Dual Monitor using aticonfig single head & Splitter Cable

Draznar · 05-27-2010, 01:35 PM

Greetings!

I am attempting to get a Dual Monitor Display using aticonfig (and/or manual editing my xorg.conf file). My graphics card (a Radeon HD 4350 with latest ati drivers ) has only a single output but I am using a splitter cable to connect it to two monitors.

I am want one monitor to be 1600x1200 and the second monitor to be 800x600.

This is the command I had tried to no avail.

aticonfig -fq --initial --dtop=horizontal,reverse --resolution=0,1600x1200,1280x1024,1024x768 --mode2=800x600

What am I missing? Should I be using this configuration utility? Or should I be trying to manual edit my xorg.config? All the information I have been able to find seems specific to Dual Head Displays.

EDIT: It occurs to me to post my edited xorg.conf file

Quote:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
Option "BlankTime" "0"
Option "StandbyTime" "0"
Option "SuspendTime" "0"
Option "OffTime" "0"
Option "Xinerama" "true"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "fglrx"
Option "DesktopSetup" "horizontal,reverse"
Option "Mode2" "800x600"
BusID "PCI:7:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "800x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Thank you for the input!

Shadow_7 · 05-28-2010, 06:07 AM

Are the displays cloned? Because that method they'd kind of have to be. Also with differing resolutions you might need a converter box before the second / smaller resolution display. Monitors have EDID infomation specific to the monitor. This information is used to determine HorizSync / VertRefresh / and resolutions supported. Since you've got two sources of this information you might also need to add a Modeline to hardcode what it should use, or attempt to use. And hopefully the other display works with that same modeline. Which could work for the SAME resolutions, but will likely NOT for different resolutions. And since it's single head they wont be anything other than cloned. You need dual heads to have independent displays.

onebuck · 05-28-2010, 07:38 AM

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

How are you going to control the displays independently let alone distinguish? There would be not way to select control of the display let alone monitor output to a particular one with the use of a splitter.
You need the functionality of a dual head or dual output video adapter.

Quote:

excerpt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-monitor

Single PC multi-monitor

A multiple monitor setup increases the net display area of a system and can be an inexpensive way of improving computer usage.[6] Resulting display area after upgrading to a multi-monitor configuration is limited by the size, resolution and number of monitors. The monitors used for multi-monitor can be different types (LCD or CRT) and sizes. The operating system manages the monitors' resolutions independently.

Video output on a computer is generated by a video graphics device, typically on a removable card but which may also be integrated into the motherboard as a discrete device or as part of the chipset logic. The output is interpreted and displayed by a variety of devices. Video outputs are generally connected to a monitor (of either the CRT or LCD type), however they are increasingly being connected to projection equipment or television sets. As a result of this trend, manufacturers have produced video cards which can connect to several types of display devices using the appropriate interface. A "Dual Head" configuration utilizes a video card that supports two discrete outputs. Users may also utilize two discrete video cards, and sometimes even an integrated motherboard video socket plus a second video card, though often the motherboard disables the integrated video when a discrete video card is used (a limitation that was common on older chipsets featuring integrated AGP graphics and an AGP upgrade slot).