X, Laptop, Mulitple Displays

[jasonvp]

Hey folks -

I've been beating my head against my desk trying to figure out this X configuration. Hardware: IBM Thinkpad with ATI Mobility FireGL T2. The LCD on the laptop is capable of 1600x1200. I have a monitor that's capable of 2048x1536.

What I'd like to do is have the X server start in 2048x1536 resolution, regardless of whether the monitor's attached. Ideally, this'll make a desktop that's too large for the LCD to display, but it can still scroll around. Using xrandr, I can resize the display back down to 1600x1200 if I don't have a monitor attached. Elsewise, it runs at 2048x1536.

Confused yet? I had this working perfectly on my previous Thinkpad. But this new one's giving me a heck of a time. Using the MonitorLayout option (CRT, LVDS) in the video card section, I'm able to get the server to display 2048x1536 to the monitor. But the LCD is completely disabled. If I reverse the two, then the monitor is 'stuck' at 1600x1200, at 60Hz (bleah!)

I could easily set this up as a dual-head type thing, but that's not what I'm after. I don't want to scroll from one display to the next. The idea here is to use the laptop as a workstation while it's docked (with the LCD closed.) Then when I'm on the go, use it as a laptop.

If you guys have any pointers, ideas, etc, I'd appreciate it. I can include any config files you want to see, but I'll bet by now they're wrong.

jas

[UgoDeschamps]

Could you post your XF86Vonfig file please...
in there your actual configuration if displayed...
also, remove all commented line ##
we'll have a look at it

[jasonvp]

laptop$ grep -v \# xorg.conf

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "single head configuration"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Synaptics" "AlwaysCore"
EndSection

Section "Files"

RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
Load "synaptics"
Load "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Iiyama A201HT, VisionMaster Pro 510"
HorizSync 30.0 - 130.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "dpms" "off"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "ATI FireGL Mobility T2"
Option "SubPixelOrder" "NONE"
Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "2048x1536" "1920x1440" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group 0
Mode 0666
EndSection

[jasonvp]

I'm making progress, but I'm still running into a bit of trouble. The interesting parts of the xorg.conf are as follows:

---------
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1600x1200"
DisplaySize 410 300
HorizSync 30.0 - 130.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "dpms" "off"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "ATI FireGL Mobility T2"
Option "SubPixelOrder" "NONE"
Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS,CRT"
Option "MergedFB" "TRUE"
Option "MetaModes" "1600x1200-2048x1536 1600x1200-1920x1440 1600x1200-1600x1200"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "2048x1536" "1920x1440" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

--------------

If I start X while the laptop is docked and connected to a DDC-capable monitor, then everything works beautifully. The monitor and LCD both show a resolution of 2048x1536; the LCD can only display 1600x1200 of it. Perfect. Xrandr will resize the display down to 1600x1200 so that the LCD can display the entire screen if I want.

The problem I'm running into is if I start X when the laptop isn't connected to a monitor, or is, but the monitor isn't DDC-enabled (like my IIyama Vision Master Pro 510 at home.) In cases like this, the X log says "Hey, no valid modes for CRT2. Disabling MergedFB."

Is there a way around this?

Thanks!

jas

[jasonvp]

oops

[UgoDeschamps]

Well like it is, it seems your LCD is the default which would make it difficult for linuxto know when its plugued or not...

A very fast workaround for the moment, would be to have 2 xorg
1 for laptop alone, another for the other config..

I'll try to see if I can get my hands on a command, that can run before startup to detect the LCD pluged in or not.. thats a fatasy fix though

The other way, would be to set your laptop monitor as default, and to have your LCD as secondary... but you had problem... I'll continue looking for a solution.

Please follow up if you have anything new

[jasonvp]

Please follow up if you have anything new

I appreciate your help on the matter. It seems to be that the key here is DDC. I need Xorg to ignore DDC and just do what I tell it to do.

jas

[jasonvp]

Please follow up if you have anything new

Someone on one of the xorg mailing lists helped me out. I added Modelines to the monitor section, and CRT2 options to the Videocard section. My mistake with the CRT2 lines (for refresh) was that I put spaces in the numbers (like "30.0 - 130.0" .. has to be "30.0-130.0")

I also needed "Virtual" line in my 24 bit Display subsection.

All of these options seemed to have done the trick. The laptop starts in 2048x1536, even though the LCD can only display 1600x1200 of it. I can use xrandr to resize the screen. And, this all works whether the laptop is connected to a DDC monitor or not.

------------
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "LCD Panel 1600x1200"
DisplaySize 410 300
HorizSync 30.0 - 130.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "dpms" "off"
Modeline "2048x1536" 340.48 2048 2216 2440 2832 1536 1537 1540 1603 -hsync +vsync
Modeline "1920x1440" 341.35 1920 2072 2288 2656 1440 1441 1444 1512 -hsync +vsync
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "ATI FireGL Mobility T2"
Option "SubPixelOrder" "NONE"
Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS,CRT"
Option "MergedFB" "TRUE"
Option "MetaModes" "1600x1200-2048x1536 1600x1200-1920x1440 1600x1200-1600x1200"
Option "CRT2HSync" "30.0-130.0"
Option "CRT2VRefresh" "50.0-160.0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Virtual 2048 1536
Depth 24
Modes "2048x1536" "1920x1440" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection