i was annoyed that my laptop with the nvidia geforce4 440 would not display on my external monitor.

By basd on Jul 28, 2010 | In -arghhh!!

So, I installed the nvidia drivers (once again, this time from the nvidia website) and once again they didn't work -- which has been true for a really long time, even though once upon a time they did work. Nvidia has not supported the linux version of this card for a really long time.

While troubleshooting how to undo the nvidia drivers, I discovered I could just replace "nvidia" with "nv" in the xorg.conf file.

...

Which got me thinking. What do I need "nv" drivers for anyway? Compositing doesn't work, so what difference does it make, maybe I can just say "vesa" instead in xorg.conf and I will get a working external monitor.

That turned out to be true. However, I traded one aggravation for another. Apparently vesa only goes to 1280x1024 and the internal monitor is 1440x900. Sooo... I can have 1440x900 on the internal monitor. Or, I can have 1280x1024 on both monitors. But, I have to take my pick at boot and I can't switch "live" with randr. Apparently. [Most of the time I have no idea what I am talking about. But that's how I see it at the moment.]

So, I've traded one problem for another -- but at least I can use my KVM switch and my external monitor.

For the moment I will rate that as "progress." OTOH -- what happens when I can afford that really cool BIG external monitor I have been coveting? Hmmm.

Later: But my tv mode only works with the nv driver and not the vesa one. Seems like there is always one more complication, no?