Xinerama (multiple monitors)
This is a nascent wiki entry, that will be updated & refactored as more information becomes available. |
For now see the following forum threads / pages :
It is advisable to install the graphics card's binary driver before configuring dual monitors. See BinaryDriverHowto.
Nvidia
Quick and dirty guide to using nVidia TwinView (two outputs on one card, a single desktop split across two monitors. 3d/video stuff works seamlessly across both).
Ok, the first thing to check is how many outputs your card has. Most of them tend to have a 15pin VGA output (the one your monitor is probably on) and a larger white DVI onnector. The ones with this DVI connector usually come with an adapter that converts it to a 15pin VGA socket - if you have this then you are ready for dualhead
Once you have two monitors hooked up, the magic all happens in the X config file (which will be /etc/X11/xorg.conf (/etc/X11/Xorg.conf) or /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 depending on which version you are unning). It is all contained in the Device section.
Here is mine:
Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "nvidia" VendorName "Videocard vendor" BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX5900XT" Option "TwinView" "true" Option "RenderAccel" "true" Option "UseEdidFreqs" "true" Option "MetaModes" "1600x1200,1600x1200;1280x1024,1280x1024;1024x768,NULL;800x600,800x600;640x480,640x480" Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-110" Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50-160" EndSection
The most important is the "TwinView" one, which enables the dualhead support. "UseEdidFreqs" means to probe the monitors for the resolutions they support (more on that in a moment). The "MetaModes" is where the configuration really lies - this tells the driver how you want the displays configured. The first entry will be the default and each entry is separated by a semicolon (";"). The first entry in mine therefore is "1600x1200,1600x1200" which means that both monitors should be in a 1600x1200 screenmode, making the total X display 3200x1200. Same principle for 1280x1024,1280x1024. The next one is slightly different, "1024x768,NULL" means that the second monitor will display nothing, so this mode is a true 1024x768 mode on the first monitor only (I use this one for playing games so they don't cross the monitor boundary). Beyond that, the "SecondMonitor" options are because my second monitor doesn't support EDID frequency lookups, so I have to tell the driver its refresh rates.
The only other thing you need to change then is to tell X's "Screen" section about these sizes.
Here is mine:
Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 Modes "3200x1200" "2560x1024" "1024x768" "1600x600" "1280x480" EndSubSection EndSection
The "Modes" line being the important one here, you can see that it tells X the sizes the displays will be once the nvidia driver has set the monitors up with the metamodes above.
That should pretty much be it, just check you're not loading the Xinerama module in the config file, nvidia's driver provides its own xinerama extension. I strongly recommend reading the README included with nvidia's driver (also available in the Linux driver section on www.nvidia.com) as it contains a lot more information about twinview that might be relevant to your situation.
If you got a problem with the order of your screens, which one is left and which on is the right one. you can declare 2 Devices
Section "Device" Identifier "Device[0]" Driver "nvidia" Screen 0 VendorName "Nvidia" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" Option "RenderAccel" "true" Option "UseEdidFreqs" "true" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device[1]" Driver "nvidia" Screen 1 VendorName "Nvidia" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" Option "RenderAccel" "true" Option "UseEdidFreqs" "true" EndSection
Then you have to declare also 2 screens for every Device, and also 2 Monitors
Section "Monitor" Identifier "TFT Monitor" Option "DPMS" VertRefresh 43-60 EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "CRT Monitor" Option "DPMS" HorizSync 28-130 VertRefresh 43-100 EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Default Screen[0]" Device "Device[0]" Monitor "CRT Monitor" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" EndSubSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Default Screen[1]" Device "Device[1]" Monitor "TFT Monitor" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1280x1024" EndSubSection EndSection
After that you have to join the two screens to one Desktop in the Server Layout
Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Xinerama" Screen 0 "Default Screen[0]" 0 0 Screen 1 "Default Screen[1]" LeftOf "Default Screen[0]" InputDevice "Generic Keyboard" InputDevice "Configured Mouse" InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents" InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents" InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents" Option "Xinerama" "on" EndSection
The screen 1 discribes the Order of the screens. So you can also write RightOf instead of LeftOf. The Xinerama Option brings both screens to gather to one big screen.
ATI
For users with an ati radeon card i found a xorg.conf which worked for me:
Section "Monitor" Identifier "Fujitsu0" Option "DPMS" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "Fujitsu1" Option "DPMS" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "ati0" Driver "radeon" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" Screen 0 EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "ati1" Driver "radeon" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" Screen 1 EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "screen0" Device "ati0" Monitor "Fujitsu0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1280x1024" EndSubSection EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "screen1" Device "ati1" Monitor "Fujitsu1" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1280x1024" EndSubSection EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Multihead" Screen "screen0" Screen "screen1" RightOf "screen0" InputDevice "mouse1" "CorePointer" InputDevice "keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard" Option "Xinerama" EndSection
found at: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-105588-highlight-ati+radeon+mobility+7500.html
Hope this helps:
Here is a link to a xorg.conf (wish I could claim it) that lays out multiple X servers.
You will need to modify it to your situation (mouse, keyboard, monitors, TV)
One server for twinview, one for separate monitors, and one for each monitor (as a single monitor).
You should be able to adapt it to do just about whatever you need.
Read it carefully it is well commented.
http://darkshed.net/files/rcs/misc/xorg.conf
Intel integrated graphics adapters
For everyone annoyed looking for solutions beside the two main brands, here's where i found help:
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install i810switch (a tool to switch on/off your laptops LCD and external VGA adapter)
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read the man-pages of i810 for further info and options
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the most important lines in your xorg.conf:
Section "Device" # Identifier "Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device" Identifier "Intel-LCD" Driver "i810" BusID "PCI:0:2:0" Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT, CRT+LFP" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Intel-VGA" Driver "i810" BusID "PCI:0:2:0" Screen 1 Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT, CRT+LFP" EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "LCD" Option "DPMS" HorizSync 28-51 VertRefresh 43-60 EndSection Section "Monitor" Identifier "CRT" Option "DPMS" HorizSync 28-51 VertRefresh 43-60 EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "LCD-Screen" Device "Intel-LCD" Monitor "LCD" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 16 Modes "1024x768" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1024x768" EndSubSection EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "CRT-Screen" Device "Intel-VGA" Monitor "CRT" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Depth 16 Modes "1024x768" EndSubSection SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1024x768" EndSubSection EndSection Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "Multihead" Screen 0 "LCD-Screen" Screen 1 "CRT-Screen" RightOf "LCD-Screen" Option "Xinerama" "on" Option "Clone" "off" InputDevice "Generic Keyboard" InputDevice "Configured Mouse" InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents" InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents" InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents" InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad" EndSection
Actually i dont know which screen is which, but it works! AND you will have to change settings to the screens to fit your monitors, resolutions and stuff. Found at http://www.wahlau.org/ubuntu_hoary_thinkpad_t43_and_xorg_dual_head_display
The most important lines are the MonitorLayout lines in the device-section. Further info about that command is found in your mentioned i810 manpage.
Thanks to Jazon, fritsch and jott in #kubuntu!