DDC info refresh?

[Mouse <mouse%Rodents-Montreal.ORG@localhost>]

I have a turnkey product I'm working on moving from 5.2 to 8.0, and
I've run into a behaviour difference.  I'm wondering how hard it would
be to fix.  I'm not sure whether this is more correctly fixed in the
kernel or on the X side of things, hence the cross-post.

Under 5.2, if I start the X server with no monitor connected, I get (in
my test environment) 800x600; if I start the X server with a monitor
connected, I get 1280x1024 (that's the monitor's native resolution, and
is what the product is designed for).  This is presumably due to a lack
of DDC info in the former case.

Under 8.0 whether the monitor is connected when I start the X server
does not seem to make any difference; it's whether the monitor is
connected at boot that matters.  (I also get 1024x768, not 800x600,
with no monitor connected, but I don't much care about that; I mention
it only in case it's significant.)  I assume this is at least partially
related to the switch from text console to text-via-graphics console
during autoconfig.

What I'm wondering is what I need to do to get 8.0 to reread the DDC
info post-boot.  I don't care (much) about the text-via-graphics
console; that can continue to run in whatever resolution it cares to.
I'd even be happy to go back to text-mode console if it fixes the X
server issues.  What I want is for X to start in 1280x1024 if it has a
1280x1024 monitor connected at X server startup time, regardless of
what may have been connected, or not, at boot time.

It would also be enough if I could force the X server to run 1280x1024
whether or not it has a monitor connected.  Under 5.2, I added options
to the X server, one to capture DDC info to a file and one to provide a
file to be read to provide DDC info if none could be obtained from the
monitor.  This addressed the problem there.  But, under 8.0, the use of
1024x768 even with a monitor connected indicates to me that it's
getting DDC, or moral eqvuialent, from the kernel instead of the
monitor, so I am inclined to doubt the same approach would work.  (I
can try it, certainly, but, based on the information I have now, that
seems like an investment of my time with a low expected return.)

Comments?  Thoughts?  If there is something else that this depends on
that I haven't mentioned, just let me know.

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