Multiple Monitors & Resolutions

tntcoder · 03-15-2006, 03:09 PM

Hi,

Ive got 2 monitors on a Nvidia 7800GT, one is native to 1280x1024 the other is widescreen at 1440x900(primary monito).

At the moment in display settings (slackware/kde), I have the option for Screen1 only, and the max resoltuion of 1024x768.

How can i get it to use 2 monitors and use the correct resolutions.

Also In windows i use ultramon so i can do different things on each screen rather than what slackwares doing by default and mirroring them, is there anything similar to ultramon in windows?

EDIT: I have the nvidia driver installed.

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this is in the wrong place.
Jack

tntcoder · 03-15-2006, 05:41 PM

If it helps this is my xorg.conf

Quote:

Section "Monitor"

# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.
# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
# HorizSync 30-64 # multisync
# HorizSync 31.5, 35.2 # multiple fixed sync frequencies
# HorizSync 15-25, 30-50 # multiple ranges of sync frequencies
# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY. REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
Identifier "My Monitor"
HorizSync 31.5 - 50.0
VertRefresh 40.0 - 90.0
EndSection

Section "Device"

#VideoRam 4096
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
Identifier "VESA Framebuffer"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"

# If your card can handle it, a higher default color depth (like 24 or 32)
# is highly recommended.
# DefaultDepth 8
# DefaultDepth 16
# DefaultDepth 32
# "1024x768" is also a conservative usable default resolution. If you
# have a better monitor, feel free to try resolutions such as
# "1152x864", "1280x1024", "1600x1200", and "1800x1400" (or whatever your
# card/monitor can produce)
Identifier "Screen 1"
Device "VESA Framebuffer"
Monitor "My Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

camh · 03-15-2006, 08:00 PM

It's all in your xorg.conf or XF86Config file. Here is a copy of mine with the Files, Modules and Input sections omitted:

Code:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Default Layout"
    Screen      0  "CRT 1" 0 0
    Screen      1  "CRT 2" LeftOf "CRT 1"
    InputDevice    "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice    "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "CRT1"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 70.0
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 160.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "CRT2"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 70.0
    VertRefresh     50.0 - 160.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "GeForce 4 Ti4200 (1)"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    BusID          "PCI:1:00:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "GeForce 4 Ti4200 (2)"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    BusID          "PCI:1:00:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "CRT 1"
    Device         "GeForce 4 Ti 4200 (1)"
    Monitor        "CRT1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "CRT 2"
    Device         "GeForce 4 Ti 4200 (2)"
    Monitor        "CRT2"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

*NOTE: This will create 2 distinct X screens. You will not be able to drag applications to/from them, just your mouse. If you want one 'big' screen (ie, the way Windows does it by default) you will need to add Option "Xinerama" "yes" to your ServerLayout section.

To change your resolutions, add the resolution to the front of the Modes line for the appropriate screen(s).

You should change the names of the devices and monitors to suit your configuration.

I should also mention that the BusID part under section Device is required. You can find it out by typing 'lspci' in a console and using the ID from the output.

Eg.

camh@nixon:~$ lspci | grep VGA
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV25 [GeForce4 Ti 4200] (rev a2)
camh@nixon:~$

Just replace those 4 zero's with PCI, and the . with a semicolon to make PCI:01:00:0

After that, you should be good to go.

tntcoder · 03-15-2006, 08:15 PM

Thanks for that i think i can get it working. However im still unsure about getting the widescreen resolution, i have tried this for the monitor section:

Quote:

Identifier "MyMonitor"
HorizSync 30-82
Vertrefresh 56-76
Modeline "1440x900" 106.5 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932 -HSync +VSync
EndSection

I got this for a ubuntu guide for my screen Acer AL1916W from here:

http://cornell.wordpress.com/widescreen-with-ubuntu

Now i can choose the correct refresh rate but the resoltion is still 1024x768

Any ideas?

camh · 03-15-2006, 08:22 PM

Have you added the appropriate resolution to your Screen section?

Code:

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Example"
    Device         "ExampleDevice"
    Monitor        "CRT1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1400x900" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Make sure that you make the change on the Subsection with the corresponding depth as your DefaultDepth.

tntcoder · 03-15-2006, 08:42 PM

Thanks got it working perfectly now