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#1 2013-06-16 15:37:23

sirciny
Member
Registered: 2013-06-06
Posts: 6

xrandr not enabling external / dual display on boot [SOLVED]

I'm using an HP ProBook 4535s and I want to get a dual display setup working. I've done it before on Ubuntu with this machine and my ASUS external monitor, so I know the hardware supports it.

After I've booted without the external monitor plugged in, if I plug in my VGA-0 and then enter

xrandr --output LVDS --mode 1366x768 --pos 1920x0 --output VGA-0 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0

Then I get perfect resolution on my external monitor, but nothing shows up on my laptop's display. Using arandr also does the job perfectly, but again, it shows nothing on my laptop's display. Additionally, if I try to put a truncated version of the command in xorg.conf, like so,

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "LVDS"
    Option      "Primary"	"true"
    Option	"PreferredMode" "1366x768"
EndSection
#
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "VGA-0"
    Option      "LeftOf"	"VGA1"
    Option	"PreferredMode"	"1920x1080"
EndSection

then it starts up the same way (perfect res on external, nothing but backlight on laptop), but it starts in low-graphics mode / seems not to go through any of the commands in .xinitrc. If I try to place the code in .xinitrc, like so,

#!/bin/sh
#
# ~/.xinitrc
#
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)

if [ -d /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d ]; then
  for f in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/*; do
    [ -x "$f" ] && . "$f"
  done
  unset f
fi

# Set up dual display (make sure xorg.conf doesn't run before this...)
#xrandr --output LVDS --mode 1366x768 --pos 1920x0 --output VGA-0 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0

# Start xfce4 Desktop Environment
exec startxfce4

# Placed either above or below startxfce4, I get the error described.
#xrandr --output LVDS --mode 1366x768 --pos 1920x0 --output VGA-0 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0

# Bind keys at startup
exec xbindkeys

# Get rid of the annoying warning bell
exec xset -b

# Below is from ~/.bashrc

# ...

Then when I boot with the VGA-0 cable in, *nothing* shows up at all. With any of the above configurations aside from the xorg.conf one, I *must* keep the VGA-0 unplugged during boot to get anything to show. I would like to configure my setup so I can always keep the cable in, even during boot. A dynamic setup would be nice, too, so I don't have to fuss with this when I get new monitors, etc.

Also, if it would help, here's the output of lspci | grep VGA:

00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Sumo [Radeon HD 6480G]

Thanks,
sirciny

Last edited by sirciny (2013-06-19 14:31:11)

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#2 2013-06-17 12:34:05

sirciny
Member
Registered: 2013-06-06
Posts: 6

Re: xrandr not enabling external / dual display on boot [SOLVED]

Okay, so I've gone from what I had yesterday to being able to toggle my laptop res (1366x768) between my laptop's display and my external monitor, but I can no longer get the external's resolution showing on the external. Weird. All I installed yesterday after I posted my problem was a couple of compositing tools (cairo, metacity). I've still been using xrandr to control the resolution, modes, etc... Nothing has been able to reset the resolution to its full size on the external, and nothing has made my setup show on both displays (the ultimate end goal).

EDIT:

All I installed yesterday after I posted my problem was a couple of compositing tools (cairo, metacity)

Well, that was the problem. Killing cairo-compmgr fixed it. Now I have to figure out how to get cairo to cooperate with my dual display setup. (To be clear, I'm still having the problems I described in the first post.)

Last edited by sirciny (2013-06-17 13:21:58)

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#3 2013-06-18 14:38:49

sirciny
Member
Registered: 2013-06-06
Posts: 6

Re: xrandr not enabling external / dual display on boot [SOLVED]

Here's an update: I now have the display spanning both monitors. It shows the right res (1366x768) on the LVDS and the wrong res on the external, and it starts up in low graphics mode. What I did was the following:

1) Install the AMD Radeon HD 6xxxG driver from AMD's website (even though the fglrx is no longer supported in Arch)
2) Copy my Ubuntu partition's xorg.conf to Arch, because Ubuntu's external setup works flawlessly

Of course, the Arch AMD driver is outdated, so I didn't really expect this to work as elegantly as I would like (it still doesn't). Changing it to "intel" in xorg.conf just makes Arch stuck in the TTY when I try to restart X. Here's xorg.conf as it is:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "aticonfig Layout"
	Screen      0  "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Module"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "LVDS"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
	Option	    "PreferredMode" "1366x768"
	Option	    "TargetRefresh" "60"
	Option	    "Position" "0 0"
	Option	    "Rotate" "normal"
	Option	    "Disable" "false"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "CRT1"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
	Option	    "PreferredMode" "1920x1080"
	Option	    "TargetRefresh" "60"
	Option	    "Position" "1280 0"
	Option	    "Rotate" "normal"
	Option	    "Disable" "false"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	Option	    "Monitor-LVDS" "LVDS"
	Option	    "Monitor-CRT1" "CRT1"
	BusID       "PCI:0:1:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
	Device     "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Virtual   3286 1080
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Last edited by sirciny (2013-06-18 14:40:52)

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#4 2013-06-19 14:30:02

sirciny
Member
Registered: 2013-06-06
Posts: 6

Re: xrandr not enabling external / dual display on boot [SOLVED]

Fixed, thanks to... the Wiki. I had to follow this article and install catalyst from the unofficial [catalyst] repo: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AM … the_driver.

Now, I can boot with the VGA plugged in, I have a desktop shown on both monitors, and I can drag windows from one screen to the other. Hallelujah!

There's one strange side-effect worth mentioning, though: when I try to pacman -S catalyst-hook, I get this error:

resolving dependencies...
looking for inter-conflicts...
:: catalyst-hook and catalyst are in conflict. Remove catalyst? [y/N] 
error: unresolvable package conflicts detected
error: failed to prepare transaction (conflicting dependencies)
:: catalyst-hook and catalyst are in conflict

I don't want to remove catalyst, because I just installed it. Any ideas? I've looked this error up and haven't found anything useful.

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