basic info:

gfx card: nVidia something mon: Viewsonic
onbrd gfx: intel mon: HP 589XXX

I'm clueless on this. If I don't have my nVidia card in, the onboard VGA port works just fine. I can understand that problem lying in BIOS with choosing of a default graphics port. But my other problem is when I go to run SaX2, it doesn't pick up the onboard graphics controller. That's with the nVidia card installed. I tried setting it up manually, just by adding it manually and a monitor, but when I went to test it, it went through the other monitor/graphics card... the one that already worked. You think I should change the location of that stuff in my config file or maybe something in BIOS not turned on as to why it wouldn't be picked up? :s

Is it even possible to use onboard video at the same time as a VGA card?

That's like onboard sound with a sound card. Recipe for conflict, if you ask me. One has to be disabled or uninstalled for the other to work, I believe the case is similar with video.

Not saying anything for sure, but I will keep up with this thread and do some research for you to see what I can find on the subject. In the meantime, I am curious to see what others have to say.

My understanding also is that installing an AGP card disables the onboard video. Check the amount of memory. (It is probably shown during self-test on booting.) Without the AGP card, there will be some "missing"; it is taken by the onboard video. With the AGP card, all memory is available, because the onboard video is not using it. This is a feature of the motherboard, not a shortcoming of SuSE 9.1 pers.

With SaX2, you can "add" any video card and monitor you wish, but nothing will happen. It may seem strange that non-existent hardware can be added, but this is meant for those times when real hardware has not been detected. If you want dual monitor, you will probably need a dual-head video card?