Using 18.04 KDEneon. My old Dell laptop using 16.04 behaved correctly but I'm having fits with this new laptop and 18.04. Basically, I want "docking" mode when it's plugged in and lid is closed.
Here's what I want:
When on A/C power, external monitor connected, lid closed - stay powered on, turn off laptop monitor, shift desktop to external monitor
When on A/C power, external monitor connected, lid open - stay powered on, extend desktop to both monitors with laptop monitor as primary
When on A/C power, no external monitor, lid closed - stay powered on but turn off laptop monitor
When on battery, lid closed - suspend
Advanced wish list (less important than above):
When on A/C power, external monitor connected, lid closed - auto login when powered up.
When on A/C or battery power but not connected to external monitor - require log in.
My use-case is when in my office, I leave my laptop plugged in to A/C power and the external monitor. It sits in a cubby untouched. I turn it on with wake-on-lan and use my desktop mouse/keyboard via a program called Synergy. This requires that it auto-login because Synergy only works once logged in. If I don't have auto login, I have to open the laptop, log in, then close the lid. When I'm on the road, I would prefer it not auto-login even when on A/C power. Currently I just have to turn auto-login off when I leave the office.
So again - the "docking" behavior worked on my previous Dell laptop using 16.04 but the same settings don't work now - new laptop, new 18.04 install.
If I enable "Turn off screen" in "Button Events handling" in System Settings, it turns off both monitors, regardless if the laptop screen or external monitor are set as Primary and "Even when an external monitor is connected" has no effect - it behaves the same regardless - this makes me think it's broken functionality. If I don't have "Turn off screen" ticked, the laptop screen stays on and remains on with desktop active. I have to manually turn it off in system settings.
Systemd has a plethora of options in logind.conf that include lid events, but I don't know the magic combo to get what I want - if there even is one.
It seems I may be writing a script to make this happen, but I don't feel like I should have to. Clearly, I'm not the only person in the world that docks a laptop occasionally.
Here's what I want:
When on A/C power, external monitor connected, lid closed - stay powered on, turn off laptop monitor, shift desktop to external monitor
When on A/C power, external monitor connected, lid open - stay powered on, extend desktop to both monitors with laptop monitor as primary
When on A/C power, no external monitor, lid closed - stay powered on but turn off laptop monitor
When on battery, lid closed - suspend
Advanced wish list (less important than above):
When on A/C power, external monitor connected, lid closed - auto login when powered up.
When on A/C or battery power but not connected to external monitor - require log in.
My use-case is when in my office, I leave my laptop plugged in to A/C power and the external monitor. It sits in a cubby untouched. I turn it on with wake-on-lan and use my desktop mouse/keyboard via a program called Synergy. This requires that it auto-login because Synergy only works once logged in. If I don't have auto login, I have to open the laptop, log in, then close the lid. When I'm on the road, I would prefer it not auto-login even when on A/C power. Currently I just have to turn auto-login off when I leave the office.
So again - the "docking" behavior worked on my previous Dell laptop using 16.04 but the same settings don't work now - new laptop, new 18.04 install.
If I enable "Turn off screen" in "Button Events handling" in System Settings, it turns off both monitors, regardless if the laptop screen or external monitor are set as Primary and "Even when an external monitor is connected" has no effect - it behaves the same regardless - this makes me think it's broken functionality. If I don't have "Turn off screen" ticked, the laptop screen stays on and remains on with desktop active. I have to manually turn it off in system settings.
Systemd has a plethora of options in logind.conf that include lid events, but I don't know the magic combo to get what I want - if there even is one.
It seems I may be writing a script to make this happen, but I don't feel like I should have to. Clearly, I'm not the only person in the world that docks a laptop occasionally.