One CPU, 4 Display. How to set it up using slackware?

slackers-bengkulu · 03-01-2007, 02:34 AM

Hello, guys, my school system use one CPU and 4 display to serve our students (there are ten CPU). unfortunately it is using windows and betwin for splitting to four display, enabling 4 user concurently. the question is i want to use linux and want to be able to set it up using slackware.

the general specs are :
the CPU use 1 motherboard using one Intel CPU P4 3.06 GHz, One giga RAM, one VGA in VGA slot, and three VGA in PCI slot. The hard disk capacity is PATA 30 GB.

i know it could be done, but don't know how to start. please somebody help me.
thanks.

H_TeXMeX_H · 03-01-2007, 03:33 PM

Try this:

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/...s_with_XFree86

Shade · 03-01-2007, 07:34 PM

It won't be as hard as it sounds.

What you'll end up doing (instead of Xinerama, cloned, etc) is running an independent X session on each video card / monitor.

This is the method in the wiki above:
2. 'Normal' MultiHead -- Every monitor has a different seperate X screen and session

slackers-bengkulu · 03-02-2007, 07:15 PM

Thanks guys. i'll try it.

piete · 03-02-2007, 09:17 PM

Not entirely sure either of the above solutions is what the OP asked for.

There is 1 PC, and using BeTwin (thin client-ish software), that PC gets used by 4 people independantly - each has their own mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

http://www.thinsoftinc.com/product_p...ng_betwin.aspx

I have *no* idea how you'd do this under linux. Using separate PCs you could use remote-X, but there would still exist a local PC, clearly not a drop-in replacement. I shall ponder some more while I wait for some thin-client-esque gurus!

- Piete.

H_TeXMeX_H · 03-02-2007, 09:24 PM

Oh, so it's 4 users all on 1 computer with 4 keyboard and 4 mice and 4 displays ?

Hmmm ... that may be more difficult.

gnashley · 03-03-2007, 10:27 AM

netboot or pxe boot might be the thing you need.

GrapefruiTgirl · 03-05-2007, 09:20 AM

Interesting.. Original poster could specify if each student gets a mouse and keyboard, that would help. I suppose that would be most practical as well.
However, if the situation involves ONE mouse and ONE keyboard per FOUR displays, here's some info which may help you. I am posting my xorg.conf file, which is the configuration file for the X-server.
Now, my system is using ONE graphics card and TWO displays, each display being its own X-screen, and Xinerama DOES have to be enabled for this setup. I use this setup so my DVDROM can be used to play DVDs on the television with Xine Player, while I use the computer. It allows me to move the mouse from screen to screen, and allows applications to be opened and maximized on each screen independently of each other.
You will notice that I have TWO Device sections (each referring to the same video card), TWO Monitor sections, and TWO Screen sections. For your setup, if this is what you want, you would change the file so that there is a Device section for EACH video card, a Monitor section for EACH monitor, and a Screen section for EACH screen.
I hope this helps you, or someone else

and if you need further advice, just post again, and check out the links above that other users have posted.
Also, there is probably a way to add mouses and keyboards to some degree, but I don't know either way. Also, as I am using an nVidia card, your meta-modes areas will be different or maybe even not needed. There are some very good tutorials out there.

Code:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "2Disps-2Xscrs-Xiner"
    Screen 0  "Screen0"  0 0
    Screen 1  "Screen1"  1600 0
    InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

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

Section "Module"
    Load  "dbe"
    Load  "extmod"
    Load  "type1"
    Load  "freetype"
    Load  "glx"
    Load  "fbdevhw"
    Load  "record"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Keyboard0"
    Driver  "kbd"
    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
    Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
    Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse0"
    Driver  "mouse"
    Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
    Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

# KDS Monitor:
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor0"
    VendorName "KDS Corp"
    ModelName "Proview"
    HorizSync 30.0 - 86.0
    VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

# Television:
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor1"
    VendorName "General Electric"
    ModelName "TV"
    HorizSync 30 - 50
    VertRefresh 60
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "i810"
    Driver "i810"
    VendorName "Intel"
    BoardName "i854G/PE"
    BusID "PCI:00:10:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Videocard0"
    Driver  "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "NV18 GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X"
    BusID "PCI:01:00:0"
    Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Videocard1"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName  "NV18 GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X"
    BusID "PCI:01:00:0"
    Screen 1
EndSection

# KDS Monitor:
Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device  "Videocard0"
    Monitor "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "XVideo" "On"
    Option "RenderAccel" "On"
    Option "HWcursor" "On"
    Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "True"
    Option "DamageEvents" "True"
    Option "metamodes" "CRT: 1600x1200 +0+0"
  SubSection "Display"
    Depth 24
    Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600"
  EndSubSection
EndSection

# Television:
Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen1"
    Device  "Videocard1"
    Monitor "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "XVideo" "On"
    Option "RenderAccel" "On"
    Option "HWcursor" "On"
    Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "True"
    Option "DamageEvents" "True"
    Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
    Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
    Option "metamodes" "TV: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
  SubSection "Display"
    Depth 24
    Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
  EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option "Composite" "Enable"
    Option "Render" "Enable"
EndSection

XavierP · 03-05-2007, 09:47 AM

Another idea - at the last LWE UK, I saw a single PC running 6 clients with their own moue and keyboard and monitor and with little or no degradation in speed or performance.

http://www.linuxworldexpo.co.uk/page...PressID=11/t=m explains how it was used at LWE
http://www.blueloop.net/ is the site for the company.

General Failure · 03-05-2007, 04:00 PM

Maybe it wouldn't even be so difficult... For some time now KDE offers a feature to start more sessions than the one on tty7 which are on tty8 and up then. Even though for a real multiuser setup it might be advisable not to use KDE (4 times!) but a lighter GUI, this might be a nice starting point as well.

But what I would like to know now is how one can connect 4 keyboards and 4 mice to one box and concurrently use them

Linux.tar.gz · 05-15-2007, 03:38 AM

Just buy an USB hub and connect 4 keyboards and 4 mice. The next step will be make each work separately.
Maybe someone can tell us how.

Alien_Hominid · 05-15-2007, 03:51 AM

USB in xorg always was trouble.

Shade's method should work with monitors. Maybe you could do this to make mouse and keyborad work.

Write a script which during boot starts x on monitor 1 (vga card 1), replaces xorg.conf with another one, starts x on 2 monitor (vga card 2), replaces xorg.conf, starts x on 3 monitor, ...

Linux.tar.gz · 05-15-2007, 07:05 AM

Maybe this old thread can be useful :
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ight=X+display

Parameters will need to be changed as the screens are multiple.