(Modified 2010 Feb 12)
Display stuff
resolution settings, external display, dual display
Resolution settings using xrandr
I haven't quite figured out how display duties are divided between /etc/X11/xorg.conf and the command xrandr. In any case, I've been able to use xrandr successfully, at least for single displays.
Some flags:
--query -- shows currently active screens and list of available modes
--output -- display -- typical choices are:
LVDS -- the internal laptop display -- apparently stands for "low voltage differental signaling"
VGA -- the external display
--mode XXxYY -- one of the modes listed during xrandr --query
An example (from man xrandr):
xrandr --output VGA --mode 1024x768
I still have trouble using higher resolutions that I know my monitor and graphics card are capable of. Those high resolutions aren't listed in the display-settings menu, and changing /etc/X11/xorg.conf doesn't help (and sometimes makes things worse).
External display
Using my Xubuntu laptop, I used to have a heck of a time connecting to an external display. Fn-F5 doesn't do anything. xrandr --auto sometimes works, but it requires blind hope. Rebooting with both displays plugged in works, but this shouldn't be required in this day. I didn't have success --output and --fb flags.
The best utility I've found is arandr, a graphical program. It's simple, and I haven't had a problem with it yet.
Dual display
On my newest desktop, I have dual video outputs (ATI), and LCD monitors are cheap enough now that I could experiment with dual displays. Unfortunately, the only desktop manager that recognized both displays (without mirroring them, anyway) was GNOME, and the best GNOME distro I found was Ubuntu. I was hoping for a less boring choice. Maybe next time.
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