14.04 LTS - Dual Display not working

[Xinghao_Chen]

I recently got a used ThinkPad T500 laptop (2.8 GHz Duo Core, 8 GB DDR3 RAM) with built-in switchable video capability. The T500 came with Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) Edition installed. I added 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04 LTS along side. The 2-snap-shot per workspace in workspace switcher preview got me to try dual-display setup. So I bought a mini docking station, which has a digital video port and an analog video port. I then connected an NEC MultiSync LCD 2060NX to the digital video port and a Lenovo monitor to the analog video port.

I first booted the T500 laptop with Windows 7 Pro with the T500 on the mini docking station and the NEC monitor on the left and the Lenovo monitor on the right. During boot up, the ThinkPad logo shows only on the Lenovo monitor and the NEC monitor is all blank. The Windows background first show up on the Lenovo monitor and then the Windows Desktop shows up on the NEC monitor. The first picture (this elementary user doesn't know how to insert a picture in this text) shows the dual-display setup with Windows 7 Pro booted. The second picture shows that browser session windows are properly displayed on both monitors.

I then booted the T500 laptop with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, with the same mini docking station and dual-display setup. The third picture shows Ubuntu display on the two monitors, with both monitors show the same desktop. Additionally, the desktop on the Lenovo display is also super imposed on the NEC desktop (the fourth picture). The fifth picture is a capture of the Lenovo monitor's Ubuntu desktop.

I am assuming that the dual-display capability in Ubuntu works in a similar fashion as Windows 7 Pro does. Am I wrong? Or is 14.04 LTS not yet ready for dual-display (which seems to contradict the dual-snap-shot in the workspace switcher's previewer)?

I am a novice Ubuntu user and don't know what is going on. Perhaps experts on the forum can provide insights.

[gnusci]

Here a couple of readings to start with:

http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2009/08/ubuntu-tips-how-to-setup-dual-monitor/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-multiple-external-displays-linux-ubuntu/

In case your card is NVidia:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NvidiaMultiMonitors

[Xinghao_Chen]

Thank you for pointing to the literature. I forgot to mention that my T500 has an Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family video and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 video.

[Xinghao_Chen]

I have not been able to get the Dual-Display setting in Ubuntu to work on my T500: in addition to the super-imposed desktop in the (left) NEC monitor (see picture #6, the one with yellowish background), the two monitors basically display in mirror mode, even though the Mirror Display box in not checked.

Secondly, the launcher is always in the (right) Lenovo monitor, even though the Launcher placement selection is for the NEC monitor only.

While playing around the Dual-Display setup, the system crashed several times.