[gentoo-user] Changing xorg.conf at runtime (nVidia cards)

[Mike Mazur <mmazur@gmail.com>]

Hello,

I have an nVidia card, and I can use the NVIDIA X Server Settings app
to dynamically detect and configure displays I connect to my laptop.
When I'm done with the configuration, I simply apply it, and keep on
truckin' without having to restart X.

Doing this manually each time I connect/disconnect an external display
can get tiresome. I can generate an xorg.conf for each setup I
frequently use (ie: different monitors at work/home, no monitor on the
go), but that means restarting X when the display configuration
changes. This can be undesirable if I just want to move from my desk
to the living room.

I'd like to run a single command, passing it one of my xorg.conf files
(for instance), and have my screens configured on-the-fly. I looked at
the command-line options for nvidia-settings and nvidia-xconfig but
they don't seem to do what I want. I also looked at XRandR but I'm not
sure what's the best way forward.

Does anyone have something like this already set up? What did you use?
Will these nvidia tools do what I need or should I look to XRandR? How
do I get started with setting up XRandR?

Thanks!
Mike