I recently installed Debian sarge (2.6.8 kernel) on an old HP Pavilion XL754 with a Pentium III.

The other day I decided I wanted to add a second monitor, and I found an old PCI video card (ATI all in wonder VE) to use. I looked at the XFree86Config-4 file and at a few web pages and set up the system for a dual head display. The integrated video worked with the i810 driver before I installed the PCI card, now the card seems to be the default and works on its own with the "ati" driver. Neither monitor is broken. The best result I have gotten is one the secondary monitor (using the integrated video) displaying a distorted bunch of multicolored lines, sort of. When I try to start gdm with both configured to be active, they both freeze, the primary (ati) one goes blank and I have to do a hard reboot.

I can use one monitor with the ATI card by commenting out the line,
Screen "Secondary Screen" RightOf "Default Scren"

How can I get this working (or what's the reason that I can't)? I've been fiddling with this for a while but I've had no real success. Thanks for looking.

lspci output and XF86Config-4 contents:

Note: only a limited set of video cards work with other cards in the system. This has been true like since forever.

If the ATI is itself dual-head (mine is: AIW 9600), then you should disable the built-in in bios and just use the ATI, other than these, I'm afraid I can't help you, but best luck resolving -- dually (as a single wide desktop or as a pair of separate desktops) is nice!

I spent all day yesterday on this exact same problem, Intel onboard 845G, with an S3 Virge PCI card. Setting the bios option to the appropriate card allows that card to work but not the other. I've scoured the internet for the answer, usually when something takes me this long it's because of a hardware problem that it will not work no matter what you do, but as I sit here with Microsoft Windows XP dragging my window back and forth between the monitors I know that this is not the case.

So what is the deal with this?

That is obviously not true unless you are referring to the operating system and not the computer. I have dual head setup in debian at home with a dual head card, I wanted to use linux at work too but I must have dual head or what's the point (Linux isn't so good that I will sit here with one blank screen when I can use both in XP). If XP can do it why can't Linux? That proves it's not a hardware issue.

Drognan,

No, what it proves is that the pair that *you* have does not have this problem -- I have worked with this problem on-and-off since roughly 1990, and on up to about a year ago -- on then-new hardware! -- and that last included an agp plus a pci; previously I have worked with double-pci, double-isa (various formats), and once with a double-vesa.
(FWIW: I have been into "PCs" since 1/1/1984, highly active for all that time, and this combination does confer knowledge. Having said that, I have spent less time on some things than on others, and since I got a dually-card, I haven't kept up with this issue very much.)

If it is no longer true, then it is a *very* recent fix.

But I am certainly glad that yours worked!
And I wish you the best with the other -- in your case, yes, obviously (if I read you right), it is not a hardware problem.


OTOH, yes, Linux does still have its own, personal, problems with duallies. Sigh/Grrr.

And I repeat, as best I know, it is still true that not all pairings of video cards can co-exist in the same computer.

In fact, In the old days, it was possible to burn out, one or both of the cards this way, and it was possible to burn the motherboard, too.

I **THINK** the motherboard is now safe unless you have two cards in the same **type** of slot -- I do not know about that situation at this point in time. I have _not_ heard anywhere worthwhile that there is no longer any danger in this. Thus I would rather protect my investment & Not have to agp nor two pci cards in the same computer. YMMV, and good luck if you try it!



thetictaddict (any others),
-- so be careful & read around before mixing cards, J.I.C.,this is one place where is is better to not dare until you know the facts.

I am trying s3virge w/built-in I915G (using i810 driver). I can get either screen to show up, depending on BIOS settings, but never both together. I have FC3 (heidelberg) with all the latest updates.

I've tried disabling xinerama.

I've tried explicitly setting the DeviceID (since I keep getting an error saying "S3VIRGE: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:4:1:0) found").

Here are some other tidbits:

I also get "I810: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0:2:1) found". It appears the built-in graphics uses two PCI "instances"? Maybe this is confusing things somehow?