5-screen (multi-monitor) nVidia xorg.conf -- my setup

ElKatrina · 2012-09-02 01:46:25

Hi. I would like to share my xorg.conf, since it took forever to get right.

There isn't a lot of information out there for folks using > 2 monitors, or several graphics cards, or esoteric setups including rotation etc. I hope this will be useful; I wouldn't mind contributing to the wiki if anybody thinks it might be useful.

So first up: hardware. I have

nVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti connected to a 24" monitor (in the middle)
nVidia GeForce 210 connected to two 19" monitors, rotated into portrait (on either side of the 24")
nVidia GeForce GT 440 connected to two 15" monitors (above the 24")

here is a picture of the monitors, click for a bigger version

Drivers: I'm using the official nVidia drivers, I couldn't get nouveau to work. Since I am using Xinerama, the XRandR extension isn't loaded -- therefore my setup won't be suitable for people whose screen configuration changes dynamically. But I'd prefer not to use Xinerama, and even to use nouveau if possible; if anybody has a similar configuration working with nouveau, please share

Finally, the actual config itself. Here it is on pastebin.

Rotation

The correct way to rotate monitors in xorg.conf is through the metamodes option of the Screen section. On my Screen 2 and 4 (the two 19" monitors), you can see that

{ Rotation = left }

has been added at the end of the metamodes option. Contrary to some other guides floating around, it is not necessary to specify these options:

# Unnecessary
Option "RandRRotate" "on"
Option "Rotate" "right"

I believe these come from an earlier version of Xorg. They don't have any effect when I put them in my xorg.conf, using Xorg 1.12.4 and nVidia 304.43.

Even when I specified rotate in metamodes, my monitors didn't appear to rotate because I had originally written

 Option  "metamodes" "CRT-1: nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { Rotation = left} "

instead of

 Option  "metamodes" "DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { Rotation = left} "

This just made rotation fail silently, with no error message. Make sure to specify DFP if you're using a digital output (DVI, HDMI, DP) and CRT only if you're using a VGA output on your graphics board.

Tips

When you're testing out a new Xorg.conf, you can use

startx -- :1

to start a new X server without killing the current one. See if your configuration works, then switch back to your original X server by pressing Cmd-Alt-F7.

You should also keep a log of different configurations you have tried. You can use a version control system like git to track changes to your Xorg.conf; make sure you document every change you have made, and why, it can prove invaluable later on.

Feel free to ask about this setup. I would like to know something: what is the function of the Screen option in the Device section? On the four Device entries for my nVidia 210 and 440 cards, there is an option called Screen; when I take it out, the setup breaks. Why are they there? And why do they not map to the screen numbers in the Screen section? (They are numbered 0, 0, 1, 1 rather than 1, 2, 3, 4)

bernarcher · 2012-09-02 04:05:22

Thanks, ElKatrina. Looks really good.
You should consider this for the Wiki, however.

ElKatrina · 2012-09-03 01:27:01

Sure, I will start transferring this information to the wiki soon.

I am hoping that more people will contribute, especially ATI/AMD card owners, since I am aware that their setups will be different (due to XRandR working under ATI). I think that I will make a separate "multi monitor" page on the wiki, since this information doesn't fit cleanly under Xorg, nVidia, ATI, or other existing pages. As a mentioned, there isn't a lot of up-to-date information on the Web. so I would like the Arch Wiki to have a load of excellent information to help folks get started with multi head setups

ZippyF · 2014-05-02 20:31:46

Is there a public wiki for this subject?

karol · 2014-05-02 20:59:59

ZippyF wrote:

Is there a public wiki for this subject?

There's https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multihead

ZippyF · 2014-05-02 22:58:36

Thank you for the reply. I read the wiki page, but unfortunately I am still struggling with my two nvidia gpu, three monitor setup.

The red arrows show the pointer progression through the monitors (moving mouse left to right). When the cursor is on the top monitor, it becomes an X, and the screen is black.
Here is the matching xorg.conf

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings:  version 331.67  (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-08)  Fri Apr  4 12:26:05 PDT 2014

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Acer G236HL"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 80.0
    VertRefresh     55.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Acer X223W"
    HorizSync       31.0 - 83.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 9600 GT"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GT 610"
    BusID          "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-1"
    Option         "metamodes" "VGA-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DVI-I-1: nvidia-auto-select +1920+0"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "Device1"
    Monitor        "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-1"
    Option         "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Based on this post on archlinux, I took a crack at matching the xorg.conf pattern above (monitor/device/screen sections) with my own. I took it as a victory that it actually didn't error (many xorg.conf experiments have in the last couple of days have). Here is my new xorg.conf with 3 screens/3 monitors/3 devices:

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 331.67  (buildmeister@swio-display-x86-rhel47-08)  Fri Apr  4 12:26:16 PDT 2014

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0" 
    Screen      2  "Screen2" RightOf "Screen1"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load "dbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "leftAcer"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Acer G236HL"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 80.0
    VertRefresh     55.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "rightAcer"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Acer G236HL"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 80.0
    VertRefresh     55.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "topAcer"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Acer X223W"
    HorizSync       31.0 - 83.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "geforce-9600-gt-0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 9600 GT"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "geforce-9600-gt-1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 9600 GT"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "geforce-gt-610"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GT 610"
    BusID          "PCI:2:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "geforce-9600-gt-0"
    Monitor        "leftAcer"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
    Option         "MetaModes" "DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "geforce-9600-gt-1"
    Monitor        "rightAcer"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-1"
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-1"
    Option         "MetaModes" "DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen2"
    Device         "geforce-gt-610"
    Monitor        "topAcer"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
    Option         "MetaModes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option         "Composite" "Disable"
EndSection

This what appears with the new xorg.conf:

"leftAcer" and "rightAcer" appear, but nothing appears on "topAcer" (it appears not to be getting a signal from the gpu). I can move the mouse pointer between "leftAcer" and "rightAcer".

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few details about the hardware setup:

GeForce 9600 GT is in the PCI:1 slot. It's DVI out is going to "acerLeft", it's VGA out is going to "acerRight".
GeForce GT 610 is in PCI:2 slot. It's VGA out is going to "acerTop".

thanks!

Inxsible · 2014-05-05 17:42:04

ZippyF, this thread is quite old. Things have changed much in the last 2 years -- for eg. you don't even need an xorg.conf by default. Start a new thread for your issue and link to this one in case you think it is relevant.

Closing..

Arch Linux

#1 2012-09-02 01:46:25