Dual monitor/default monitor

[ep3w]

I have been running two monitors on my laptop with Ubuntu for sometime with two different resolutions. I thought hardy was supposed to let you easily enable them using the screen resolution applet but that didn't recognize my 2nd display at all. Not a big deal, I easily enabled it using nvidia-settings and they work great, the screen resolution applet recognizes them as one big screen despite the different resolutions (1680x1050 and 1280x1024 so the vertical is not off by much). Whenever I boot up and go to logon, the login window is always on my 2nd display and I have found no way around this. Is there anyway to tell it the other is my primary one? It is marked as that in nvidia-settings. Also, any reason why when I only use one display and so the login window is one the widescreen one, the little circles that show up for your password are cut off at the bottom?

[chewearn]

Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf manually.

Under Section "Device", you need to add something similar to the lines below:

Option  "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP, CRT"
Option "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP, CRT"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "DFP LeftOf CRT"

Note:
You need to replace the "DFP" and "CRT" with the ones found in your xorg.conf.

[ep3w]

Thanks, that worked great! I switch between running dual and single monitors alot when I take my notebook to class using nvidia-settings. Should i tell it to merge with my existing so it doesn't overwrite what i just added? I would assume leaving that part in while running a single monitor would not effect anything since it is just telling it to use my notebook screen as default anyways, but correct me if I am wrong.

[chewearn]

Yeah, the settings will probably be ignore if you use a single screen only.

However, if you switch single to dual screens frequently, it would be better to create multiple xorg.conf (test it to make sure it's working) for each scenario. Put these xorg.conf files somewhere. Subsequently, a simple file copy instruction and a Xorg restart will be sufficient to switch the configuration.

Advantage: it's always possible to switch instantly.
Drawback: no dynamic switching, need Xorg restart.

[ep3w]

That was the type of setup I had before I formatted. My buddy helped me write a simple script so I could easily switch between the two. Now I just need to remember how I did it...Thanks for the help!

[riiidaa]

Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf manually.

Under Section "Device", you need to add something similar to the lines below:

Option  "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP, CRT"
Option "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP, CRT"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "DFP LeftOf CRT"

Note:
You need to replace the "DFP" and "CRT" with the ones found in your xorg.conf.

Hi chewearn

I just set up Mythbuntu 8.04 yesterday and have a 2 screen setup. It's almost how I want it, running separate X screens with Xinerama enabled. However my problem is similar to the OP.

I have my 32" Bravia LCD (CRT-1) plugged in to my dvi port and the old 17" samsung monitor (CRT-0) plugged in to the regular vga port on my nvidia card, gpu0.

Trying to have linux see my 32" (CRT-1) as the default monitor, but linux wants to use the 17" for things like login - so I'm trying your advice but am a bit stuck...

You say to paste the 3 lines into the "Device" section...

Here's an extract from my xorg.conf

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7300 GS"
BusID "PCI:5:0:0"
Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7300 GS"
BusID "PCI:5:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection

Where exactly should I put it? Sorry I'm a bit green at this.

Also you say to replace DFP and CRT with what I have in the conf but what on your setup are these values labeled? For example in my conf I have:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Samsung S/M 753DF"

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "SONY TV"

So I'm wondering if in your setup if DFP is a ModelName an Identifier or some other label like my CRT-1 and 0?

Thanks in advance for any help,

[chewearn]

hi riiidaa

You have a different problem. The previous fix apply only if you use Twinview dual screens. For "Separate X screen" you do this:

Under Section "ServerLayout", add these two lines:

screen 0    "Screen0" 0 0
screen 1    "Screen1" rightof "Screen0"

The "Screen0" and "Screen1" labels must match the Identifier of Section "Screen".

[riiidaa]

Thanks chewearn, I got jack of tinkering with stuff on my own so chickened out and swapped the cables over for an easy way out, but I shall try what you've suggested in a few hours and hopefully that will solve it,

Have made do using a dvi to vga adaptor for the 2nd gpu output til now but if your tweak works it means I will be able to go out and buy a dvi cable for the bravia and be 100% happy that my multiple o/s's will accept it as default in the dvi port- will let you know.

[alrag]

I have been running two monitors on my laptop with Ubuntu for sometime with two different resolutions. I thought hardy was supposed to let you easily enable them using the screen resolution applet but that didn't recognize my 2nd display at all. Not a big deal, I easily enabled it using nvidia-settings and they work great, the screen resolution applet recognizes them as one big screen despite the different resolutions (1680x1050 and 1280x1024 so the vertical is not off by much). Whenever I boot up and go to logon, the login window is always on my 2nd display and I have found no way around this. Is there anyway to tell it the other is my primary one? It is marked as that in nvidia-settings. Also, any reason why when I only use one display and so the login window is one the widescreen one, the little circles that show up for your password are cut off at the bottom?

Hi there, i have a similar problem, i used to have a login screen and after some updating, i now have nothing, i,m blindly login in, by typing user name and password when i hear the drum sound of the login screen.

By using an slightly bigger monitor, i can see the login screen.
Question, How can I change the resolution of the login screen in ubuntu 8.04, so i can recover it?

Any help would be appreciated

[chewearn]

Hi there, i have a similar problem, i used to have a login screen and after some updating, i now have nothing, i,m blindly login in, by typing user name and password when i hear the drum sound of the login screen.

By using an slightly bigger monitor, i can see the login screen.
Question, How can I change the resolution of the login screen in ubuntu 8.04, so i can recover it?

Any help would be appreciated

Edit xorg.conf:

gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Go to Section "Screen", SubSection "Display"; remove all entries with resolution not supported by your monitor.