dual monitor help

Inxsible · 2010-08-21 19:55:56

buy a cable online or from a store. Shouldn't cost you more than a few bucks.

Skripka · 2010-08-21 19:58:58

godtuti wrote:

itsbrad212 wrote:
godtuti wrote:
does anyone have a idea how to fix this without getting new cables?
If it really is the cables, then there's really not much you can do besides buy new ones. Do you have somebody that you know that may have a cable laying around that you could test?

i have no friends that know what a vga cable is lol

It does not matter if they know what a VGA cable is or not. All you need to do is borrow one. You need to eliminate faulty hardware from the picture. For an Intel chipset-you need XRandr working properly to do what you want to do. If XRandr don't work because of smoked cables-then you're stuck with cloned monitor output.

The only way to know if the cables are smoked, is by trying cables you know that work.

godtuti · 2010-08-21 22:45:34

Skripka wrote:

godtuti wrote:
itsbrad212 wrote:
If it really is the cables, then there's really not much you can do besides buy new ones. Do you have somebody that you know that may have a cable laying around that you could test?

i have no friends that know what a vga cable is lol
It does not matter if they know what a VGA cable is or not. All you need to do is borrow one. You need to eliminate faulty hardware from the picture. For an Intel chipset-you need XRandr working properly to do what you want to do. If XRandr don't work because of smoked cables-then you're stuck with cloned monitor output.
The only way to know if the cables are smoked, is by trying cables you know that work.

work in what way? ive tried both monitors single and they work fine. so i have doubts its a cable problem, could it be that a monitor is not compatible?

Skripka · 2010-08-21 23:15:23

godtuti wrote:

Skripka wrote:
It does not matter if they know what a VGA cable is or not. All you need to do is borrow one. You need to eliminate faulty hardware from the picture. For an Intel chipset-you need XRandr working properly to do what you want to do. If XRandr don't work because of smoked cables-then you're stuck with cloned monitor output.
The only way to know if the cables are smoked, is by trying cables you know that work.
work in what way? ive tried both monitors single and they work fine. so i have doubts its a cable problem, could it be that a monitor is not compatible?

If XRandr does not see that you have a monitor on each port( as your output earlier shows), I have doubts that any XRandr commands will have any effect. You can try issuing XRandr commands to fire dual monitors-but odds are they won't do much unless your computer sees 2 panels on 2 ports.

Intel drivers by default should do monitor cloning automagically-and that is what you machine is doing now.

godtuti · 2010-08-21 23:33:08

Skripka wrote:

godtuti wrote:
Skripka wrote:
It does not matter if they know what a VGA cable is or not. All you need to do is borrow one. You need to eliminate faulty hardware from the picture. For an Intel chipset-you need XRandr working properly to do what you want to do. If XRandr don't work because of smoked cables-then you're stuck with cloned monitor output.
The only way to know if the cables are smoked, is by trying cables you know that work.
work in what way? ive tried both monitors single and they work fine. so i have doubts its a cable problem, could it be that a monitor is not compatible?
If XRandr does not see that you have a monitor on each port( as your output earlier shows), I have doubts that any XRandr commands will have any effect. You can try issuing XRandr commands to fire dual monitors-but odds are they won't do much unless your computer sees 2 panels on 2 ports.
Intel drivers by default should do monitor cloning automagically-and that is what you machine is doing now.

ok whats the command and im using a splitter to do this since i only have one vga port. could that be a issue?

Inxsible · 2010-08-21 23:48:05

godtuti wrote:

ok whats the command and im using a splitter to do this since i only have one vga port. could that be a issue?

Well that's something important that you failed to mention before.

As far as xrandr is concerned you only have ONE monitor.

If you have a different port -- maybe a DVI or a HDMI then try to connect the second monitor using one of those. Other than that, you will probably need some special software for the splitter which would probably be hard to find in the linux world, if it was "made for windows"

godtuti · 2010-08-21 23:54:32

Inxsible wrote:

godtuti wrote:
ok whats the command and im using a splitter to do this since i only have one vga port. could that be a issue?
Well that's something important that you failed to mention before.
As far as xrandr is concerned you only have ONE monitor.
If you have a different port -- maybe a DVI or a HDMI then try to connect the second monitor using one of those. Other than that, you will probably need some special software for the splitter which would probably be hard to find in the linux world, if it was "made for windows"

i dont so i guess im going to have to google my splitter and find out about it, i didnt mention it becuase i didnt think it was a issue.

Skripka · 2010-08-21 23:57:00

godtuti wrote:

ok whats the command and im using a splitter to do this since i only have one vga port. could that be a issue?

Ding Ding Ding. This is substantially your problem. That why XRandr is only seeing one monitor. That is also why your monitors are cloned.

From what I've been reading you need a special brand (such as Dell, or Matrox) of VGA splitter to get non-cloned dual monitor off of one GPU output. The Dell splitter for instance uses a special 59-pin port. I'm honestly not sure what you want to do is possible given the hardware you have described in the manner you're wanting. Dual monitor is finicky even with a dual-DVI or dual-VGA output card.

The only promising thing I've read in attempting to do this was one report of using a 'Virtual' resolution line in your Xorg.conf under the "Screes" sub-section.

Last edited by Skripka (2010-08-22 00:02:29)

Inxsible · 2010-08-22 00:04:08

I have the ATI HD 2400 XT Pro which is a dual DVI port. I use a splitter and connect both my monitors as well. But my card actually supports multiple monitors through the same port.
and yeah.. I think I have a splitter that came with the computer -- Dell.

godtuti · 2010-08-22 00:07:07

what do you guys suggest i do? i could not find any info on my splitter, so im really about to live with my mirror screens , to be honest it looks kinda cool.

Skripka · 2010-08-22 00:08:39

Inxsible wrote:

I have the ATI HD 2400 XT Pro which is a dual DVI port. I use a splitter and connect both my monitors as well. But my card actually supports multiple monitors through the same port.
and yeah.. I think I have a splitter that came with the computer -- Dell.

It might also be because you're using DVI which is a smart digital connector, versus Ye Olde VGA...in addition to ATi supporting what you want to do

Inxsible · 2010-08-22 00:09:24

I don't think your card can support multiple monitors through the same port. If you computer is relatively new, you should have a DVI out as well. Almost all desktops these days come with a VGA and a DVI port.

Skripka wrote:

It might also be because you're using DVI which is a smart digital connector, versus Ye Olde VGA...in addition to ATi supporting what you want to do

No I can even use a VGA splitter to get multiple monitor setup without cloning.

The XT series of the Radeon cards are made specifically for that purpose.

Skripka · 2010-08-22 00:10:28

godtuti wrote:

what do you guys suggest i do? i could not find any info on my splitter, so im really about to live with my mirror screens , to be honest it looks kinda cool.

Me? I'd spend $40 and get a cheap Nvidia PCiE card that has 2 video (DVI) outputs. Dual-output cards are cheap these days.

godtuti · 2010-08-22 00:12:40

i might as well do tht.. but what was that entry in the xorg.conf i could try?

Skripka · 2010-08-22 00:16:34

godtuti wrote:

i might as well do tht.. but what was that entry in the xorg.conf i could try?

This is the one relevant thread a few quick Googles found:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1075932

You'd need to adapt it to what you have, as well as proper formatting. I have not tried the above, nor do I know the poster who wrote it, nor do I make any promises that the Lord of the Nazgul won't ride out of your computer after trying this.

Skripka · 2010-08-22 00:19:16

Inxsible wrote:

Skripka wrote:
It might also be because you're using DVI which is a smart digital connector, versus Ye Olde VGA...in addition to ATi supporting what you want to do
No I can even use a VGA splitter to get multiple monitor setup without cloning.
The XT series of the Radeon cards are made specifically for that purpose.

Good to know...we should add some of this useless knowledge ( ) to the Xorg Wiki, cause I know that the "dual-monitor" section is pretty thin...especially if one does not own an Nvidia.

godtuti · 2010-08-22 00:26:32

Skripka wrote:

godtuti wrote:
i might as well do tht.. but what was that entry in the xorg.conf i could try?
This is the one relevant thread a few quick Googles found:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1075932
You'd need to adapt it to what you have, as well as proper formatting. I have not tried the above, nor do I know the poster who wrote it, nor do I make any promises that the Lord of the Nazgul won't ride out of your computer after trying this.

nice find but idk how i would set it up for my self,im not very good with xorg stuff.

Arch Linux

#26 2010-08-21 19:55:56

Re: dual monitor help

#27 2010-08-21 19:58:58

Re: dual monitor help

#28 2010-08-21 22:45:34

Re: dual monitor help

#29 2010-08-21 23:15:23

Re: dual monitor help

#30 2010-08-21 23:33:08

Re: dual monitor help

#31 2010-08-21 23:48:05

Re: dual monitor help

#32 2010-08-21 23:54:32

Re: dual monitor help

#33 2010-08-21 23:57:00

Re: dual monitor help

#34 2010-08-22 00:04:08

Re: dual monitor help

#35 2010-08-22 00:07:07

Re: dual monitor help

#36 2010-08-22 00:08:39

Re: dual monitor help

#37 2010-08-22 00:09:24

Re: dual monitor help

#38 2010-08-22 00:10:28

Re: dual monitor help

#39 2010-08-22 00:12:40

Re: dual monitor help

#40 2010-08-22 00:16:34

Re: dual monitor help

#41 2010-08-22 00:19:16

Re: dual monitor help

#42 2010-08-22 00:26:32

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