[ubuntu-za] Hardy on Dell 6400 and data projector

[Simon Cross]

On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 2:38 PM, Ray Lombard <ray at rlombard.co.za> wrote:
> I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 with Hardy which will not communicate
> completely with an Epson EMP-S1H data projector.  It creates a blank
> screen but the toggle switching, i.e. fn & F8 doesn't do anything.  Any
> ideas as to how I might get these machines to work?

I don't know how one would get the function keys working, but after
some trial and error I eventually got XRandR to work fairly nicely on
my laptop with an Intel graphics card. My solution went something
like:

Modify /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
  ...
  Driver "intel" # use Intel driver with XRandR support

Section "Screen"
  SubSection "Display"
    ...
    Virtual 2560 1280 # make virtual screen large enough to cover all monitors

Then create some scripts for switching between setups:

at-away:
  #!/bin/bash
  # Settings for when laptop is by itself
  xrandr --output LVDS --auto
  xrandr --output VGA --off
  xrandr --output TV --off

at-desk:
  #!/bin/bash
  # Settings for when laptop is at my desk with second LCD connected
  xrandr --output VGA --pos 0x0 --auto
  xrandr --output LVDS --pos 1280x0 --auto

at-projector:
  #!/bin/bash
  # Settings for when laptop is connected to the projector
  # Projectors automatic mode detection and rescaling seems to confuse XRandR
  # so explicitly add an 800x600 video mode to use.
  xrandr --newmode 800x600proj 38.21 800 832 976 1008 600 612 618 631
  xrandr --addmode VGA 800x600proj
  xrandr --output LVDS --pos 0x0
  xrandr --output VGA --pos 1290x0 --mode 800x600proj

If anyone else has better suggestions, I'd be keen to hear them. :)

Schiavo
Simon