Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

goopen · 2010-09-26 14:05:48

Hello everyone!

I have 3 monitors hooked up to my desktop, and im running 2 ATI Asus 4850 gfx-cards. Not a great advantage really, cuz i have noticed that the ATI drivers kinda sucks.

Anyhow, I would like to use all three monitors. Meaning
one monitor as primary, and have all the menus/panels there. The other two
should act as "driving mirrors" or extended workspace, like i have depict below:

   [ 19" ]         [ 22" Primary ]         [ 19" ]
[extended]        [ primary ]         [ extended ]

I have accomplished this particular setup in ubuntu once, but it was very buggy and slow and didnt work out like i wanted.
I want to be able to move windows between all three monitors else theres no point in having this setup.

So is it possible to accomplish this setup? Any help is appreciated! & bear with me im new to Archlinux!

Basic information.

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Kernel: 2.6.35-ARCH
Window Manager: Metacity
Desktop Environment: GNOME
RAM: 830 MB / 3961 MB

Last edited by goopen (2010-09-26 14:08:59)

BurntSushi · 2010-09-26 14:42:50

When you plug in all three monitors, what is the output of "xrandr -q"?

goopen · 2010-09-26 14:50:59

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2960 x 1050, maximum 8192 x 8192
HDMI-0 connected 1680x1050+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 473mm x 296mm
   1680x1050      60.0*+
   1600x1200      60.0  
   1280x1024      75.0     60.0  
   1440x900       59.9  
   1280x960       60.0  
   1152x864       75.0  
   1024x768       75.1     70.1     60.0  
   832x624        74.6  
   800x600        72.2     75.0     60.3     56.2  
   640x480        72.8     75.0     66.7     60.0  
   720x400        70.1  
VGA-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DIN disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DVI-0 connected 1280x1024+1680+26 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 340mm x 270mm
   1280x1024      60.0*+   75.0  
   1152x864       75.0  
   1280x720       75.0  
   1024x768       75.1     70.1     60.0  
   832x624        74.6  
   800x600        72.2     75.0     60.3     56.2  
   640x480        72.8     75.0     66.7     60.0  
   720x400        70.1

I maybe should point out that im running the opensource driver. Doesnt look like it is aware of the third monitor's presence.

Last edited by goopen (2010-09-26 14:53:57)

BurntSushi · 2010-09-26 15:35:05

Yeah, looks like it. I'm not an expert, but I believe multi-GPU support in XRandR is only available in 1.3...

You honestly might have better luck looking for a forum that specializes in ATI setups, and hope that they have a linux section. (i.e., the equivalent of nvnews.net, for nVidia).

I imagine that Ubuntu may have done some Xinerama trickery--which explains why it would be slow/buggy.

nogoma · 2010-09-26 15:39:59

AFAIK, multi-GPU support is still broken if you're not going to try and use deprecated solution like xinerama or somesuch...

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=84893

However, I'll subscribe to this and hope that new information comes up (even an ETA on when this will be supported again would be nice... too much out dated info out there for google to be much use on this one, in my experience).

BurntSushi · 2010-09-26 15:46:04

nogoma wrote:

AFAIK, multi-GPU support is still broken if you're not going to try and use deprecated solution like xinerama or somesuch...
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=84893
However, I'll subscribe to this and hope that new information comes up (even an ETA on when this will be supported again would be nice... too much out dated info out there for google to be much use on this one, in my experience).

I feel your pain.

Over at nvnews, it seems the most desirable solution is to use a Matrox TH2G. It defeats the purpose of having two graphics cards for the OP, but it seems to work. The general gist of it, is that you attach one monitor normally to your graphics card, and the TH2G to the other input on the same graphics card. You can then attach up to three more monitors, giving you a total of 4. You can then use nVidia TwinView to "merge" the two inputs (one from your regular monitor, and one really big one from the TH2G). I imagine that for ATI, you could use xrandr for this step (since, as far as I know, nVidia only supports xrandr 1.1).

I guess you can then setup up mode lines to fake nVidia TwinView to get window managers to behave properly with the merged screens connected to the TH2G.

Skripka · 2010-09-26 15:52:14

BurntSushi wrote:

nogoma wrote:
AFAIK, multi-GPU support is still broken if you're not going to try and use deprecated solution like xinerama or somesuch...
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=84893
However, I'll subscribe to this and hope that new information comes up (even an ETA on when this will be supported again would be nice... too much out dated info out there for google to be much use on this one, in my experience).
I feel your pain.
Over at nvnews, it seems the most desirable solution is to use a Matrox TH2G. It defeats the purpose of having two graphics cards for the OP, but it seems to work. The general gist of it, is that you attach one monitor normally to your graphics card, and the TH2G to the other input on the same graphics card. You can then attach up to three more monitors, giving you a total of 4. You can then use nVidia TwinView to "merge" the two inputs (one from your regular monitor, and one really big one from the TH2G). I imagine that for ATI, you could use xrandr for this step (since, as far as I know, nVidia only supports xrandr 1.1).
I guess you can then setup up mode lines to fake nVidia TwinView to get window managers to behave properly with the merged screens connected to the TH2G.

For the Matrox hardware, the catch is that all monitors connected on the TH2G must be the same resolution.

goopen · 2010-09-26 16:31:36

nogoma wrote:

AFAIK, multi-GPU support is still broken if you're not going to try and use deprecated solution like xinerama or somesuch...
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=84893
However, I'll subscribe to this and hope that new information comes up (even an ETA on when this will be supported again would be nice... too much out dated info out there for google to be much use on this one, in my experience).

Alright so i guess im screwed untill further notice?

Will the Multi-GPU be fixed in the near future?
Sorry for my lack of knowledge on the issue, but is there some bug I could subscribe to? I didnt find anything about Multi-GPU issue in the bugs-section.
To buy a totally new gfx-setup isnt a solution that fits me - im a poor student

Thanks for all the help though!

cookiecaper · 2010-09-26 16:45:22

Can't you use Xinerama?

nogoma · 2010-09-26 16:51:10

I did actually give this another shot recently by doing the method of running multi X servers. I tried a multitude of solutions, but none quite worked for me. However, I have an additional complication in that I have 4 monitors, the middle 2 running on one card and the outer 2 on another. The outer ones I want in portrait mode (for surfing/email) and the inner 2 landscape (for development and the like). I could never get this combination to quite work; that is, using xrandr to rotate some screens, different resolutions, etc. Also, I was trying stuff like running a single X server for the middle 2 screens and separate ones for the outer, etc. Pretty much every permutation I could think of. Your slightly simpler case might be more manageable (the downside to multiple X servers being you can't drag windows between different monitors/servers; wasn't a problem for me since I was planning to leave newsbeuter/mutt/chromium always on the outer monitors). I would link you to the resources I used, but I don't have them around any more; I just googled around and tried out any relatively recent guides. So, you could give that a shot. As cookiecaper points out, you can try looking in to using Xinerama, but it is technically deprecated in favor of xrandr, and I'm not sure it works with all drivers any more (I don't believe it works w/ the nvidia closed drivers). Good luck!

goopen · 2010-09-26 17:34:04

Well I have tried some of the options you mention in your post. But I dont think it will workout better than it did before. Gonna write a formal complain to ATi though because their drivers are lousy!

Again big thanx for all answers!

ngoonee · 2010-09-27 00:20:16

You should run separate X servers, the ONLY disadvantage is not being able to move windows between the monitors. You can even do fancy 'lock mouse pointer only on this monitor' stuff for gaming.

Knute · 2010-09-27 01:36:10

After a quick peak at the cards, I must remind you that they are crossfire compatible. Do you have crossfire activated perchance?

Not sure how that's done. I know that there's something similar for certain nvidia cards (SLI i believe), where you can have more than one card drive a single monitor.
Since your setup is only showing, apparently, one card. I am curious what happened to the other one?

Are you using the pci device numbers in your xorg.conf file?

Also, with the setup that you want, your primary monitor will have an offset of 1280, and your exteneded monitor on the right would have an offset of 2880. Just thought that I would toss that in there to keep in mind just in case you edit your xorg and have to put them in manually.

goopen · 2010-09-27 02:16:32

Im not using any xorg.conf atm due to my lack of knowledge on the subject. However I think I found the problem while reading another thread here on the forum and I quote:

AMD brakes crossfire support for 4850 and 4870 in 10.8 and 10.9 - that's why they bring 10.8a and 10.9a HotFixes for Windows.
I didn't know it's touching also Linux.

Original topic: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=57084&p=98

codycarey · 2010-09-27 05:12:19

This is very much possible. I currently use an ATI HD 4850X2 with the open source drivers in a triple head setup, though my left monitor is the primary. You can base your own xorg.conf off of mine.

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen        "Screen0-1" RightOf "Screen0"
    Screen        "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0-1"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
        Option "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0"
    Option        "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0-1"
    Option        "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor1"
    Option        "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:3:0:0"
        Option "ZaphodHeads" "DVI-0"
        Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0-1"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:3:0:0"
        Option "ZaphodHeads" "DVI-1"
        Screen 1
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card1"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device     "Card0"
    Monitor    "Monitor0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
                Modes "1280x1024"
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0-1"
    Device     "Card0-1"
    Monitor    "Monitor0-1"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
                Modes "1920x1200"
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen1"
    Device     "Card1"
    Monitor    "Monitor1"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
                Modes "1280x1024"
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

goopen · 2010-09-29 21:40:44

codycarey wrote:

This is very much possible. I currently use an ATI HD 4850X2 with the open source drivers in a triple head setup, though my left monitor is the primary. You can base your own xorg.conf off of mine.

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen        "Screen0-1" RightOf "Screen0"
    Screen        "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0-1"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
        Option "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0"
    Option        "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0-1"
    Option        "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor1"
    Option        "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:3:0:0"
        Option "ZaphodHeads" "DVI-0"
        Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0-1"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:3:0:0"
        Option "ZaphodHeads" "DVI-1"
        Screen 1
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card1"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device     "Card0"
    Monitor    "Monitor0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
                Modes "1280x1024"
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0-1"
    Device     "Card0-1"
    Monitor    "Monitor0-1"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
                Modes "1920x1200"
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen1"
    Device     "Card1"
    Monitor    "Monitor1"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
                Modes "1280x1024"
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Was this using seperate X? Or where you able to move windows between all three monitors?

codycarey · 2010-09-29 21:52:05

goopen wrote:

Was this using seperate X? Or where you able to move windows between all three monitors?

Just one X server with multiple screens so I can move windows across my monitors. I use awesome as my window manager.

ngoonee · 2010-09-30 00:09:45

codycarey wrote:

goopen wrote:
Was this using seperate X? Or where you able to move windows between all three monitors?
Just one X server with multiple screens so I can move windows across my monitors. I use awesome as my window manager.

His options clearly show 'xinerama' as 'on'.

gorky · 2010-10-02 00:00:49

The answer is really simple, there are three statements:
- Xinerama is now deprecated, XrandR is the suggested way to handle multihead
- Current version of XrandR doesn't support more than one video card
- Xinerama supports more than one video card

goopen · 2010-10-23 20:14:40

Seems like a new driver have been released over at AMD HQ. This time its the 10.10 driver. Since its still hot they probably havent updated the release notes, the post still refers to the version 10.9 release notes.

Hopefully this will activate the other core again since I do run a crossfire setup and previous driver broke that ability.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-09-26 14:05:48

Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#2 2010-09-26 14:42:50

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#3 2010-09-26 14:50:59

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#4 2010-09-26 15:35:05

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#5 2010-09-26 15:39:59

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#6 2010-09-26 15:46:04

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#7 2010-09-26 15:52:14

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#8 2010-09-26 16:31:36

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#9 2010-09-26 16:45:22

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#10 2010-09-26 16:51:10

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#11 2010-09-26 17:34:04

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#12 2010-09-27 00:20:16

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#13 2010-09-27 01:36:10

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#14 2010-09-27 02:16:32

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#15 2010-09-27 05:12:19

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#16 2010-09-29 21:40:44

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#17 2010-09-29 21:52:05

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#18 2010-09-30 00:09:45

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#19 2010-10-02 00:00:49

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

#20 2010-10-23 20:14:40

Re: Multiple monitors, how do i accomplish this?

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