Mulitple video cards in AccerPower s285

kabu3 · 09-08-2013, 05:30 PM

Hello,
I have AccerPower s285 computerwith 2GB of RAM, 80GB drive, running ubuntu 9.04.I understand it's an old box but this will be fine as long I can get that to work with ubuntu 9.04. I want to put couple of graphic cards into it for multiple displays and I have few problems. I hope I can find some suggestions or answers to my problems here.
This mobo has 3 PCI slots so I thought that maybe I can add 2 older cards (with dual outputs - vga and hdmi): Radeon 9250 and one nVidia GeForce 6200 but for some reason things are not working as I thought they would be

.
I tried dozen of things in xorg.conf file but none of them seem to work, so for now I have 1 nVidia added, 1 Radeon, my power suppply is 650W kingwin. Here's my lspci output:

Code:

0:09.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 PRO] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Hightech Information System Ltd. Device 2020
	Flags: bus master, VGA palette snoop, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 17
	Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
	I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
	Memory at e4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
	[virtual] Expansion ROM at a0000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel modules: radeonfb

00:09.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 PRO] (Secondary) (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Hightech Information System Ltd. Device 2021
	Flags: medium devsel
	Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=128M]
	Memory at e4010000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=64K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV44A [GeForce 6200] (rev a1)
	Subsystem: eVga.com. Corp. Device a403
	Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 5
	Memory at e1000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=16M]
	Memory at <ignored> (32-bit, prefetchable) [disabled]
	Memory at e2000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=16M]
	[virtual] Expansion ROM at b0000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel modules: nvidiafb
...

Here's my xorg.conf file:

Code:

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Main"
	Screen		0 "Primary"
	Screen		3 "SonyRight"
#	Screen		3 "SonyRight"
#	Screen		3 "SonyRight" RightOf "Primary"
	Option		"Xinerama" "off"
	Option		"Clone" "off"
EndSection


############
## Card 1 ##
############
Section "Device"
	Identifier	"card1vga"
	BoardName	"ATI Radeon 9250 rev01"
	BusID		"PCI:0:9:0"
	Driver		"radeon"
	Option		"EnablePageFlip" "true"
	Screen		0
	Option		"UseDisplayDevice" "DFP-0"
	Option		"DynamicTwinView" "FALSE"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"card1hdmi"
	BoardName	"ATI Radeon 9250 rev01"
	BusID		"PCI:0:9:1
	Driver		"radeon"
	Option		"EnablePageFlip" "true"
	Screen		1
	Option		"UseDisplayDevice" "DFP-0"
	Option		"DynamicTwinView" "FALSE"
EndSection

##################
# Integrated vga #
##################
Section "Device"
	Identifier	"vgaIntegrated"
	BoardName	"SiS 661/741/760 PCI/AGP "
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0"
	Screen		2
EndSection

############
# Card 2 ##
###########
Section "Device"
	Identifier	"card2vga"
	BoardName	"GeForce 6200
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0
	#Driver		"radeon"
	Option		"EnablePageFlip" "true"
	Screen		3
	Option		"UseDisplayDevice" "DFP-0"
	Option		"DynamicTwinView" "FALSE"
EndSection



Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"LG"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	identifier	"Sony"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Primary"
	Monitor		"LG"
	Device		"card1vga"
	DefaultDepth	24
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"SonyRight"
	Monitor		"Sony"
	Device		"card2vga"
	DefaultDepth	24
EndSection

If I change Xinerama to 'on' then I get error that I have to fix my configuration after grub loads. I want to connect 2 or more displays to these cards so if anyone could help me out a bit I would appreciate. Can anybody give some suggestions as to how to fix my xorg.conf file?

Thank you very much!!

Ztcoracat · 10-02-2013, 09:40 PM

Hi:

Quote:

I have AccerPower s285 computerwith 2GB of RAM, 80GB drive, running ubuntu 9.04

Ubuntu 9.04 no longer had support in October of 2010:-

You may want to run a more stable version of Ubuntu-
https://help.ubuntu.com/

Quote:

This mobo has 3 PCI slots

What mobo do you have?

I am not the best with hardware issues but it may be that you need to install the drivers for those cards.

I know with my brand new Radeon Graphic's card (eventho it was plugged into the VGA to the monitor) I didn't have an improvement in graphical appearance until I installed the AMD driver.

Quote:

my power suppply is 650W kingwin

Is that enough power for your graphic's cards? (again I am not the best with hardware)

I had a 300 watt power supply but my new card required at least a 650 watt power supply--

Quote:

Can anybody give some suggestions as to how to fix my xorg.conf file?

Sorry that is one of the files that I do not edit unless a more experienced member or Moderator assist's me with it.

Reading this in your terminal might help you to better understand the xorg.conf--

Quote:

xorg.conf(5) xorg.conf(5)

NAME
xorg.conf and xorg.conf.d - configuration files for Xorg X server

INTRODUCTION
Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration
and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables,
the xorg.conf and xorg.conf.d configuration files, auto-detection, and
fallback defaults. When the same information is supplied in more than
one way, the highest precedence mechanism is used. The list of mecha‐
nisms is ordered from highest precedence to lowest. Note that not all
parameters can be supplied via all methods. The available command line
options and environment variables (and some defaults) are described in
the Xserver(1) and Xorg(1) manual pages. Most configuration file param‐
eters, with their defaults, are described below. Driver and module spe‐
cific configuration parameters are described in the relevant driver or
module manual page.

cascade9 · 10-03-2013, 07:01 AM

Ouch, nVidia + ATI GPUs, and an onboard SiS video chip as well?

Its possible, I think, but its going to be a huge amount of work.

How on earth did you make that xorg.conf file? Its full of wrong ('radeon' driver will not work with a nVidia card, 3 screen '3' listed, etc.)

Pastychomper · 10-03-2013, 07:12 AM

I don't know if this is necessary, but when I looked into multiple displays a year or two ago, people were recommending using several identical graphics cards rather than mixing different types. I don't know of any reason why different types wouldn't work, though - but I'd be interested to know for sure either way as my experiments didn't get very far.

I did find that I couldn't use the onboard graphics card at the same time as an AGP card, though - the motherboard only seemed to be capable of supporting one at a time, although different cards in AGP + PCI was ok.

Ac1d · 10-10-2013, 05:50 AM

Code:

aticonfig -adapter=all --initial

I'm running two different cards, radeon 5870 + 5450, with 5 monitors attached to them.

The above command worked just fine for me.
I would just add the appropriate nvidia command at the beginning or run the nvidia equivalent command right afterwards.... it's worth a shot.

cascade9 · 10-10-2013, 06:23 AM

It wont help with kabu3s system at all.

aticonfig is for fglrx (closed source drivers) and ati/amd GPUs only.

The Radeon 9250 is not supported by fglrx on most current distros, and even if it was supported, it wont help find the nVidia GPU or SiS video chip.

Ac1d · 10-10-2013, 06:26 AM

^^^^^^^^^

This is why we love cascade. You don't even need wiki with him around.

Ztcoracat · 10-10-2013, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ac1d

^^^^^^^^^

This is why we love cascade. You don't even need wiki with him around.

Yes, 'his counsel is wise' but he did mention that it could be a huge amount of work.

I'm wondering what the work intails and the amount of effort to achieve this is?
We will have to learn from him:-