Problem: nVidiaOnly one monitor detected - Fresh install

[DoRullings]

Hi guys

I really need your help with this issue. This post is long, but I want to provide as much information as possible.

Problem: I have two monitors connected to my desktop PC with a GeForce 7950 GT display card. I tested if my system is compatible by running Ubuntu 11.10 from an USB stick, and everything worked fine. I only had to activate the second monitor in System Settings -> Displays. After the installation NVIDIA drivers has haunted me. Please read the description below:

Ubuntu version: 11.10 64 bit

System:


Two Dell monitors:

Dell E2209W
Dell E228WFP


Video card: GeForce 7950 GT

Two DVI outputs
The monitors are connected with DVI cables
I have tried to connect with VGA adapter, but that did not make any difference





First attempt to install Ubuntu:
If I remember correctly I was made aware of that there was "third party drivers" available for my graphic card after the installation of Ubuntu was done and I entered the Displays settings dialogue box. I accepted this and installed the highlighted driver. From then on all settings had to be done in "NVIDIA X Server Settings". I tried all possible settings, and all available drivers, including the recommended one, which Ubuntu did not choose by default. The best result I got was with the recommended driver, that both monitors was activated and the desktop was extended, but I got an error message every time I logged inn. I can not remember exactly what the error-message said, but it believe it complained about that the resolution and/or refresh rate was wrong and it had to choose a different settings.

At this point the xorg.config file was so messed up and I decided to reinstall Ubuntu and not install the NVIDIA drivers.

Second attempt to install Ubuntu:
After the installation I opened the Displays settings, but only one monitor was detected. I checked if the NVIDIA drivers was installed, and it was. After the installation I haven not changed anything because I realize that I need help and that it is better to go to this forum with a system clean as possible as a starting point for debugging.

Current status:


Driver installed: NVIDIA version 173 ( see screenshot below )
Monitor 0 - "DFP-0-(Dell E2209W)" is detected and activated ( see screenshot below )
Monitor 1 - "DFP-1-(DELL E228WFP)" is detected, but not activated ( see screenshot below )
"X Server Display Configuration" display an error message only:

"Unable to load X Server Display Configuration page: Failed to query NoScanout for screen 0"





Conclusion: I do not need 3D support in Ubuntu. It would be fine if it worked because I might do some programming using Open GL in Ubuntu in the future, but that's it. I see two solutions that you guys may help me with:


The configuration that was used when I booted Ubuntu from USB worked fine. I thinkl that involves removing the NVIDIA drivers and install Nouveau drivers. What is the best way to accomplish this?
Get the NVIDIA drivers to work. This would of course be the best result, as I wrote above, not necessary. 3D would be great to have, but if it makes my system unstable or it involves a lot of tweaking to get there, I prefer the first solution.


Log files: I saved the Xorg.0.log file when I loaded Ubuntu from USB and directly after the installation. I have tried to find sensitive information in this log files, but I did not find any so I take the risk to post them. I can see that they contain useful information. If anybody find sensitive information in them, please alert me so that I can remove them.

(http://fildeling.no/docs/forum/Xorg.0.log)

Xorg.0.log from USB (http://fildeling.no/docs/forum/Xorg.0.log)
Xorg.0.log after installation (http://fildeling.no/docs/forum/From_USB_Xorg.0.log)
The current xorg.conf (http://fildeling.no/docs/forum/xorg.conf)


Screenshots:


Aditional Drivers

http://fildeling.no/img/forum/Additional_drivers.png



Detected and activated monitor:

http://fildeling.no/img/forum/Detected_and_activated_monitor.png




Detected but not activated monitor:

http://fildeling.no/img/forum/Dell_E228WFP_settings_window.png




X Server Display Configuration:

http://fildeling.no/img/forum/X_server_display_configuration.png




Graphic Card Information:

http://fildeling.no/img/forum/Graphic_card_info.png


X Screen Information:

http://fildeling.no/img/forum/X_Screen_0.png

[dino99]

what i can see:
- nvidia 173 should not be used, but nvidia-current

so i suppose that xorg.conf is borked. As actual kernel directly deals with X, try to start with a clean config:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old

sudo synaptic
- remove/purge ALL the installed nvidia related packages
- add this ppa to get the latest nvidia-current: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates
- add it to your synaptic/third party tab
- update
- install nvidia-current and nvidia-settings

sudo reboot
sudo jockey-gtk

from the menu, run nvidia-settings to deal with the dual monitors config

[DoRullings]

Thanks for your reply dino99!

I followed your instructions almost exactly as you described them. When I write "almost" is it because I removed all nvidia related packages by typing nvidia in synaptic search box and removed all installed packages that came up from the search query. I noticed that jockey-gtk was one of the packages that came up, or was it a dependency? I do not remember. Anyway, I assumed that it would be installed when I installed the nvidia-current or nvidia-settings, but it did not. I looked into the nvidia controll panel and everything looked fine, and I set the monitors in TwinView, and from then on everything has worked just fine. I have just installed jockey-gtk because I read that it handles more than display drivers, and I have some problems fine tuning my MS Wireless keyboard and mouse, especially the mouse wheel scroll speed and that middle button is not doing anything. I will continue doing research on this.

Thanks for your help! I really do appreciate it! :-)