Cannot use external display or projector with my Gateway netbook
 

I can't get my netbook to work with an external monitor (except in Windows, but that is pathetic and won't let me extend my display). I tried using grandr, the mandriva control panel, and many different things in different distros, and it still never shows up or gets detected.

I have found one way to use the external monitor, but it is not very functional because of the time required. If I reboot the computer while it is attached to the external monitor/projector, then the computer uses only the external monitor, and the netbook screen is either a duplication (no better than Windows) or is completely borked(random pixels, or a combination of virtual terminal contents and the bios post screen). I can't seem to see anything in xorg.conf.d

I would really like to be able to fix this as I am expected to give presentations this semester and it would be awful to not be able to do that with my netbook. BTW, though not a newbie to linux, I am a newbie to this forum.

Software:
Mandriva, Peppermint, Fedora, Crunchbang, KNOPPIX live, pretty much any linux distro I try.
Hardware:
Gateway LT4004u
VGA and HDMI graphics ports

That's a GMA3600 (aka GMA600 PowerVR rebranded) graphics chipset in that machine, I believe... There are supposedly drivers available from Intel for accelerated 2D graphics and VGA/HDMI outm... but you would have to seek them out (and specific install instructions) for your particular distro.

I understand that 3D acceleration is not an option, however.

No comment on the video card, which I understand is an issue.

In general, you need two or three screen sections in a .conf file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d. This sort of thing:
Section "Screen"
<details of internal display>
EndSection

Section "Screen"
<details of external monitor>
EndSection

Section "Screen"
<projector details>
EndSection

EDIT: Forgot to say, when X starts, it picks up what's there.

On modern distros, and well-supported graphics cards, it should just be plug and play. You may want to adjust the stuff with standard display configuration program (like the one in system settings). No need to tinker with xorg.conf. In this case I think it is the driver problem. In that case playing around with xorg.conf is next to useless.

The problem is I tried that using grandr, xrandr, and those kind of display config programs (including the one in Mandriva control center), and none of them seem to even recognize that there is another monitor that they can use.

It's the driver. GMA500 and GMA600 are a problem. You need the patched driver.

Do 2 things: Post the output of

glxinfo |grep render

And switch off (not suspend, but power down. Plug in the second monitor and find your control keys in case the BIOS is switching the second video port off. Then switch on, and if it doesn't come up, hit the keys. There's often a combination that cycles between internal only, external only, and both. It's Fn_F3 & Fn_F4 here.

A little googling suggests the laptop has GMA3600 graphics, and that a (mostly) working driver seems to be available. However, you have either to compile it yourself, or download the package from third-party websites.

But can you make our life a little easier and a) tell us what hardware do you exactly use, and b) which kernel you use (or primarily use)?

It seems Intel released the driver some time in July, and by now there may be third-party packages available for more popular distros.

Here it is:
So how do I get the new driver for GMA3600? And is that the same as Cedar Trail?