Resisting an upgrade, is hard, so I finished some work on Friday, and proposed to upgrade away to Gutsy Gibbon. I’ll talk about what I like and don’t later, but I still face a problem. I can’t seem to get X\/xrandr working as well as I’d like it to. I also can’t get all the desktop effect bling going, but that is not as significant a problem as working VGA out.<\/p>\n
lspci<\/tt> says, I have a Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM\/GMS, 943\/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)<\/strong>. I drive my laptop at 1440×900, and externally, I’ve got a 17″ LCD panel that can go 1280×1024 (FWIW, I tested against an external 19″ wide panel capable of 1440×900, but it made no difference). However, xrandr thinks I can only, at most, display 1440×1440, and I think that’s why I’m not being able to get a nice “stretch screen” (i.e. two desktops, not mirrored displays) experience going. My heart goes out to whomever decided to write displayconfig-gtk<\/tt>. This is a step in the right direction<\/strong><\/em>. End-users will want a GUI to choose external displays and stuff. I love the idea of location profiles (so, at home, maybe I’m tacked to an external 1280×1024 monitor, at another location maybe another, a roaming locating that just creates a 800×600 display, etc.). Of course, it would help if this utility actually worked<\/em>. It doesn’t, and is currently broken, from my experience with it. Why is it included, under the guise like it might work?<\/p>\n Kudos to Intel, and their page on How to setup Dual Head for Intel Graphics with RandR 1.2<\/a>. Everyone says, stick to Intel and you won’t go wrong with Linux. Why then, does such a page need to exist? Why is my out-of-the-box experience, still so bad?<\/p>\n If it helps, here’s the xorg.conf configuration file (I didn’t muck with it, its dpkg configured). Help appreciated, and remind me to buy you a beer when\/if I see you next. Section \"InputDevice\" Section \"InputDevice\" Section \"InputDevice\" Section \"InputDevice\" Section \"InputDevice\" Section \"InputDevice\" Section \"Device\" Section \"Monitor\" Section \"Screen\" Section \"ServerLayout\" InputDevice \"Synaptics Touchpad\"
\n
\nxrandr -q
\nScreen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1440 x 900, maximum 1440 x 1440
\nVGA connected (normal left inverted right)
\n1280x1024 59.9
\n640x480 60.0
\nLVDS connected 1440x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right) 303mm x 190mm
\n1440x900 60.0*+
\n1280x800 60.0
\n1280x768 60.0
\n1024x768 60.0
\n800x600 60.3
\n640x480 59.9
\nTV disconnected (normal left inverted right)
\n<\/code>
\nSo, mirroring works. My desktop looks a little shitty, but at 1280×1024, all is well and dandy. I have a feeling that when I plug it into an LCD projector, I might get away with things working, for a change. That alone, is impressive. So, how do I magically get a dual-display, stretched desktop experience?<\/strong> My xorg.conf file for reference, is tacked to the end of this.<\/p>\n
\n
\nSection \"Files\"
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Identifier \"Generic Keyboard\"
\n Driver \"kbd\"
\n Option \"CoreKeyboard\"
\n Option \"XkbRules\" \"xorg\"
\n Option \"XkbModel\" \"pc105\"
\n Option \"XkbLayout\" \"us\"
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Identifier \"Configured Mouse\"
\n Driver \"mouse\"
\n Option \"CorePointer\"
\n Option \"Device\" \"\/dev\/input\/mice\"
\n Option \"Protocol\" \"ImPS\/2\"
\n Option \"ZAxisMapping\" \"4 5\"
\n Option \"Emulate3Buttons\" \"true\"
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Identifier \"Synaptics Touchpad\"
\n Driver \"synaptics\"
\n Option \"SendCoreEvents\" \"true\"
\n Option \"Device\" \"\/dev\/psaux\"
\n Option \"Protocol\" \"auto-dev\"
\n Option \"HorizEdgeScroll\" \"0\"
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Driver \"wacom\"
\n Identifier \"stylus\"
\n Option \"Device\" \"\/dev\/input\/wacom\"
\n Option \"Type\" \"stylus\"
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Driver \"wacom\"
\n Identifier \"eraser\"
\n Option \"Device\" \"\/dev\/input\/wacom\"
\n Option \"Type\" \"eraser\"
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Driver \"wacom\"
\n Identifier \"cursor\"
\n Option \"Device\" \"\/dev\/input\/wacom\"
\n Option \"Type\" \"cursor\"
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Identifier \"Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM\/GMS, 943\/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller\"
\n Driver \"intel\"
\n BusID \"PCI:0:2:0\"
\n VideoRam 65536
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Identifier \"Generic Monitor\"
\n Option \"DPMS\"
\n HorizSync 28-72
\n VertRefresh 43-60
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Identifier \"Default Screen\"
\n Device \"Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM\/GMS, 943\/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller\"
\n Monitor \"Generic Monitor\"
\n DefaultDepth 24
\n SubSection \"Display\"
\n Modes \"1440x900\"
\n EndSubSection
\nEndSection<\/p>\n
\n Identifier \"Default Layout\"
\n Screen \"Default Screen\"
\n InputDevice \"Generic Keyboard\"
\n InputDevice \"Configured Mouse\"<\/p>\n
\nEndSection
\n<\/code>
\nTechnorati Tags: xorg<\/a>, xrandr<\/a>, gutsy gibbon<\/a>, ubuntu<\/a>, displayconfig-gtk<\/a>, usability<\/a>, external display<\/a>, keeping it real<\/a>, linux<\/a>, intel<\/a>, intel graphics<\/a>, intel 945gm<\/a><\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>