Add a NIC card to that list, I have spare drive, monitor and NIC card for those times when you need it. I have found that most laptops will read the monitor and X will modify it's self to meet the monitor.
One caveat, I tend to use ThinkPads almost exclusively so YMMV, but the ThinkPads all appear to exchange a lot of info with Linux, and I have had this very problem, plugged a monitor into the external port and off I went until I got a new display (another advantage of ThinkPads, seems you can find the bits and pieces almost in the nearest dumpster). So my hardware spares kit is a monitor, HD and NIC card, along with a few fans for grins (the buggers always are going out on some machine) On Sat, Aug 30, 2014 at 10:43 AM, Rich Shepard <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sat, 30 Aug 2014, John Jason Jordan wrote: > > > Why didn't I think of that? > > Insufficiently caffinated? > > > Wait a minute - the video on the laptop is 1920 x 1080 or something. Will > > the nouveau driver automatically display something that a Free Geek > > monitor can handle? > > Shrug. > > > If not, adjusting xrandr might be a challenge operating blind. > > I don't know about your system, but you should get a usable display on > an > external monitor, just as you would with an LCD projector that has a > different resolution than the built-in screen. > > > Also, will it automatically display on the second screen? > > As Bob Dole responded when asked if he wore boxers or briefs: depends. > Some laptops sense a monitor on the external connector and send signals to > it. Most have a Fn and function key combination that cycles between > built-in > screen, external monitor, and both. There's usually a decipherable icon on > the F key top to indicate which one. > > > And I just checked and the laptop has HDMI out, but no VGA. Some time > back > > I bought a USB to VGA converter, intending to try it at PSU, but never > did > > so. > > Well, if Free Geek has a monitor that accepts both inputs you'll be OK. > Or, give your adapter a try. Keith keeps recommending keeping a second hard > drive on hand, and I'll recommend keeping a second monitor on hand. I've > had > a couple fail in the past and having the spare made life easier. Your > vehicle has a spare tire, doesn't it? :-) > > Good luck, > > Rich > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > -- Chuck Hast -- KP4DJT -- Glass, five thousand years of history and getting better. The only container material that the USDA gives blanket approval on. _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
