Is there a way to disable or limit system xrandr probes?

[kwill]

I came across a Phoronix article on XRandR while searching for a solution to this problem. I hope this is the correct forum to post this query. Please let me know a more appropriate venue if not. [1]

I am currently suffering from a video card related bug [2] which causes my TV screen to flicker every 10 seconds. According to a Launchpad contributor, this is probably caused by the system running a regular xrandr probe.

Is there any way to safely disable this probe while I wait for a bugfix?

I want to be able to:

* run my machine as normal when the S-video cable is not plugged in
* plug in the cable and choose to output to the TV using the Monitor Preferences tool
* unplug the cable and switch back to normal resolution
* (low priority) boot up with the cable plugged in and have it be detected and used
* not mess everything up

Is this possible? A system setting would be preferable, but a script/command to run after I've got the TV hooked up is acceptable.

[1] I've already asked this on AskUbuntu but no answers yet http://askubuntu.com/questions/54422...-xrandr-probes

[2] S-video output doesn't work in Ubuntu 11.04 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...el/+bug/763688

[droste]

if you have upowerd installed make sure that it's at least version 0.9.9 and that /etc/UPower/UPower.conf does _not_ contain PollDockDevices=true

[kwill]

PollDockDevices=false

if you have upowerd installed make sure that it's at least version 0.9.9 and that /etc/UPower/UPower.conf does _not_ contain PollDockDevices=true

I checked it out, and I have UPower 0.9.9-4 installed, and PollDockDevices=false, so it's not that. Thanks anyway droste! If you have any other suggestions I'm all ears.