My new Dell has the referenced card with 1 GB of memory. I have attached to it a 19" Samsung monitor at 1280x1024 and a Starlogic 15" monitor at 1024x768. Using the nVIdia X Server drivers I have the "X Server Display Configuration" set to "Configuration: Separate X screen" mode.

The large monitor, screen 0, has the panel which I configured before I added the second monitor. (A few additional launchers added to the panel). The smaller monitor has a panel with just the default launchers from the Ubuntu install. So far, so good.

If I attempt to create a folder, launcher or document on the second desktop (small monitor) the object in question immediately disappears. If I logout and login (restarting the X server) the objects appear on the first desktop (large monitor).

I tried configuring the monitors as "TwinView" but this provides a panel on one monitor and unusable desktop(?) space on the second. If they were the same size and resolution perhaps this would be an avenue to investigate further. With the monitors I have, I see little potential.

Here is the xorg.conf produced by my Separate X screen configuration.
This is my first experience with two monitors (and Ubuntu 9.10 - I have been using 8.04 LTS since it came out but it will not install on the new hardware).

So far:

- I like the two monitors at different resolutions - appropriate for their sizes
- I like the separate panels - I can add launchers to the panel on the second screen.
- I like the fact that the stuff on the desktop on the first monitor is not shown on the second screen (as it is on multiple desktops on a single monitor).
- I can run a VMWare virtual machine full screen on the second screen and have full use of the first screen

My goals are to be able to:

- Create objects on the desktop of the second screen
- Move objects between the desktops on the two screens
- Logon as a different user on the second screen (stretch goal :-)

Advice from someone with experience in using multiple monitors would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,

Ken

Goal #1 -- Creating objects (icons/launchers?) works for me currently, but I'm using XFCE. It previously would not work using KDE 3.5.x, all icons would only appear on the first monitor. How it works under Gnome, somebody using Gnome will need to address for you.

Goal #2 -- Moving objects (windows etc..) from one monitor to the next, requires Xinerama. It won't work using TwinView. With TwinView, you can mouse across either screen, but you can't drag windows across (kinda silly if you ask me.)

Goal #3 -- Cannot be done in the nice, normal, easy way we would like; you would need to look into "Multi Headed X Configuration". Here's a link or two to read about this:
http://linuxgazette.net/124/smith.html
http://blog.chris.tylers.info/index....11R6.97.0.html

Best regards -- I hope this gives you at least some interesting reading for now

Sasha

Sasha, thanks for the quick reply. I will try Xinerama. I had read the description but was not sure what would happen with 2 different resolutions. But I have xorg.conf backed up! And I know how to replace a bad one from a terminal

As for multiple users...

- I only have one account on the system at the moment
- I suppose I could use VNC to run the desktop of a second account and access it from the second monitor
- I do not really have the need to do this at the moment - just an idea

The second link you provided brought back memories... I recall reading that he serial port of the original IBM PC was designed to allow second user to share the power (8086 4 MHz, 256KB RAM) of the machine! And I have 4 cores at 2.8 GHz, 8 GB of RAM, about a TB of disk and ONE user at the 1/5 the cost of the original PC!

Regards,

Ken

Sasha,

To let you know - Xinerama seems to work fine even though the 2 monitors have different resolutions. Still I think I like the separate panel setup better so I have changed back to that for the moment.

Again, thanks for your help!

Ken

Two different resolutions is OK, however you may want to make one of them virtual (you don't need to, it'll be fine either way), but I liked the virtual sizing:

For example, when I had a large monitor on the left, and a smaller one on the right, I found it annoying that when moving stuff from one monitor to the other, the resolution was different and/or if I had a window spanning both monitors, the image was borked at the 'seam' between the two.
By setting a virtual desktop size on the smaller monitor (making it appear the same resolution as the larger monitor), and using Xinerama, the left + right monitors lined up, and the resolution was the same. HOWEVER, as a side-effect to this (which I liked, but you may not) the extra vertical real-estate of the large virtual size, on the smaller monitor, meant that the bottom of the image was below the bottom edge of the monitor, and so one has to mouse down to the bottom of the desktop to make the desktop image scroll upwards, exposing the bottom.

That sounded confusing :/ -- how about this:

Picture a resolution of 1280x1024, being sent to two monitors; the left monitor is larger than the right:

The left monitor is 1280x1024 for real, but the right monitor is 1024x768 with a VIRTUAL display of 1280x1024 on it. So it's kind of like having TWO 1280x1024 monitors, only the right-hand one has a 1024x768 frame in front of it, which needs to be moved up/down to see the top/bottom of the image.

Anyhow, maybe more on this if you are interested, but for now, try the Xinerama and see what you think.

Here's some xorg.confs I posted a while back, for reference: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...nitors-751939/ and post#5 on that page shows some virtual resolutions.

Best of luck,
Sasha

Oops! I see we posted at the same time; no worries, as long as you're happy

But, again while there may be differences using Gnome, in my experience with both KDE and XFCE, I have no problems having a separate panel on each monitor, OR (what I currently enjoy) having my panel (toolbar) stretched across both monitors from end to end. Gives loads of room on it, and I have it so the taskbar entries for applications on one monitor, stay on the taskbar side on THAT monitor. It's great!

Sasha