I currently have to, after each time I log in, run xrandr --addmode VGA-1 1600x1200 and then use the display settings tool to set the correct resolution for one of my monitors.
Also (not sure if this is the same problem or not), during boot up, I don't see the plymouth screen--instead, both of my monitors turn off until lightdm comes up.
I'm using the neauvou driver (or whatever the default is) and Ubuntu 11.10.
So, how can I set the correct resolution for both of my screens from boot?
Some time ago I used GNU WindowMaker and I had to 'force' the computer by including this line:
xrandr --fb 1280x1024 --dpi 86 --screen 0
in my ~/.xinitrc (which had execute permission). Now I'm running Xfce4 on the same machine and it just works, no idea why...
Although I can add the resolution mode with Xrandr I can't make it permanent in Oneiric, but regarding the Plymouth problem, it has to do with the system booting up, by the time the sequence gets to the line where it says to load the plymouth animation of your choice is already too late and "decides" not to run it, but you can change the order in which that command is executed. This has to be typed in terminal as super user (root)
To become super user:
sudo su
You will be asked for your password and then type:
echo FRAMEBUFFER=y > /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash
update-initramfs -u
to exit root-mode type:
exit
I finally decided that the startup resolution didn't matter too much and just went the .xinitrc way. (Which, I discovered, fixed the black startup screen problem somehow. So now everything is working good.) I first tried just putting the xrandr command to make the higher resolution availible, but that didn't work because it was run too late. So I put the commands to make the higher resolution availible and then switch to it in my executable .xinitrc:
xrandr --addmode VGA-1 1600x1200
xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode 1600x1200