Dual Monitors

brokenflea · 08-26-2005, 03:51 AM

I have a notebook and a spare 17" CRT lying around, and i was thinking of using the vga port at the back of the notebook to connect to the 17". I don't know how to put this, but is there a way i can use the 2nd monitor in a dual-screen setup, e.g. increase my resoultion from 1024X768 to 2048x768. i tried tweaking my xorg.conf but the only thing i'm getting on the 17" crt is the duplication of the lcd screen on the notebook.
here's a copy of my xorg.conf

Code:

Section "Files"
RgbPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver	"kbd"
Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
Option "XkbRules"	"xorg"
Option "XkbModel"	"pc101"
Option "XkbLayout"	"us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier	"Mouse1"
Driver	"mouse"
Option "Protocol"    "Auto"
Option "Device"      "/dev/mouse"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Buttons" "3"
Option "EmulateWheel"   "true"
Option "EmulateWheelButton" "2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier  "monitor0"
HorizSync   31.5 - 57.0
VertRefresh 40 - 75
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
Option      "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier	"Standard VGA"
    VendorName	"Unknown"
    BoardName	"Unknown"
    Driver     "vga"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "** Silicon Motion (generic)           [siliconmotion]"
    Driver      "siliconmotion"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen0"
    Device      "** Silicon Motion (generic)           [siliconmotion]"
    Monitor     "monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device      "Standard VGA"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "SimpleLayout"
Screen "Screen0" 0 0
Screen "Screen1" LeftOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "True"
EndSection

Any help would be gladly appreciated.

TIA

piete · 08-26-2005, 05:29 AM

If I understand correctly, you're looking for desktop extension. nVidia cards have a function called "TwinView" which does this, aTi have something equivalent.

A few things you need to look at:

* These extended desktops are the function of hardware and (usually) vendor drivers. You're using the VGA driver. To my knowledge, this won't work.
* lspci - does the other output show up separately? (Not sure this is relevant, actually)
* I've never heard of Silicon Motion, but searches indicate that they make graphics co-processors. We need more information on your card.

So, the short answer to the question: "Can I use this notebook + 17" CRT in a dual monitor configuration?" is "Depends ... "

- Piete

gbonvehi · 08-26-2005, 06:02 AM

Try using Option "Xinerama" "true" instead of Option "Xinerama" "True".
I never tested if X check that far for characters cases, but worth to try

From xorg.conf man page:

Quote:

The following boolean option values are recognised as TRUE:
1, on, true, yes

Edit: Damn, I answer to fast...

Quote:

Config file keywords are case-insensitive, and "_" characters are ignored. Most strings (including Option names) are also case-insensitive, and insensitive to white space and "_" characters.

It says most

Check this ones too see if you spot a diference: http://www.gulic.org/system/files?file=xorg.conf http://www.gulic.org/system/files?file=Xorg.0.log