3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

ssl6 · 2009-11-30 04:40:09

A friend hooked me up with a pair of 19" flatscreens today left over from his company thats downsizing. they're CRT's, which really doesn't bother me since I still prefer them for everything but their size. but they're also higher end CRT monitors, since they were used on machines for graphics design, apparently these were more than several hundred dollars new.....now they're worthless, and typically cost money to dispose of

any how, one of the new ones is going to replace my really old Sun 19" (not flat obviously) thats hooked up to my KVM. now currently

now my second monitor that I'm currently using is a 21" Sun, its new, has dual inputs, so I use it as a monitor monitor on my two main machines, so obviously because of this, i can't just switch out both monitors for the matching pair of 19"s i got today, because the new ones only have a single input

but this is where my question comes in, I'm thinking about a tri-screen setup at least for my main system, I have a spare geforce 7900GS right now, how screwed am I going to be trying to use it as a second card, with a third monitor, along side my 8800GT running my current dual screens?

I know I'll need to tweak my xorg.conf, I'll post what I have below for my xorg.conf, plus what i know i need to add highlighted, but what do i do with the screen section, its specifying a device, but i need 2 devices, can i just add the second device in quotes at the end of that line?

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "CRT-0"
ModeLine "1600x1200" 175.5 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync ## this monitor is old or the kvm blocks something here, so it needs a modeline
Option "PreferredMode" "1600x1200"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "SUN GDM-5410"
Option "PreferredMode" "1600x1200_75.00"
Option "RightOf" "Monitor0"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor2"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "new monitor"
Option "PreferredMode" "1600x1200_75.00"
Option "RightOf" "Monitor1"
EndSection

Section "Device"
BusID "PCI:x:x:x" # would this be the first line section of lspci, eg 04:00.0??
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "nouveau"
VendorName "All"
BoardName "8800gt"
Option "Monitor-DVI-I-0" "Monitor0"
Option "Monitor-DVI-I-1" "Monitor1"
EndSection
Section "Device"
BusID "PCI:x:x:x" # would this be the first line section of lspci, eg 04:00.0??
Identifier "Card1"
Driver "nouveau"
VendorName "All"
BoardName "7900gs"
Option "Monitor-DVI-I-0" "Monitor2"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
DefaultColorDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 4800 1200
EndSubSection
Device "Card0" "Card1" # can i just add the second device here?!?!
EndSection

Last edited by ssl6 (2009-11-30 05:29:21)

Dheart · 2009-11-30 07:33:33

Just a question: Why don't you use the proprietary nvidia driver?
If you don't want 3D stuff, I think the xf86-video-nv is more mature the nouveau (right?)
(Or you want KMS?)
That aside I'm no specialist in this area, but shouldn't there be some xorg entry which specifies which monitor(s) belong to which video card?

ssl6 · 2009-11-30 07:58:55

honestly, since i switched to the nouveau driver, I find my system, or kde4 at least runs significantly smoother. I have a dedicated gaming system, so 3D support is not necessary on this system

anyhow, nouveau has been working well, mostly. I couldn't use KMS before with the old 19" sun monitor. I've swapped it now for one of the new ones, and KMS works now. one problem i did have before without KMS, and this problem is gone now that KMS works, is a screwed version of my background would get drawn over kmess chat windows and the font color on my opera tabs would get inverted.....but thats not a problem with KMS enabled now, seems wierd, but whatever

the problem with the xf86-video-nv driver, is that performance lacks. I was tinkering with an old athlon XP system a couple weeks ago, with my old geforce 5950 ultra, and 512mb ram, i had kde4 on it, and it was slooow with that driver, then i switched it to nouveau, I actually tested the nouveau drivers on it before setting it up on my main system....but once i had it using the nouveau driver, it was significantly faster. point is, where i thought the lack of ram was making it slow....it was a display driver that made the difference in performance

as far as the entries in xorg.conf you mention, i had a hard time getting that much as it is, something about a new layout, one nice thing is it doesn't need a device section for every port on a card, theres just one device section per card, and then in that device section, you associate output ports to the monitors. and then for each monitor, you set a preferred mode, if the modes aren't detected, like my old sun there, you can add modelines, which thankfully i don't need anymore with the new one here. after that, instead of setting resolution in the screen section, you set a virtual resolution, which is the combined res of all your attached monitors.......but like i said, thats where i'm having the problem, is the screen section, how do i add the 3rd monitor on the second card in there. I'm trying to google, but i'm having a hard time finding what i need, a lot of the stuff i'm finding refers to the old method, so I'm not sure

here's what i have working right now anyway, with one monitor replaced, and KMS enabled and working

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "CRT-0"
    Option         "PreferredMode"  "1600x1200_75.00"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "SUN GDM-5410"
    Option         "PreferredMode"  "1600x1200"
    Option         "RightOf" "Monitor0"
EndSection

#Section "Monitor"
#    Identifier     "Monitor2"
#    VendorName     "Unknown"
#    ModelName      "new monitor"
#    Option         "PreferredMode"  "1600x1200_75.00"
#    Option         "RightOf" "Monitor1"
#EndSection

Section "Device"
    BusID       "PCI:4:0:0" # would this be the first line section of lspci, eg 04:00.0??
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "nouveau"
    VendorName  "All"
    BoardName   "All"
    Option  "Monitor-DVI-I-0" "Monitor0"
    Option  "Monitor-DVI-I-1" "Monitor1"
EndSection

#Section "Device"
#    BusID          "PCI:x:x:x" # would this be the first line section of lspci, eg 04:00.0??
#    Identifier  "Card1"
#    Driver      "nouveau"
#    VendorName  "All"
#    BoardName   "7900gs"
#    Option  "Monitor-DVI-I-0" "Monitor2"
#EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    DefaultColorDepth 24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     24
        Virtual 3200 1200
#        Virtual 4800 1200
    EndSubSection
    Device     "Card0" # "Card1" ??
#    Device     "Card1"    #??
EndSection

I haven't hooked up the third monitor, ended up taking a call, i just got off the phone. I'm about to shut this beast down to add the second card in, and move my second tower off the desk to make space for the 3rd big bastard

Last edited by ssl6 (2009-11-30 08:05:22)

ssl6 · 2009-11-30 08:13:44

I think I found why I can't figure out how to configure it. I started going through docs again, thinking maybe I missed something.....and if this says what I understand it to say.....I did miss something

taken from here, which is also linked from the xrandr page on the wiki, and i quote

RandR 1.2 does not support multiple boards yet (it's planned for RandR 1.3). It means that any RandR 1.2 aware driver will crash the server if you have 2 boards. Even one board with a RandR 1.2 driver and another board with a classic driver does not work. It just crashes the X server.

just for some added fun, my xrandr -q output

DVI-I-0 connected 1600x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 356mm x 266mm
1600x1200 85.0*+
1280x1024 85.0 + 75.0
1920x1440 60.0
1280x960 85.0
1152x864 75.0
1024x768 85.0 75.1 70.1 60.0
832x624 74.6
800x600 85.1 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
640x480 85.0 72.8 75.0 66.7 60.0
720x400 87.8 70.1
DVI-I-1 connected 1600x1200+1600+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 364mm x 291mm
1600x1200 75.0*+
1280x1024 76.0 76.1 75.0 67.0
1152x921 76.0 66.0
1152x864 75.0
1024x768 75.1 75.0 70.1 60.0
832x624 74.6
800x600 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
640x480 72.8 75.0 66.7 60.0
720x400 87.8 70.1

edit// just went through my package cache to double check. seems we're on xrandr 1.3 already?? so this should be possible to span a screen over multiple devices? but how?

Last edited by ssl6 (2009-11-30 08:34:45)

Dheart · 2009-12-01 07:20:04

However just read that nouveau doesn't yet support RandR 1.3
there's your problem.

ssl6 · 2009-12-01 07:48:14

ahh.....well, that explains it, i wonder when they plan on supporting it then

ssl6 · 2009-12-01 11:36:37

ok, but if support was there......how would i configure my screen section in xorg.conf for the monitors across multiple cards? would be nice to know, if everything i have except the nouveau drivers supports it.....that way when it is possible, i can search this thread for the needed info, or at least add it in my xorg.conf and just comment it out until then

Dheart · 2009-12-01 17:36:11

Well, I have no idea personally. You should go to some IRC channel (for example #nouveau or #xorg @ freenode) and ask your question there, still, I don't think you'll get any help here, especially posting in the newbie corner (this issue is for desktop/multimedia section or even the kernel section) There have been similar threads in the past but I don't recall what solution was proposed.

llcawthorne · 2009-12-01 18:59:48

Did 1.3 even add support for multiple cards? I've read numerous things that said it was supposed to, but have never seen anything that said it did. I tried getting it to work at one point, and even with the recent version couldn't get off the one card, but that could be my own failing. As of now, I still use a non-xrandr setup with everything hardcoded into xorg.conf for my two card/three monitor setup, but it works. I don't need to dynamically change resolutions or layouts or anything weird like that anyway.

My xorg.conf is in another post around here somewhere on multi-card setups. If you can't find it and want to see it, let me know and I'll try to put it up later when I am at home.

tavianator · 2009-12-01 19:32:02

Dheart wrote:

I think the xf86-video-nv is more mature the nouveau (right?)

Nouveau was forked from nv, and 2d support is very mature now (and accelerated!). I'd say moreso than nv, as I've heard of nv autodetecting people's native resolution incorrectly. And KMS is for sure worth it.

ssl6/llcawthorne: Multiple card support did not make it into randr 1.3. But what you could do is have multiple X screens, one for each card. You won't be able to move windows between the screens, but many DEs will manage multiple screens pretty well (I think KDE does). Use one screen for the two monitors on your 8800GT, and another for the third monitor on your 7900GS. However, I can't guarantee that this will work with nouveau, especially with KMS, but you might as well try it. And if it won't work, file a bug or speak to the devs on #nouveau. I'm not sure of the blob's support for multi-card setups like this either.

Xi0N · 2010-03-28 21:46:55

llcawthorne wrote:

Did 1.3 even add support for multiple cards? I've read numerous things that said it was supposed to, but have never seen anything that said it did. I tried getting it to work at one point, and even with the recent version couldn't get off the one card, but that could be my own failing. As of now, I still use a non-xrandr setup with everything hardcoded into xorg.conf for my two card/three monitor setup, but it works. I don't need to dynamically change resolutions or layouts or anything weird like that anyway.
My xorg.conf is in another post around here somewhere on multi-card setups. If you can't find it and want to see it, let me know and I'll try to put it up later when I am at home.

Im going mad trying to se two screens in two different graphic cards via nouveau http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=94050 Do you still have that post you said you have all the info in?

Appreciated!

Arch Linux

#1 2009-11-30 04:40:09

3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#2 2009-11-30 07:33:33

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#3 2009-11-30 07:58:55

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#4 2009-11-30 08:13:44

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#5 2009-12-01 07:20:04

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#6 2009-12-01 07:48:14

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#7 2009-12-01 11:36:37

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#8 2009-12-01 17:36:11

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#9 2009-12-01 18:59:48

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#10 2009-12-01 19:32:02

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

#11 2010-03-28 21:46:55

Re: 3 monitors, 2 video cards, 1 kms

Board footer