nVidia

I know, I just ranted about it. However, it would seem that the Xorg driver can do more with the video card in my laptop than would appear at first sight. If I plug a VGA monitor to the mini-DVI output of my PowerBook and start X, then the nv(4) driver seems to detect it. Behold the diff:

--- Xorg.0.log.not-connected	2006-10-19 14:49:07.000000000 +0200
+++ Xorg.0.log.connected	2006-10-19 14:49:51.000000000 +0200
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
 	(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
 	(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
-(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Thu Oct 19 14:42:00 2006
+(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Thu Oct 19 14:42:46 2006
 (++) Using config file: "xorg.conf"
 (==) ServerLayout "Default Layout"
 (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen" (0)
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@
 (II) NV(0): Probing for analog device on output A...
 (--) NV(0):   ...can't find one
 (II) NV(0): Probing for analog device on output B...
-(--) NV(0):   ...can't find one
+(--) NV(0):   ...found one
 (II) NV(0): Probing for EDID on I2C bus A...
 (II) NV(0): I2C device "DDC:ddc2" registered at address 0xA0.
 (II) NV(0): I2C device "DDC:ddc2" removed.
@@ -452,7 +452,46 @@
 (II) NV(0): Probing for EDID on I2C bus B...
 (II) NV(0): I2C device "DDC:ddc2" registered at address 0xA0.
 (II) NV(0): I2C device "DDC:ddc2" removed.
-(II) NV(0):   ... none found
+(--) NV(0): DDC detected a CRT:
+(II) NV(0): Manufacturer: MAX  Model: 178e  Serial#: 2006
+(II) NV(0): Year: 2000  Week: 13
+(II) NV(0): EDID Version: 1.0
+(II) NV(0): Analog Display Input,  Input Voltage Level: 0.714/0.286 V
+(II) NV(0): Sync:  Separate
+(II) NV(0): Max H-Image Size [cm]: horiz.: 36  vert.: 27
+(II) NV(0): Gamma: 2.76
+(II) NV(0): DPMS capabilities: StandBy Suspend Off; RGB/Color Display
+(II) NV(0): redX: 0.632 redY: 0.329   greenX: 0.272 greenY: 0.604
+(II) NV(0): blueX: 0.142 blueY: 0.062   whiteX: 0.280 whiteY: 0.311
+(II) NV(0): Supported VESA Video Modes:
+(II) NV(0): 640x480@60Hz
+(II) NV(0): 640x480@75Hz
+(II) NV(0): 800x600@75Hz
[...more data about the monitor goes here...]

The nv(4) manpage also contains this bit:

       Option "CrtcNumber" "integer"
              Many graphics cards with NVIDIA chips have  two  video  outputs.
              The  driver attempts to autodetect which one the monitor is con‐
              nected to.  In the case that autodetection picks the wrong  one,
              this  option  may be used to force usage of a particular output.
              The options are "0" or "1".  Default: autodetected.

... but when I set that to 1 in the Section "Device" of my xorg.conf, it still uses the internal monitor of my laptop. Am I missing something?