dual head setup in 9.04

[jaideep_jdof]

i am using intel graphic card the issue i am facing is that dual head doesn't work, if is issue the following command

xrandr --output VGA --mode 1440x900 --left-of LVDS --output LVDS --mode 1280x800

it gives an error

xrandr: screen cannot be larger than 1440x1440 (desired size 2720x900)

I have added

Virtual 2720 1700

to the screen section of xorg config but it doesn't work.

[hteles]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

Hi,

did you try to setup it at System Settings -> Display?

Maybe you are providing some bad argument to xrandr?

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

I am scratching my head a bit today...

Did the third install of 9.04 and it was not at all the simple install that I have had with the two previous pc's.

This was not a normal deskside PC, but with two monitors on an ATI Radeon 9550 card. After a lot of back and forth and some fixing through recovery console, the PC is booting fine. But I do not get any suggestion for drivers in the hardware settings and after installing Envy-ng, I can see a driver, but it is not recommended, so I am a bit hesitant in activating it.

Also, I have no idea where to enable dual monitors! Shouldn't this be a simple thing? Kubuntu detects two outputs, I have the possibility to set different resolutions for the monitors. But at the moment it is just mirroring, and I am not able to find any button to switch to two independent monitors... Anyone know where to find this? Strange... Should be somewhere obvious :-)

[hteles]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

Hi

the newest proprietary driver from ATI supporting latest Xorg doesn't support your card, neither do mine an Ati Mobility X700.
Only the open source driver does that.

Best Wishes

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

Ok. Got the opensource drivers loaded and desktop effects work. Now it remains to get dual screen working and I am going almost insane trying to get it done.

When I set this up in Linux Mint a while ago using Gnome as desktop, I used this DisplayConfigGTK:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DisplayConfigGTK

This makes it just as easy as setting it up in WindowsXP and is how the monitor setup in Kubuntu should be. Why do we have to edit xorg.conf to get this working? Completely insane...

Do anyone know of an application similar to DisplayConfigGTK?

The setup on the computer I need this on is as follows:

Radeon 9550 with one VGA and one DVI

Connected to the VGA: Samsung SyncMaster 940B 19 inch
Resolution: 1280x1024
Hor freq: 30-81khz
Vert freq: 56-75khz

Connected to the DVI: Compaq 5017 15 inch
Resolution: 1024x768
Hor freq: 30-61khz
Vert freq: 56-75khz

The Samsung is the main display and is placed to the left of the Compaq.

I prefer that the two monitors are totally independent so that when I maximize and application it maximizes on that monitor, not to the whole workspace. Just as it does in WindowsXP.

I have tried a lot of settings following several how-to's, but nothing was able to "split" the monitors.

Right now, without any xorg.conf, I have picture on both monitors, but it is mirrored and both are running 1024x768.

The part missing in the display setup is the configuration of dual monitors. Kubuntu recognizes that there are two monitors connected, that they can use different resolutions, and I have tried to set it. But as soon as I click Apply, the main monitor jump back to 1024x768 resolution.

MAYBE - there is a problem with permissions here? What is the name of the Display application? I could try to run it with sudo...?

[hteles]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

Hi,

I'm in a hurry.

systemsettings will bring the entire control panel and the one you want is a module.
Don't know if it is a good idea but you could try with $sudo systemsettings.

Best wishes.

[jaideep_jdof]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

dual head support in kde4 is a major issue. I had the same problem with arch linux and kdemod 4.2

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

Well, actually, Kubuntu is able to see that there are three ouputs on the 9550 card. One DVI, one VGA and one S-video that is not connected to anything. The dropdowns for resolution and freq. are there and working. There is only one thing missing: a button to stop using mirrored mode. I guess someone forgot this vital, little thing... :P

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

I am not sure where the problem is anymore. Seems like there actually is something missing in Kubuntu 9.04!

Take a look at this thread:

http://forum.kde.org/ati-radeon-9550....html#pid66153

What does it look like in your Display settings? Do you have the Multiple Monitors setting?

[bitnissen]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

What does it look like in your Display settings? Do you have the Multiple Monitors setting?

I dont have it either on my X61s when the external is connected. But the funny thing is that when the external monitor is *not* connected the buttons for "Position" are present in the "Display - System settings" panel

Never had it working in II either I can manually modify xorg.conf and use CLI xrandr to get the monitor working, but then running the "System settings" crashes the xserver...

Anyone here knows if the dual-head has been left out intentionally by the Kubuntu developers?

[ukchucktown]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

I would imagine a future update may address multiple monitor configuration from System Settings/Display but for now don't use it if you want your dual monitors working correctly. Once you do have it working by manually creating an xorg.conf file (don't edit the existing one, create a new one from scratch) you don't want to enter Display Settings or it will knocker your beautiful extended desktop into mirror mode forcing you to restart. Creating an xorg.conf file may seem daunting at first but it's actually pretty easy if you take the time to read the man pages. I'm old school so it doesn't bother me.

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

It is not daunting, it is a complete mess. I have struggled for a whole day trying to get a system working, and it is still not working.

This is working in Ubuntu - why not in Kubuntu? And why the difference to the standard KDE 4.2.2?

[ukchucktown]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

Gnome and KDE are completely different, it's worthless to ask why it works in one and not the other. I personally don't care for the Ubuntu versus Kubuntu branding. They are basically the same Debian based system with different window systems. It's perfectly acceptable to install Gnome and KDE on the same Debian system and use both interchangeably. I can't speak to why the multiple monitor configuration is missing from the Display Settings. It's not there so I worked around it. Mucking around with xorg.conf is not for everyone and getting dual monitors working depends on your video hardware and driver. Maybe the drivers haven't caught up to 9.04 (it does have a new kernel too) so the developers decided to disable it in the settings and allow users to manual configure it if their hardware and driver supports it. When you said it's working in Ubuntu, is that 9.04 running Gnome or an older version? You can't compare an older Ubuntu version to Kubuntu 9.04.

[Oceanwatcher]

Re: dual head setup in 9.04

I was able to activate dual monitors. Have not got all set up correct yet, but the minimum setup is in this thread:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3103103.0