Need way to manually enter information for a monitor not in list

[Bryce Harrington]

Binary package hint: displayconfig-gtk

While it is now possible to add a new monitor by adding the *.inf (bug 133871), there should also be a way to manually type in the info about a monitor. Perhaps the original disk is unavailable, or perhaps the data is incorrect and the user wishes to provide custom data.

This is a sub-issue from bug 146603, for which a Compaq P1100 was not available in the list and could not be manually entered.

[earthforce_1 (earthforce1)]

In my case, I obtained my monitor from a 2nd hand computer shop "as is", with no .inf disk available. I suspect a lot of other potential Ubuntu users will be inheriting hardware such as monitors from the bargain bin without factory install disks.

Don't get me wrong - .inf file support is a great idea, especially for migrating windows users. But sometimes you just have to lift the hood and do it manually.

[eddie303 (eddie303-gmail)]

Yes, it would be definitely interesting an "Expert" option, which would allow to add manually modelines too. In my case, wowuld like to use a VGA to SCART cable this way on a laptop on PAL TV set. It would be great help, mostly becwause I've never seen that cable working...

[Sebastian Heinlein (glatzor)]

For mentoring:

I would suggest to add a "manual screen" to the "generic" screens. You would have to replace the labels in the dialog with entry fields that are disabled for all other screen models. furthermore you need to add a sane default value and a verification of the entered information. if the given sync ranges don't make any sense you would have to disable the "ok" button.

Nasty issue: getting translation done. we would need to write the english screen name into the xorg.conf, but we should display a translated term in the user interface. same applies to the "LCD generic" strings.

[Sebastian Heinlein (glatzor)]

The perhaps affected methods are:
 displayconfiggtk.DisplayConfigGTK._populate_monitor_models
 displayconfiggtk.DisplayConfigGTK.on_treeview_monitors_cursor_changed

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Thank you for reporting this bug and for your efforts to make
Ubuntu better. As Xorg has improved this past year, an unfortunate side
effect of these improvements is that it has rendered several design
assumptions in displayconfig-gtk obsolete. So, starting with Hardy we
are no longer putting displayconfig-gtk forth as a primary configuration
tool, and are putting our development focus into the Screen Resolution
applet. As a result, we do not plan to fix this bug and thus are closing
it.

For more background on this change, please see this page:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/DisplayConfigGtk