[NewBye] External monitor on IBM T40

[Andrew Elmore]

On Fri, Nov 24, 2006 at 09:19:11AM +0000, Maurizio Benedetti wrote:
> If I attach the external monitor before starting X I can switch between 
> embedded and external monitor. If I then start X I can work on both of 
> them.
> 
> If I attach the external monitor after I started  X then there is no way 
> to enable the external monitor.
> 
> Do you have any clue on how to enable it in X?


I was trying to do the same thing recently, and finally got it to
work fairly well.  I have a T42P, with the 1600x1200 LCD.

Eventually what I came up with was using the MergedFB feature in
X.org, along with the xrandr tool.

Here are relevant bits from xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
  Option      MergedFB "true"
  Option      "MonitorLayout"  "LVDS, CRT"
  Option      "MetaModes"   "1600x1200-1600x1200 1600x1200"
  Option      "CRT2Postion" "LeftOf"
  Identifier  "Card0"
  Driver      "ati"
  VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"
  BoardName   "Unknown Board"
  BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Here's the output of xrandr with the machine disconnected to the 2nd
monitor:

 SZ:    Pixels          Physical       Refresh
 0   3200 x 1200   ( 813mm x 305mm )   0   
*1   1600 x 1200   ( 813mm x 305mm )  *0   
Current rotation - normal
Current reflection - none
Rotations possible - normal 
Reflections possible - none


With this config in place, I'm able to activate or deactivate the
2nd panel at will, using the xrandr command.  I'm really quite
impressed with the RANDR extension and its capabilities.

Good luck!

AE