[YLUG] Dual xorg.conf

[Stuart Priest]

Matthew Burton wrote:

> Hey people,
> 
> I'd just like to say thanks for the install day, since then I've been 
> using Ubuntu also exclusively and only switch back to windows to get 
> data from it! I've had a play around with it quite a bit (I'm Linux noob 
> on the whole) and I've got a things working quite well thanks to google 
> and the community wiki.
> 
> I have quite a strange laptop though, I have two graphics cards. They're 
> controlled by a switch on the laptop which instructs the BIOS as to 
> which one to use. So if I want more power (heat, noise and battery drain 
> lol) I can flip onto my 6600. At the moment I've got my xorg.conf 
> looking like this:
> 
>    Section "Device"
>        Identifier    "Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express
>    Graphics Controller"
>        Driver        "i810"
>        Option        "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"
>        VideoRam    131072
>        Option        "DRI"        "true"
>        BusID        "PCI:0:2:0"
>    EndSection
> 
>    Section "Device"
>        Identifier    "NVIDIA Corporation NV43 [GeForce Go 6600]"
>        Driver        "nvidia"
>        BusID        "PCI:3:0:0"
>        Option        "NoLogo"
>        Option        "RenderAccel"        "true"
>        Option        "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
>    EndSection
> 
>    Section "Monitor"
>        Identifier    "Generic Monitor"
>        Option        "DPMS"
>        HorizSync    28-84
>        VertRefresh    43-60
>    EndSection
> 
>    Section "Screen"
>        Identifier    "Default Screen"
>        Device        "Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express
>    Graphics Controller"
>    #    Device        "NVIDIA Corporation NV43 [GeForce Go 6600]"
>        Monitor        "Generic Monitor"
>        DefaultDepth    24
>        SubSection "Display"
>            Depth        24
>            Modes        "1680x1050"
>        EndSubSection
>    EndSection
> 
> 
> At the moment I have to edit xorg.conf every time I want to switch card 
> by changing the comment bit! And have to remember the one I last used 
> otherwise I get nothing on screen at all (since the other card is 
> disabled by the BIOS)!
> 
> So my question, is there a way I can make a script or something that 
> asks me which card I'm using before X starts and changes my xorg.conf 
> automatically?

If you set your default runlevel to 3 rather than 5 (edit /etc/inittab 
and change the line that looks like "id:5:initdefault:" to 
"id:3:initdefault:") then everytime you boot you will enter text mode. 
Login, and then create two versions of the xorg.conf file, then create 
two aliases in your login startup files, "start_first" and 
"start_second".  The aliases should simply copy the appropriate 
xorg.conf file to /etc/X11/xorg.conf and then run "startx" which will 
start your X11 windows.  Hope that's clear.

Regards
-- 
Stuart Priest
Bioscience Computing Manager, Dept. of Biology (Area 15)
University of York, PO Box 373, YORK, YO10 5YW, UK
Telephone 01904 328744, mobile 07876 577900, FAX 01904 328266