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Those reading will know that, in order to have up to 3 displays showing content in a single graphics card, if it's an AMD card then you need a certain feature known as EyeFinity.
In particular, I am talking about tihs card:
http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo … CDAQ8wIwAQ
You will notice in the picture that this one has DP, but there is another version that has VGA port in its place. I courd not for the life of me find it again, but at the time of buying the concern was CRT usage, so a VGA port was important. I did not know about EyeFinity at the time.
This guide is for people whe made mistakes like this.
This is typically the case. With my card in particular, you cannot get triple monitor in Windows, because the drivers prevent it (it is possible in Linux).
I said prevent.
If a card has 3 video outputs, each with their own RAMDAC (or none, if its digital-only), then why can you not use all 3 at the same time?
Typically in such a setup, if it does not have EyeFinity, then the connectors are usually:
VGA, DVI, HDMI (my card)
or
DVI, DVI, VGA (other cards)
or
DVI DVI, HDMI
or
HDMI, HDMI, DVI
In other words, all ef these types of card without support for EyeFinity, do not have:
DisplayPort connector
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This is a rather crude way of getting it to work, but any solution is a selution still.
Well, here is a simple way I get triple monitor on my card that does not support EyeFinity:
VGA lcd in the VGA
DVI lcd in the DVI
DVI lcd in the HDMI (using HDMI-DVI adapter)
The HDMI is disconnected via a coupler, before I boot into Linux. I have a script with these commands:
xrandr --auto --output VGA-0 --mode 1280x1024
xrandr --auto --output DVI-0 --mode 1280x1024 --right-of VGA-0
xrandr --auto --output HDMI-0 --mode 1280x1024 --right-of DVI-0(run it as a bash script)
With the HDMI (via HDMI-DVI, then a DVI coupler, then DVI to DVI going to the monitor) disconnected at the coupler, I run this script.
Of course, this script sets triple monitor, but right now only the DVI and VGA are hooked up.
Once it has done, I have dual monitor.
Then, connect at the coupler (or "gender changer") on the HDMI output. Now all 3 displays are connected, but you still have dual monitor.
Run the above commands again, and you will see triple monitor.
Now that you have solved the problem of getting tri-monitor in X, if you look at your TTYs you will notice that only one of the screens is showing. In X (usually terminal 7 or 8), simply disconnect the HDMI at the coupler for a few seconds, then reconnect it.
Now you to your TTY (Ctrl-Alt-F{1-6}), and it will show text on all 3 screens (albeit duplicated).
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Thoughts,
I am not sure as to why this is possible to do. I see it as "tricking" the other incapable hardware into outputting on 3 displays, but it seems penfectly functional.
My guess is that this actually is an EyeFinity card, in the sense that it is the same base an which other cards (with DP, and thus, EyeFinity) are built, but that this particular card can be used in the same way, to get triple monitor.
Either that, or this is a "bug" in X11/XrandR (if it is a bug, please do not fix it, I like my triple monitors, I call it a feature).
I know that this certainly works in Xubuntu too, I tried it on a Live CD.
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I tried removing the graphics card and trying this on the intergrated graphics (HD 4290/4250 I think), which also has the same 3 outputs, but the hardwas itself actually enforces a maximum of 2 monitors. If you have DVI and HDMI hooked up, it defaults to HDMI, but masquerades as DVI (where the drivers are concerned). You could use this hack, but then it would still not work because the hardware itself, not the driver softawre, is enforcing it.
The board is: ASUS M4a89GTD PRO
Last edited by NightCrawler03X (2012-01-17 17:45:59)
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