[gentoo-user] VGA output?

[gentoo-user] VGA output?

[Grant]

How are you guys getting your laptops to do VGA output?  My system
functions fine without an xorg.conf right now.  Do I need to create
one if I want VGA output?

- Grant

[gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[Grant]

> How are you guys getting your laptops to do VGA output?  My system
> functions fine without an xorg.conf right now.  Do I need to create
> one if I want VGA output?
>
> - Grant

Actually it works great after a reboot.  Is there a better method for
switching VGA output on and off than plug/unplug + reboot?

- Grant

[gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[Nikos Chantziaras]

On 11/04/2009 07:47 PM, Grant wrote:
>> How are you guys getting your laptops to do VGA output?  My system
>> functions fine without an xorg.conf right now.  Do I need to create
>> one if I want VGA output?
>>
>> - Grant
>
> Actually it works great after a reboot.  Is there a better method for
> switching VGA output on and off than plug/unplug + reboot?

Might be a shot in the dark, but try krandrtray (it's a KDE app though.) 
  You should get something like this:

   http://i36.tinypic.com/a1rgqu.png

I don't have a second monitor to connect so I can't try, but perhaps it 
will allow you to enable output to it once you connect it.

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[Joshua Murphy]

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 12:52 PM, Nikos Chantziaras <realnc@arcor.de> wrote:
> On 11/04/2009 07:47 PM, Grant wrote:
>>>
>>> How are you guys getting your laptops to do VGA output?  My system
>>> functions fine without an xorg.conf right now.  Do I need to create
>>> one if I want VGA output?
>>>
>>> - Grant
>>
>> Actually it works great after a reboot.  Is there a better method for
>> switching VGA output on and off than plug/unplug + reboot?
>
> Might be a shot in the dark, but try krandrtray (it's a KDE app though.)
>  You should get something like this:
>
>  http://i36.tinypic.com/a1rgqu.png
>
> I don't have a second monitor to connect so I can't try, but perhaps it will
> allow you to enable output to it once you connect it.

lxrandr is a bit lighter, standalone capable, but part of the lxde
desktop "suite". Their wiki page for it:

http://wiki.lxde.org/en/LXRandr

Odd timing to run across the question, too, since I just realized I'd
missed that one on my laptop build here.

[ebuild  N    ] lxde-base/lxrandr-0.1.1  193 kB

And if you get an error:
"Unable to get monitor information!"

Rebuild xrandr. Found that answer in the forum thread below:
http://forum.lxde.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=639

Of course, if you're one for more power over simplicity of use, xrandr
itself is more than capable, the rest are just frontends, really.

-- 
Poison [BLX]
Joshua M. Murphy

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[James Ausmus]

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On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 9:47 AM, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:

> > How are you guys getting your laptops to do VGA output?  My system
> > functions fine without an xorg.conf right now.  Do I need to create
> > one if I want VGA output?
> >
> > - Grant
>
> Actually it works great after a reboot.  Is there a better method for
> switching VGA output on and off than plug/unplug + reboot?
>
>
Depending on the driver you are dealing with, regular old xrandr from the
command-line should do the trick (or a wrapper app like krandrtray that
Nikos suggested)

HTH-

James (A)  ;)

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[Valmor de Almeida]

James Ausmus wrote:
> 
> 
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 9:47 AM, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com
> <mailto:emailgrant@gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>     > How are you guys getting your laptops to do VGA output?  My system
>     > functions fine without an xorg.conf right now.  Do I need to create
>     > one if I want VGA output?
>     >
>     > - Grant
> 
>     Actually it works great after a reboot.  Is there a better method for
>     switching VGA output on and off than plug/unplug + reboot?
> 
> 
> Depending on the driver you are dealing with, regular old xrandr from
> the command-line should do the trick (or a wrapper app like krandrtray
> that Nikos suggested)
>  
> HTH-
> 
> James (A)  ;)

I use xrandr and do have an xorg.conf; some info I used in the past


http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Xorg_RandR_1.2

Typically I use my laptop on a port replicator attached to a VGA.

I use windowmaker; after a switch from laptop monitor to vga or
vice-versa, I need to restart wm; all through the command-line.

--
Valmor

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[Grant]

>>     > How are you guys getting your laptops to do VGA output?  My system
>>     > functions fine without an xorg.conf right now.  Do I need to create
>>     > one if I want VGA output?
>>     >
>>     > - Grant
>>
>>     Actually it works great after a reboot.  Is there a better method for
>>     switching VGA output on and off than plug/unplug + reboot?
>>
>>
>> Depending on the driver you are dealing with, regular old xrandr from
>> the command-line should do the trick (or a wrapper app like krandrtray
>> that Nikos suggested)
>>
>> HTH-
>>
>> James (A)  ;)
>
> I use xrandr and do have an xorg.conf; some info I used in the past
>
>
> http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Xorg_RandR_1.2
>
> Typically I use my laptop on a port replicator attached to a VGA.
>
> I use windowmaker; after a switch from laptop monitor to vga or
> vice-versa, I need to restart wm; all through the command-line.
>
> --
> Valmor

Thanks everyone.  Do these apps allow you to connect and disconnect a
monitor without restarting X?  I'm not sure how that would work
because my laptop screen's aspect ratio is resized based on that of
the monitor.

- Grant

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[Valmor de Almeida]

Grant wrote:
...[snip]...
> 
> Thanks everyone.  Do these apps allow you to connect and disconnect a
> monitor without restarting X?  I'm not sure how that would work
> because my laptop screen's aspect ratio is resized based on that of
> the monitor.
> 
> - Grant
> 
> 

Yes. Typically I have aliased commands for xrandr. If I am using the VGA
and I want to undock the laptop and use its LCD, I run my turnoffvga alias:

 xrandr --output VGA --off

undock the laptop and restart windowmaker (not the X server); just a
simple ALT+R key stroke for wm; this does not mess up running X apps. I
restart the window manager so my desktop background are resized to the
size of the laptop LCD monitor. I use xrandr extensively to reset, turn
on and off VGA/LCD whether I have the laptop docked or not. All without
restarting the X server; it also works with digital projectors.

For resetting the VGA:

xrandr --output LVDS1 --auto --pos 0x0

or for a resetting both monitors (bash function)

EXTERNAL_OUTPUT="VGA"
INTERNAL_OUTPUT="LVDS1"
INTERNAL_LOCATION="--below $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT"

xrandr |grep $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep " connected "
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
    xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
    xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT $INTERNAL_LOCATION
else
    xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --off
    xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
fi


--
Valmor

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: VGA output?

[Grant]

> ...[snip]...
>>
>> Thanks everyone.  Do these apps allow you to connect and disconnect a
>> monitor without restarting X?  I'm not sure how that would work
>> because my laptop screen's aspect ratio is resized based on that of
>> the monitor.
>>
>> - Grant
>>
>>
>
> Yes. Typically I have aliased commands for xrandr. If I am using the VGA
> and I want to undock the laptop and use its LCD, I run my turnoffvga alias:
>
>  xrandr --output VGA --off
>
> undock the laptop and restart windowmaker (not the X server); just a
> simple ALT+R key stroke for wm; this does not mess up running X apps. I
> restart the window manager so my desktop background are resized to the
> size of the laptop LCD monitor. I use xrandr extensively to reset, turn
> on and off VGA/LCD whether I have the laptop docked or not. All without
> restarting the X server; it also works with digital projectors.
>
> For resetting the VGA:
>
> xrandr --output LVDS1 --auto --pos 0x0
>
> or for a resetting both monitors (bash function)
>
> EXTERNAL_OUTPUT="VGA"
> INTERNAL_OUTPUT="LVDS1"
> INTERNAL_LOCATION="--below $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT"
>
> xrandr |grep $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep " connected "
> if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
>    xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
>    xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
>    xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT $INTERNAL_LOCATION
> else
>    xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --off
>    xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
> fi
>
>
> --
> Valmor

Thanks Valmor, good stuff.

- Grant