FreeBSD 11.1, Xfce, and laptop screen and external monitor resolution

[Polytropon]

On Sun, 30 Jul 2017 19:30:01 -0700, David Christensen wrote:
> When I run 'startxfce4', Xfce starts with a resolution of 1024x768. 
> Applications Menu -> Settings -> Display offers two choices: 1024x768 
> and 800x600.  How do I set the Xfce resolution to 1280x800 when driving 
> the laptop screen?

Option 1 is to set it using a configuration file "snippet" in the
/usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d directory, like the traditional
xorg.conf: only put section "Screen", subsection "Display",
setting "Modes" with the screen size you want.

For example, it could look like this:

	Section "Screen"
		Identifier	"Screen0"
		Device		"Card0"
		Monitor		"Monitor0"
		DefaultDepth	24
	        SubSection "Display"
			Viewport	0 0
			Depth		24
			Visual		"TrueColor"
			Modes           "1920x1080" "1280x800"
	        EndSubSection
	EndSection

You could then probably even use Ctrl+Alt+[+] and Ctrl+Alt+[-]
to switch between the two modes (not tested, but old-fashioned
X could do that).

Option 2 is to use xrandr in ~/.xinitrc with the --size
option.



> If I connect an external 1920x1080 monitor to the VGA port of the laptop 
> and press the Fn+F8 (CRT/LCD) hot key at the GELI prompt, the video 
> signal is sent to the external monitor (laptop screen goes dark).  (I 
> then close the laptop screen.)  'startxfce4' results in Xfce with a 
> resolution of 1600x1200.  Display offers choices of 1600x1200, 
> 1280x1024, 1024x768, 800x600, and 640x480.  How do I set the Xfce 
> resolution to 1920x1080 when driving the external monitor?

Similar to the approach for the laptop's screen. You can even
use xrandr from inside a running X session to change the screen
size dynamically. It's also a convenient tool for experiments.

(Side note: I set up a Dell Latitude D630 laptop with a screen
size of 1280x800 and an external monitor of 1920x1080, but I
use Mate on this specific system which offers the native screen
size in its configuration program.)




-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...