LOOSING CONTROL OF EXTERNAL MONITOR. IMPOSSIBLE TO MIRROR SCREENS.

[Eduard Carcole]

Binary package hint: xorg

This problems happens in Laptop Panasonic CF-R8 with Ubuntu 9.10 amd 64.

If I start the computer with no secondary monitor connected.
After logging in I connect the external monitor.

Then I use the keyboard to switch screens (fn+f3).

Then, my external monitor shows a nice orange color.
The screen of the laptop shows different icons (for example the ones for help or Network manager become suddenly different). May be I saw those icons before when running a safe mode?

And I loose control of the screens completly.

The keyboard combination (fn+f3) has no effect and it is impossible to switch screens.

If I open the "Display" and try to mirror screens or try to switch off the monitor of the laptop, there is no no response.

I use this computer for presentations in meetings, so this is a very important issue for me.
I really need to be able to connect an external monitor and mirror screens.

But....

If I restart the computer with the monitor connected, everything works fine.
But I cannot see the contents of the Desktop folder in the screen.
This is a secondary problem, not so important.

I did not have this problem with Ubuntu 9.04 i384, and I keep it installed for security reasons in my computer, so I use when I have to do a presentation.

Some more data:

lspci | grep VGA

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)

lshw

    description: Computer
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: vsyscall64 vsyscall32
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       physical id: 0
     *-memory
          description: System memory
          physical id: 0
          size: 1964MiB
     *-cpu
          product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU U9300 @ 1.20GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 1
          bus info: cpu@0
          size: 800MHz
          capacity: 800MHz
          width: 64 bits
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority cpufreq
     *-pci
          description: Host bridge
          product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 07
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
          configuration: driver=agpgart-intel
          resources: irq:0
        *-display:0
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             version: 07
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list rom
             configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
             resources: irq:28 memory:f0000000-f03fffff memory:e0000000-efffffff(prefetchable) ioport:e1c0(size=8)
        *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
             description: Display controller
             product: Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
             version: 07
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: memory:f0400000-f04fffff

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Nov 6 14:04:45 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
MachineType: Panasonic Corporation CF-R8FW1AJR
Package: xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu7
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=d7b45a13-ddb7-4aec-9d12-ae18cf4044df ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 xserver-xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu7
 libgl1-mesa-glx 7.6.0-1ubuntu4
 libdrm2 2.4.14-1ubuntu1
 xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2
 xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.12.99+git20090929.7968e1fb-0ubuntu1
SourcePackage: xorg
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic x86_64
XorgConf: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'
dmi.bios.date: 01/08/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V2.00L10
dmi.board.name: CFR8-2
dmi.board.vendor: Panasonic Corporation
dmi.board.version: 1
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Panasonic Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: 001
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV2.00L10:bd01/08/2009:svnPanasonicCorporation:pnCF-R8FW1AJR:pvr002:rvnPanasonicCorporation:rnCFR8-2:rvr1:cvnPanasonicCorporation:ct10:cvr001:
dmi.product.name: CF-R8FW1AJR
dmi.product.version: 002
dmi.sys.vendor: Panasonic Corporation
fglrx: Not loaded
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 architecture: x86_64kernel: 2.6.31-14-generic

[Eduard Carcole (ecarcole)]

I am adding now information after restarting the computer with the external monitor connected.
May be the differences in the files may be useful.
I can not see the content of the Desktop folder in the external monitor, but I can see it in the screen of the laptop.

[Eduard Carcole (ecarcole)]

Today I installed some pre-released updates of compiz and other packages, related with bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/419328, but the problem remains. I guess they are completely different bugs. I just had some hope...

[Geir Ove Myhr (gomyhr)]

This bug report has been inactive for quite some time and in the meantime Ubuntu has moved along. I hope the reported problem has been resolved in the current version of Ubuntu. If it has not and there are people willing to follow up with information collecting and testing, it is best to file a new bug report with the latest Ubuntu development version (currently 10.04, but soon 10.10), using the ubuntu-bug command if possible. Feel free to mention the bug number of this bug.

We are sorry that we are not always have the capacity to look at all reported bugs in a timely manner. Occationally we have to purge old bug reports where no progress has been made, whether it is due to reporter not being able to respond or lack of manpower on the Ubuntu side, in order to keep our list of "active" bugs current. Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

Here are a few tips that will increase the chances that your bug gets priority:
* Read https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Reporting
* Browse https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X and see if there is some relevant information for you problem
* Respond quickly to questions from triagers
* Try changing things to see if the behaviour changes, e.g.
  * A new mainline kernel from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=M;O=D (more information at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/MainlineBuilds)
  * The xorg-edgers PPA: https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa
  * Various options in `/etc/X11/xorg.conf` (see `man intel`)
* Browse other bug reports to see if you find a similar one and provide the information that is being asked for there.