Sample Fn-F7 script

This guide will help you configure Fn-F7 key combination to toggle between internal, mirror, external, or both screens. This was tested on ThinkPad X60s running Fedora 8, please comment if it works or does not work for you.

Works like a charm on X61s with Xubuntu 7.10. Working with R60e with some modifications noted below.

The script does not work when using fglrx or a version of XRandR < 1.2, because there is no dynamic display switching support then. When fglrx is used, aticonfig can be used for the switching in this Script for Dynamic Display Management with fglrx.

NOTE!

On a modern distribution like Fedora 12, the Fn-F7 key works out-of-the-box, and no additional scripts are needed to switch between external display modes

configuring the virtual screen size

Add a "Virtual" statement to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf, the total resolution should be large enough to fit all your screens in the configuration you want, for example if you have 1600x1200 monitor to the left of your internal 1024x768 monitor, your total max resolution is 2624x1200 (See Xorg RandR 1.2 for more details):

Section "Screen"
       Identifier "Screen0"
       Device     "Videocard0"
       DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
               Viewport   0 0
               Depth     24
               Virtual   2624 1200
       EndSubSection
EndSection

Restart X server at this point (i.e. logout and login).

configuring acpi

Create /etc/acpi/events/thinkpad.conf:

# bash script
event=ibm/hotkey HKEY 00000080 00001007
action=/usr/local/sbin/thinkpad-fn-f7

or you may (eg Ubuntu 7.10) already have /etc/acpi/events/ibm-videobtn

# /etc/acpi/events/ibm-videobtn
# This is called when the user presses the video button. It is currently
# a placeholder.
event=ibm/hotkey HKEY 00000080 00001007
action=/bin/true

in which case modify the line 'action=/bin/true' to run the script as above.

It may also be necessary to enable acpi events as per How to get special keys to work with (in root terminal) # echo enable,0x084e > /proc/acpi/ibm/hotkey Note this command isn't persistent. so you will also need to add the line to /etc/rc.local to enable hotkeys at boot, and to re-enable the hotkeys after suspend to disk or RAM, create the file /etc/acpi/resume.d/91-ibm-hotkey-enable.sh consisting of

#!/bin/bash
# enable ibm-hotkeys (specifically Fn2, Fn7)
# 12 bit mask, little end is F1 default 0x080c = F12+F4+F3
echo enable,0x084e > /proc/acpi/ibm/hotkey

ref: [frosch.org.uk] and [ibm-acpi.sourceforge]

identify output devices

Note the names of your output devices as you will have to change EXTERNAL_OUTPUT and INTERNAL_OUTPUT to what xrandr shows, for example VGA and LVDS in this case:

$ xrandr -q
VGA connected 1600x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 432mm x 324mm
...
LVDS connected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

The bash script

Create /usr/local/sbin/thinkpad-fn-f7, you can set EXTERNAL_LOCATION to one of: left, right, above, or below.

#!/bin/bash

# External output may be "VGA" or "VGA-0" or "DVI-0" or "TMDS-1"
EXTERNAL_OUTPUT="VGA"
INTERNAL_OUTPUT="LVDS"
EXTERNAL_LOCATION="left"

# Figure out which user and X11 display to work on
# TODO there has to be a better way to do this?
X_USER=$(w -h -s | grep ":[0-9]\W" | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')
export DISPLAY=$(w -h -s | grep ":[0-9]\W" | head -1 | awk '{print $3}')

# Switch to X user if necessary
if [ "$X_USER" != "$USER" ]; then
       SU="su $X_USER -c"
else
       SU="sh -c"
fi

case "$EXTERNAL_LOCATION" in
       left|LEFT)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--left-of $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       right|RIGHT)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--right-of $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       top|TOP|above|ABOVE)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--above $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       bottom|BOTTOM|below|BELOW)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--below $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       *)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--left-of $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
esac

# Figure out current state
INTERNAL_STATE=$($SU xrandr | grep ^$INTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep " con" | sed "s/.*connected//" | sed "s/ //" | sed "s/ .*//g")
EXTERNAL_STATE=$($SU xrandr | grep ^$EXTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep " con" | sed "s/.*connected//" | sed "s/ //" | sed "s/ .*//g")
# I recommend to replace these prior two statements, since otherwise with  xrandr 1.2 it produces wrong results:
# a textportion "(normal" otherwise still remains when a screen is connected, but switched off (by e.g. toggling!)
# (comment out the prior two lines, and uncomment the following two lines:)
# INTERNAL_STATE=$($SU xrandr | grep ^$INTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep " con" | sed "s/.*connected//" | sed "s/ //" | sed "s/ .*//g"| sed "s/(normal//g" )
# EXTERNAL_STATE=$($SU xrandr | grep ^$EXTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep " con" | sed "s/.*connected//" | sed "s/ //" | sed "s/ .*//g"| sed "s/(normal//g" )


if [ -z "$INTERNAL_STATE" ]; then
       STATE="external"
elif [ -z "$EXTERNAL_STATE" ]; then
       STATE="internal"
else
       INTERNAL_STATE=$(echo $INTERNAL_STATE | sed "s/[0-9]*x[0-9]*//")
       EXTERNAL_STATE=$(echo $EXTERNAL_STATE | sed "s/[0-9]*x[0-9]*//")
       if [ "$INTERNAL_STATE" = "$EXTERNAL_STATE" ]; then
               STATE="mirror"
       else
               STATE="both"
       fi
fi

function screen_external(){
# recommend exchange the order, since otherwise doesn't work
# with my ati adapter (please uncomment if needed, and
#comment out the other two):
#       $SU "xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto"
#       $SU "xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --off"
       $SU "xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --off"
       $SU "xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto"
}

function screen_internal(){
       $SU "xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --off"
       $SU "xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto"
}

function screen_mirror(){
       $SU "xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto"
       $SU "xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto --same-as $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
}

function screen_both(){
       $SU "xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto"
       $SU "xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto $EXTERNAL_LOCATION"
}

function screen_toggle(){
       case "$STATE" in
               internal)
                       screen_mirror
                       ;;
               mirror)
                       screen_external
                       ;;
               external)
                       screen_both
                       ;;
               both)
                       screen_internal
                       ;;
               *)
                       screen_internal
                       ;;
       esac
}

# What should we do?
DO="$1"
if [ -z "$DO" ]; then
       if [ $(basename $0) = "thinkpad-fn-f7" ]; then
               DO="toggle"
       fi
fi

case "$DO" in
       toggle)
               screen_toggle
               ;;
       internal)
               screen_internal
               ;;
       external)
               screen_external
               ;;
       mirror)
               screen_mirror
               ;;
       both)
               screen_both
               ;;
       status)
               echo "Current Fn-F7 state is: $STATE"
               echo
               echo "Attached monitors:"
               $SU xrandr | grep "\Wconnected" | sed "s/^/ /"
               ;;
       *)
               echo "usage: $0 <command>" >&2
               echo >&2
               echo "  commands:" >&2
               echo "          status" >&2
               echo "          internal" >&2
               echo "          external" >&2
               echo "          mirror" >&2
               echo "          both" >&2
               echo "          toggle" >&2
               echo >&2
               ;;
esac

set permissions and restart acpi

As root, or using sudo run the following commands,

$ sudo chmod 755 /usr/local/sbin/thinkpad-fn-f7
$ sudo service acpid restart
OR
$ sudo /etc/init.d/acpid restart

You should be ready to go, just press Fn-F7 to try.

Alternative script using .Xauthority rather than su

On systems where the previous script has trouble with the "su" command (I was getting "Can't open display -" errors in /var/log/acpid on Ubuntu 8.04), you can try getting the magic cookie out of the .Xauthority file.

Each user has an ~/.Xauthority file with one line for each X display containing a 'magic cookie' (Run $ xauth list to see the contents). The Xserver reads the record in ~/.Xauthority matching its display. When an X client application starts it also looks for that record and passes the magic cookie to the server. If it matches, the connection to the Xserver is allowed. Use the following script as an alternative

action=/usr/local/sbin/toggle-display.sh

for /etc/acpi/events/ibm-videobtn

#!/bin/bash
# From: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Sample_Fn-F7_script
#
# External output may be "VGA" or "VGA-0" or "DVI-0" or "TMDS-1"
EXTERNAL_OUTPUT="VGA"
INTERNAL_OUTPUT="LVDS"
# EXTERNAL_LOCATION may be one of: left, right, above, or below
EXTERNAL_LOCATION="right"

case "$EXTERNAL_LOCATION" in
       left|LEFT)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--left-of $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       right|RIGHT)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--right-of $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       top|TOP|above|ABOVE)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--above $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       bottom|BOTTOM|below|BELOW)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--below $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
       *)
               EXTERNAL_LOCATION="--left-of $INTERNAL_OUTPUT"
               ;;
esac

function screen_external(){
       xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --off
       xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
}

function screen_internal(){
       xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --off
       xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
}

function screen_mirror(){
       xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
       xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto --same-as $INTERNAL_OUTPUT
}

function screen_both(){
       xrandr --output $INTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto
       xrandr --output $EXTERNAL_OUTPUT --auto $EXTERNAL_LOCATION
}

function screen_toggle(){
       # Figure out current state
       INTERNAL_STATE=$(xrandr | grep ^$INTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep con | sed "s/.*connected //" | sed "s/(.*//")
       EXTERNAL_STATE=$(xrandr | grep ^$EXTERNAL_OUTPUT | grep con | sed "s/.*connected //" | sed "s/(.*//")

       if [ -z "$INTERNAL_STATE" ]; then
         STATE="external"
       elif [ -z "$EXTERNAL_STATE" ]; then
         STATE="internal"
       else
         INTERNAL_STATE=$(echo $INTERNAL_STATE | sed "s/[0-9]*x[0-9]*//")
         EXTERNAL_STATE=$(echo $EXTERNAL_STATE | sed "s/[0-9]*x[0-9]*//")
         if [ "$INTERNAL_STATE" = "$EXTERNAL_STATE" ]; then
           STATE="mirror"
         else
           STATE="both"
         fi
       fi

       case "$STATE" in
               internal)
                       screen_mirror
                       ;;
               mirror)
                       screen_external
                       ;;
               external)
                       screen_both
                       ;;
               both)
                       screen_internal
                       ;;
               *)
                       screen_internal
                       ;;
       esac
}

# based on /etc/acpi/screenblank.sh (Ubuntu 7.10)
# . /usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs         # for getXuser
getXuser() {
       user=`finger| grep -m1 ":$displaynum " | awk '{print $1}'`
       if [ x"$user" = x"" ]; then
               user=`finger| grep -m1 ":$displaynum" | awk '{print $1}'`
       fi
       if [ x"$user" != x"" ]; then
               userhome=`getent passwd $user | cut -d: -f6`
               export XAUTHORITY=$userhome/.Xauthority
       else
               export XAUTHORITY=""
       fi
}
# end of getXuser from /usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs
#
for x in /tmp/.X11-unix/*; do
   displaynum=`echo $x | sed s#/tmp/.X11-unix/X##`
   getXuser;
   if [ x"$XAUTHORITY" != x"" ]; then
       export DISPLAY=":$displaynum"
      screen_toggle
   fi
done

Script to switch between Internal, VGA and S-video

This highly overdone script allows to switch between all combinations of Internal, VGA and S-video out. VGA and and S-video at the same time are not allowed on my hardware (I have a T41 with Radeon 7500), so I masked these combinations out. Instead of disabling the internal display with xrandr, I turn off the backlight. One of the allowed combinations is all displays off, and xorg crashes if turning off all displays with xrandr. The script depends on the debian package acpi-support, which is also found in ubuntu and crunchbang (which is what I am using). The dependency can easily be broken out though. Can easily be modified to fulfill other needs, i.e. if you turn off your backlight with something else than radeontool. There is also an OSD displayed in the upper left corner of all active displays.

#/bin/sh

. /usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs         # for getXuser
. /etc/default/acpi-support                   # for RADEON_LIGHT

# First prevent concurrent execution

LOCK_FILE=/tmp/swapscreenslock
WAITING_TIME=1
LOGGER="`which logger 2>/dev/null` -i"
if (set -C; : > $LOCK_FILE) 2>/dev/null; then : ; else
    # Lock file exists - wait as long as theoretically is needed for the other script to finish and retry
    sleep $WAITING_TIME
    if (set -C; : > $LOCK_FILE) 2>/dev/null; then : ; else
        # Lock file still exists - we should never end up here! Consider removing the lock file.
        $LOGGER "Lock file exists - earlier call to script stalled? Consider removing lock file \"$LOCK_FILE\". Exiting."
        exit 1
    fi
fi
trap 'rm $LOCK_FILE' EXIT

XRANDR=`which xrandr 2>/dev/null`
OSD_CAT=`which osd_cat 2>/dev/null`
LAPTOP="LVDS"
VGA="VGA-0"
SVIDEO="S-video"
VGA_POSITION="--right-of $LAPTOP"
#VGA_POSITION="--same-as $LAPTOP"    # Mirror
SVIDEO_POSITION="--right-of $LAPTOP"

OSD_GENERICARGS="--delay=3 --age=0 --font=-adobe-helvetica-bold-r-normal-*-*-180-*-*-p-*-*-* --colour=green --shadow=1"
OSD_HOFFSET=25
OSD_VOFFSET=25

function screen_toggle {
    # Figure out current state
    XRANDR_STATUS=`su $user -c "$XRANDR -q"`

    # Laptop is of course always connected, however I'll leave the script this
    # way for making it easier to make the script a little more generic.
    LAPTOP_CONN=`echo "$XRANDR_STATUS" | grep ^$LAPTOP | grep " connected"`
    VGA_CONN=`echo "$XRANDR_STATUS" | grep ^$VGA | grep " connected"`
    SVIDEO_CONN=`echo "$XRANDR_STATUS" | grep ^$SVIDEO | grep " connected"`

    LAPTOP_STATE=`radeontool light | grep 'looks on'`
    VGA_STATE=`echo $VGA_CONN | sed 's/.*connected\s\([0-9x+-]*\).*/\1/'`
    SVIDEO_STATE=`echo $SVIDEO_CONN | sed 's/.*connected\s\([0-9x+-]*\).*/\1/'`

    CONNMASK=0
    [ -n "$LAPTOP_CONN" ] && CONNMASK=$(( CONNMASK + 1 ))
    if [ -n "$VGA_CONN" ]; then 
        CONNMASK=$(( CONNMASK + 2 ))
        [ -n "$SVIDEO_CONN" ] && CONNMASK=$(( CONNMASK + 4 ))
    else
        # If VGA is not connected, TV will overtake its bit
        [ -n "$SVIDEO_CONN" ] && CONNMASK=$(( CONNMASK + 2 ))
    fi

    STATE=0
    if [ -n "$LAPTOP_STATE" ]; then STATE=$(( STATE + 1 )); fi
    if [ -n "$VGA_CONN" ]; then 
        [ -n "$VGA_STATE" ] && STATE=$(( STATE + 2 ))
        [ -n "$SVIDEO_STATE" ] && STATE=$(( STATE + 4 ))
    else
        # If VGA is not connected, TV will overtake its bit
        [ -n "$SVIDEO_STATE" ] && STATE=$(( STATE + 2 ))
    fi
  
    # Go to next state
    STATE=$(( (STATE+1) % (CONNMASK+1) ))

    # Forbidden states are TV and VGA at the same time, regardless of internal state
    STATE=$(( STATE % 6 ))

    # If no screen is listed as connected, probably xrandr failed - do nothing.
    if [ $CONNMASK -ne 0 ]; then
        OSDTEXT=

        if [ -n "$VGA_CONN" ]; then 
            # Turn on or off external VGA
            if [ $(( (STATE >> 1) % 2 )) -ne 0 ]; then 
                OSDTEXT="$OSDTEXT $VGA"
                su $user -c "$XRANDR --output $VGA $VGA_POSITION --auto"
            else
                su $user -c "$XRANDR --output $VGA --off"
            fi

            # Turn on or off S-Video output
            if [ $(( (STATE >> 2) % 2 )) -ne 0 ]; then 
                OSDTEXT="$OSDTEXT $SVIDEO"
                su $user -c "$XRANDR --output $SVIDEO $SVIDEO_POSITION --auto"
            else
                [ -n "$SVIDEO_CONN" ] && su $user -c "$XRANDR --output $SVIDEO --off"
            fi
        else
            # If VGA is not connected, TV will overtake its bit

            # Turn on or off S-Video output
            if [ $(( (STATE >> 1) % 2 )) -ne 0 ]; then 
                OSDTEXT="$OSDTEXT $SVIDEO"
                su $user -c "$XRANDR --output $SVIDEO $SVIDEO_POSITION --auto"
            else
                [ -n "$SVIDEO_CONN" ] && su $user -c "$XRANDR --output $SVIDEO --off"
            fi
        fi

        # Never turn on or off internal screen - only turn on or off the backlight.
        # Do this after the xrandr calls above, during which the backlight
        # might go on.
        if [ $(( STATE % 2 )) -ne 0 ]; then
            if pidof xscreensaver >/dev/null; then 
                su $user -c "xscreensaver-command -unthrottle"
            fi  
            if [ x$RADEON_LIGHT = xtrue ]; then
                [ -x /usr/sbin/radeontool ] && radeontool light on
            fi  
            if pidof xscreensaver >/dev/null; then
                su $user -c "xscreensaver-command -deactivate"
            fi  
            su $user -c "xset dpms force on"
            OSDTEXT="$OSDTEXT $LAPTOP"
        else
            if [ `pidof xscreensaver` ]; then
                su $user -c "(xscreensaver-command -throttle)"
            fi
            # Not calling xset to turn off dpms prohibits key presses from
            # turning the backlight back on all the time. Do make sure to have
            # RADEON_LIGHT enabled though. The rest of the script works even
            # though RADEON_LIGHT left disabled, the only effect is that the
            # laptop panel will always be considered "on".
            #su $user -c "xset dpms force off"
            if [ x$RADEON_LIGHT = xtrue ]; then
                [ -x /usr/sbin/radeontool ] && radeontool light off
            fi
        fi

        $LOGGER Currently active GPU outputs: $OSDTEXT

        # Wait a little for the hardware to reach the new state
        #sleep $WAITING_TIME

        # Figure out current state again, to put the OSD on the right places.
        XRANDR_STATUS=`su $user -c "$XRANDR -q"`

        VGA_CONN=`echo "$XRANDR_STATUS" | grep ^$VGA | grep " connected"`
        SVIDEO_CONN=`echo "$XRANDR_STATUS" | grep ^$SVIDEO | grep " connected"`

        VGA_STATE=`echo $VGA_CONN | sed 's/.*connected\s\([0-9x+-]*\).*/\1/'`
        SVIDEO_STATE=`echo $SVIDEO_CONN | sed 's/.*connected\s\([0-9x+-]*\).*/\1/'`

        VGA_HOFFSET=$(( `echo $VGA_STATE | sed 's/[0-9x]*\([+-][0-9]*\).*/\1/'` + OSD_HOFFSET ))
        VGA_VOFFSET=$(( `echo $VGA_STATE | sed 's/[0-9x]*[+-][0-9]*\([+-][0-9]*\)/\1/'` + OSD_VOFFSET ))
        SVIDEO_HOFFSET=$(( `echo $SVIDEO_STATE | sed 's/[0-9x]*\([+-][0-9]*\).*/\1/'` + OSD_HOFFSET ))
        SVIDEO_VOFFSET=$(( `echo $SVIDEO_STATE | sed 's/[0-9x]*[+-][0-9]*\([+-][0-9]*\)/\1/'` + OSD_VOFFSET ))

        # On screen display. 
        if [ -n "$OSD_CAT" ] ; then 
            su $user -c "echo $OSDTEXT | $OSD_CAT $OSD_GENERICARGS --offset=$OSD_HOFFSET --indent=$OSD_VOFFSET - &"
            [ -n "$VGA_CONN" ] && su $user -c "echo $OSDTEXT | $OSD_CAT $OSD_GENERICARGS --offset=$VGA_VOFFSET --indent=$VGA_HOFFSET - &"
            [ -n "$SVIDEO_CONN" ] && su $user -c "echo $OSDTEXT | $OSD_CAT $OSD_GENERICARGS --offset=$SVIDEO_HOFFSET --indent=$SVIDEO_VOFFSET - &"
        fi
    fi
}

# Snippet borrowed from /etc/acpi/lid.sh
for x in /tmp/.X11-unix/*; do
   displaynum=`echo $x | sed s#/tmp/.X11-unix/X##`
   getXuser;
   if [ x"$XAUTHORITY" != x"" ]; then
       export DISPLAY=":$displaynum"
      screen_toggle
   fi
done

If neither VGA nor S-video are connected, the script will only flip on and off the backlight. If one output is connected, be it VGA or S-video, the sequence will be 1) Internal, 2) VGA/S-video (backlight off), 3) Internal+VGA/S-video, 0) all off. If both a monitor and a TV are connected, the sequence will be 1) Internal, 2) VGA (backlight off), 3) Internal+VGA, 4) S-video (backlight off), 5) Internal+S-video, 0) all off.

A Python Toggle script

This is a somewhat over-elaborate script which could be cut down when run by the /usr/local/sbin/toggle-display.sh script above. It was written to explore all the possibilities rather than economy of execution. The functions 'toggle_full', 'position', 'toggle_limited' and the OptionParser in 'main' may be omitted with suitable changes to function7. The appropriate outputs can be specified on the command line and it is not necessary to call it via acpi. eg you can run it as $ /usr/local/bin/toggle.py --help

 #! /usr/bin/python
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 #
 # stinkpad(a)blueyonder.co.uk	2007-11-26
 """Toggle internal and external displays (equivalent to ThinkPad Fn7)
 Simple; cloned: on+off, on+on, off+on. 
 Full; as simple plus xinerama: right, below,  left, above. 
 Limited; as full but display will overlap if virtual screen is too small. 
 Use 'xrandr -q' to determine output names. 
 Further information: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Xorg_RandR_1.2 
 """
 __usage__ = "usage: %prog [--help]|[[-i internal][-e external][-d displays]]"
 __version__ = "toggle [djclark.eu 2007-11-26]"
 #
 # Output names; Intel: LVDS VGA TV TMDS-1 TMDS-2
 #               ATI:   LVDS VGA-0 S-video DVI-0
 LAPTOP = 'LVDS' 
 MONITOR = 'VGA'
 SEQUENCE = 'simple'
 #
 import sys
 import os
 import re

 # "LVDS connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right) 304mm x 228mm"
 REGEX_OUTPUT = re.compile(r"""
 	(?x)					# ignore whitespace
 	^					# start of string
 	(?P<output>[A-Za-z0-9\-]*)[ ] 		# LVDS VGA etc
 	(?P<connect>(dis)?connected)[ ]		# dis/connected
 	((					# a group
  	(?P<width>\d+)x 			# either 1024x768+0+0
 	(?P<height>\d+)[+]  
  	(?P<horizontal>\d+)[+]
 	(?P<vertical>\d+)
 	)|[\D])					# or not a digit
 	.*					# ignore rest of line
 	""")
 
 # "Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 2624 x 1968"
 REGEX_SCREEN = re.compile(r"""
 	(?x) 				# ignore whitespace
 	^				# start of string
 	Screen[ ]			
 	(?P<screen>\d)[: ]+
 	minimum[ ]
 	(?P<minWidth>\d+)[ x]+
 	(?P<minHeight>\d+)[, ]+
 	current[ ]+
 	(?P<curWidth>\d+)[ x]+
 	(?P<curHeight>\d+)[, ]+
 	maximum[ ]+
 	(?P<maxWidth>\d+)[ x]+
 	(?P<maxHeight>\d+)
 	""")	

 def toggle_simple(d0, d1):
    """Toggle display states: on+off, on+on, off+on"""
    if d1['connect'] == 'disconnected': 	# external unplugged
        return ('auto','off',"") 		#     switch off external
    if d1['width'] is 0: 			# external off
        return ('auto','auto',"") 		#     both on
    if d0['width'] is 0: 			# laptop off
        return ('auto','off',"") 		#    laptop on
    return ('off','auto',"") 			# both on, laptop off

 def toggle_full(d0, d1):
    """Toggle display states: 1+0, 1+1, 0+1, 1+E, 1+S, 1+W, 1+N""" 
    if d1['connect'] == 'disconnected': 	# external unplugged
        return ('auto','off',"") 		#     switch off external
    place = '--%s ' + d0['output']
    if d1['width'] == 0: 			# external off
        return ('auto','auto',place%'same-as') 	#     external on
    if d0['width'] == 0: 			# laptop off
        return ('auto','off',"") 		#    laptop on
    if d1['horizontal'] > 0: 			# external to right
        return ('auto','auto',place%'below') 	#     make below
    if d1['vertical'] > 0: 			# external below
        return ('auto','auto',place%'left-of') 	#     make left
    if d0['horizontal'] > 0: 			# external left
        return ('auto','auto',place%'above') 	#     make above
    if d0['vertical'] > 0: 			# external above
        return ('off','auto',"")  		#     laptop off
    return ('auto','auto',place%'right-of') 	# is same, make right

 def position(orientation, da, db, screen):
    """Calculate offset position of second display"""
    p = 'auto --pos %sx%s'
    if orientation == 'V':
        if da['height'] + db['height'] <= screen['maxHeight']:
            return p%(0, da['height'])
        return p%(0, screen['maxHeight'] - db['height'])
    else:
        if da['width'] + db['width'] <= screen['maxWidth']:
            return p%(da['width'],0)
        return p%(screen['maxWidth'] - db['width'],0)

 def toggle_limited(d0, d1, sz):
    """Toggle display states (overlapped): 1+0,1+1,0+1,1+E,1+S,1+W,1+N"""
    if d1['connect'] == 'disconnected': 	# external unplugged
        return ('auto','off') 			#     switch off external
    if d1['width'] == 0: 				# external off
        return ('auto --pos 0x0','auto --pos 0x0') 	#     both on
    if d0['width'] == 0: 				# laptop off
        return ('auto --pos 0x0','off') 		#     laptop on
    if d1['horizontal'] > 0: 				# external to right
        return ('auto --pos 0x0',position('V',d0,d1,sz)) #     put *below
    if d1['vertical'] > 0: 				# external below
        return (position('H',d1,d0,sz),'auto --pos 0x0') #     put *left
    if d0['horizontal'] > 0: 				# external left
        return (position('V',d1,d0,sz),'auto --pos 0x0') #     put *above
    if d0['vertical'] > 0: 				# external above
        return ('off','auto --pos 0x0')  		#     laptop off
    return ('auto --pos 0x0',position('H',d0,d1,sz)) 	# both, put*right

 class DisplayNameError(UnboundLocalError):
    """Internal or External Display Name not found by xrandr -q """

 def function7(disp0=LAPTOP, disp1=MONITOR, seq=SEQUENCE):
    """Use xrandr to read current display state and change state"""
    for line in os.popen('xrandr -q'):
        if line.startswith(disp0,0) :
            d0_state = REGEX_OUTPUT.match(line).groupdict()
        elif line.startswith(disp1,0):
            d1_state = REGEX_OUTPUT.match(line).groupdict()
        elif line.startswith('Screen',0):
            screen_size = REGEX_SCREEN.match(line).groupdict()
    for i in ('width','height','horizontal','vertical'):
        try:
            d0_state[i] = int(d0_state[i])
        except TypeError:
            d0_state[i] = 0
        except UnboundLocalError:
            raise DisplayNameError, 'Internal Display: %s not found'% disp0
        try:
            d1_state[i] = int(d1_state[i])
        except TypeError:
            d1_state[i] = 0
        except UnboundLocalError:
            raise DisplayNameError, 'External Display: %s not found'% disp1
    for i in screen_size:
        try:
            screen_size[i] = int(screen_size[i])
        except TypeError:
            screen_size[i] = 0
    #
    toggle = toggle_simple
    xrandr ='xrandr --output '+disp0+' --%s --output '+disp1+' --%s %s'
    if seq == 'full':
        toggle = toggle_full
    if seq == 'limited':
        toggle = toggle_limited
        xrandr ='xrandr --output '+disp0+' --%s --output '+disp1+' --%s'
        os.popen(xrandr % toggle(d0_state, d1_state, screen_size))
    else:
        os.popen(xrandr % toggle(d0_state, d1_state))

 def main():
    """ Command line options """
    from optparse import OptionParser
    p = OptionParser(usage=__usage__, version=__version__, description=__doc__)  
    p.set_defaults(internal=LAPTOP, external=MONITOR, displays=SEQUENCE)
    p.add_option('-i','--internal', dest="internal", metavar=LAPTOP,
 	help="internal display")
    p.add_option('-e','--external', dest="external", metavar=MONITOR,
  	help="external display")
    p.add_option('-d','--displays', dest="displays", action="store",
 	choices=('simple', 'limited', 'full'), metavar=SEQUENCE,
 	help='simple/limited/full')
    (opt, args) = p.parse_args()
    try:
        function7(opt.internal, opt.external, opt.displays)
    except DisplayNameError, err:
        print '\n'+str(err)+'\n'
        print os.popen('xrandr -q').read()
 #
 if __name__ == '__main__': 	#only when run from cmd line
    main()

This modified thinkpad-fn-f7 calls the toggle python script:

 #!/bin/bash
 # usr/local/sbin/toggle-display.sh 
 # based on /etc/acpi/screenblank.sh (Ubuntu 7.10)
 #
 # . /usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs         # for getXuser
 umask 022;
 PATH="$PATH:/usr/bin/X11"
 getXuser() {
        user=`finger| grep -m1 ":$displaynum " | awk '{print $1}'`
        if [ x"$user" = x"" ]; then
                user=`finger| grep -m1 ":$displaynum" | awk '{print $1}'`
        fi
        if [ x"$user" != x"" ]; then
                userhome=`getent passwd $user | cut -d: -f6`
                export XAUTHORITY=$userhome/.Xauthority
        else
                export XAUTHORITY=""
        fi
 }
 # end of getXuser from /usr/share/acpi-support/power-funcs
 #
 for x in /tmp/.X11-unix/*; do
    displaynum=`echo $x | sed s#/tmp/.X11-unix/X##`
    getXuser;
    if [ x"$XAUTHORITY" != x"" ]; then
        export DISPLAY=":$displaynum"
 ##     . /usr/share/acpi-support/screenblank.sh
        /usr/local/bin/toggle.py
    fi
 done

Python XRandR

[Python XRandR] is a set of python bindings to xrandr. The code is currently in development and the following code though much simpler than the python code above may not work reliably.

  from xrandr import xrandr
  def toggle_simple():
    """Toggle display states: on+off, off+on, on+on off+off"""
    screen = xrandr.get_current_screen()
    outputs = screen.get_outputs()
    for o in outputs:
        if o.is_connected():
            if o.is_active():
                o.disable()
                print 'disable %s'% o.name
            else:
                o.set_to_preferred_mode()
                print 'set to preferred mode %s'% o.name
                break
    screen.apply_output_config()

Having Fn-F7 run a RandR GUI

Instead of using it to toggle various screen(s) configurations, one may want to have it run a RandR GUI, such as grandr.

The following Debian wishlist bugs against the acpi-support package have patches attached that implement this behaviour using acpid; these patches are not Debian-specific, and actually provide example configuration for anyone interested into this:

• http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=515794
• http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=515796

References

[grandr] graphical interface to xrandr using GTK+ libraries.

[python-xrandr] Python bindings to xrandr which should enable a less clunky version of the python script above. Under development.