OpenSUSE -changing from CRT to LCD monitor

http://www.suse.de/~sndirsch/nvidia-installer-HOWTO.html
openSUSE 11.3-AMD64

It is recommended to use YaST for installation of the NVIDIA driver. There are several reasons for this. 

First, it's simple. 

Second, and this is the most important one, you won't need to recompile the nvidia kernel module after a kernel update.

Update your Kernel via YOU (YaST Online Update). Use
  YaST - Software - Software Repositories - Add
  Protocol: HTTP
  Server Name: : download.nvidia.com
  Directory on Server: /opensuse/11.3
to add the NVIDIA http server as additional installation source.
Now use
  YaST - Software - Software Management
to install the NVIDIA driver. The appropriate NVIDIA packages will be autoselected, if your card is supported. These are either
  a) x11-video-nvidia + nvidia-gfx-kmp-(kernel_flavor)
or
  b) x11-video-nvidiaG01 + nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-(kernel_flavor)
or
  c) x11-video-nvidiaG02 + nvidia-gfxG02-kmp-(kernel_flavor)
If no additional packages are autoselected, your card is not supported by the driver (RPMs) at the moment. It needs to be mentioned that 'xen'
is excluded from the kernel flavors supported by the Nvidia drivers.
People who aren't afraid of recompiling the nvidia kernel module or even reinstalling the nvidia driver each time the kernel has been
updated and want or need to use the latest and greatest nvidia driver can use the following steps 1-4. The others should use the
instructions above using YaST and skip the steps below. 
1) Kernel sources must be installed and configured. Usually this means installing the 'kernel-source', 'make' and 'gcc' packages with YaST2. 
2) Run the following commands 

# echo "blacklist nouveau" > /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia.conf

 ## recreate initrd without KMS, if the use of KMS is enabled in initrd
 if grep -q NO_KMS_IN_INITRD=\"no\" /etc/sysconfig/kernel; then
   sed -i 's/NO_KMS_IN_INITRD.*/NO_KMS_IN_INITRD="yes"/g' /etc/sysconfig/kernel
   mkinitrd
 fi
3) Reboot your machine.
4) Use the nvidia installer for 260.19.12.
# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-260.19.12.run -qIMPORTANT: You need to recompile and install the nvidia kernel module after each kernel update.
# sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-260.19.12.run -K

SuSE:Configuring graphics cards
Source

CRTs typically run at 80 or 85 Hz to avoid flickering. LCDs, on the other hand, run nicely at 60 Hz, as flickering is not an issue. Some support higher resolutions, for compatibility sake, but others don't.

This problem might happen when for some reason X doesn't have enough info to change the frequency, and keep sending a higher frequency than the monitor supports.

By default X doesn't create a xorg.conf file anymore in opensuse 11.2, but running sax2 will generate one and, if it exists, X will use it.

You could also try to set your monitor to a lower frequency/resolution with your DE tools (there's one in KDE control panel, IINM, don't know about Gnome/others) just to switch monitors, so you can reconfigure it.

Now, if you intend to switch monitors on a regular basis I think you'll need to use xorg.conf to configure both. 

FIRST:

Boot Into Run Level 3

At start simply type 3 at the grub screen. 

Or if started:

Apllication luncher - yast - system - system services (runlevel) - (use expert mode)

there under were you select the simple and expertmode is an option to set the runlevel after booting.

Running in runlevel 3 you can then use the "startx command to start X

Or open up a console, login as root and type:

# init 3

That is the same as the YaST way.

Or

# nano /etc/inittab

In run level 3 you have to login first which means you can'nt have the OS start it for you automatically when it boots, however, you can add startx to your startup script for bash, (if you are using bash) and have it startx automatically once a user logs into the system. This can be done manually for each users .bash file or you can place it in the global /etc/bash file in order to have it executed for all users.

THEN:
Login and reconfigure your graphics
# sax2