Autodetecting Different External Displays with a Quadro FX570m (T61p) on Ubuntu Hardy

a-dub · 08-27-08, 10:09 AM

Hey Folks,

I'm running the hardy release of Ubuntu on a T61p, and I've been having trouble figuring out how to get the nvidia proprietary driver to autodetect and use plugged in external displays.

On my old T41p with ATI graphics, the driver exhibited the following behavior:

1) If no external displays, use internal display

2) If external display present on VGA or DVI (via dock), disable internal display and use found external display.

I'd like to replicate this behavior with the nvidia driver, but so far I haven't had any luck.

I have been able to get close, by running the nvidia-settings utility, disabling the internal display and then configuring to use the external display (it falls back to the internal display, if the external is not present.) However, I frequently switch between DVI and analog monitors in different locations, and under this scheme, every time I switch I have to re-run the utility and configure for the now connected external display.

If there were a way to either:

a) Tell the driver to autodetect completely like the ATI driver did

or

b) Configure both external displays, and then somehow configure the driver to try both before failing back to the internal display.

I would be a truly happy camper. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Thanks!

--adam

08-27-08, 10:09 AM	#1
a-dub Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1	Autodetecting Different External Displays with a Quadro FX570m (T61p) on Ubuntu Hardy Hey Folks, I'm running the hardy release of Ubuntu on a T61p, and I've been having trouble figuring out how to get the nvidia proprietary driver to autodetect and use plugged in external displays. On my old T41p with ATI graphics, the driver exhibited the following behavior: 1) If no external displays, use internal display 2) If external display present on VGA or DVI (via dock), disable internal display and use found external display. I'd like to replicate this behavior with the nvidia driver, but so far I haven't had any luck. I have been able to get close, by running the nvidia-settings utility, disabling the internal display and then configuring to use the external display (it falls back to the internal display, if the external is not present.) However, I frequently switch between DVI and analog monitors in different locations, and under this scheme, every time I switch I have to re-run the utility and configure for the now connected external display. If there were a way to either: a) Tell the driver to autodetect completely like the ATI driver did or b) Configure both external displays, and then somehow configure the driver to try both before failing back to the internal display. I would be a truly happy camper. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! Thanks! --adam