[opensuse] LCD with CRT on laptop
Hi all, I'm using SuSE 10.1 on a laptop, and I do a lot of presentations. I would like to have both the LCD and the external (VGA) monitor output working simultaneously all the time, or have an easy way to switch the external monitor output on and off. As a complication, my system currently crashes if I change video mode! Here's what I have so far. If I boot without an external monitor connected, and attempt to use the (BIOS defined??) hot key sequence to toggle the external display, nothing happens. If I boot with an external monitor connected, the external display is driven, and the LCD panel is shut off. I can't use the hot-key sequence to reactivate the panel (very irritating as the projector screen is usually behind me!) On an older laptop by the same manufacturer (Toshiba) I found that if I booted with the external display connected, but then disconnected it after GRUB had done its thing, then plugged it back in after the login screen, then both screens would be live. This doesn't happen on the newer machine. Most recently, I used SaX to try to enable "DualHead" mode. That has been partially successful. What I expected was two displays "side by side" with the mouse running between them. What I got is both displays running (at different resolutions) but showing identical output. Sounds good, right? Well only to a point. The problem with this arrangement is that if I boot with the external display connected, all works great, but despite the amount of time I work in this mode, I still use the system more without an external display connected. If I boot without an external display, the LCD never powers up! So I can't see anything, and I can't even try to logout or shutdown the system... I have to force it off with the power switch (thank heavens for journaling file systems!) Any suggestions? TIA Simon "You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." — Naguib Mahfouz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Thursday 16 November 2006 11:25, Simon Roberts wrote
Most recently, I used SaX to try to enable "DualHead" mode. That has been partially successful. What I expected was two displays "side by side" with the mouse running between them. What I got is both displays running (at different resolutions) but showing identical output. Sounds good, right? Well only to a point.
Any suggestions? The answer to this question depends on the notebook you're using... and the projector... and unfortunately they all do this thing differently.
First, the hotkey sequence to toggle between the external VGA and the TFT LCD is only partially bios, and in fact is designed to interface with a windoze driver [thnaks to the M$ evil monopoly]. However, determining which output is active (on) by default is controlled (usually) by the bios only. On my IBM ThinkPad R30 I set the bios display output to *BOTH* which by default sends the video output to both the LCD and the external VGA port. This works fine for the most part, however, there are a few catches which you have also run into. The first catch is video resolution on the output to the projector. Your laptop is configured (xorg.conf) for the LCD TFT monitor... and is not configured for VGA output to a tube. Fortunately most modern projectors are setup to "sense" and tune to whatever output it gets. (you need one of those projectors). My projector will sometimes come up in 800x600 even though I am configured for 1024x768. The projector has a top side button that when pressed will toggle up to the next resolution (if available) and then display correctly. The second thing you'll probably run into is screen blanking or screen saver modes. When I am teaching and I need the projector to be up all the time I manually configure the bios (for that night) to use *BOTH* LCD and VGA. I manually disable xscreensaver (I don't use the KDE default) and I have the laptop bios set to *never* blank the screen (not turn off the CCFL backlight). Try looking at your bios settings (setup mode) for the laptop (which one is it?). Actually your "dual head" mode through SAX may be the best you are going to get with this setup. The next step is to get more personally acquainted with the projector you are using. You may even want to consider upgrading the projector (better lumens, auto sensing, tapazoid output [keystoning]... etc). Also, you might want to look closer at the "dual head" settings in SAX... I have not... and see if you have the option to individually configure the video to each head... Which projector is it...? Which notebook...? -- Kind regards, M Harris <>< -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Nov 16, 06 09:25:51 -0800, Simon Roberts wrote:
If I boot without an external monitor connected, and attempt to use the (BIOS defined??) hot key sequence to toggle the external display, nothing happens.
This is not supported. Never was, probably will be in some future versions. No, certainly not 10.2.
Most recently, I used SaX to try to enable "DualHead" mode. That has been partially successful. What I expected was two displays "side by side" with the mouse running between them. What I got is both displays running (at different resolutions) but showing identical output. Sounds good, right? Well only to a point.
Depends on how you configure it. With intel drivers only clone mode was possible, that will change with 10.2.
The problem with this arrangement is that if I boot with the external display connected, all works great, but despite the amount of time I work in this mode, I still use the system more without an external display connected. If I boot without an external display, the LCD never powers up! So I can't see anything, and I can't even try to logout or shutdown the system... I have to force it off with the power switch (thank heavens for journaling file systems!)
Never boot a machine with the external monitor attached. This only works
on with some drivers on some machines in some versions...
If the LCD doesn't come up *without* an external monitor connected, that
is a *very* obscure bug, and worth reporting.
Matthias
--
Matthias Hopf
On Nov 16, 06 09:25:51 -0800, Simon Roberts wrote:
If I boot without an external display, the LCD never powers up! So I can't see anything, and I can't even try to logout or shutdown the system... I have to force it off with the power switch (thank heavens for journaling file systems!)
I'm afraid I don't know anything about your specific problem, but have you tried Ctrl-Alt-F2 (to get to a virtual console), followed by Ctrl-Alt-Del? That should cause a safe shutdown. -- David Smith | Tel: +44 (0)1454 462380 Home: +44 (0)1454 616963 STMicroelectronics | Fax: +44 (0)1454 462305 Mobile: +44 (0)7932 642724 1000 Aztec West | TINA: 065 2380 GPG Key: 0xF13192F2 Almondsbury | Work Email: Dave.Smith@st.com BRISTOL, BS32 4SQ | Home Email: David.Smith@ds-electronics.co.uk -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (4)
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David SMITH -
M Harris -
Matthias Hopf -
Simon Roberts