I’ve got 11.1 loaded on a ThinkPad X200 (intel integrated gfx) and I’ve been struggling for longer than I want to admit to get an extended desktop working WITH a quick & easy method to switch between docked / stand-alone / projector setups. My final config is below…
First thing standing in the way is the amount of out-dated advice that’s out there. Half the tips are either a waste of time or will break the XServer. (And SaX config was entirely worthless).
My final solution was delightfully simple:
- edit your xorg.conf and REMOVE the excess detail
The display is able to dynamically detect most settings. I completely commented out everything in the “Modes” section aside from the identifier, and everything in any “Monitor” section aside from the identifier and the DPMS option.
- increase your virtual real-estate
In my xorg.conf I added “Virtual 3840x1200” in the Section “Screen” in each Subsection “Display” entries.
- Probably optional, but I disabled my unused video outputs.
In the Section “Device” I added these entries, in addition to the normal Option “monitor-LVDS” “Monitor[0]” and Option “monitor-VGA” “VGA”…
Option “monitor-TV” “TV”
Option “monitor-HDMI-1” “HDMI-1”
Option “monitor-HDMI-2” “HDMI-2”
and then I created corresponding monitor sections for each…
Section “Monitor”
Identifier “XXXXX” #ie, “TV”, “HDMI-1”
Option “Ignore” “True”
EndSection
- Manage with Xrandr, and helper scripts…
As an example, here is my docked_right.sh script:
#!/bin/bash
xrandr --output VGA --mode 1280x1024 --right-of LVDS
sleep 1
gconftool-2 --load docked_right.entries #load custom panels
killall gnome-panel #restart panels
- Another optional step, and to explain the gconftool-2 entry in the script above… since I’m using Gnome I wanted to create custom toolbar configs for each environment.
Get your panels set up the way you want them and then run:
gconftool-2 --dump /apps/panels > ~/<some directory>/current_config.entries
It’ll dump your current setup to the *.entries file, and then you can reload that config any time you switch modes.
Extra comments:
Because my virtual size exceeds the Intel cap of 2048x2048 I’m forced to disable Compiz. It’s not a big deal for me, the only thing in Compiz that’s more than eyecandy to me is the screenshot plugin. But I can manage with using Gimp.
If you absolutely MUST get Compiz running then I believe you can hunt around and get the latest Compiz builds, and also the specific updated Intel driver which allows for larger virtual workspaces.
I don’t know how useful this will be for anyone… but I thought I’d share, just in case.