I want to use the dual display function with my nVidia GeForce4 MX440 card (AGP). It has 64MB of DDR RAM. I want to spread my display onto the monitor I'm using now, and a TV that I connected through an S-Video cable. I set the TwinView Orientation to 'LeftOf' but when Linux boots up, it doesn't display anything on the TV. In Windows, it works fine. The display is spread on both the monitor and TV, but in Linux, it only shows the desktop on the monitor. Who else has this problem? Can anyone help me? I followed the instructions from the readme file from nVidia.

There is a really good document on the nvidia site called NVIDIA Accelerated Linux Driver Set README & Installation guide.

It deals with modifying the Xconfig file for twinview really well, and it works.

If the document is not available tell me and I will email you the relevant section

2 things
1) by boot up I think when kernel is loading and then terminal, the xf86config has no effect there

2) for gui mode do as tjdtjd said and read the docs, also note this: the nvidia tv-out is only capeabl;e of 800x600, most tv's only supoprt 640x480, if you specify higher modes it might disable the tv section, check /var/log/xf86xxxxxxx.log (not real name) and see what it sais (very very useful)

SuSE's SaX2 lists all the options of the X86Config file in its own control panel in a graphical fashion, all you have to do is set the values. My TV supports 800 x 600, and I've already set that value in the 'Metamodes' section in this fashion:

The 1024 x 768 is the monitor resolution. In the Connected Monitors section, I put this value:

In the SecondMonitorRefresh section, I put:

TwinView:
TV Settings:
It should work by now.....

If it doesn't, it may be because the section you've labeled twinview should be an option under the device section and below the card description and should be a boolean like
Option "Twinview" "Yes". The default appears to be "yes" , so you don't actually need the boolean argument, just the Option "Twinview"

Summary: read the doc carefully , and check where you have put your options descriptors

Here is the Device section of my SuSe 8.2 kde setup, and twinview is working for me:

Section "Device"
BoardName "GeForce4 MX 440"
BusID "2:0:0"
Driver "nvidia"
Identifier "Device[0]"
VendorName "NVidia"
Option "Twinview" "1"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-80"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50-75"
Option "MetaModes" "1024x768, 1024x768"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
Option "TVStandard" "PAL-B"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT, TV"
Option "NoLogo" "1"
# Option "TVOverScan" "0.7"
EndSection

Hope this helps you out!

Goofee

Goofee, are you using SaX2? Or did you put it all those options in the X86Config file yourself through a text editor? This is what I need to know, that way, I can just do that instead of putting in the options through SaX2, and hoping they work.

Did not touch sax2 at all, i edited the xf86config manually after install of nvidia-drivers.

Goofee

Right way to do it, and that should work, does it?

I copied and pasted your list of options Goofee, and it crashes the X server. I had to use the text-mode to save my installation of SuSE linux. I did this by using the pico Text Editor. The command I used was:

After the X server crashed, I got an error message that talks about no more modes left, and that there's no screen. Is there a remedy to this?

P.S. Goofee, are you using the same graphics card I have? I have a GeForce MX440 64MB AGP.