dual monitors with different resolutions not working (nvidia)

**plablo09** · March 6th, 2012

Hi, I've searched the forums to no avail. My problem is as follows:
I'm setting up a new system, I have two monitors, the main one is working fine, but when I activate the second monitor through nvidia-settings it doesn't display an option with the right resolution (that would be 1440x900) so I end up wit a ugly looking second monitor.

My graphics card is:
Nvidia GeForce GTS 450

My xorg.conf:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier     "Monitor0"
	VendorName     "Unknown"
	ModelName      "Samsung SA300/SA350"
	HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
	VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
	Option         "DPMS"
	# HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier     "Screen0"
	Device         "Device0"
	Monitor        "Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth    24
	Option         "TwinView" "1"
	Option         "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
	Option         "metamodes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DFP-1: nvidi
a-auto-select +1920+0"

	SubSection "Display"
		Depth       24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier     "Mouse0"
	Driver         "mouse"
	Option         "Protocol" "auto"
	Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
	Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
	Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier     "Keyboard0"
	Driver         "kbd"
	# generated from default
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Layout0"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier     "Device0"
	Driver         "nvidia"
	VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
	BoardName      "GeForce GTS 450"
	Option     "MetaModes" "1440x900"
	Option	"NoLogo"	"True"
EndSection

Running xrandr gives:

Code:

xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 3200 x 1080, current 3200 x 1080, maximum 3200 x 1080
default connected 3200x1080+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   3200x1080      50.0*

I've tried some workarounds but I'm not quite there yet. Any help is appreciated

**papibe** · March 6th, 2012

What kind of connection are you using for your monitors (vga, dvi, hdmi, etc)?

Does the 2nd one work while used alone? (1st monitor not connected).

Regards.

EDIT: the reason I asked is that some monitors can report bad/corrupt EDID while used over VGA but work fine using DVI (for example).

**plablo09** · March 6th, 2012

Thanks!
The main monitor is connected to a dvi port, the second is connected to a hdmi trough a vga adapter. And yes, the second works alone (trough dvi).

**papibe** · March 6th, 2012

Then there are some options.

This is what I would do:

Boot with 2nd monitor using the DVI cable.
Using the 'Nvidia X Server Settings' get its EDID information on a file.
To do that go to GPU 0 -> Adquire EDID.
Then reboot using the monitors as you want them to be.
Run on a terminal the Nvidia Settings called as root:
Code:
```
gksudo nvidia-settings
```
Set the monitor as close as you want as possible (regardless of a bad resolution, try going safe like a low res).
Save the current configuration by going to X Server Display Configuration -> Save to X Configuration file.
Now edit your X configuration that you just save by running in a terminal:
Code:
```
gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
```
Look for a section called "Screen" that is the one used for the second monitor. Add this line inside that section:
Code:
```
Option	"CustomEDID" "CRT-0:/path/to/edid.bin"
```
change CRT-0 for the name nvidia gave to the second monitor (for instance CRT-0, CRT-1, DFP-0, HDMI-0, etc).
edid.bin is the file you just obtained on step 2. Use an absolute path to it.
Save the file.
Restart you machine and try to set the correct resolution this time.

Hope it helps, and tell us how it goes.
Regards.

**plablo09** · March 6th, 2012

Thanks a lot papibe!

It almost works, when I restart the second time (after setting the option "CustomEDID"), the second monitor is set at the right resolution (1440x900), but when I logged in there where errors about not being able to set some metamodes. I'll check to see the exact error messages.
In the meantime, I have to go, but i'll report tomorrow

**plablo09** · March 9th, 2012

Sorry about thin late reply, I got caught up with work.
The procedure sketched by papibe effectively solved the issue (after I manually removed some metamodes from xorg.conf), so I'm marking this as solved
Thanks a lot