Set a specific screen resolution with xrandr

I was trying to change the default resolution of LXDE on Ubuntu (LXDE is also used in Lubuntu) and I found a solution for this problem. I also have Lubuntu installed and I've checked that this file actually exists which it does (Ijust tried this fix as well and it worked).

So, the fix....

1. Open up a terminal, press ctrl+alt+t

2. I'm guessing you have a default Lubuntu install, so "Leafpad" would be your default editor, type/copy this into the terminal and press enter... (you may be asked for a password)

   sudo leafpad /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostart
   

3. Now add your commands to the bottom of the file adding a @ before the actual command. Mine looked like this after...

   @xscreensaver -no-splash
   @lxpanel --profile LXDE
   @pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE
   @/usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1
   @xrandr --auto --output DVI-1 --primary --mode 1680x1050 --left-of DVI-0
   

I personally put those sorts of commands, to be run at login, in a script in ~/bin , call it set_resolution

Then run gnome-session-properties and add the command to be run at login (use ~/bin/set_resolution).

Here's another line added to my /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostart file to get it working:

@xrandr --output LVDS --off

tip from: http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/2007-August/027490.html

Update: the above was fine for awhile until I ran the GUI config tool lxrandr, which seems stupidly unaware of dual-monitor setups. So I made this change:

$ cat $HOME/.config/autostart/lxrandr-autostart.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=LXRandR autostart
Comment=Start xrandr with settings done in LXRandR --then manually tweaked
Exec=xrandr --output DVI-0 --mode 1920x1200 --rate 60.0 --output LVDS --off --output VGA-0 --primary --mode 1920x1200 --left-of DVI-0
OnlyShowIn=LXDE

Note that I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 with LXDE. One would hope that a pure Lubuntu 12.04 setup would include a smarter lxrandr binary...