New in Hardy for Intel chipset -- xorg.conf, Resolution, Dual monitor etc

[ingrid_ozikem]

I'm starting this thread because there seems to be a lot of improvements in Hardy for Intel chipset graphics cards (eg. 915GM etc.. run lspci to find out what you have).

WHY: A lot of the tutorials here and elsewhere deal with complications from the older i810 driver, 915resolution and other complicated hacks.. I just spend 4 days (and most of the nights!) getting things working for me, only to realize most of the material out there is quite dated now and things are much easier. So let's collect all the advice about what is new now. I'll get the ball rolling..


Video card driver -- for most Intel chipset cards, the intel driver seems far more advanced and less buggy than the older i810 driver. So specify 'intel' as the Driver in the Device section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Mode lines are unneccessary now. The Intel driver apparently detects the correct modes of most monitors (external or not) without problems.. i810 on the other hand required a lot of work (and often needed the hack 915resolution).

xorg.conf -- with the intel driver, this file looks very different for multiple monitors. You have only 1 Device section and specify all the monitors in that.

Extended desktop -- this is quite easy now. Create a pretty barebones xorg.conf with the intel driver in 1 Device section and create a Monitor sections for each of your monitors. Then create ONE screen section which includes the Virtual statement to create a large virtual X screen. (Largest size -- 2048 x 2048 if you want DRI enabled (makes 3d graphics faster).. otherwise no apparent limit.)

With such an xorg.conf file, you can use xrandr to position each of your monitors on different parts of your large virtual screen. Amazingly, compiz works for me after using xrandr!!


This is just a start.. I'm afraid what I've said above is pretty condensed but I wish I had known it 96 frustrating hours ago.. so I ask you all to please join in and chip in with all that is new in Hardy (or a little less recently) with respect to Intel chipset video cards.

Here are some links that are useful..

http://lilserenity.wordpress.com/200...ement-at-last/
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Xorg_RandR_1.2
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Fi...8resolution%29
http://intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html

[BandD]

Can you post what your xorg.conf file looks like? I'm trying to get two monitors set up with the i915 chipset, but I'm just not sure how eactly to format everything in xorg.

[crashsystems]

I must say, I'm quite exited about this. Every release I check out dual monitors to see if I can get it to work without a bunch of xorg.conf editing, and with 8.04 I got lucky.

A big of background on my box: Laptop, Dell Inspiron 1420 (Linux preloaded ). Now for the relevant lines from lspci:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)

Using the screen resolution program in preferences, I got the external monitor working without any problems, but only with cloning. Next I unchecked the cloning option, and placed the external monitor below my LCD. When I applied these settings, my desktop background stretched as if it was spreading across two screens. However, the same view was displayed on both screens. Furthermore, when I tried dragging a windows below the bottom of my LCD, it was not stopped by the screen edge, but kept on going into the invisible darkness.

So, does anyone know whats up with this strange bit? If you need more info from my end, just ask. Thanks in advance for your help.

[burningbed]

Thank you so much! That was really helpful. The most useful link was the one from the intel linux website:
http://intellinuxgraphics.org/dualhead.html

I am attaching my xorg.conf file for the following setup: Laptop Lenovo Thinkpad T61 with 1440x900 resolution internal LCD display and external Lenovo L201p LCD monitor with 1600x1200 max. resolution. I have a dual monitor (/ dual head) setup where the external monitor is to the left of my laptop.

# 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 "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "Generic Keyboard"
        Driver          "kbd"
        Option          "XkbRules"      "xorg"
        Option          "XkbModel"      "pc104"
        Option          "XkbLayout"     "us"
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 "Device"
        Identifier      "Intel 945G "
        Driver          "intel"
        Option "monitor-LVDS" "monLVDS"
        Option "monitor-VGA" "monVGA"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "monLVDS"
        Option "PreferredMode"  "1440x900"
        Option "Position" "0 0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "monVGA"
        Option "PreferredMode"  "1600x1200"
        Option "LeftOf"  "monLVDS"
        Option "Position" "-1600 -300"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Device          "Intel Corporation 945G Integrated Graphics Controller"
        Monitor         "monLVDS"
        DefaultDepth    24
        SubSection "Display"
          Depth 24
          Modes "1440x900"
          Virtual 3040 1200
        EndSubSection
EndSection

[grahams]

Thanks burningbed

Your xorg.conf works on my Compaq 2510p and I now have dual screen. Do you know how to make the main screen (gnomepanel), the laptop screen rather than the external screen?

[burningbed]

I'm glad it worked for you. I use KDE and I could easily drag the taskbar to the laptop screen. I assume something similar should work for gnome (check the settings or preferences, or just try to drag it), but I don't know any details.

[lilbudda]

Thanks! This was exactly the configuration I was going for I just copied and pasted and it worked!

[LondonSteve]

To keep this concise, I'm deleting the original post here. See my final answer down below.

[burningbed]

No need to be afraid to change the xorg.conf file. You'll have to do it to set up dual monitor support. Just back up your current file, so you can always copy it back if you need to (also if you completely delete the xorg.conf file you should still get a working graphical interface). Take a look at the file I posted above and try to adapt it. You can't really brake anything if you keep a copy of your current xorg.conf file and know how to copy it back on the comand line.

[LondonSteve]

To keep this concise, I'm deleting the original post here and applying to my last post to the end of this discussion.