Dell laptops have a toggle for te vga port. Usually Fn+F8 will toggle between laptop lcd only, external display + laptop display, and external display only. Never tried it on Linux myself so I'm not sure if it's a hardware feature or something that required Dell's QuickSer windows app. Andrew Zbikowski Sry bout d spln, snt frm my mobl fone. http://andy.zibnet.us http://www.itouthouse.com -----Original Message----- From: "Jeremy Rosengren" <jeremy at rosengren.org> To: "Andrew von Nagy" <andrew.vonnagy at comcast.net> Cc: "'Twin Cities Linux Users Group'" <tclug-list at mn-linux.org> Sent: 3/11/2008 9:11 AM Subject: Re: [tclug-list] Projector help on Debian Etch Andrew von Nagy wrote: >> In the previous message to the list, you noted >> that your resolution (as noted by xrandr) is 1280x1024. Is >> this a simple matter of sending a resolution to the projector >> that it doesn't like? Have you tried 1024x768? >> > > I tried both 1024x768 and 800x600 but neither works. I get alternating color > and white vertical bars in the output. Sometimes it changes to blinking > colored rectangular areas. > > Interestingly, I booted from a Backtrack 2 live CD and started X, and it > works no problem. I check the xorg.conf and it lists a HorizSync 31.5 - 150 > and a VertRefresh 75 - 85. So, I then tried those values on Debian, but it > still doesn't work. > > I also double-checked the projector model, and I had a typo. It's a Sony > VPL-PX41. The specs on it are: > > Portable TFT Active Matrix LCD Projector > Resolution Native: XGA (1024 x 768) > Compressed: UXGA (1600 x 1200) > Horizontal Scan Rate: 19 - 92 kHz > Vertical Scan Rate: 48 - 92 Hz > > I also tried the Debian system with a Dell E173FPB LCD monitor with the same > results; works fine until X is started; works fine with Backtrack 2 CD. > > ... frustrating. > > I don't use Debian, so apologies for not knowing this: does Etch have X.org now? If so, you could try renaming xorg.conf to xorg.conf.backup (essentially, you're removing xorg.conf). Without an xorg.conf file, X.org will attempt to autoconfigure itself. It'll choose non-nVidia drivers when it does this, but it might get you further along. -- j