Ati, Matrox MergedFB

[Ziox]

Dual Monitor Support With MergedFB

The following attempts to enable Dual Monitor support by activating the MergedFB function that is implemented within the recent Xorg's open-source 'radeon' or 'mga' graphics driver.

System Requirements:

ONE Dual-Output ATI (or Matrox Graphics card <= unsure, since I have never tested it before).

A recent version of the free Xorg, WITHOUT any binary graphics driver installed.

Let's get started!!!

1. Open up Xorg.conf using ONE of the following commands:

Gnome (Ubuntu):

gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

KDE (Kubuntu):

kdesu kate /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Xfce4 (Xubuntu):

gksudo mousepad /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Command-Line Based:

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

2. This is about the simplest HowTo, simply copy the following lines to your "Device" Section:

Option "MergedFB" "true" #Enable MergedFB function
  Option "MonitorLayout" "LVDS (TMDS), CRT" # LVDS = Laptop Screen, TMDS = DVI Port, CRT = VGA Port NOT MONITOR TYPE!
  Option "CRT2Hsync" "30-65" #Horizontal Sync of the Monitor (check your monitor's manual for correct values)
  Option "CRT2VRefresh" "50-75" #Vertical Refresh rate of the Monitor (check your monitor's manual for correct values)
  Option "OverlayOnCRTC2" "true"
  Option "CRT2Position" "LeftOf" #Physical location of your secondary monitor in relationship to your primary monitor. Values can be: LeftOf, RightOf, Above, Below, and Clone.
  Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024-1280x1024" #Monitor Resolutions for Primary-Secondary monitors 
#Option "MergedXineramaCRT2IsScreen0" "true" #determines which screen is going to be the primary screen; value can be "true" or "false"

3. Next, go to the "Monitor" Section and add the following

Horizsync    28-64 #You may wish to change the values to fit your specific monitor
    Vertrefresh    43-60

Save the file, and restarted X (ctrl+alt+backspace), or reboot.

Now Dual Monitor support should be enabled, if not please post your problem.

[pinworm]

does this work with the ati driver that comes installed standard with ubuntu? also is this the only option to use a composite manager with a dual head ati card? im using xinerama right now, but i dont have direct rendering so i cant try any of the cool composite managers.

[Ziox]

stupid post

[ttolstead]

I just tried this with a Matrox G550 normal install Edgy Eft, to no avail.

Whenever I reboot (before or after changes), Xinearama will not start the second monitor until I restart the X server. Does the following snip from my xorg.conf look like what you had in mind?

snip/

Section "Device"

Identifier "Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G550 AGP 0"
Driver "mga"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 0
Option "backingstore"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "MergedFB" "true" #Enable MergedFB function
Option "MonitorLayout" "LCD, CRT" # Use LCD and CRT even if you have 2 LCD's or CRT's
Option "CRT2Hsync" "30-65" #Horizontal Sync of the Monitor (check your monitor's manual for correct values)
Option "CRT2VRefresh" "50-75" #Vertical Refresh rate of the Monitor (check your monitor's manual for correct values)
Option "OverlayOnCRTC2" "true"
Option "CRT2Position" "LeftOf" #Physical location of your secondary monitor in relationship to your primary monitor.
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024-1280x1024" #Monitor Resolutions for Primary-Secondary monitors
EndSection

Section "Device"

Identifier "Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA G550 AGP 1"
Driver "mga"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
Option "backingstore"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "MergedFB" "true" #Enable MergedFB function
Option "MonitorLayout" "LCD, CRT" # Use LCD and CRT even if you have 2 LCD's or CRT's
Option "CRT2Hsync" "30-65" #Horizontal Sync of the Monitor (check your monitor's manual for correct values)
Option "CRT2VRefresh" "50-75" #Vertical Refresh rate of the Monitor (check your monitor's manual for correct values)
Option "OverlayOnCRTC2" "true"
Option "CRT2Position" "LeftOf" #Physical location of your secondary monitor in relationship to your primary monitor.
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024-1280x1024" #Monitor Resolutions for Primary-Secondary monitors
EndSection

/snip

[Ziox]

just delete the whole second device section.
You are mixing two methods together, Xinerama and MergedFB. I don't recommend mixing unless you know exactly what you are doing...

[pinworm]

i just got mergedfb working. the advantage over xinerama in my particular case, using the open "ati" driver, is that i have direct rendering now. im goign to see if i can get beryl working with aiglx. by the way, thanks for the how to's they have been very helpful.

[sneekie]

how do i get 2 different resolutions to work? I'm guessing

Option "MetaModes" "1024x768-1280x1024"

should do it, but it doesn't seem to work. My external lcd is 1280x1024 and my notebook's resolution is the same. I want one to be at 1280x1024 and one to be at 1024x768.

[goggleBOX]

I use a Compaq 2418AU laptop which has a 14" WXGA screen (1280x768 ) which also has a VGA out. I have a CMV CT-720D 17" LCD monitor (1280x1024) that I wish to connect.

Following this guild it appears that my desktop is streching across both monitors but the external LCD does not render correctly. the desktop is usally some form of scambled pattern while the pointer appears as a square of vertical coloured stripes.

I have tried adjusting the Horizontal Sync and Vertical Refresh rate from the defaults given in the example using my monitor guild as a reference. While I can set them to various settings nothing seems to work, I have tried dozens of combinations. It appears that my monitor prefers 30kHz horizontal by 60Hz vertical as when I adjust the ranges to exclude these numbers I just get a copy of the desktop on the second monitor.

I am using the ATI drives currently (21st Dec 2006) available using Easy ubuntu.

Attached in my xorg.conf in a text file.

[TheCat]

Thanks - this worked perfectly for me. I was using Xinerama, but the secondary screen had odd mouse cursor display issues.

I have a Radeon 9000, the fglrx driver and I used the instructions in the first message in this thread.

[mättu]

No joy with Matrox G400.
Second screen remains black.
I think there once was an xorg-output saying that only G450 and G550 are supported, but I have not been able to reproduce it so far.
Here is a link for G400 & xinerama:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=447802
I will check that out & post back.
Would be nice to use mergedFB anyway, so help is much appreciated.

Btw. there is a bug in edgy's mga-driver. Workaround if first screen remains black after upfrade / install:
https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu...mga/+bug/64853

:m)