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Thread: Dual Monitors w/Laptop

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Beans
    39

    Dual Monitors w/Laptop

    Hi.

    I am considering installing Ubuntu on my new lap top. I currently use the laptop monitor as my main monitor and an external monitor connected to the VGA port as my second monitor to extend my desktop.

    Is the same configuration possible with Ubuntu?

    Thanks in advance for the help.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Southern California
    Beans
    231
    Distro
    Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

    Re: Dual Monitors w/Laptop

    I never tried it, but I heard there could be some issues as Ubuntu needs to bot with the monitor already connected....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Oregon, USA
    Beans
    278
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: Dual Monitors w/Laptop

    It all depends on the video drivers. My laptop has Nvidia video & using the proprietary driver available in Synaptic I had no trouble doing exactly what you describe.
    If I have an apple & I give it to you, still only one of us has an apple. But if I know how to do something & show you how to do it, we both now possess that knowledge. This is the community of GNU/Linux.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Beans
    1,835
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: Dual Monitors w/Laptop

    Quote Originally Posted by ModelM View Post
    It all depends on the video drivers. My laptop has Nvidia video & using the proprietary driver available in Synaptic I had no trouble doing exactly what you describe.
    It works ok for me using the proprietary fglrx driver for my ati card. If the op has a legacy ATI card then he would have to use the OSS drivers and I don't know how well they work with dual monitors.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    USA
    Beans
    225
    Distro
    Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

    Re: Dual Monitors w/Laptop

    I am actually using that setup right now. I have an Intel video card and the only drawback is if I want to use a high resolution like 1440x900 on my TV (connected with vga) then some of the output on my actual laptop screen goes off the screen because it does not support that high of a resolution. However, I could set the resolution to 1024x768 and both screens support that so neither's output would go off the screen. Anyways, I love this setup because I can just disconnect the VGA cable, logout, and log back in and the normal laptop resolution will be back.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Washington State
    Beans
    2,342
    Distro
    Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

    Re: Dual Monitors w/Laptop

    I'm using an Acer 5920 dual-boot with Intel onboard graphics. It'll run a second monitor in Ubuntu, but the dual monitor utility is a lot clunkier and less usable than in Vista.
    It does seem to work better if the monitor is plugged in at boot. One of the really annoying things about my situation is that the utility insists on making the external monitor the primary monitor, and the laptop monitor is secondary!
    Also, it's unable to run both screens at their proper resolutions.
    And it'll only clone screens, not give me the option of separate desktops.

    Form the other responses, it seems like the biggest question is what's running the graphics on your laptop?
    EDIT: I'm running 8.10. Have no idea whether 9.04 has better dual-monitor support built in.
    Last edited by Bartender; May 14th, 2009 at 03:19 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    On board my boat
    Beans
    483
    Distro
    Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

    Re: Dual Monitors w/Laptop

    (7) Right now I am in Windows using my laptop, docked with an external monitor. Justy the set up I would like in Jaunty. When I boot to Jaunty, however, go to SYSTEM>PREFERENCES>DISPLAY it does not recognize that I have two monitors. Where do I set that switch?

    Using a Dell Latitude D620, the Fn-F8 combination to switch monitors does nothing in Jaunty.

    I don't normally use Jaunty in this location so I'm not too upset yet. But I will be setting up the dock and dual monitors at home for an extended recovery and need to work from there. I just want to be prepaired.
    Don
    Looks fine to me but then I don't know/care what you run

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