my screen out of 640x480 land with a 60hz 
> refresh.  
> Everytime I switch the monitor to a mere 800x600 it can't start X.  
> And an endless cycle of "cant start X reverting to text" 
> begins. In the terminal I'm not too sure how to edit my 
> XFF86config file w/o screwing it up. I cannot get around vi 
> or perl... most unix editors actually. I have a dual 1Ghz 
> quicksilver with a Radeon 9800 Pro. I know that my card can 
> go as high as 2048x1536 on OS X. And I would like to run 
> Yellow Dog at least @1280x960. I am Using a standard 19"  
> SyncMaster CRT.

You should start by posting your XFree86 config. And perhaps a bit of the
log file for it, too.