Dual-Head - Different Resolutions for both screens?

[PaulW89]

Hi!

I now have an external tft monitor plugged into the VGA-out of my ASUS notebook in order to expand my desktop.

aticonfig configured my xorg.conf. I activated both screens and it works.

BUT: The external tft monitor has got the same resolution as the notebook lcd -> 1280x800.

With
sudo aticonfig --resolution=1,1280x1024 I tried setting the external monitor's resolution, but it had no effect at all. Also 800x600 didn't work.

What am I doing wrong? Or is it impossible to use two different resolutions? (Cannot imagine that..)

My system: Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 (2.6.24-19-generic), AMD64. Graphic card: ATI Mobility Radeon X2300

Here's my /etc/X11/xorg.conf:



# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]" 0 0
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "de"
Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[1]"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

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

Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]"
Driver "fglrx"
Option "DesktopSetup" "horizontal"
Option "EnableMonitor" "crt1,lvds"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[1]"
Driver "fglrx"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1280x800"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[1]"
Device "aticonfig-Device[1]"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[1]"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "800x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Hope you can help me,
Paul from Germany. ;)

[micahkoga]

Try using the ATI Catalyst Control Center. It worked for me, but I have to configure it everytime I connect my ext screen.

[PaulW89]

Hi,

thanks for your answer. Unfortunately the ATI Catalyst Control Center offers me 2560x800 as the ONLY available resolution. No way.

There has to be a way to do it. Please help! :-k

[Wulvor]

I am a Ubuntu Newb, but I used sudo displayconfig-gtk to configure my second Monitor. Took a couple reboots, and having other issues, but I can see both screens at seperate resolutions.

[PaulW89]

Thanks for the answer,

but it didn't really work for me. displayconfig-gtk just kicks out the fglrx-module and loads some other strange modules and activates xinerama (which is deprecated according to my knowledge).

Also after using displayconfig-gtk I had NO window borders!!
Very strange.

Please help me!

[tnunamak]

I'm trying to solve the same problem. Does anyone know of a solution?

[BingMan]

This is actually the problem that has kept me from using Linux as my main productive environment. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T60 with ATI X1300 card, and I constantly use it either with a large external screen and external keyboard, or on its own as a single computer. The external screen has a much larger resolution than the notebook screen, and I'm used to using both. I can't figure out a way to make this setup work well under Linux, much less to have an easy way to switch between both configurations.

With prices of large monitors dropping and new laptops packing enough punch for most applications, this sort of setup migh become a standard for many serious users. Multiple display handling is in my opinion a crucial issue, and both Windows and Apple's OS's have been handling that with grace for many years. I don't get it why this is such a pain under Linux.

I really hope someone solves this, because I'd really like to ditch Windows for good, but I cannot go back to working on a single display. For me, this is THE deal breaker. For now Ubuntu just remains a toy I keep in a dual boot to play with and hope for a time it might be useful to me.