I run my laptop at 1600x1200 'cause I like it that way. I have a problem, however, when I attach it to an external viewer, particularly a projector that doesn't handle 16x12 very well.

What happens is that, to get the screen to look crisp, I have to lower the "resolution" [ctrl- +/-] to something that matches the projector. However, my desktop then doesn't follow suit...so one wrong mousestroke and the entire thing is off-center and I look stupid.

Is there a way resize my desktop without editing xf86config and changing my "Modes" line by hand and restarting X?

Feel free to direct me to a thread I missed combing through things.

Thanks.

Er, if it matters:

Sager 5660
RH 9.0
Radeon 9000 64m

The Radeon's VGA-out is a hardware set mirror of the screen? And when you mode switch down a few, do both the laptop and then mirrored projected image go into being out-of-frame, so the physical screen size is smaller then the desktop at hand? More to the point, have you got, under the "Screen" section, under your depth setting, on the line below the modes, "ViewPort 0 0" That should always for the available desktop to the constraints of the screen.

Cheers,

Finegan

Yes, the VGA-out is a mirror.

Yes, when I mode switch, they're both out-of-frame. Exactly.

Here's the Screen section from XF86Config. No, I don't have the "Viewport" option in there - I'll try it momentarily...thanks! Your response begs the question: is there a way for me to get the best of both worlds (i.e., allow me to resize my screen one way OR the other on the fly)? I know that's asking a lot, but it would be great.

Thanks again.


Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "ATI Radeon Mobility 9000"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768# Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

OK, just tried it - If I put "Viewport 0 0" in my screen section, X fails - "no screen found".

Entire XF86Config enclosed...

# File generated by anaconda.

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Anaconda Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally
# no need to change the default.
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "fbdevhw"
Load "dri"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
#Option "XkbVariant" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0
VertRefresh 60.0 - 60.0
Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"

# no known options
BusID "PCI:1:00:0"
Identifier "ATI Radeon Mobility 9000"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "ATI Radeon Mobility 9000"
BoardName "ATI Radeon Mobility 9000"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "EnablePageFlip" "on"
Option "CloneDisplay" "0"
#Option "AGPFastWrite" "1"
#Option "ForcePCIMode" "1"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "ATI Radeon Mobility 9000"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768# Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection



Thanks.

Try:
Also, were you trying it while connected to the projector? It might be going fruit-loops as the projector can't handle 1600x1200 (which, yes, is pretty sick). Also, the more exotic video modes in there might be hastling it. If the above errors out too, paste in the double error lines (or those around it), from /var/log/XFree86.0.log, it should have coughed out with (EE) something.

Cheers,

Finegan

P.S.

sorry about the day delay in reply, heavy drinking makes it hard to post.

I realized after I posted earlier that I should actually check out a little XF documenation, as it looked like I placed the ViewPort option in the wrong place. As noted, I was wrong. Er, right. The second time.

With XF86Config all proper (as above), X works...but the "feature" I'm looking for doesn't seem to be engaged. That is, when I resize, I can still use my mouse to move my virtual desktop around.

The only difference is that it appears that I can't "cycle" around through the sizes (i.e., I can +++ until I hit 1600x1200 and then it stops instead of going through to 640 or whatever).

I haven't plugged into a projector, yet, as I obviously need my screen to work properly first.

Thanks! Your drinking doesn't appear to have affected your patience.

Hmmm.... it won't loop through the sizes, but can you just go up and down with ctrl,alt,-

I always set everything for one mode so its been ages since I messed with res switching.

The real bummer to X problems is that its hard to picture a problem from a textual description, when you say:

Do you mean it flips through the different virtual desktops? As when you go off of 1 it flips into 2?

Cheers,

Finegan

...sorry for not being clear.

What I mean is that when I cycle to anything < 1600x1200, my virtual desktop (singular) "moves" around inside the lower resolution screen. In other words...I move my mouse to the edge and the screen moves. I'm not bopping from one resolution to the other.

Thanks.