I just recently installed Ubuntu on my work laptop(in place of SUSE 9.2), and I really enjoy it.

I have a dual boot Amd Ath. Xp 2800+ desktop at homw with 3 monitors.
I have just replaced Suse 9.2 on that one also with Ubuntu.
But, I only have one of the three monitors working.

My relevant system specs are:
AMD 2800+
3 dell trinitron monitors crt.(all the monitors are exactly the same.)
2 ATI 9200. 1 Agp. 1 Pci.
Xp on 1 80gig ATA HD - hda
Ubuntu on 1 80gig -hdb

I looked all throught the menus in Ubuntu, but I could not find anything configure monitors or vid cards.

What am I missing?

Blair

anyone?

plz search for Xfree86 Multiuser in google.com,if you can do it please tell to me

Huh?

Ok - here's what you have to do and I don't know how to do it with a GUI or something like that. But, if I remember correctly you have to modify you /etc/X11/xorg/xorg.conf file to include the other monitors. There's extensive documentation on the syntax of the file and if you google it ("xorg.conf"). But it's pretty simple and actually if you had all three monitors working in SUSE then (if you backed up your config files) you could simply copy the "Monitors" and "Video Cards" sections over.

But, if you can't figure it out and all else fails (and I can upload my configuration file if you want to take a look) what you can do is this (and yes, it's a pain in the ass):

>DL Ubuntu Live CD.
>Boot into it three times, each time attaching only one monitor at a time to each of the different video cards (that is first monitor first video card - reboot; second...etc.) and check out the xorg.conf file that is generated each time.
>Copy the relevant sections down onto a good old sheet of paper (sections about the monitor specs and video card specs, esp the PCI Bus address.
>Now you're sort of on your own, but here's the basics:
>>> you'll need to add all those monitors and all those video cards to the xorg file (which is in /etc/X11/[something] dir.) on your normal HDD (that is, don't edit the file in /etc/X11/ when you're booting off the live CD) in the right place - i.e., monitors into the monitors section, etc.
>>> then you'll need to fix the layout section:
>>> layout monitorOne left of monitorTwo or whatever the syntax is (sorry - this would a much better post, but I left NYC today and don't have access to a Linux box, otherwise... well that and the six pack....) and then you should be good. try rebooting the computer into your nomal harddrive and see if that works. If not, I'll be able to ssh to my normal computer tomorrow and can give you a better answer.

--jeremy.

ps. what are you doing with three monitors?? I'm a graphic designer and I've only got two for god's sake...

Thank you for the reply.

I really like Ubuntu.. I am just new to it. With SUSE I had Yast and could could do all my settings in GUI.

I have messed around with Xfree config in my slackware box, but
am still kinda new to xorg.

My major problem is only having two vid cards with three monitors.
If I had three cards this would be a lot easier.

With two cards I can only do two seperate Desktops w/ one of the having a clone.

I was really hoping for a gui solution cuz I am lazy.
SO lazy I might just buy a card to make it easier.

As for your P.S. I live in a part of the U.S not blessed with reliable or affordable high speed connections. I can only connect at 28.8. I use the three monitors to open three web pages at once and move between them as they load. (Don't feel to bad for me. My area should be one of the first place to see Fios.)

Thanks again,
Blair

Blair,
I was reading up on the xorg configuration file and I don't think that this should be too too hard. I think that what you have to do is set up your xorg config file to have the ATI card set up so that it knows that there are two connections there.
<code>
Section "Device"
Identifier "GeForce FX5200 "
Driver "nvidia"
VideoRam 131072
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "GeForce FX5200 "
Driver "nvidia"
VideoRam 131072
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
</code>
or at least that's my understanding. Just use that sort of setup (but with the settings changed obviously) for the one video card and then config the rest of the devices & screens for the normal dual monitor setup. There are a bunch of good examples out there (both with and without xinerama). google these:

"multiple monitors one video card linux" [check the gentoo wiki]
"xinerama xorg ubuntu"

that should give you more than enough to get the whole thing done. Like I said, it shouldn't be that tough, you'll just need to get your hands dirty with the command line. Oh and if you're new to Ubuntu, may I suggest the wonderful:

http://ubuntuguide.org/

Well - I'm off. Good luck and sorry about the 28.8.

--jeremy.

Hi jeremy

who much ram is enough in video card i need for xfree86 multiuser???

15mbps is weeks away....I think I am drooling.( I saw 'em running the lines yesterday)

Again thanks for all the useful information.
I got some reading to do.

I will post what I did to getting working...when I do...

Thanks,
Blair

Blair,
Glad to hear about the 15MB. I hope everything works out with the three monitors - post the results, since it'll probably help out a bunch of people. I'm going to get a G5 in the next couple of weeks and I'd like to know how the dual monitors on one card works out. Also, in case you have some other problems to work out: I'm kind of new to the whole Ubuntu thing myself and I've been stalking the official forums (ubuntuforums.org) for a bit and there's a lot of good info there. This "apt-get install" thing's sort of thrown me for a loop after "emerge"ing for the last two years or so. Anyway, I'm rambling. Best of luck.
- Jeremy.

Just got a ati radeon 9200 pci off ebay.
It hopefully will be here in a week or so.

Have you been here?It helped me get up and running with out the usual snags.
http://ubuntuguide.org/

I wish they would make all of these guides this easy to understand.

I think "sudo apt-get install" rocks.
I am not crazy about not being able to su by default, but it is actually working out for me. I guess it kinda protects me from myself.

I will post the finale to this in a week or two.

Thanks,
Blair

P.S a G5...damn I = jealous..just blew all my $ on cisco routers and switches...g5 = long way away. I'd just end up running yellow dog on it most of the time anyway. You getting one of those nice 30" studio monitors to go with G5?

Blair,

Nah, the 30" monitors are too expensive, plus you can get better. I'm getting two 19" LCDs - I just like having two monitors better anyway - keeps me more organized when I've got one screen for play and one screen for work (though I bet you can guess which gets used more). But yeah, ubuntuguide is an awesome site; I'm still in the process of reading through it. Good luck with the new card, I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes.

matarodi: sorry, I didn't see your reply at first. I'd say if you're going to be running multiple monitors you'll want at least 64Mb of video ram per display. I use 128Mb/Display but most of the stuff I do is really graphics intensive. I've run xinerama on as little as 16Mb per card but it was pretty crappy in terms of refresh rate. If you're going to be having multiple users signed on at a time then you'll need to beef up on system RAM and not so much video RAM. I'd think 512Mb for 2 users and then maybe another 128Mb per user after that.

--Jeremy.

Allright I got the vid card in the mail, and it is installed.
I ran Ubuntu that I had installed prior to the vid card install.
X was broken. It had something to do with me moving the vid cards around.
I reinstalled Ubuntu. I got a working X, but still one monitor.
I got into xorg.conf.
It looks as though I can just add a couple more Device/Monitor/Screen entries and be on my way.
Doing it Device0 ...Device1...Device2 and so forth. The only thing I can't quite figure out is how to find the Bus ID for each card.
The Bus Id for the card it is picking up PCI:1:8:0
I am assuming that has something to do with which PCI slot it is in????
Is there a way to find the Bus ID's of the cards?
Am I on the right track?

If I can't figure this out I will just install SUSE 9.2 again. COpy the xfree conf file and try that.
Just trying to avoid the aggravation.

Thanks,
Blair
(I'm typing this on my old P2 Slackware 10 box. Man I forgot how much Slackware rocks.)

Blair,
It's pretty easy. In a terminal just type "lspci" - it'll give you the Bus IDs of all your cards. You'll get an output like this:

0000:00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corp. 82810 CGC [Chipset Graphics Controller] (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801AA PCI Bridge (rev 02)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801AA ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 02)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801AA IDE (rev 02)
0000:00:1f.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801AA USB (rev 02)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801AA SMBus (rev 02)
0000:01:08.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage 128 RE/SG

In your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file you'll switch those numbers to the following syntax : "PCI:1:08:0" (for the ATI Card from mine). And yeah, you're on the right track. Hope it works.

Best,
Jeremy.

It's been about 7 hours total tinkering with my xorg.conf. I am getting really good at making 3 monitors turn black.
I finally gave up and reinstalled SUSE 9.2. It got the setup right off the bat. I set it up the way I wanted, and copied the .conf file to flash card I have. I will just cut and paste once I get Ubuntu reinstalled. I will cut and paste the xorg.conf here once I get it working.

My last question is how to get 3d working with multiple monitors?( I would like to be able to play UT2004)

Suse said with multiple monitors 3d could not be enabled.

Thanks,
Blair