LinuxQuestions.org - Think you can help me with getting Slackware to recognize my 2nd monitor?

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Think you can help me with getting Slackware to recognize my 2nd monitor?

OK, I am trying to get Slackware to recognize my 2nd monitor, and, as a new guy, I am having some difficulties. My first monitor is connected to my ATI Radeon 6670 graphics card, and I have my second monitor connected to my (I'm assuming) onboard graphics card. Well, I did SEVERAL google searches (however, I might not have searched for the right thing...) with no help. So, if you can, I need some help. :( My actual problem is that the monitor is not doing anything. Power and VGA is plugged in, and that is all I know...

In most cases, using a video card disables the onbaord video.

Try using the 6670 for both monitors. ;)

Thanks for the quick reply. But, my 6670 has only 1 VGA port. I dont understand how I could use both of them on the card. I do have an adapter that I can use to plug in the VGA cable from my second monitor into a USB slot I have. Anyway I can use that, incase I can use my graphics card?

It might (should AFAIK) work with a DVI-VGA adapter.

Connecting that to the DVI port on my card will work then? Ok, I suppose I could go to Best Buy and pick one up... Getting ahead of myself, but when I get the monitor connected, will I need to edit any files? I probably need to edit xorg.conf, right?

First, what kind of video card is your integrated one? Are the modules loaded for both? If you have them both plugged in, try something like

Code:

xrandr --output VGA-0 --noprimary --left-of LVDS --mode 1680x1050 --output LVDS --mode 1280x800

but substitute for your needs. To find out what displays are available, do

Code:

xrandr

and you should get some output like this:

Code:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2960 x 1050, maximum 8192 x 8192

VGA-0 connected 1680x1050+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 474mm x 296mm

  1680x1050      59.9*+

  1280x1024      75.0    60.0  

  1280x960      60.0  

  1152x864      75.0  

  1024x768      75.1    70.1    60.0  

  832x624        74.6  

  800x600        72.2    75.0    60.3    56.2  

  640x480        72.8    75.0    66.7    60.0  

  720x400        70.1  

LVDS connected 1280x800+1680+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 331mm x 207mm

  1280x800      60.0*+

  1280x720      59.9  

  1152x768      59.8  

  1024x768      59.9  

  800x600        59.9  

  848x480        59.7  

  720x480        59.7  

  640x480        59.4

The output of xrandr

Code:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1440 x 900, maximum 1440 x 1440

DFP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

DFP2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

CRT1 connected 1440x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 408mm x 255mm

  1440x900      59.9*+

  1280x1024      75.0    60.0  

  1280x960      60.0  

  1280x800      60.0  

  1280x768      60.0  

  1280x720      60.0  

  1024x768      75.0    60.0  

  800x600        75.0    60.3  

  640x480        75.0    59.9

I guess it recognizes only one monitor?
I cant find my integrated card when I used lspci... Or maybe I just dont know what it is called

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)

00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)

00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)

00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5)

00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev b5)

00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b5)

00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev b5)

00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev b5)

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05)

00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family 4 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 05)

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)

00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 6 Series Chipset Family 2 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 05)

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Device 6758

01:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc Device aa90

04:00.0 PCI bridge: Device 1b21:1080 (rev 01)

06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)

Do you have the integrated one disabled in the bios by any chance?

I checked through my BIOS, I didn't find anything that suggested that is was disabled.

Is this a machine you put together, or one from someplace like Dell? If the latter, try looking up the model number to get what the onboard VGA device is.

Custom built PC. ASUS motherboard and an Intel chipset. If it is easier, I would like to try the VGA to DVI adapter to see if that works. I'll reply back once I give it a shot.

No onboard video in the lspci, I'm confident saying that its disabled...either from a setting in the BIOS or from installing a video card.

You really dont want to be using the onboard video if your card is capable of displaying to as many monitors as you want/need. Onboard video almost always uses system RAM and I/Os, and i the case of the 'sandy bridge' and newer 'intel HD video' it uses the CPU cache as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsplayer14 (Post 4787189)

Depends on your setup.

Seeing how your video device is listed in lpci as 'VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Device 6758' I'd say that your xorg version is older than the video card. That can make things more difficult.

You could try installing the AMD closed drivers, and running 2 monitors from the AMD display drivers GUI. ;)

*edit- its farily common to get a DVI-VGA adapter with most video cards with a DVI output. If you built the machine yourself, check the video card box before you buy one. If you had it built for you, try asking whoever built it for a the adapter.

The driver I am using is the proprietary one, and I used the aticonfig command to create my xorg.conf, if you would like, I can upload it for you. I don't think it is "old" since I used the command given to me by the driver. However, I am not very experienced with these kinds of things so I may be wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsplayer14 (Post 4787184)

If you want to use two monitors without the hassle, go for el cheapo NVidia cards. NVidia GT 210 on PCI express slots, GeForce 6200 chipset on older AGP ports. Install the proprietary drivers, and then:

Code:

# nvidia-xconfig --twinview

This gives you a workable configuration, which you may want to fine-tune by starting X and then launching the graphical NVidia configuration tool, as root in a graphical Terminal.

Before you buy an adapter, check what type of DVI port you have on the video card. A lot of the newer AMD video cards have DVI-D ports, which are not easy to adapt to VGA.

A DVI port can have pins for analog signals (DVI-A), digital signals (DVI-D), or both (DVI-I). Most ports are DVI-D or DVI-I (I've never seen a DVI-A), and the type of adapter you'll need depends on the DVI port type. The analog signals are VGA, so you can use a cheap adapter that just brings the correct pins to a VGA jack. Most cards with DVI-I ports used to come with one of these adapters thrown in for free, and if you have to buy one they cost $5 US or less. If the port is a DVI-D, it only has digital signals and will need a digital to analog video converter, which are harder to find and can cost more than some low end video cards.

If your card has an HDMI port, you may be able to get an HDMI to VGA converter for less than a DVI-D to VGA converter.

Unfortunately, more and more video cards have DVI-D ports, since most of the newer monitors are all digital. Support for VGA is rapidly disappearing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kikinovak (Post 4787290)

G210, not GT210......common mistake.

6200s will run with the closed derivers, but why bother? They have no VDPAU features, are too slow for anything but very basic gaming. Generally horrid cards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lirey (Post 4787562)

A DVI port can have pins for analog signals (DVI-A), digital signals (DVI-D), or both (DVI-I). Most ports are DVI-D or DVI-I (I've never seen a DVI-A), and the type of adapter you'll need depends on the DVI port type. The analog signals are VGA, so you can use a cheap adapter that just brings the correct pins to a VGA jack. Most cards with DVI-I ports used to come with one of these adapters thrown in for free, and if you have to buy one they cost $5 US or less. If the port is a DVI-D, it only has digital signals and will need a digital to analog video converter, which are harder to find and can cost more than some low end video cards.

If your card has an HDMI port, you may be able to get an HDMI to VGA converter for less than a DVI-D to VGA converter.

Unfortunately, more and more video cards have DVI-D ports, since most of the newer monitors are all digital. Support for VGA is rapidly disappearing.

All true. ;)

After checking around, it looks like the 6670 has a DVI-D port, not DVI-I. Doh. Too good a memory for my own good, I remembered the 6670 is just an updated 5670 (and they do have a DVI-I port). Stupid me, I should have checked that before I posted anything.

If a HDMI-VGA adapter works, its likely a DVI-VGA adapter will as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsplayer14 (Post 4787227)

I didnt mean that your xorg.conf file is old, I meant the xserver-xorg version.

If xorg knows about the card, you normally get an output with the model name, like this-

Quote:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation G84 [GeForce 8600 GT] (rev a1)

Sorry, I'm not on a machine with a ATI/AMD video card now, but you get the idea.

Do you know the manufacturer/model for your card? While I dont think it will help figure out if you can use VGA on the DVI or HDMI port, it could help.

*edit- it might be possible to use both the onboard intel video and the AMD card, but not when you are running the closed source drivers.

I cant tell you the card info from lspci since I am not at my Linux box right now, but I was contemplating installing the open source driver to see if that could fix some tearing that I have been experiencing recently. Any info on that matter will help, but this is just a side problem. However, since you said that I can use my on board graphics if I use the open source driver, I think that I will go ahead and install it. Any advice on how to get Slackware to use both cards?

Its only might be able to use both, and I wouldnt.

Start by checking your BIOS for the onboard video options. It can be a pain to find, with various different names. If you know the motherbaord model I should be able to figure out if the option exists and where it is. What you are looking for is a way to set the onboard video 1st. Do not set this now.

If you have a way to make the onbaord initialise 1st, then you will need to remove the ATI/AMD closed source drivers. Only then can you reboot, go back into the BIOS and set the system to initialise the onbaord video 1st.

BTW, if I am right and your 6670 (or intel HD video for that matter) is newer than your xorg version you could have all sorts of odd issues with the open source drivers.