Hi there fellas,
I just purchased a new notebook, namely an HP Pavilion dv6, with a GeForce GT 230M. Also, I have a neat 1920x1200 display with an HDMI connector, which fits nicely with the corresponding outlet on the computer. Now I’d like the external display to be the main display when connected, with the internal display as an expansion to the desktop, and the internal display should, obviously, be primary when on its own.
The reality looks quite different: Not too surprising, with the default drivers I got only a 800x600 resolution, but with the correct drivers installed, I got the full resolution on the integrated display. My external HDMI-display, however, is dead. With the xorg.conf file being obsolete I can’t really use the configuration app by nvidia, can I?
So how do get the whole thing to work the way I want it? I don’t want to need to go back to Windows in order to get a working display, so please help me.
You must use nvidia-settings, and let it write a xorg.conf. It may be obsolete but there are still many cases when it’s required, and dual monitors with NVIDIA cards is definitely one of those cases…
You can use Twinview but I’m not sure you can switch the primary monitor on the fly. Haven’t tried it though as all my recent dual monitor experiments involved desktop computers.
To sum up: run “nvidia-settings” as root, and let it write a xorg.conf. See if both screens work now, and then start playing to see if you can switch them around (remember to back up xorg.conf).
Thanks so far for your help, Günter. With some manual editing of the xorg.conf file, using the metamodes option, I can now switch internal/external/both with xrandr. Since I don’t frequently pull off the screen cable, switching via a keyboard shortcut will be enough for me (although, of course, switch on hotplug/unplug would still be great).
Only remaining problem is the placement of the windows. When I switch the screen setup, the window positions stay as they are. Thus, when the screen size is reduced some windows disappear from view and I don’t see a way to get them back except switching back and repositioning them manually. Is there an easy way to collect all windows on the current screen so that they don’t exceed the screen boundaries?
Assuming some part of the windows is still visible, try an ALT-click. But re-reading your post, I am not sure exactly what you want to do: move all open windows to one screen? That can’t be done with separate X screens, but you should be able to open them all on whatever screen you want in the first place.
Thank you for your time, Günter. That specific problem is now solved, however, by my switching to Linux Mint, which does collect the windows automatically.
FYI: In the rare but real case that I unplug my external monitor during a session – as opposed to between sessions, which is far more common for me – I switch from a large virtual screen (twinview with both physical screens in the X screen) to a smaller one, that fits exactly to the internal display. Mint now puts all windows from outside those boundaries inside.
Glad it’s sorted, although I dopn’t quite understand the difference between Mint (Gnome?) and SUSE (KDE?) in this. Never mind, and sorry for confusing your case with someone else’s in the previous message: hence the reference to two separate X screens when you’re using Twinview…