For people who may google later, here is a nice recipe. If you drive an LCD from non-DVI, analog 15-pin video (still common), and console or X11 won't lock to LCD native resolution:
1. Create a modeline using videogen for /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Use monitor specs from the vendor's manual.
2. Use the monitor's (auto-)adjustments to sync with that mode, producing lock. Either gddccontrol, monitor buttons, or vendor programs will do it. The idea is to put the right settings into monitor firmware.
3. Run modeline2fb against /etc/X11/xorg.conf and append the output to /etc/fb.modes. The framebuffer mode format is different from xorg.conf format.
4. Edit /etc/lilo.conf to call the appropriate mode, e.g. append="grml_from_hd noswap video=vesafb:Samsung971p fbcon=rotate:3 " # portrait rotation
5. Run lilo -v to enact changes.
6. Reboot.
We get pretty good results this way. We're still tweaking. Any comments/advice would be appreciated. BTW videogen is a nice tool because it produces both mode formats.