Compaq R3306US laptop: second display not initialized correctly

[Michael L. Wright]

Hi,

After much research, much of which was wild-goose-chases after the nvidia 
proprietary driver, I've come to a dead end.

The problem is simple.  This laptop has a VGA socket for an external monitor.  
The key combination Fn-F4 switches between internal-external-both.  When I 
start X, whichever screen is active/primary (depending on the Fn-F4 switching 
state) is correctly initialized.  The other is initialized to a 
character-mode state which the server then writes to but the output is only a 
colorful, unreadable mosaic that changes with the main display.  Switching 
then only turns one or the other off but does not result in a correct 
display.

Computer:
Compaq R3306US (AMD Athlon 3000+)

Video:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 420 Go 
32M] (rev a3)

X:
xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.FC3.45.2.i386.rpm

Any help or a pointer to a solution will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Michael

Michael L. Wright
System Administrator, MRServer, Inc. & Vashti.Net
Email: mlw-xorg at MRServer.Net
Voice: 850-877-0050

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