I am on the verge of tearing out my hair and going back to windows. I have been trying to get dual monitors working for months now. And each time I get someone helping me I get a few suggestions and then it all goes quiet. There MUST be a way to have a dual screen setup (which I have) that doesn't place dialogue boxes in the middle of the two screens?

Rather than repeating myself totaly, the thread below shows what I have tried so far this time. I have also attached my xorg.conf file.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=60583

I really hope someone can offer some advice. Thanks.

XORG.CONF FILE:

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg 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 /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/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.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands:
#
# cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.custom
# sudo sh -c 'md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf >/var/lib/xfree86/xorg.conf.md5sum'
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# paths to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/CID"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "record"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon 9800 Pro (R350 NH)"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "PLE431"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon 9800 Pro (R350 NH)"
Monitor "PLE431"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Copy your xorg file to a backup and then try this one in its place and see if it works. This file assumes that you have a dual connector card if you have two cards you would have to change the BusID parts to match the IDs for each. Hopefully I have not made any typos and you will have to reformat the post to match the indentation that would normally be in the file. If it does not work can you post the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log so we can see what is going on when it starts the xserver make sure you copy file somewhere before you restart the server with a working config otherwise it will be overwritten with that startup. If you want to change the monitor that each screen starts on the change the RightOf to LeftOf and you may need more information such as monitor name and refresh rates in the sections for them.

Thanks for the reply. Your config doesn't give me any errors but it does give me two separate desktops entirely. Both with their own applications menu etc. I am looking for one large desktop that doesn't open dialog boxes in the middle of the two screens but actually knows to open them in the middle of one or other of the monitors.

My log file is far too long to post on here but there are not technically any errors anyway

Fixed it. Thanks matey. Problem was:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0"
Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Needed to be:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Screen0" 0 0
Screen "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection