hi. I was wondering if it is possible to configure x11 to display everything on the monitor upside down and be able to switch between the two configurations relatively painlessly. thanks for any replies in advance.

Looks like it can be done but not without exiting your x session, modify the xorg.conf, and then login back inot x session.

Did a quick search and seen many links on google. I would goto http://www.google.com/linux and use the search string ' x server rotate screen '

If you get it going post your procedure and what it can and can't do.

Brian1

If I may offer a suggestion to ease the amount of work.

Make a copy of your current Xorg config, changing the name slightly.

Then reconfigure Xorg to show the screen upside down, then save that config to a different name.

Next write a small shell script with a simple menu to select which config to use. The script should copy the renamed file to Xorg.config, overwriting the running config. Side effect: you always have a backup copy of the original if need should arise.

Anytime you want to change, run the script to copy the desired config to Xorg.conf. Then restart the X server and log back in.

That way, you do most of the keyboard once, and only once. You reduce the keyboard work to the bare minimum.

Is it really necessary to run X upside down, or are you just looking to rotate a .jpg file or something like that? If it's the latter, many viewer apps have built-in rotate and/or reverse functions, so there may not actually be any need to reconfigure X.

OTOH, this would be a pretty funny April Fool's prank

i did think of one use of flipping the display upside down would be a good april fools prank. The reason i thought of it was because my laptop is on a chest that is flush with my bed and sometimes i lay on my bed and read howtos and what not. But it would be a little more comfortable if i could switch it up and lay on my back and read them. What would be really cool is if the laptop could detech if i was on my back or stomach and address the screen accordingly so it rotates as i rotate.