Archlinux dual monitor without Xorg/Xwindows (cli only)

Hi,
i have successfully installed Archlinux on my laptop, everything is fine! Xcfe desktop env. is able to handle dual monitor with the "xinerama" option (move windows between screens) with the "/etc/X11/xorg.conf/10-monitor.conf" config. file.
But, one question remain : when i exit from Xwindows (cli only), my dual monitor is going back to "twinview" (same screen for both monitors). Is it possible to have a "xinerama" view (2 independants Cli screens) in command line only (like in Xwindows)?
if yes , what can i do / install / run or configure to achieve this goal ?
ps : im not taking about alt-f1-f2-f3 switching tty or the "screen" command, but a way to handle 2 monitors in Linux command line....
Thanks !!!
Dom

Hmm, I remember when I first set up Arch linux It would do wired things with the video in X, screens weren't layed out correctly, and I couldn't get all 3 to work ( Only 2 ) So I needed to switch to the "Offical" drivers, It works well and I play games so I would've done it anyways, I'm not sure what you plan on doing with your computer ( Games, just internet, media ) but the "offical" drivers might be worth a shot.
Here's the wiki on the drivers you're currently using:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ATI
and the one's that AMD created:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ATI_Catalyst
I used the repository method, and It's working fine for me. I will say that in general although the open source drivers work really well and KMS is just awesome! ( It takes almost 10 seconds to switch from X to a tty for me right now ) The ATI drivers are sometimes just less problems.

Similar Messages

Dual Monitors without Xorg.conf Help

I have an Acer Aspire One and Im trying to setup Dual Displays. Every guide Ive found, including the Acer One Article in the Wiki talks about editing the Xorg.conf file, yet my system seems to be running without one. Other than problems setting up the dual displays I dont have any issues with Display Settings so it seems my installation of arch linux seems to be using some other technology other than Xorg. Does any one know how the Display settings are setup without the use of the Xorg.conf file ? This is a fresh Arch Linux Base Install using only OpenBox.
Ive also tried using XRandR to setup my dual displays but I keep getting an error and google doesnt provide an answer.
I try and run the following command ( wich works fine on my other PC )
[zero@zero ~]$ xrandr --auto --output LVDS1 --mode 1024x600 --right-of VGA1
And get the following error
X Error of failed request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
Major opcode of failed request: 149 (RANDR)
Minor opcode of failed request: 7 (RRSetScreenSize)
Serial number of failed request: 24
Current serial number in output stream: 25
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Last edited by devspyder (2010-07-18 19:08:32)

WooHoo !
awkwood - You Rock ! I feel like an idiot for not paying closer attention to your first post. I finally realized what you were saying and figured out how to do the downgrade.
If it's 2.12.0 I'd suggest trying 2.11.0 instead.
The most recent update borked my dual display with a similar error message but 2.11 works fine.
I don't use an xorg.conf.
So essentially this seems to be a bug with version 2.12 of the xf86-video-intel driver. I downgraded to ver 2.11 and everything works perfectly. I am running dual monitors at full resolution with no fuss. So again awkwood I thank you !
For other Arch Newbies who have this issue in the mean time until they fix the bug, this is how I did the downgrade.
Step 1:
download the 2.11 package from the link below
http://arm.konnichi.com/extra/os/i686/x … pkg.tar.xz
Step 2:
Open a terminal and cd to the directory where you saved the file
$ cd /home/$USERNAME/Downloads
Step 3:
Use pacman to install the package
sudo pacman -U xf86-video-intel-2.11.0-2-i686.pkg.tar.xz
Finally reboot. When you log back in everything should work fine
Again thanks to awkwood as well as karol, blind, Inxsible and everyone else for their help. Everyone here is so helpful, I am defiantly an Arch user for life. Hopefully they will fix the bug in the next version of the driver. My next step is to see about filling a bug report.

T440 - dual monitors without dock, using VGA and mini DP

Try to find out if a T440 can use its VGA and mini DP ports at the same time for dual monitor support (LCD can be closed.) Can't seem to find this info anywhere, everything I come up against talks about a dock.
Thanks.

There are "features" having to do with the amount of power supplied to run the adapters on the 5770 and 5870.
I suggest you use one DVI-to-VGA adapter for your best display. These VGA signals are present on the DVI-I output from the computer -- in the bar at one end and the four pins around it. The adapter used for this is just wires.
The longer story has to do with using much more expensive ACTIVE, Powered adapters, some even use a USB pigtail to pick up power from a USB to run signal drivers inside the adapters. These are Required to run three displays, but you can Usually get away with it for two.

[SOLVED] Dual Monitor / General Xorg.conf Issue

I cannot get my second monitor to work. It is a Dell SE198WEP. My other [working] monitor is a Dell SE198WFP. I suspect my xorg.conf file is not good, but I'm not sure how to fix it. Thanks for any help.
archey Result +GPU:
OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Hostname: arch
Kernel: 2.6.34-ARCH
Uptime: 5:04
Window Manager: xmonad
Packages: 702
RAM: 550 MB / 3885 MB
CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz
GPU: ATI Technologies Inc RV515 [Radeon X1300] (512 MB of memory)
Shell: Zsh
Terminal: Rxvt-256color
Root FS: 8.9G / 193G (ext4)
Boot FS: 15M / 99M (ext2)
Home FS: 802M / 175G (ext4)
xorg.conf
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen0"
Device "radeon0"
Monitor "monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "radeon1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "dri"
Load "drm"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor0"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "radeon0"
Option "ColorTiling" "on"
Driver "radeon"
Option "DRI" "on"
Option "DynamicPM" "on" # Dynamic powersaving.
Option "ClockGating" "on" # Assisting option for powersaving.
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA" # EXA should fit most cases.
Option "EXAVSync" "on" # EXAVSync is explained above.
Option "DMAForXv" "on" # Forced option in order to enable Xv overlay.
Option "ScalerWidth" "2048" # That should fix some very rare bugs.
Option "EnablePageFlip" "on" # It will not be enabled on R5xx cards.
Option "RenderAccel" "on" # Optional. It should be enabled by default.
Option "AccelDFS" "on" #Optional. See the man page.
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "radeon1"
Option "ColorTiling" "on"
Driver "radeon"
Option "DRI" "on"
Option "DynamicPM" "on" # Dynamic powersaving.
Option "ClockGating" "on" # Assisting option for powersaving.
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA" # EXA should fit most cases.
Option "EXAVSync" "on" # EXAVSync is explained above.
Option "DMAForXv" "on" # Forced option in order to enable Xv overlay.
Option "ScalerWidth" "2048" # That should fix some very rare bugs.
Option "EnablePageFlip" "on" # It will not be enabled on R5xx cards.
Option "RenderAccel" "on" # Optional. It should be enabled by default.
Option "AccelDFS" "on" #Optional. See the man page.
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Group "video"
Mode 0666
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "screen0"
Screen "screen1" RightOf "screen0"
# Don't forget xinerama!!!111oneoneone11!eleven!!11
Option "xinerama" "on"
Option "clone" "off"
EndSection
Last edited by burninating__absol (2010-07-11 07:06:34)

I simply use xrandr to use dual heads like this. Here's my xorg.conf which defines the 2 monitors and their resolutions. Then a simple xrandr command to set up the screens. Works great in i3
Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies HD2400XT Pro"
Driver "ati"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "DVI-0"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "DVI-1"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies HD2400XT Pro"
Monitor "DVI-0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050" "1050x1680" "1280x1024" "1440x900" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x720" "1280x768" "832x624" "800x600" "640x480" "720x400"
# ADD A VIRTUAL LINE TO PROVIDE FOR THE LARGEST SCREENS YOU WILL HOTPLUG
Virtual 2960 2960
EndSubSection
EndSection
and then in .xinitrc before starting my wm
xrandr --output DVI-1 --auto --right-of DVI-0
Last edited by Inxsible (2010-07-11 04:54:15)

Dual monitor setup on imac G5 only works in mirror mode

Hi, I have an iMac G5, 2Ghz. I have added a second monitor but when I go to Displays, I don't get an option to setup the monitors like I do on my Intel iMac. The G5 goes into mirror mode and displays the same image on both monitors. I would like to setup the second monitor to extend my desktop.
Thanks!

Your iMac is perfectly normal.
For a long time, Apple's "pro-grade" Macs like the PowerMac towers and the PowerBooks allowed extended desktop settings; the "consumer-grade" machines like the iBook, eMac and iMac had only video mirroring.
The better handling of external displays on iMacs did not start until the Intel Macs appeared.
There may be third-party software solutions available but I don't know where to point you

T430s for dual monitor without dock

Hi, I have a T430s with HD4000 and core i7 CPU.
Would anyone tell me if it is possible to connect two external monitors one using VGA and another using miniDP->VGA/DVI?
I only have limited desktop space so I do not want to put a dock on it. If it is not possile the I'll purchase a USB3.0 external graphic card to drive these two monitor.
I've searched through those topics seems most are just talking how to setup with dock. Thank you!

Yes you can have both the onboard VGA and MiniDP driving external LCD provided the internal LCD is off.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

[SOLVED] Help with dual monitors (second monitor won't wake up)

Hi. I'm trying to set up dual monitors, but I can't seem to get it to work.
I've got an ASUS P8H67-M EVO motherboard, and I'm using the xf86-video-intel driver. I'm using one VGA and one HDMI.
xrandr gives this
xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
VGA1 connected 1680x1050+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 474mm x 296mm
1680x1050 60.0*+ 74.9
1600x1000 60.0
1280x1024 75.0 72.0 60.0
1440x900 75.0 59.9
1152x864 75.0
1024x768 75.1 70.1 60.0
800x600 72.2 75.0 60.3
640x480 72.8 75.0 66.7 60.0
720x400 70.1
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI3 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 531mm x 299mm
1920x1080 60.0*+ 50.0 60.0
1920x1080i 50.0 60.1
1680x1050 59.9
1600x900 60.0
1280x1024 75.0 60.0
1280x960 60.0
1152x864 75.0
1280x720 50.0 60.0
1152x720 60.0
1440x576i 50.1
1024x768 75.1 60.0
1440x480i 60.1
832x624 74.6
800x600 75.0 60.3
720x576 50.0
720x480 59.9
640x480 75.0 60.0 59.9
720x400 70.1
DP2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
So it looks to me like both displays are being detected. The geometry looks such that one display is on top of the other, but I can change that using an xorg.conf.d config file (e.g. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mu … xorg.conf). I also tried using arandr.
The real problem is that the display on HDMI3 just isn't "waking up". The power is on, but it just sits there in sleep mode.
Any help would be great. I might just be missing something simple. Thanks.
Edit: I just saw a short list of window managers near the bottom of the Arch Multihead page (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mu … _xorg.conf). I don't see openbox on that list. Does that mean I'm SOL if I want to use openbox with multiple monitors? This page seems to imply that it should work fine with openbox http://magnatecha.com/dual-monitors-wit … nd-xrandr/.
Last edited by Pacopag (2013-08-19 18:58:36)

I use XFCE, and when I boot my computer I just run:
xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --auto --output DVI-I-2 --auto --left-of DVI-I-1
I'm assuming if you modify the names appropriately that it'll work too. I have had issues before trying to run dual monitors without taking both outputs off of a single video card (which is what I'm doing now). For example, I had a graphics card with one (VGA) output and a VGA output on my motherboard. But, connecting the graphics card disabled the on-board VGA. So it is possible (I'm not an expert here) that two displays coming off the motherboard may not work for hardware reasons.

Dual Monitor XFCE on a Laptop?

I managed to get it up and running but is there an app or something that makes it easier to disconnect and reconnect my laptop to the secondary monitor without having to restore all the settings everytime i decide that i want to move my laptop away from secondary monitor?

nixpunk wrote:
Not sure what you mean. Are you saying that every time you connect your laptop to an external monitor you need to bring up Menu -> Settings -> Display?
I use Xfce with a laptop and external monitor (via docking station) and all I do to connect/disconnect is hit fn-F7 to bring up the external monitor menu. If you don't have a monitor hotkey, you could always use xrandr and a hotkey(s) of your choice.
seems like a good solution to tie the xrandr command to a keyboard shortcut and bind the panels to a particular monitor. Thanks. Sorry for responding so late. edit that works now wondering if there is a command to both enable secondary monitor and reset xrandr settings all at once edit again i set f6 to turn off external display f7 to turn it back on and f8 to restore dual monitor settings. now if only there was a way to combine f7 and f8. and && doesn't work. 3rd and final edit. combined commands into bash script and linked to that as a keyboard shortcut
Last edited by mamamia88 (2012-09-09 04:49:58)

[SOLVED] NVS280 Xorg.conf settings dual monitors

Hi,
I've spent the last few days pulling my hair out trying to get the correct drivers installed without causing a kernel panic which I think I have now managed to do. I installed the Nvidia96-xx from the AUR and xorg-server1.12. My problem is though that I can't figure out how to get the computer to recognise the 2nd monitor. When it is in cli before starting the desktop environment though X it displays the same on both screens. But when i startx or startxfce4 (the desktop environment i chose) the second screen just turns off leaving just the first on. Obviously I don't want it to display the same screen twice anyway but I honestly have no idea how to get dual desktop running.
I have the Nvidia Quadro NVS280 graphics card. If someone could tell me what I need to do to get this working that would be awesome I'll try paste my current xorg.config here. I did run the nvidia-xconfig which did generate the file but still
My xconfig file:
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@swio-display-x64-suse91-02) Sat Sep 1 03:47:08 PDT 2012
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 30.0 - 110.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 150.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection]
Last edited by FuSeD386 (2014-03-16 15:10:10)

Thanks lol I didn't know that code thing with the posting I only signed up today hahaha.
I havn't tried the other drivers. I got it into my head that 96xx was the one that I needed. I originally setup using ubuntu and it told me that I needed 96-xx but after installing Xserver just crashed everytime. Honestly I always hated ubuntu so I did want to use Arch but at the time I was just trying to rush setup. Now I'm determined to get the setup I actually like. (Arch) lol.
Do you think it's worth starting again and trying the drivers in the repository? I did look into nouveau but it said that it wouldn't work if you had to use nomodeset to boot, which I do. Without it the screens just stay blank. Before I installed nvidia96-xx my pc would just reboot continuously without it. The only reason I'm using Xorg-server1.12 is because of the nvidia-96.
I'm fairly new to Arch tbh I have pieces of paper scattered across my desk with various commands written on them to remind me how to do basic things like copy files and install from the AUR.

I have 12 core with Quatro 4000 and 5770, I want to use dual monitor setup, monitors are NEC with Spectraview-II. How do I connect? 4000 only has 1 Display Port and 1 DVI. 5770 has 2 of each, if I use both 5770 Display Ports, does the 4000 contribute?

I just bought a 12 core with Quatro 4000 and 5770, I want to use dual monitor setup, monitors are NEC with Spectraview-II. How do I connect? 4000 only has 1 Display Port and 1 DVI. 5770 has 2 of each, if I use both 5770 Display Ports, does the 4000 contribute any work at all? I read where on a PC they would work together, but on a MAC they do not.
I read that Display Port has higher band width than DVI, NEC monitors for best performance they recommend using DIsplay Port.
When I was setting this up I looked at a Nvidia Quadro 4000, unfortunately it was for PC, it had 2 Display Ports, in the Mac version they reduce it to one. I did not think there could be a difference.
Mainly want to use it for CS6 and LR4.
How to proceed???
I do not want to use the Quadro 4000 for both, that would not optimize both monitors, one DP and 1 DVI. Using just the 5770 would work but I do not think the 4000 would be doing anything, and the 5770 has been replaced by the 5870.more bandwidth.
Any ideas, I am a Mac newbie, have not ever tried a Mac Pro, just bought off ebay and now I have these problems.
As a last resort I could sell both and get a 5870. That would work, I'm sure of that, it's just that I wanted the better graphics card.
Thanks,
Bill

The Hatter,
I am a novice at Mac so I read all I can. From what I understand the NEC monitors I bought require Display Port for their maximum performance. The GTX 680 only has DVI outputs. Difference from what I understand is larger bandwidth with the DP.
You said I have the 4000 for CUDA. I am not all that familiar with CUDA and when I do read about it I do not understand it.
A concern I have is, that if I connect the 2 high end NEC monitors via the 5770, using it's 2 Display Ports I would have nothing connected to the 4000. Is the 4000 doing anything with nothing connected? I read where in a PC system the 2 cards would interact but in a Mac system they do not.
Bottom line, as I see it, the 4000 will not be useful at all to me, since I want a dual monitor set-up.
So far the 5870 seems the best choice, higher band width than the 5770, and it has 2 Display Ports to optimize the NEC monitors.
I'm not sure how fine I am splitting hairs, nor do I know how important those hairs are. I am just trying to set up a really fast reliable system that will mainly be used for CS6 and LR4. Those NEC monitors are supposed to be top notch.

Dual monitor setup without using the ADC?

Would it be possible to run a dual monitor setup using a DVI splitter cable from my (2009)Mac Pro?
I've seen some old forums referring to the 2006 models saying that this wouldn't work and instead you'd get the same image on both screens but the newer Mac Pros state they have "Dual-Link DVI ports".
Just wondering whether this means what I think it means and you can connect two monitors via a dual link cable and get essentially, two monitors running independently as opposed to the same thing on both??
Hope it's staightforward and me just being slow.

The GT120 features one Dual Link DVI-I port and one Mini DisplayPort .
The DVI-I is Dual Link capable, and also can be directly adapted to VGA.
Single-Link DVI is a serial interface that carries three data bits in each signaling interval, as well as control signals. In general, Single-Link supports displays up to 1920 wide. Dual Link DVI is the same except that it carries six data bits in each signaling interval, supporting displays over 1920 wide.
DVI screen drawing is very similar to VGA screen drawing, and the data sent are digital "scan lines" left-to-right row data, top-to-bottom with entire screen data sent about every 60 Hertz. Analog VGA signals are sent at the same time on a separate set of pins.
DisplayPort and its Mini variant are inherently a packet interface, but can be coerced to produce a "Dual Mode" signal that approximates Single-Link DVI. Getting Dual-Link DVI or VGA from DisplayPort interface requires a non-trivial converter than contains chips and requires power.
Executive Summary:
If you have one display that is wider than 1920 or VGA, attach to the DVI-I connector with an appropriate cable.
Running a Mini DisplayPort display from the Mini DisplayPort requires only a cable.
Single-Link DVI can be had from the Mini DisplayPort with a cheap adapter.
Dual-Link DVI or VGA requires an expensive Active Powered converter which can cost US$100.

How can one develop "view only" client applications in Lookout?This is to develop remote monitoring without control functionality.

How can one develop "view only" client applications in Lookout?This is to develop remote monitoring without control functionality.
We have 10 Client Nodes in the field and we need two "View Only" functionality in Client machines located on Supervisory Desks.

I have done this. There are many ways to approach this but I will offer what I think is the easiest. This will work ONLY if you have been assigning security levels to your objects (objects that actually control devices in the field) greater than zero AND allowing a security level of zero to view all panels. When I develop interfaces I do this just for creating a non control client.
Basically, you remove all users from the Lookout client in the user manager. You will not be able to remove the built-ins, "Guest" and "Administrator". Now when the end users tries to login using his normal login he will be denied. Consequently, he will not be able to control. But, he will still be able to view all the information since a no login can view a panel with a viewing se
curity level of zero. You must ensure any pushbuttons that are used to open panels have a security level of zero.
Now you can copy this security profile by finding the lookout.sec file and copying it to another non-control client computer. In Windows NT this file is located in the system32 directory.
There are many other ways but I find this the easiest.
Regards,
Tommy Scharmann

[SOLVED]fluxbox,dual monitor apps without DISPLAY command

Hello, i use a dual monitor system with nvidia videocard, i don't use xinerama and twinview i use they as 2 different displays.
Recently i updated my arch system and now i can't start applications on the second screen just selecting and clicking on menu, but i have to use the command DISPLAY=:0.1 before the app name.
Before the system update i was able to run applications just selectin it from menu and they started in the monitor where the menu was called!!!
FYI i use fluxbox git, i just update it.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advice!
Last edited by Xeo84 (2010-12-18 18:36:39)

As reporteed here:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/g … ser/222370
is a bug of libX11, i downgraded to 1.3.5 and it's solved

5-screen (multi-monitor) nVidia xorg.conf -- my setup

Hi. I would like to share my xorg.conf, since it took forever to get right.
There isn't a lot of information out there for folks using > 2 monitors, or several graphics cards, or esoteric setups including rotation etc. I hope this will be useful; I wouldn't mind contributing to the wiki if anybody thinks it might be useful.
So first up: hardware. I have
nVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti connected to a 24" monitor (in the middle)
nVidia GeForce 210 connected to two 19" monitors, rotated into portrait (on either side of the 24")
nVidia GeForce GT 440 connected to two 15" monitors (above the 24")
here is a picture of the monitors, click for a bigger version
Drivers: I'm using the official nVidia drivers, I couldn't get nouveau to work. Since I am using Xinerama, the XRandR extension isn't loaded -- therefore my setup won't be suitable for people whose screen configuration changes dynamically. But I'd prefer not to use Xinerama, and even to use nouveau if possible; if anybody has a similar configuration working with nouveau, please share
Finally, the actual config itself. Here it is on pastebin.
Rotation
The correct way to rotate monitors in xorg.conf is through the metamodes option of the Screen section. On my Screen 2 and 4 (the two 19" monitors), you can see that
{ Rotation = left }
has been added at the end of the metamodes option. Contrary to some other guides floating around, it is not necessary to specify these options:
# Unnecessary
Option "RandRRotate" "on"
Option "Rotate" "right"
I believe these come from an earlier version of Xorg. They don't have any effect when I put them in my xorg.conf, using Xorg 1.12.4 and nVidia 304.43.
Even when I specified rotate in metamodes, my monitors didn't appear to rotate because I had originally written
Option "metamodes" "CRT-1: nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { Rotation = left} "
instead of
Option "metamodes" "DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { Rotation = left} "
This just made rotation fail silently, with no error message. Make sure to specify DFP if you're using a digital output (DVI, HDMI, DP) and CRT only if you're using a VGA output on your graphics board.
Tips
When you're testing out a new Xorg.conf, you can use
startx -- :1
to start a new X server without killing the current one. See if your configuration works, then switch back to your original X server by pressing Cmd-Alt-F7.
You should also keep a log of different configurations you have tried. You can use a version control system like git to track changes to your Xorg.conf; make sure you document every change you have made, and why, it can prove invaluable later on.
Feel free to ask about this setup. I would like to know something: what is the function of the Screen option in the Device section? On the four Device entries for my nVidia 210 and 440 cards, there is an option called Screen; when I take it out, the setup breaks. Why are they there? And why do they not map to the screen numbers in the Screen section? (They are numbered 0, 0, 1, 1 rather than 1, 2, 3, 4)

Thank you for the reply. I read the wiki page, but unfortunately I am still struggling with my two nvidia gpu, three monitor setup.
The red arrows show the pointer progression through the monitors (moving mouse left to right). When the cursor is on the top monitor, it becomes an X, and the screen is black.
Here is the matching xorg.conf
# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 331.67 (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-08) Fri Apr 4 12:26:05 PDT 2014
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Acer G236HL"
HorizSync 30.0 - 80.0
VertRefresh 55.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Acer X223W"
HorizSync 31.0 - 83.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 9600 GT"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce GT 610"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-1"
Option "metamodes" "VGA-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DVI-I-1: nvidia-auto-select +1920+0"
Option "SLI" "Off"
Option "MultiGPU" "Off"
Option "BaseMosaic" "off"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-1"
Option "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
Option "SLI" "Off"
Option "MultiGPU" "Off"
Option "BaseMosaic" "off"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Based on this post on archlinux, I took a crack at matching the xorg.conf pattern above (monitor/device/screen sections) with my own. I took it as a victory that it actually didn't error (many xorg.conf experiments have in the last couple of days have). Here is my new xorg.conf with 3 screens/3 monitors/3 devices:
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 331.67 (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-08) Fri Apr 4 12:26:16 PDT 2014
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
Screen 2 "Screen2" RightOf "Screen1"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
Option "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "leftAcer"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Acer G236HL"
HorizSync 30.0 - 80.0
VertRefresh 55.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "rightAcer"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Acer G236HL"
HorizSync 30.0 - 80.0
VertRefresh 55.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
Identifier "topAcer"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Acer X223W"
HorizSync 31.0 - 83.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 75.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "geforce-9600-gt-0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 9600 GT"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 0
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "geforce-9600-gt-1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 9600 GT"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "geforce-gt-610"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce GT 610"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "geforce-9600-gt-0"
Monitor "leftAcer"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
Option "MetaModes" "DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "geforce-9600-gt-1"
Monitor "rightAcer"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-1"
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-1"
Option "MetaModes" "DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen2"
Device "geforce-gt-610"
Monitor "topAcer"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
Option "Stereo" "0"
Option "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
Option "MetaModes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Disable"
EndSection
This what appears with the new xorg.conf:
"leftAcer" and "rightAcer" appear, but nothing appears on "topAcer" (it appears not to be getting a signal from the gpu). I can move the mouse pointer between "leftAcer" and "rightAcer".
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few details about the hardware setup:
GeForce 9600 GT is in the PCI:1 slot. It's DVI out is going to "acerLeft", it's VGA out is going to "acerRight".
GeForce GT 610 is in PCI:2 slot. It's VGA out is going to "acerTop".
thanks!

[SOLVED] Dual monitor: can't switch from X to vc

I have a dual monitor configuration on my laptop (Sony Vaio VGN-SR21M), so that I can work with the laptop screen and an external lcd at the same time. It works amazingly well, every screen has its own resolution and I can drag windows from one screen to another (ATI drivers are wonderful in this aspect!). The only problem is that I can't switch to vc pressing Ctrl+Alt+F2 or any other function key: the laptop screen freezes black, while the other shows "no input" box. Pressing Alt+F7 the X interface is restored correctly to both screens. If I start X without the external lcd the problem disappears, so I think it is a multimonitor issue. Here's my xorg.conf:
Section "ServerLayout"
#InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
Screen "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1" RightOf "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "xtrap"
Load "glx"
Load "dri"
Load "freetype"
Load "synaptics"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AutoAddDevices" "False"
Option "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbLayout" "it"
Option "XkbVariant" ""
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "radeon"
VendorName "ATI Technologies Inc"
BoardName "Mobility Radeon HD 3400 Series"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Driver "fglrx"
Option "PairModes" ""
Option "DesktopSetup" "clone"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
Driver "fglrx"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 1
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 4
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 15
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Maybe the solution is simple, but I'm quite a newbie so please understand me...
Last edited by snack (2009-01-27 15:42:35)

I modified xorg.conf heavily to solve another problem, with this new version I can switch to vc even with dual monitor setup (obviously the external lcd doesn't work) and then go back to X without any issue:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "SynapticsTouchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "AlwaysCore" "true" # send events to CorePointer
#Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "SHMConfig" "false" # configurable at runtime? security risk
Option "LeftEdge" "1700" # x coord left
Option "RightEdge" "5300" # x coord right
Option "TopEdge" "1700" # y coord top
Option "BottomEdge" "4200" # y coord bottom
Option "FingerLow" "25" # pressure below this level triggers release
Option "FingerHigh" "30" # pressure above this level triggers touch
Option "MaxTapTime" "180" # max time in ms for detecting tap
Option "VertEdgeScroll" "true" # enable vertical scroll zone
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "true" # enable horizontal scroll zone
Option "CornerCoasting" "true" # enable continuous scroll with finger in corner
Option "CoastingSpeed" "0.30" # corner coasting speed
Option "VertScrollDelta" "15" # edge-to-edge scroll distance of the vertical scroll
Option "HorizScrollDelta" "15" # edge-to-edge scroll distance of the horizontal scroll
Option "MinSpeed" "0.15" # speed factor for low pointer movement
Option "MaxSpeed" "0.75" # maximum speed factor for fast pointer movement
Option "AccelFactor" "0.0030" # acceleration factor for normal pointer movements
Option "VertTwoFingerScroll" "true" # vertical scroll anywhere with two fingers
Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll" "true" # horizontal scroll anywhere with two fingers
Option "TapButton1" "1"
Option "TapButton2" "2"
Option "TapButton3" "3"
EndSection
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Keyboard0"
# Driver "kbd"
# Option "XkbLayout" "it"
# Option "XkbVariant" ""
#EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
Screen "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1" RightOf "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
InputDevice "SynapticsTouchpad" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection
Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "xtrap"
Load "glx"
Load "dri"
Load "freetype"
#Load "synaptics"
EndSection
Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AutoAddDevices" "False"
Option "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Driver "fglrx"
Option "PairModes" ""
Option "SwapScreens" "off"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
Driver "fglrx"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
I think it has something to do with the Screen sections, but I don't know exactly where the problem was (I changed many settings at once). Hope my new xorg.conf could be useful to someone with the same problem. Thanks everybody for the help.

Archlinux dual monitor without Xorg/Xwindows (cli only)

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