New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

tuomas · 2010-09-14 20:12:55

Hey, I was an arch user for a while but have used XP for the last year or so. I don't need it anymore though so I've decided to come back to arch.

I installed the latest version and installed the new Xorg and configured monitors (10-monitors.conf) as per the guide on archwiki

Xorg works fine, it starts and shows on both of my monitors but always thinks my CRT (which I only ever use for video games) should be my primary monitor but it shouldn't be. I tried for example changing

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "DualSreen"
    Screen       0 "Screen0"
    Screen       1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0" #Screen1 at the right of Screen0
    Option         "Xinerama" "1" #To move windows between screens
EndSection

to

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "DualSreen"
    Screen        "Screen1"
EndSection

(and other slight tweaks which did the trick for me before in the old xorg.conf Xorg approach) but when I do this, I get an error informing me that Screen 0 has been "deleted" because there is no configuration and the fatal error:

no screens found

which obviously means X won't start.

I'm seriously stuck. I tried using my old Xorg.conf (same hardware configuration) but it simply gives a similar error. I tried changing the physical configuration of the monitors plugging into my video card but even this did not work (which means there is some logic somewhere actively selecting my CRT as the primary).

I don't even want to use my CRT, I want it disabled most of the time but I refuse to have to unplug it. The Xorg wiki is absolutely awful and I can't find anything of use there.

Any help would be appreciated =o)

Last edited by tuomas (2010-09-14 20:30:14)

warenoso · 2010-09-14 20:21:26

you could use xrandr

karol · 2010-09-14 20:24:02

warenoso wrote:

you could use xrandr

+1
IIRC Xinerama is deprecated.

Is your CRT VGA and the other monitor uses a non-VGA link (DVI?)?

Last edited by karol (2010-09-14 20:29:50)

tuomas · 2010-09-14 20:31:44

karol wrote:

warenoso wrote:
you could use xrandr
+1
IIRC Xinerama is deprecated.
Is your CRT VGA and the other monitor uses a non-VGA link (DVI?)?

Sorry, I forgot to remove the Xinerama line when showing what changes I had made, I don't really need a dual-head desktop, I just want my LCD working as primary whether the CRT is working or not.

And the CRT is indeed VGA, although with a DVI adapter (my card has two DVI ports only)

warenoso wrote:

you could use xrandr

I wasn't aware xrandr could be used for something like this, I'll look into it thanks.

Thing is I'll be at uni for a few months and will only have the one monitor with me (although when I return I will have my CRT back) so any solution I have should still work if I only have one monitor plugged in.

Last edited by tuomas (2010-09-14 20:41:30)

warenoso · 2010-09-14 20:39:09

tuomas wrote:

karol wrote:
warenoso wrote:
you could use xrandr
+1
IIRC Xinerama is deprecated.
Is your CRT VGA and the other monitor uses a non-VGA link (DVI?)?
Sorry, I forgot to remove the Xinerama line when showing what changes I had made, I don't really need a dual-head desktop, I just want my LCD working as primary whether the CRT is working or not.
And the CRT is indeed VGA, although with a DVI adapter (my card has two DVI ports only)

if you want your CRT off first run xrand to know what your output are.

xrandr
xrand --output VGA --off

where for instance VGA is the monitor you want to turn off

karol · 2010-09-14 20:40:46

tuomas wrote:

karol wrote:
warenoso wrote:
you could use xrandr
+1
IIRC Xinerama is deprecated.
Is your CRT VGA and the other monitor uses a non-VGA link (DVI?)?
Sorry, I forgot to remove the Xinerama line when showing what changes I had made, I don't really need a dual-head desktop, I just want my LCD working as primary whether the CRT is working or not.
And the CRT is indeed VGA, although with a DVI adapter (my card has two DVI ports only)

A bit unscientific, but what happens if you switch the ports?

karol · 2010-09-14 20:42:13

warenoso wrote:

if you want your CRT off first run xrand to know what your output are.
xrandr
xrandr --output VGA --off
where for instance VGA is the monitor you want to turn off

xrandr works only with nouveau, so if the OP is using nvidia drivers this won't work.

Last edited by karol (2010-09-14 20:44:51)

tuomas · 2010-09-14 20:45:07

karol wrote:

tuomas wrote:
karol wrote:
+1
IIRC Xinerama is deprecated.
Is your CRT VGA and the other monitor uses a non-VGA link (DVI?)?
Sorry, I forgot to remove the Xinerama line when showing what changes I had made, I don't really need a dual-head desktop, I just want my LCD working as primary whether the CRT is working or not.
And the CRT is indeed VGA, although with a DVI adapter (my card has two DVI ports only)
A bit unscientific, but what happens if you switch the ports?

I covered that in the first post but I realize I wasn't very clear about it; I also figured it would work

I tried changing the physical configuration of the monitors plugging into my video card but even this did not work

if you want your CRT off first run xrand to know what your output are.
    xrandr
    xrand --output VGA --off
where for instance VGA is the monitor you want to turn off

The Xorg screen on that display would still be active and it would still be the "default" right? I guess simply ignoring it is a decent short term solution but I'd prefer to have Xorg working properly and allow me to select which of my configured screens I'd like to use (like I used to be able to 2 years ago). edit: I haven't tested it yet but as specified above I am using nvidia drivers. I could post all my xorg config files if necessary.

Last edited by tuomas (2010-09-14 20:46:10)

warenoso · 2010-09-14 20:46:07

Ati user here (unfortunately) good to know about xrandr and noveau

karol · 2010-09-14 20:52:58

Can you start X? Have you tried using nvidia-settings?

I can't test it, but supposedly that's how you set the primary display:

xrandr --output VGA1 --primary

http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=11 … e&start=15
I can't seem to find that nv-control-dpy program.

Edit: nv-control is an X extension and nv-control-dpy is an example app from nvidia: http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/L … er-13.html
http://nvidia-settings.sourcearchive.co … ource.html

Last edited by karol (2010-09-14 21:35:27)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-09-14 20:12:55

New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#2 2010-09-14 20:21:26

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#3 2010-09-14 20:24:02

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#4 2010-09-14 20:31:44

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#5 2010-09-14 20:39:09

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#6 2010-09-14 20:40:46

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#7 2010-09-14 20:42:13

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#8 2010-09-14 20:45:07

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#9 2010-09-14 20:46:07

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

#10 2010-09-14 20:52:58

Re: New Xorg won't allow me to change Primary Monitor

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