>>>> I've only ever used my laptop's VGA-out into 4:3 screens and it always >>>> works great. I've now plugged it into a 16:9 screen for the first >>>> time, and it still displays 4:3 on that screen and on my laptop. Is >>>> there a way for it to detect the proper aspect ratio? Maybe it >>>> depends on the monitor's EDID? If not, can I manually change the >>>> aspect ratio? >>>> >>>> - Grant >>> >>> Not sure about how well it will work automatically, but try running >>> >>> xrandr >>> >>> and reading the output. It should tell you what monitors you have >>> hooked up and what resolutions and scan frequencies they support. I >>> did this and then put the ones I wanted into my xorg.conf file and was >>> good to go. >>> >>> Hope this helps, >>> Mark >> >> Thanks Mark. Is there a slick way to restart xorg without rebooting >> so you can switch between VGA-out mode and non? When I'm doing >> VGA-out, my laptop's screen changes to match the aspect ratio of the >> output so it's good to be able to switch. >> >> - Grant > > Not sure of the best way to do that, but is it really necessary? > > I suppose you could try (from the console) > > /etc/init.d/xdm restart > > and see if it does what you want. > > Note that you can set up your screens using xrandr itself. I'm not > very good at it but I've played with it and it works. Duncan on the > amd64 list posted a couple of commands he uses. They look like this: > > xrandr --verbose --fb 1920x2400 --output DVI-0 --mode 1280x800 --panning > 1920x1200+0+0/1920x1200+0+0/20/20/20/20 --output DVI-1 --mode 1280x800 -- > panning 1920x1200+0+1200/1920x1200+0+1200/20/20/20/20 > > Clearly that's a mouthful but I'm sure it makes sense once you get > down to the basics. I think you can break it apart into something > like: > > xrandr --verbose --fb 1920x2400 > --output DVI-0 --mode 1280x800 --panning > 1920x1200+0+0/1920x1200+0+0/20/20/20/20 > --output DVI-1 --mode 1280x800 --panning > 1920x1200+0+1200/1920x1200+0+1200/20/20/20/20 > > where DVI-0 and DVI-1 are the monitors and everything else is info to > xrandr is what to do. You would change the output names to whatever > yours are called. The first line 1920x2400 sets up (I think) the > overall screen size and then the next two lines set up the two > monitors. I think in his case they sit vertically, not horizontally > like mine and possibly yours do. > > In my case I run 1280x1024 on the left monitor and 1680x1050 on the > right monitor. I can drag stuff left and right just fine. It gets > messed up if I play a game though. > > Anyway, there's some stuff for you to look at and consider. > > Cheers, > Mark
Thanks Mark and Neil. - Grant
