Arch Linux

Pacopag

Member

Registered: 2011-05-29

Posts: 287

[SOLVED] Help with dual monitors (second monitor won't wake up)

Hi.  I'm trying to set up dual monitors, but I can't seem to get it to work. 

I've got an ASUS P8H67-M EVO motherboard, and I'm using the xf86-video-intel driver.  I'm using one VGA and one HDMI.

xrandr gives this

xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
VGA1 connected 1680x1050+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 474mm x 296mm
   1680x1050      60.0*+   74.9  
   1600x1000      60.0  
   1280x1024      75.0     72.0     60.0  
   1440x900       75.0     59.9  
   1152x864       75.0  
   1024x768       75.1     70.1     60.0  
   800x600        72.2     75.0     60.3  
   640x480        72.8     75.0     66.7     60.0  
   720x400        70.1  
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI3 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 531mm x 299mm
   1920x1080      60.0*+   50.0     60.0  
   1920x1080i     50.0     60.1  
   1680x1050      59.9  
   1600x900       60.0  
   1280x1024      75.0     60.0  
   1280x960       60.0  
   1152x864       75.0  
   1280x720       50.0     60.0  
   1152x720       60.0  
   1440x576i      50.1  
   1024x768       75.1     60.0  
   1440x480i      60.1  
   832x624        74.6  
   800x600        75.0     60.3  
   720x576        50.0  
   720x480        59.9  
   640x480        75.0     60.0     59.9  
   720x400        70.1  
DP2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

So it looks to me like both displays are being detected.  The geometry looks such that one display is on top of the other, but I can change that using an xorg.conf.d config file (e.g. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mu … xorg.conf).  I also tried using arandr.

The real problem is that the display on HDMI3 just isn't "waking up".  The power is on, but it just sits there in sleep mode.

Any help would be great.  I might just be missing something simple.  Thanks.

Edit:  I just saw a short list of window managers near the bottom of the Arch Multihead page (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mu … _xorg.conf).  I don't see openbox on that list.  Does that mean I'm SOL if I want to use openbox with multiple monitors?  This page seems to imply that it should work fine with openbox http://magnatecha.com/dual-monitors-wit … nd-xrandr/.

Last edited by Pacopag (2013-08-19 18:58:36)

JTjohnston

Member

Registered: 2013-05-15

Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] Help with dual monitors (second monitor won't wake up)

I use XFCE, and when I boot my computer I just run:

xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --auto --output DVI-I-2 --auto --left-of DVI-I-1

I'm assuming if you modify the names appropriately that it'll work too.  I have had issues before trying to run dual monitors without taking both outputs off of a single video card (which is what I'm doing now).  For example, I had a graphics card with one (VGA) output and a VGA output on my motherboard.  But, connecting the graphics card disabled the on-board VGA.  So it is possible (I'm not an expert here) that two displays coming off the motherboard may not work for hardware reasons.

Pacopag

Member

Registered: 2011-05-29

Posts: 287

Re: [SOLVED] Help with dual monitors (second monitor won't wake up)

Thanks for your reply.  Both the VGA and the HDMI are integrated into the mobo.  It's weird that xrandr detects them both, but the hdmi guy won't wake up.  I'm gonna check if there's anything in the bios that helps in case it's hardware config at that level.

Pacopag

Member

Registered: 2011-05-29

Posts: 287

Re: [SOLVED] Help with dual monitors (second monitor won't wake up)

Man, I feel like an idiot.  But if it helps anyone else to get their second monitor to work without looking like a moron and posting a new thread, here it is.

Push the "input" button on the front of your monitor until you select the "HDMI" input (or whatever input you've connected to your computer.

I'm going to eat a chocolate cake now.

Last edited by Pacopag (2013-08-19 17:15:57)

Deedasmi

Member

Registered: 2013-07-14

Posts: 19

Re: [SOLVED] Help with dual monitors (second monitor won't wake up)

Haha, gotta love those silly solutions. Remember to mark [Solved]

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Linux Newbie. I would not take my advice for granted.