Hotplugging an external monitor? - xubuntu/aspire one

March 16, 2009 8:00 AM

How do I make my external monitor hot-pluggable in xubuntu installed on an Acer Aspire One?

I recently got rid of Linpus on my netbook and have so far only had one complaint. My external monitor doesn't work terribly well with it.

If I have the external plugged into the VGA port throughout bootup I can use it to some extent, but when I try to change the resolution through the GUI (Apps>>Settings>>Settings Manager>>Display) it tends to crash xfce.

I've had some success using xrandr to get the external working more or less as I would like it, but then I can't get the laptop screen working again without unplugging the external and rebooting.

Can someone with better knowledge of linux and xubuntu help me out? The level of my knowledge is incredibly slim, so if in doubt, over-explanation is best.

posted by knapah to computers & internet (3 comments total)

xrandr --output VGA --off --output LVDS --auto

That might get the laptop screen to work again without rebooting
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:06 AM on March 16

Thanks, that's a decent temporary solution...

I was sort of wondering if there was any way that it could be done through xorg.conf, perhaps by setting up two separate screen sections, Screen 0 and Screen 1? Again, I'm not exactly fluent with this stuff, but if anyone has any ideas on that front I'd appreciate it.
posted by knapah at 4:49 AM on March 17

The "gnome-display-properties" app uses xrandr, so it does the same thing as the command above but in a much more user-friendly way; and it gets better with each gnome version. I would tend to think it can be used in xfce, but that means you need to install the gnome-control-center package.

Note: I haven't checked if XFCE's "display" app is actually gnome-display-properties, but judging from the problem you are having, I assume not.
posted by a007r at 4:24 AM on March 21