Distrobution: Mandrake 10 Official
Kernel: 2.6.3-7mdk
XFree86 Version: 4.3.0.1
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9800 SE
Driver Version: FGRLX v 8.8.25 (released 01/17/05)
Monitors: Samsung 19 inch CRT SyncMaster 997DF
Envision 17 inch CRT EN-710e
I've been trying to get multiple monitors to work correctly for the past few days. I've Googled and read just about every multiple monitors thread on MandrakeUsers.Org, Google's Usenet archives, and LinuxQuestions.Org. I've also read the Xinerama How To at The Linux Documentation Project tldp.org/HOWTO/Xinerama-HOWTO.
My video card has a VGA port and a DVI port and supports duel monitors using one card. I have the main Envision 17" monitor hooked up via a DVI to VGA adapter. I want to have a "Big Desktop." Using the fglrxconfig I can enable this without any trouble. However the desktop is stretched and KDE/XF86 acts as if it is one large monitor. So I enabled Xinerama.
Most of the tutorials, including the aforementioned How To on TLDP assumes that the user is using two video cards instead of one, so I figured my XF86Config was wrong in the Video devices section. Eventually I found this thread on LinuxQuestions.Org linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=276269&highlight=multiple+monitors where someone with a duel-head nVidia card created entries for each half of the video card. I edited my XF86Config-4 file in the same manner.
It mostly works. I can move my cursor from monitor to monitor and maximize applications on a single monitor and take advantage of all of the other features of Xinerama. But there is one problem: the content of both screens is identical. I see one half of the large desktop. I can still move my cursor from one to the other, and I have confirmed that I can drag and drop windows back and forth, but anything dragged into the second monitor remains hidden behind the content of the first monitor.
Here are the relevent sections of my XF86Config-4 file:
# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************
Section "ServerFlags"
# Run Xinerama at X startup so multi-monitor support is properly supported.
Option "Xinerama" "true"
# Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal is
# received. This may leave the console in an unusable state, but may
# provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in debugging
# Option "NoTrapSignals"
# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence
# This allows clients to receive this key event.
# Option "DontZap"
# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode switching
# sequences. This allows clients to receive these key events.
# Option "Dont Zoom"
# Uncomment this to disable tuning with the xvidtune client. With
# it the client can still run and fetch card and monitor attributes,
# but it will not be allowed to change them. If it tries it will
# receive a protocol error.
# Option "DisableVidModeExtension"
# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local xvidtune client.
# Option "AllowNonLocalXvidtune"
# Uncomment this to disable dynamically modifying the input device
# (mouse and keyboard) settings.
# Option "DisableModInDev"
# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local client to
# change the keyboard or mouse settings (currently only xset).
# Option "AllowNonLocalModInDev"
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of monitor sections may be present
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor0"
VendorName "Samsung"
HorizSync 31.5 - 91.1
VertRefresh 60 - 85
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Envision"
HorizSync 31.5 - 91.1
VertRefresh 60 - 85
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************
Section "Device"
Identifier "video0"
Driver "fglrx"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "Radeon 9800 SE"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 0
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "video1"
Driver "fglrx"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "Radeon 9800 SE"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of screen sections may be present. Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen. A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen0"
Device "video0"
Monitor "monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "video1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present. Each describes
# the way multiple screens are organised. A specific ServerLayout
# section may be specified from the X server command line with the
# "-layout" option. In the absence of this, the first section is used.
# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section
# is used alone.
Section "ServerLayout"
# The Identifier line must be present
Identifier "Simple Layout"
# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally
# the relative position of other screens. The four names after
# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right
# of the primary screen.
Screen 0 "screen0"
Screen 1 "screen1" RightOf "screen0"
# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used. Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
