All video -> external monitor on laptop - Setup

This is a discussion on All video -> external monitor on laptop - Setup ; OK, here's the problem: I've got a Dell Latitude D610 with a Radeon Mobility X300, and I was recently setting up a dual-head configuration with an external monitor. I was successful in making it work, but there were a few ...

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Thread: All video -> external monitor on laptop

  1. All video -> external monitor on laptop

    OK, here's the problem:

    I've got a Dell Latitude D610 with a Radeon Mobility X300, and I was
    recently setting up a dual-head configuration with an external monitor.
    I was successful in making it work, but there were a few minor things
    (usb keyboard, mouse, etc) that I still had to configure for xorg to
    work perfectly.

    Anyway, I ran xorgcfg as root, which froze up. I had to force-shutdown
    my computer.

    When I turned it on, I was surprised to find that all of my video
    output (usually directed to my internal LCD) was now going to my
    external monitor! In fact, my internal LCD doesn't even turn on or
    display anything other than blackness.

    Anyway, now everything goes to my external monitor, including BIOS
    loading screens. When I try to go into dual-head mode, everything works
    as expected, except my LCD screen is off.

    Anyway, I ran through BIOS options and tried changing some settings,
    but to no avail. I also poked around with "radeontool" but nothing
    really worked.

    'm totally confused and have no idea what I should do. I expect that
    there is some solution I am overlooking. Anyone have a suggestion?

    Does anyone know how to cause this problem? The only way I think this
    might happen is via docking my computer, but I don't have a docking
    station.

    Thanks in advance for any advice. Anything is appreciated...

  2. Re: All video -> external monitor on laptop

    On 2006-11-07, colin353 wrote:
    > When I turned it on, I was surprised to find that all of my video
    > output (usually directed to my internal LCD) was now going to my
    > external monitor!

    There should be a key combination (fn-something) to enable or disable the
    internal LCD. See your user's manual.

    Davide

    --
    We are Linux. Resistance is measured in ohms.

  3. Re: All video -> external monitor on laptop

    Yes, for me it is Fn+F8. I forgot to mention that it didn't work. My
    external monitor will flicker when it's pressed, but nothing else.

    I'm going to call Dell to see what they can do to help. Thanks for your
    suggestion, though.

    Davide Bianchi wrote:
    > On 2006-11-07, colin353 wrote:
    > > When I turned it on, I was surprised to find that all of my video
    > > output (usually directed to my internal LCD) was now going to my
    > > external monitor!
    >
    > There should be a key combination (fn-something) to enable or disable the
    > internal LCD. See your user's manual.
    >
    > Davide
    >
    > --
    > We are Linux. Resistance is measured in ohms.

  4. Re: All video -> external monitor on laptop

    colin353 a écrit :
    > Yes, for me it is Fn+F8. I forgot to mention that it didn't work. My
    > external monitor will flicker when it's pressed, but nothing else.

    Don't know if it is the same for radeon video driver, but with nvidia
    cards and driver, you have to toggle "Fn-F8" *before* X is started if
    you want set the display on both monitor.

    Is there a "TwinView" option in your xorg.conf?

    --
    François Patte
    Université Paris 5 - Paris

  5. Re: All video -> external monitor on laptop

    Hmm... this doesn't work for me... but thanks for the suggestion
    anyway.

    Also, "TwinView" is nvidia-specific. "MergedFB" is the radeon
    equivalent, but I'm not using it because it does not support monitors
    of different resolutions.

    For the record, I have contacted Dell and they seem to think that the
    screen is altogether broken, which caused the X300 to redirect the
    video output to VGA... seems plausible to me.

    François Patte wrote:
    > colin353 a écrit :
    > > Yes, for me it is Fn+F8. I forgot to mention that it didn't work. My
    > > external monitor will flicker when it's pressed, but nothing else.
    >
    > Don't know if it is the same for radeon video driver, but with nvidia
    > cards and driver, you have to toggle "Fn-F8" *before* X is started if
    > you want set the display on both monitor.
    >
    > Is there a "TwinView" option in your xorg.conf?
    >
    > --
    > François Patte
    > Université Paris 5 - Paris

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