Though in system settings:display shows the correct resolutions there is no wasy to change the apply buttons is disabled.

With out the external monitor kde has set the correct resolution of 1280*800.

Can anyone here help please?
Thanks
Jithin

I installed kde 4.1 and the problem still exists. Now xrandr --output VGA --auto 
freezes the entire desktop.

 Why isnt any one looking into this.

KDE's handling of supplementary monitors on laptops is generally broken, even as of KDE 4.1.3.  I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop with a Dell 1905FP monitor which I attach through a VGA socket.  My preferred setup is to use the monitor only, and disable the laptop screen.  GNOME handles this perfectly.

KDE does not.  You can set it to that OK, but the screen blanks continually, including when starting up the relevant System Settings module.  It does not appear to store the settings, as it reverts to its defaults next time you start up KDE (or KDM).  Again, GNOME has none of these problems.

i have exactly the same problem od KDE 4.2 RC 1

notebook HP nx7300 graphic card intel GMA 945, monitor samsung 2493 hm, input from VGA

I am experiencing pretty much the same thing with KDE 4.2 (ubuntu packages) but I have found something that works for me. I have a laptop with intel 945GM (1440x900) and an external monitor at 1680x1050. 

In KDE 3.5.10 the resolution is automatically set to the maximum (1680x1050) with no problems. However, in KDE 4.2 the resolution is set to 1440x900 for both screens.

I am pretty sure that this happens because I have disabled the "Detecting Randr (monitor) changes" due to a constant flickering on the external monitor. I believe this is the service that actually sets the monitors to the appropriate resolutions.

The workaround I have found to work for me is the following:

 - xrandr --output LVDS --off (switches off the laptop's monitor)
 - xrandr --output VGA --auto (sets the external monitor to the max resolution)
 - Log out (without restarting the X-server) and log back in.

I think that this is exactly the same procedure that the deactivated service would do (excluding the Logging out).

Now, the resolution of the external is set to 1680x1050 with no flickers or crashes. I hope this helps someone and that it will be fixed by default. Thanks!

I can confirm this bug. Another exact explanation of the behavior I can observe:

1. Laptop screen (should be 1024x768) and external screen (should be 1920x1200) are connected
2. Clicking on the krandr in the tray opens the window to select both screens, and just in the moment opening it, resets both screens to 1024x768. Changing the resolution in that window flickers both screens but returns back to 1024x768 on both screens.
3. Using "xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 1920x1200" sets the external screen correctly, then e.g. "xrandr --output LVDS1 --off" works also like expected
4. Using grandr works like it should, debian package grandr-0.1+git20080326-1, even without any flickering
5. Using arandr works like it should, debian package arandr-0.1.2-2

Used KDE Version: Debian packages for 4.3.4
Kernel from sidux repositories (rest of the system is debian testing): linux-image-2.6.32-2.slh.7-sidux-686 
this is a Kernel with KMS (kernel mode setting)
xserver-xorg-video-intel version is 2.9.1-1 from debian testing

Though, I am pretty sure the bug must be in krandrtray, as grandr, xrandr and arandr work without any issues.

This bug just exists since I used a kernel with KMS!

Possible Solution / Partially Workaround / Explanation of the Problem!

Remove both files:
~/.kde/share/config/krandrrc
~/.kde/share/config/kcmrandrrc
Since I have removed these files, the problem does not occur anymore (so far!).

There might be something corrupting the configuration and make krandr misbehave; guesses what that could be:
   1a. "Randomly", maybe KMS is not 100% stable (very new feature)
   1b. "Randomly", KMS and xserver where not the right versions fit together, and confused krandr
>> 2. Update from non-KMS kernel to KMS kernel made the old krandr config misbehave due to name changes from LVDS to LVDS1 and VGA to VGA1 - this one is the one I think is the most probable, for what I experienced here, "krandrrc" uses Configuration fields which contain the names of the outputs, and if they were enabled the last time krandr was started.
   3. Maybe this was only caused by an KDE update from 4.3.2 to 4.3.4

The problem continues in KDE 4.4. Listing out my boot-up process to help developers understand the issue

# External monitor is connected to laptop. (it usually is in my case)
#Power up the laptop
# BIOS correctly detects the connected external display and redirects output to it. Laptop display is swicthed off. This is the "auto" behaviour of bios, can be manually changed if required
# Grub and linux bootup process are correctly displayed in the external monitor, (Arch Linux)
# KDM initialises and reconfigures display output to display on both laptop and external monitor. Resolution is 1024x768. Laptop's native resolution is 1280x800. External monitor's resolution is 1440x900
# KDE boots up after login, and continues to display on both screens at 1024x768

It gets interesting after this
   
# I open system settings -> display. This will cause the laptop display to be shut off automatically! But external monitor resolution is still 1024x768
# The "auto"resolution is correctly shown, but selecting this does not change the displayed resolution
# I've manually change the display to a third non-native" resolution, apply this resolution, and then select the correct resolution and apply again, which finally corrects the problem

Hope developers can quickly resolve this problem as it seems to be existing since start of kde4 series. It is a bit embrassing to perform these steps everytime when others are looking on. It reduces their opinion of kde and linux in general.

I primarily use my notebook connected to external monitor with notebook onboard lcd disabled. Have to use krandrtray every time I logon to set the external monitor resolution from 1152 x 864 to the desired 1680 x 1050.  Very annoying.

possible more info on this bug here:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=3107770.0

issue possibly do to this this combination:
intel gfx card
external monitor
kde 4.4


*************************************************************************
gfx card00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
        Subsystem: Dell Device 01f2
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 27
        Memory at fea00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1M]
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        I/O ports at efe8 [size=8]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: i915
        Kernel modules: i915

00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
        Subsystem: Dell Device 01f2
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
        Memory at feb00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1M]
        Capabilities: <access denied>

***************************************************************************
from .xsession-errors

Object::connect: No such signal Solid::Button::pressed(int, const QString &)
kded(1508)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig:
QDBusConnection: name 'org.kde.kglobalaccel' had owner '' but we thought it was ':1.5'
kdeinit4: preparing to launch /usr/lib/libkdeinit4_ksmserver.so
<unknown program name>(1505)/ KStartupInfo::createNewStartupId: creating:  "nathan-laptop;1273906275;421810;1505_TIME0" : "unnamed app"
kephald starting up
XRANDR error base:  162
RRInput mask is set!!
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  68 1680 x 1050
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  69 1280 x 1024
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  70 1280 x 1024
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  71 1152 x 864
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  72 1024 x 768
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  73 1024 x 768
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  74 800 x 600
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  75 800 x 600
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  76 640 x 480
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  77 640 x 480
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  78 720 x 400
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  79 1440 x 900
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  80 1360 x 768
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  81 1152 x 864
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding mode:  82 640 x 480
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding crtc:  63
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding crtc:  64
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding output:  65
Setting CRTC 63 on output "VGA1" (previous 0 )
CRTC outputs: (65)
Output name: "VGA1"
Output refresh rate: 75
Output rect: QRect(0,0 1152x864)
Output rotation: 1
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding output:  66
Setting CRTC 64 on output "LVDS1" (previous 0 )
CRTC outputs: (66)
Output name: "LVDS1"
Output refresh rate: 59.9971
Output rect: QRect(0,0 1152x864)
Output rotation: 1
RandRScreen::loadSettings - adding output:  67
Setting CRTC 0 on output "TV1" (previous 0 )
XRandROutputs::init
  added output  65
  added output  66
  added output  67
output: "LVDS1" QRect(0,0 1152x864) 0 false false
output: "TV1" QRect(0,0 0x0) 0 false false
output: "VGA1" QRect(0,0 1152x864) 0 false false
load xml
connected: 2
looking for current "LVDS1"
known "*" has score: 0.25
known "*" has score: 0.25
looking for current "VGA1"
known "*" has score: 0.25
screen: 0 QRect(0,0 1152x864)
looking for a matching configuration...
connected: 2
looking for current "LVDS1"
known "*" has score: 0.25
known "*" has score: 0.25
looking for current "VGA1"
known "*" has score: 0.25
found outputs, known: false
connected: 2
looking for current "LVDS1"
known "*" has score: 0.25
known "*" has score: 0.25
looking for current "VGA1"
known "*" has score: 0.25
activate external configuration!!
registered the service: true
screens registered on the bus: true
outputs registered on the bus: true
configurations registered on the bus: true
kwin(1609) KDecorationPlugins::loadPlugin: kwin : path  "/usr/lib/kde4/kwin3_oxygen.so"  for  "kwin3_oxygen"

I think we can set this to "NEW", since a lot of people are reporting it.

*** Bug 167890 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Fixed in da639244c0fe5790d56551f071d1351386a8239a

Thanks for reporting!

Hi. I am having this same problem. I have KDE 4.6.5 y Linux-Image 3.0.0-1-686-pae.
What Could I do?

Thanks a lot.

I would assume that you need at least KDE 4.7.