External resolution goes up to 1920x1600, which is better than the external resolution achieved under windows using the original fujitsu video driver.
As of 2009.03.31, video driver intel (xserver-xorg-video-intel) provided by ubuntu jaunty release does not include a patch that makes external monitor to function as expected. This problem was not present on ubuntu 8.04, so you might prefer to stay with 8.04 until ubuntu includes that fix.
update - 2009.05.06: please see this other post, since there's a way to obtain the package with the patch included!
The bug is: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17823
and the patch is already submitted:
| 2009-03-05 | SDVO: handle multifunction encoder (try 2) | Zhenyu Wang | 1 | -65/+160 |
If you want to have external monitor working you must apply the patch by yourself; otherwise, wait until ubuntu maintainers include the patch in the official release.
Update (2009.04.15): See this other post about how to install a patched driver or install the patch yourself.
I'm monitoring when the patch is included, and I'll update this page accordingly; analyzing current patch speed, I expect this patch to be included by 2009.04.20.
external monitor switch hack
Since the Fn+A button doesn't work as expected to activate external monitor, I suggest to take advantage of the brightness-up button (Fn+D) to have the computer switch between the LCD and the external monitor.
In order to do so, as root edit the file /etc/acpi/video_brightnessup.sh to look as follows:
/etc/acpi/video_brightnessup.sh
| #!/bin/sh test -f /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants || exit 0 . /usr/share/acpi-support/key-constants acpi_fakekey $KEY_BRIGHTNESSUP logger "auto screen selection" X_USER=$(w -h -s | grep ":[0-9]\W" | head -1 | awk '{print $1}') export DISPLAY=:0.0 export XAUTHORITY=/home/$X_USER/.Xauthority if [ -e /tmp/xrandr.auto ] then logger "activating lvds" rm -rf /tmp/xrandr.auto /usr/bin/xrandr --output VGA-1 --off >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1 /usr/bin/xrandr sleep 1 /usr/bin/xrandr --output LVDS --auto >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1 else logger "activating external" touch /tmp/xrandr.auto /usr/bin/xrandr --output LVDS --off >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1 /usr/bin/xrandr sleep 1 /usr/bin/xrandr --output VGA-1 --auto >> /tmp/xrandr.auto.log 2>&1 fi |
With this hack, external monitor switch always works either the external monitor is connected or not. If you want to bring screen brightness up without switching the screen, just use the brightness control provided by ubuntu.
other hints
- if you cannot get past 1024x1024 resolution on the external display, with the updated driver, verify that int he /etc/X11/xorg.conf file there's a line like
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 2048
EndSubSection
- this is my /etc/X11/xorg.cong
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "SDVOBOutput" "VGA-1"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 2048
EndSubSection
EndSection
- commands to add a mode for a display
mode definition
xrandr --newmode "1920x1200@60" parameters
mode assignment
xrandr --output VGA-1 --addmode "1920x1200@60"
mode activation
xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode "1920x1200@60"
=> things to watch
- watch when ubuntu has the proper patch applied to xserver-xorg-video-intel (expected: sometime in 2009.04)
- watch when ubuntu properly detects the FN+A key to activate/deactivate external monitor (need to test as new ubuntu releases happen)
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