[SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

Camtech · 2008-09-22 22:58:38

Just wondering whats best for a dual screen setup as far as features and use. Or perhaps they're all nearly the same (that's why I ask). So far I've tried openbox but it seems that if you want dual screen you have to run an instance of it for each screen which doesn't allow screen to screen window draging. Which for me, sucks. (If anyone has a solution to that, I'd be happy to hear too.) But this just got me to wondering if most WMs are like that, or at least all the *box ones and if theres something better.

I've used Gnome desktop enviroment quite a bit before and know it works fine, and kde a bit but I'm not much of a kde fan. Besides that I have very little knowledge of WMs. Any suggestions appreciated.
And hello archlinux community

Last edited by Camtech (2008-09-29 00:40:19)

moljac024 · 2008-09-22 23:03:36

Xmonad.

Camtech · 2008-09-22 23:40:40

Hmm, I don't know that I like a tiling WM so much. I'd go more for a floating one if possible.
I <3 my mouse

Last edited by Camtech (2008-09-22 23:44:08)

skottish · 2008-09-22 23:44:16

Openbox works fine with dual screen. Actually, every single WM or DE that I've tried on Linux has worked fine with dual screen. I've always used nVidia; I don't know if that's a factor.

Ruckus · 2008-09-22 23:45:22

skottish wrote:

Openbox works fine with dual screen. Actually, every single WM or DE that I've tried on Linux has worked fine with dual screen. I've always used nVidia; I don't know if that's a factor.

He seems to want Xinerama, does openbox support xinerama?

Camtech · 2008-09-22 23:48:09

Ah perhaps I should have elaborated on that. The last thing I did (that worked) was use the catalyst driver set on big desktop. (I have a radeon hd 3850) That was working quite well, at least back in ubuntu.

Vintendo · 2008-09-22 23:54:04

moljac024 wrote:

Xmonad.

+1

But tiling window managers handle two screens different from floating.

Almost all floating WM's handle dual screen reasonably well.

skottish · 2008-09-23 02:09:52

Ruckus and Camtech, I'm using nVidia's TwinView.

Rasi · 2008-09-23 06:01:45

openbox works perfectly fine with dualhead... you can make apps start on any monitor with the

<position>
 <monitor>0(1)</monitor>
</position>

tag...

Camtech · 2008-09-23 07:08:43

Ah maybe I'm just setting it up wrong then.. Yay, more googling.

Cyrusm · 2008-09-23 14:20:40

It sounds like you are looking for a set up similar to mine,
I'm using fluxbox with dual-head layout and I use Xrandr to set it up.
It basically sets things up as if you had one giant desktop with window draggin between screeens,
the downside is you better start hunting for some dual-screen wallpapers

here's my xorg.conf

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
  SubSection "extmod"
  Option "omit xfree86-DGA"
  EndSubSection
Load "glx"
Load "freetype"
#Load "type1"
Load "dri"
Load "drm"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection

Section "Server Flags"
#Option "Xinerama" "On"
EndSection

Section "Input Device"
    Identifier    "Keyboard1"
    Driver    "kbd"

    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
    Option "XkbRules"    "xorg"
    Option "XkbModel"    "microsoft"
    Option "XkbLayout"    "us"
EndSection

Section "Input Device"
    Identifier    "Mouse1"
    Driver    "mouse"
    Option "Protocol"    "Auto"    
    Option "Device"      "/dev/input/mice"
    Option "ZAxisMapping"   "4 5 6 7"
    Option "Emulate3Buttons"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "monitor0"
    Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
     Identifier "device0"
     Driver "radeonhd"
     BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
     Option "HPD" "swap"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
     Identifier "Screen0"
     Device "device0"
     Monitor "monitor0"
    DefaultDepth     24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     24
        Virtual 2960 1050
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Multihead Layout"
    Screen         "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group        "video"
 Mode         0666
EndSection

and here is my xinitrc, you're going to need this to automatically set up your dual screen layout with each startup.

#!/bin/sh

#
# ~/.xinitrc
#
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)
#
#exec xterm
# exec gnome-session
# exec startkde
# exec startxfce4
# exec icewm
# exec openbox
# exec blackbox
xrandr --output DVI-D_2 --right-of DVI-A_1 &
aterm -tr +sb -sh 60 -title "Command Line Interface" &
conky -c ~/.conkyrc &
conky -c ~/.conkyrc2 &
exec fluxbox
# exec ratpoison
# exec dwm
# ... or any other WM of your choosing ...

obviously, many of the settings will be different depending on your hardware, for instance, the names of the outputs on your graphics card.
also note that I only have one screen (see section "screen") listed in my xorg.conf, with a virtual screen large enough to encompass both monitors.

anyway, that's just how I did it, hope this is helpful

Cyrusm

sand_man · 2008-09-23 23:43:14

Cyrusm: I use Nitrogen to set wallpaper with TwinView and I can set each monitor individually. Is this different to XrandR?

rine · 2008-09-24 01:19:03

Cyrusm wrote:

It sounds like you are looking for a set up similar to mine,
I'm using fluxbox with dual-head layout and I use Xrandr to set it up.
It basically sets things up as if you had one giant desktop with window draggin between screeens,
the downside is you better start hunting for some dual-screen wallpapers

here's my xorg.conf

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
  SubSection "extmod"
  Option "omit xfree86-DGA"
  EndSubSection
Load "glx"
Load "freetype"
#Load "type1"
Load "dri"
Load "drm"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection

Section "Server Flags"
#Option "Xinerama" "On"
EndSection

Section "Input Device"
    Identifier    "Keyboard1"
    Driver    "kbd"

    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
    Option "XkbRules"    "xorg"
    Option "XkbModel"    "microsoft"
    Option "XkbLayout"    "us"
EndSection

Section "Input Device"
    Identifier    "Mouse1"
    Driver    "mouse"
    Option "Protocol"    "Auto"    
    Option "Device"      "/dev/input/mice"
    Option "ZAxisMapping"   "4 5 6 7"
    Option "Emulate3Buttons"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "monitor0"
    Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
     Identifier "device0"
     Driver "radeonhd"
     BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
     Option "HPD" "swap"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
     Identifier "Screen0"
     Device "device0"
     Monitor "monitor0"
    DefaultDepth     24
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth     24
        Virtual 2960 1050
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Multihead Layout"
    Screen         "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group        "video"
 Mode         0666
EndSection

and here is my xinitrc, you're going to need this to automatically set up your dual screen layout with each startup.

#!/bin/sh

#
# ~/.xinitrc
#
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)
#
#exec xterm
# exec gnome-session
# exec startkde
# exec startxfce4
# exec icewm
# exec openbox
# exec blackbox
xrandr --output DVI-D_2 --right-of DVI-A_1 &
aterm -tr +sb -sh 60 -title "Command Line Interface" &
conky -c ~/.conkyrc &
conky -c ~/.conkyrc2 &
exec fluxbox
# exec ratpoison
# exec dwm
# ... or any other WM of your choosing ...

obviously, many of the settings will be different depending on your hardware, for instance, the names of the outputs on your graphics card.
also note that I only have one screen (see section "screen") listed in my xorg.conf, with a virtual screen large enough to encompass both monitors.

anyway, that's just how I did it, hope this is helpful

Cyrusm

Does switching work on the fly? I have always used nvidia-settings to switch between 2 monitors and 1 monitor + TV. Worked fine in ubuntu, in arch X crashes so I always let it save to xorg.conf and then restart X, which is pretty annoying. (Don't know if nvidia-settings just uses xrandr, then it probably won't help.)

Cyrusm · 2008-09-24 02:17:30

sand_man wrote:

Cyrusm: I use Nitrogen to set wallpaper with TwinView and I can set each monitor individually. Is this different to XrandR?

I'm not familiar with Nitrogen or twinview, with xrandr you have a virtual desktop (mine is 2960x1050) so you have to have a wallpaper that fits that size,
they're out there, but they can be hard to find. as far as I know you can't set each monitor individually.

rine wrote:

Rine: Does switching work on the fly?

yes switching works on the fly, and if you read the xrandr man page you'll find that you can actually achieve a pretty large amount of flexability with your layout. it's great for dual monitors, there is also support for reflection and rotation, it supports S-video output, it's great if you ever need to hook up to a projector as well.
I beleive it comes standard with X, so you probably already have it installed on your system, might as well use it!

Cyrusm

p.s. did I mention it's simple and lightweight? KISS

Last edited by Cyrusm (2008-09-24 02:50:50)

rine · 2008-09-24 03:04:53

Cyrusm wrote:

sand_man wrote:
Cyrusm: I use Nitrogen to set wallpaper with TwinView and I can set each monitor individually. Is this different to XrandR?
I'm not familiar with Nitrogen or twinview, with xrandr you have a virtual desktop (mine is 2960x1050) so you have to have a wallpaper that fits that size,
they're out there, but they can be hard to find. as far as I know you can't set each monitor individually.
rine wrote:
Rine: Does switching work on the fly?
yes switching works on the fly, and if you read the xrandr man page you'll find that you can actually achieve a pretty large amount of flexability with your layout. it's great for dual monitors, there is also support for reflection and rotation, it supports S-video output, it's great if you ever need to hook up to a projector as well.
I beleive it comes standard with X, so you probably already have it installed on your system, might as well use it!
Cyrusm
p.s. did I mention it's simple and lightweight? KISS

I'll definitly look into it.

@sand_man: you could do something like this (you need imagemagick):

montage -geometry 100% src1.png src2.png out.png
convert -resize 3200x1200 out.png out.png

That would create one big picture with the right dimensions. Then you can use feh or so to set the wallpaper.

Ruckus · 2008-09-24 04:44:30

rine wrote:

@sand_man: you could do something like this (you need imagemagick):
montage -geometry 100% src1.png src2.png out.png
convert -resize 3200x1200 out.png out.png
That would create one big picture with the right dimensions. Then you can use feh or so to set the wallpaper.

I always just used The gimp to do the same thing, create one big image the right size, then paste an image the correct size for each monitor onto the one big image, and then set that image as the background.
Would your solution work out if you had differant monitor sizes? At home I run 3 monitors, one is a 21" crt, the other is a 17" crt, and the third is my tv. All 3 use differant resolutions.

Camtech · 2008-09-24 05:25:40

Cyrusm wrote:

It sounds like you are looking for a set up similar to mine,
I'm using fluxbox with dual-head layout and I use Xrandr to set it up.
It basically sets things up as if you had one giant desktop with window draggin between screeens,
the downside is you better start hunting for some dual-screen wallpapers
here's my xorg.conf
and here is my xinitrc, you're going to need this to automatically set up your dual screen layout with each startup.
obviously, many of the settings will be different depending on your hardware, for instance, the names of the outputs on your graphics card.
also note that I only have one screen (see section "screen") listed in my xorg.conf, with a virtual screen large enough to encompass both monitors.

anyway, that's just how I did it, hope this is helpful
Cyrusm

Well I have an image on both screens now, but instead it is a scrolling 3360x1050 virtual mirrored on both screens. I must be missing something (or have something extra)

Edit:
In the line

xrandr --output DVI-D_2 --left-of DVI-A_1 &

how are the D_2 and A_1 defined? Or where do you get those from. For me I believe it will end up being
xrandr --output VGA-x_n --right-of DVI-x_n &
...just with the letter/numbers

Last edited by Camtech (2008-09-24 05:36:39)

rine · 2008-09-24 14:22:44

Ruckus wrote:

rine wrote:
@sand_man: you could do something like this (you need imagemagick):
montage -geometry 100% src1.png src2.png out.png
convert -resize 3200x1200 out.png out.png
That would create one big picture with the right dimensions. Then you can use feh or so to set the wallpaper.
I always just used The gimp to do the same thing, create one big image the right size, then paste an image the correct size for each monitor onto the one big image, and then set that image as the background.
Would your solution work out if you had differant monitor sizes? At home I run 3 monitors, one is a 21" crt, the other is a 17" crt, and the third is my tv. All 3 use differant resolutions.

Can't answer that, sorry. Maybe someone else?

Cyrusm · 2008-09-24 14:54:07

If you just run xrandr with no options, it prints a list of what outputs you have availible and what their current status is (i.e. disconected) from this output you should be able to determine what the names of your outputs are (like I said, it's different from card to card)

rine · 2008-09-25 03:00:33

Call me stupid, but does xrandr work with nvidiacards? xrandr -q just gives me:

Screen 0: minimum 1664 x 768, current 2624 x 1200, maximum 2624 x 1200
default connected 2624x1200+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   2624x1200      50.0* 
   2048x768       51.0  
   1824x768       52.0  
   1664x768       53.0

Camtech · 2008-09-25 06:42:10

rine wrote:

Call me stupid, but does xrandr work with nvidiacards? xrandr -q just gives me:

Screen 0: minimum 1664 x 768, current 2624 x 1200, maximum 2624 x 1200
default connected 2624x1200+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   2624x1200      50.0* 
   2048x768       51.0  
   1824x768       52.0  
   1664x768       53.0

Actually I'm getting the same thing (though with different resolutions) on an ati card (radeon hd 3850). Noob mistake somewhere?

Last edited by Camtech (2008-09-25 06:42:38)

rine · 2008-09-25 20:53:29

Well nvidia-settings telles me that my monitors are DFP-0 and DFP-1, my TV is TV-0. But xrandr just does nothing. Is my xorg.conf screwed up? I never wrote it myself, just let nvidia do it . This is 1 monitor + TV: http://pastie.org/279568 and this with 2 monitors: http://pastie.org/279572
Does anyone see a problem?

edit: Ok, I cleaned up my xorg.conf: http://pastie.org/279641

Now I have 1 monitor active with a resolution of 3200x1200, e.g. I can "scroll" to the right. But xrandr -q still doesn't work http://pastie.org/279647

edit2: well someone on irc told me xrandr isn't compatible with the nvidia driver. Kinda sucks :<

Last edited by rine (2008-09-25 22:24:16)

Bestiapeluda · 2008-09-26 18:03:48

Hey, Openbox works great with two monitors.
You just have to enable xinerama in xorg.conf wich allows you to drag windows from monitor to monitor. It doesnt depend on the driver.
If you have nvidia you can use twinview too.
And yes xrandr and nvidia dont get along well. But nvidia settings is just as good.

rine · 2008-09-26 19:45:12

Bestiapeluda wrote:

But nvidia settings is just as good.

Well is there a way to do it in the command line? First all these clicks take a long time, second my PC freezes. The switching works fine, then there is this window where you have 15 seconds to click ok. That's when everything but the mouse cursor freezes.

vogt · 2008-09-27 02:39:33

@rine: nvidia-settings --help?

http://linux.die.net/man/1/nvidia-settings
or perhaps your bundled version is more up to date.

There must surely be some options for doing the same stuff as the control panel.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-09-22 22:58:38

[SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#2 2008-09-22 23:03:36

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#3 2008-09-22 23:40:40

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#4 2008-09-22 23:44:16

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#5 2008-09-22 23:45:22

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#6 2008-09-22 23:48:09

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#7 2008-09-22 23:54:04

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#8 2008-09-23 02:09:52

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#9 2008-09-23 06:01:45

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#10 2008-09-23 07:08:43

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#11 2008-09-23 14:20:40

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#12 2008-09-23 23:43:14

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#13 2008-09-24 01:19:03

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#14 2008-09-24 02:17:30

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#15 2008-09-24 03:04:53

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#16 2008-09-24 04:44:30

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#17 2008-09-24 05:25:40

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#18 2008-09-24 14:22:44

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#19 2008-09-24 14:54:07

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#20 2008-09-25 03:00:33

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#21 2008-09-25 06:42:10

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#22 2008-09-25 20:53:29

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#23 2008-09-26 18:03:48

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#24 2008-09-26 19:45:12

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

#25 2008-09-27 02:39:33

Re: [SOLVED] Best WM/DE for dual screen? -(dual screen setup problem)

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