[Discuss] Dell docking and NVIDIA outputs

[jayburrill at hotmail.com (Jay Burrill)]

I have been trying to switch to Linux (openSUSE 12.1 Gnome 3) on a fairly good Dell Precision M4500 with NVIDIA FX880.  But the driver does not seem to be very full featured.  My expectations are:a. that if I dock, the driver will switch to use the external monitors (2); b. that if I undock, the driver will switch to use the internal LCD;c. that if I suspend while docked and outputting to the two externals, when I resume undocked, the driver will switch to use the internal LCD; andd. that if I suspend while undocked and outputting to the internal LCD, when I resume docked, the driver will switch to use the external monitors.
Unfortunately my experience is quite different.  I switched to the proprietary NVIDIA driver since I did not like what Nouveau provided.  But I really need the ability to change output modes automatically.  Currently, I cannot resume after I have docked or undocked and outputs are different.  The machine blindly continues to output to the same output(s).  I have seen a script on Geekwisdom.com which allows the author to toggle between outputs before suspending.  But I would would have to modify this to switch between internal and two externals.  And besides, this should all be dynamic, should it not?
Any suggestions?

Jay Burrill 
mailto:JayBurrill @ hotmail .com 
"Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." - Sir Winston Churchill