On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 3:59 PM, Fred Smith <fredex at fcshome.stoneham.ma.us>wrote: > On Tue, May 07, 2013 at 03:09:13PM -0400, Ross Walker wrote: > > On Tue, May 7, 2013 at 2:34 PM, Ross Walker <rswwalker at gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 4:47 PM, Fred Smith < > fredex at fcshome.stoneham.ma.us>wrote: > > > > > >> I was just handed a 2nd monitor for my system at work, and using > Centos 5 > > >> (latest) > > >> can't make dual head work. a good bit of googling isn't being > particularly > > >> helpful either. > > >> > > > > > > Dual head or dual monitor? > > > > > > Dual head typically means running two instances of X, one on each video > > > out, which can only be done with two or more graphic cards from what I > can > > > gather. > > hmm. good point. Sounds good, right? Don't listen to me though I talk through my wazoo. Multi-Head and Multi-Monitor are synonymous (I actually looked it up after posting). > >> It's a HP workstation xw4100, with Nvidia Quadro NVS280SD graphics > card. > > >> Enabling dual head in the "display" app simply configures X so that it > > >> (i.e., X) won't start. I haven't found the x log file in /var/log to > be > > >> helpful, either. This is using the legacy 96.x.x driver from Nvidia. > > >> > > >> the NvidiaDetect app (from epel) says it should be using a newer > driver > > >> than the 96.x.x (forgot which one, exactly) but when attempting to > install > > >> it I get a msg that the card requires a 96.x.x driver. > > >> > > >> browsing to nvidia.com and entering the model numbers into their > driver > > >> finder app gives another newer version that also gives the same > result. > > >> So it looks like I'm stuck with the 96.x.x driver. > > >> > > >> some googling indicates a few people have made it work, but none of > their > > >> methods are working for me. > > >> > > >> I was beginning to wonder if the hardware even supported dual head, > so I > > >> booted up a Fedora 17 LIVE CD. it initializes both monitors with no > action > > >> from me at all, with a desktop spanning the two screens, just fine. It > > >> must > > >> be using the Nouveau driver (which, AFAIK, can't be used on Centos 5), > > >> so still the issue could either be spanning/dual head doesn't work > with > > >> the > > >> ancient nvidia driver, or we (neither me, nor the tools on Centos) > knows > > >> how to configure it. > > >> > > >> Clues would be appreciated. thanks in advance! > > >> > > > > > > In my experience I was able to drive both the DisplayPort and DVI (or > HDMI > > > and VGA) interfaces off my card to give me dual monitor support. > > > > > > To setup the monitor preference I just created a monitors.conf file in > > > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d as such: > > > > > > Section "Monitor" > > > Identifier "HDMI1" > > > Option "Primary" "true" > > > EndSection > > > > > > Section "Monitor" > > > Identifier "VGA1" > > > Option "RightOf" "HDMI1" > > > EndSection > > > > > > Substitute the Identifier for whatever 'xrandr' gives you, and use > LeftOf > > > if you secondary monitor is left of your primary. > > > > > > > Nevermind, I am not paying attention here, my setup is C6 with Intel. > > This is strange... > > xrandr (on C5) only shows one monitor even though two are connected > Sounds like the support for your nvidia in C5 doesn't include multiple monitors. > Booting up a Fedora 17 live CD, automatically configures for a single > desktop spread across both monitors, AND xrandr shows both monitors. This > makes me think that the hardware supports what I was seeking but C5 > doesn't. > > So, some more poking around, and I discover that Nvidia supports "Twinview" > which actually works on C5, giving me a single desktop spread across both > displays. According to the Nvidia readme, it fools X into thinking it has > only > one monitor, and it does seem to work. > > While I think I might like two separate desktops, it doesn't look like > it's likely to be possible with the system I have, so I'll manage with > what I've got, I think. > Twinview is going to be your best bet, but spanning desktops instead of independent. You can always upgrade to C6 to get independent desktops, composing and all that jazz. -Ross