Spanning dual head using xrandr and a virtual resolution

[JBLoudG20]

I have a Lenonvo 3000N100, on which I am running a fresh install of Fedora 10. I would like to have the ability to run a dual monitor setup when I am at my desk. The external monitor will be attached via VGA, be to the right of my laptop, and has a resolution of 1280x1024.

I want to use the command: 'xrandr --output LVDS --mode 1280x800 --output VGA --mode 1280x1024 --right-of LVDS'

I would like to run this when I connect the monitor. In order for it to work, I know I need to add a line to my xorg.conf file under the display subsection: Virtual '2560 1024'

I generated a basic xorg.conf file, and rebooted. The laptop booted just fine. I then added this Virtual line, and rebooted. This time the X server starts, but when I get to the login screen, it does not allow me to login. Instead of displaying the username, it simply says "other". The computer is then locked up.

I booted to runlevel 3, and used startx to hopefully get some debug info. The X server begins to load. I can see the background, but it stops loading and locks up. Ctrl + Alt + backspace does nothing. I have to hit the power to reboot.

Has anyone encountered this? I'm at a loss here.

Thanks for your help.

[JBLoudG20]

Here is the stripped (basic) Xorg that boots fine:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "kbd"
	Option	    "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "NoAccel"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "SWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ColorKey"           	# <i>
        #Option     "CacheLines"         	# <i>
        #Option     "Dac6Bit"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DRI"                	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoDDC"              	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShowCache"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "XvMCSurfaces"       	# <i>
        #Option     "PageFlip"           	# [<bool>]
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "intel"
	VendorName  "Intel Corporation"
	BoardName   "Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller"
	BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Here is the complete generated xorg file:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
	FontPath     "catalogue:/etc/X11/fontpath.d"
	FontPath     "built-ins"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse0"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "auto"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "NoAccel"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "SWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ColorKey"           	# <i>
        #Option     "CacheLines"         	# <i>
        #Option     "Dac6Bit"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "DRI"                	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoDDC"              	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShowCache"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "XvMCSurfaces"       	# <i>
        #Option     "PageFlip"           	# [<bool>]
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "intel"
	VendorName  "Intel Corporation"
	BoardName   "Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller"
	BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     1
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     4
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     8
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     15
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     16
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

[Lee134]

Hi,

I am not sure how much help I can be as I am a bit of a noob but I spent the last two days messing around and I finally got dual screens working with xrandr (I could not get Xinerama working at all). I use a Radeon card but here is my xorg.conf in case its any use to you:

#####################################################################
# Xorg configuration created by xxxxxxxxxxxxx for dual head display
#####################################################################

#####################################################################
# ServerLayout
#####################################################################

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Dual Head Configuration"
	Screen	       "Default Screen"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

#####################################################################
# Input Devices
#####################################################################

Section "InputDevice"
# keyboard added by rhpxl
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "kbd"
	Option	    "XkbModel" "pc105"
	Option	    "XkbLayout" "gb"
EndSection

#####################################################################
# Devices
#####################################################################

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Rad1950Pro"
	Boardname   "ATI Radeon"
	Driver      "radeonhd"
	Vendorname  "ATI"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
	Option      "AccelMethod" "xaa"
EndSection

#####################################################################
# Monitors
#####################################################################

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier  "Monitor0"
	VendorName  "SNY"
	ModelName   "SDM-S73"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
	HorizSync   28.0 - 65.0
	VertRefresh 57.0 - 75.0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier  "Monitor1"
	VendorName  "SNY"
	ModelName   "SDM-S73"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
	HorizSync   28.0 - 65.0
	VertRefresh 57.0 - 75.0
EndSection

#####################################################################
# Screens
#####################################################################

Section "Screen"
	Identifier  	"Default Screen"
	Device	    	"Rad1950Pro"
	DefaultDepth	24
	Monitor		"Monitor0"
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth	    24
		Viewport    1280 0
		Virtual	    2560 1024
		Modes	    "1280x1024"
	EndSubSection
EndSection	

#####################################################################

And the command I am using to enable the dual screens:

xrandr --output DVI-I_1/analog --left-of DVI-I_2/analog --mode 1280x1024

One difficulty I had was that the kde xrandr gui thingy would not work for me at all to persist my dual screen so I simply created a script to run the above command and put into my users .bash_profile so that its run whenever anyone logs in. It works pretty well so far. I hope my working config helps point you in the right direction. If not, could you post the output of Xorg.x.log so we can see whats going on?

Cheers

[JBLoudG20]

I have a feeling I'm just missing somehting small in my Xorg.conf file. Looking at yours, I notice you have 'Viewport 1280 0', where I had 'Viewport 0 0' I wonder if that has something to do with it.

I'm at the office right now, But I'll give that a shot later on.

[JBLoudG20]

Here is the end snippet of my Xorg.0.log file. I attempted to boot a few times, and it stopped at the same line each time.

(II) intel(0): EDID for output TV
(II) intel(0): EDID for output VGA
(II) intel(0): EDID for output LVDS
(II) intel(0): Manufacturer: SEC  Model: 5643  Serial#: 0
(II) intel(0): Year: 2005  Week: 0
(II) intel(0): EDID Version: 1.3
(II) intel(0): Digital Display Input
(II) intel(0): Max Image Size [cm]: horiz.: 30  vert.: 19
(II) intel(0): Gamma: 2.20
(II) intel(0): No DPMS capabilities specified
(II) intel(0): Supported color encodings: RGB 4:4:4 YCrCb 4:4:4 
(II) intel(0): First detailed timing is preferred mode
(II) intel(0): redX: 0.580 redY: 0.340   greenX: 0.310 greenY: 0.550
(II) intel(0): blueX: 0.155 blueY: 0.155   whiteX: 0.313 whiteY: 0.329
(II) intel(0): Manufacturer's mask: 0
(II) intel(0): Supported additional Video Mode:
(II) intel(0): clock: 68.9 MHz   Image Size:  303 x 190 mm
(II) intel(0): h_active: 1280  h_sync: 1292  h_sync_end 1356 h_blank_end 1408 h_border: 0
(II) intel(0): v_active: 800  v_sync: 803  v_sync_end 806 v_blanking: 816 v_border: 0
(WW) intel(0): Unknown vendor-specific block f
(II) intel(0):  SAMSUNG
(II) intel(0):  LTN141W1-L03
(II) intel(0): EDID (in hex):
(II) intel(0): 	00ffffffffffff004ca3435600000000
(II) intel(0): 	000f0103801e13780a87f594574f8c27
(II) intel(0): 	27505400000001010101010101010101
(II) intel(0): 	010101010101ee1a0080502010300c40
(II) intel(0): 	33002fbe100000190000000f00000000
(II) intel(0): 	00000000002387026400000000fe0053
(II) intel(0): 	414d53554e470a2020202020000000fe
(II) intel(0): 	004c544e31343157312d4c30330a0052
(II) intel(0): EDID vendor "SEC", prod id 22083
(II) intel(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
(II) intel(0): Modeline "1280x800"x0.0   68.94  1280 1292 1356 1408  800 803 806 816 -hsync -vsync (49.0 kHz)
(II) intel(0): EDID vendor "SEC", prod id 22083
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "640x350" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "640x400" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "720x400" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "640x480" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "640x480" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "640x480" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "800x600" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "800x600" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "800x600" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "800x600" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1024x768" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1024x768" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1024x768" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1152x864" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x960" (hsync out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x960" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x1024" (hsync out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x1024" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x1024" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1600x1200" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1600x1200" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1600x1200" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1600x1200" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1600x1200" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1792x1344" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1792x1344" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1856x1392" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1856x1392" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1920x1440" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1920x1440" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "832x624" (vrefresh out of range)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1400x1050" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1400x1050" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1920x1440" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "2048x1536" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "2048x1536" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "2048x1536" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Printing probed modes for output LVDS
(II) intel(0): Modeline "1280x800"x60.0   68.94  1280 1292 1356 1408  800 803 806 816 -hsync -vsync (49.0 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Modeline "1024x768"x60.0   65.00  1024 1048 1184 1344  768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.3   40.00  800 840 968 1056  600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync (37.9 kHz)
(II) intel(0): Modeline "640x480"x59.9   25.18  640 656 752 800  480 490 492 525 -hsync -vsync (31.5 kHz)
(II) intel(0): EDID for output TV

[JBLoudG20]

So just to make this fun, I booted into Ubuntu 8.04. I added the Virtual line to the xorg.conf file, rebooted and used the command I gave earlier. It worked perfectly.

I copied the xorg.conf from Ubuntu to fedora, and tried it. Same thing, X stopped loading at th elogin screen, not giving me the option to login. The mouse works, as before, but nothing else.

I checked, and both Fedora and Ubuntu use the intel driver. I'm lost.

[JBLoudG20]

Nothing at all?

[Sedmic]

Have you had any more luck with this? I'm trying to do something very similar and am also stuck.

[cepal67]

With my HP NC4200 (graphical chip i915GM) I have same troubles...

I only can add these findings:
- Virtual kills it all
- even tried:

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "Card0"
        Driver      "intel"
        VendorName  "Intel Corporation"
        BoardName   "Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller"
        Option      "monitor-LVDS" "LVDS"
        Option      "monitor-VGA" "VGA"
        Option      "monitor-TMDS-1" "DVI"
        Option      "monitor-TV" "TV"
# Added by CePal due to Fedora 10 change to using "EXX" accel method, which fails i810
# per page http://n2.nabble.com/Problem-with-xo...td1597767.html

# let's first test without... hmm failed, so enabling..
# next testing: Driver "i810" instead of "intel" ... failed totally !!!
        Option      "AccelMethod" "XAA"
# VideoRAM size by lspci is 256MB while having 2GB RAM
        VideoRam    262144
EndSection

And every time I enable the "Virtual" option, it fails and the "Xorg.0.log" has this output:

[mi] EQ overflowing. The server is probably stuck in an infinite loop.

Backtrace:
0: /usr/bin/Xorg(xorg_backtrace+0x3b) [0x812bc5b]
1: /usr/bin/Xorg(mieqEnqueue+0x289) [0x810b379]
2: /usr/bin/Xorg(xf86PostMotionEventP+0xc2) [0x80d4262]
3: /usr/bin/Xorg(xf86PostMotionEvent+0x68) [0x80d43c8]
4: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input//evdev_drv.so [0x345a8d]
5: /usr/bin/Xorg [0x80bcdb7]
6: /usr/bin/Xorg [0x80ac91e]
7: [0x110400]
8: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_calloc+0x25) [0x9cd3b5]
9: /usr/lib/libdrm_intel.so.1 [0x2fe094]
10: /usr/lib/libdrm_intel.so.1 [0x2fe5e5]
11: /usr/lib/libdrm_intel.so.1 [0x2fecbc]
12: /usr/lib/libdrm_intel.so.1 [0x2fee75]
13: /usr/lib/libdrm_intel.so.1(dri_bo_exec+0x2e) [0x2fd05e]
14: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//intel_drv.so(intel_batch_flush+0xa4) [0x2903d4]
15: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//intel_drv.so(I830Sync+0x64) [0x28fbd4]
16: /usr/lib/xorg/modules//libxaa.so(XAAComposite+0x358) [0x561cd8]
17: /usr/lib/xorg/modules//libxaa.so [0x57eef1]
18: /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//intel_drv.so(i830_xaa_composite+0x145) [0x2bb3c5]
19: /usr/bin/Xorg [0x816f6fa]
20: /usr/bin/Xorg(CompositePicture+0x19a) [0x815818a]
21: /usr/bin/Xorg [0x815e055]
22: /usr/bin/Xorg [0x815ad75]
23: /usr/bin/Xorg(Dispatch+0x34f) [0x8085e9f]
24: /usr/bin/Xorg(main+0x47d) [0x806b71d]
25: /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xe5) [0x9706d5]
26: /usr/bin/Xorg [0x806ab01]
[mi] mieqEnequeue: out-of-order valuator event; dropping.
[mi] EQ overflowing. The server is probably stuck in an infinite loop.

The last two lines keep repeating many times after and "Xorg" process gets as much of CPU as possible (without any visible effect). I can move mouse (which froze it's animation), and that's all I can do locally. Remotely, I can work with ssh and shell without problems (well it's possibly a little slowed down by the Xorg process but I don't notice it).

I would also appreciate to re-gain the possibility of having screen spread across two displays using xrandr (either internal+external, or two external ones - having one CRT and one DVI ports in the docking station).

Pavel

[ewjim]

I'm getting the same problem and it's really doing my head in.
I have had spanning desktop working once, but the resolution was 640 x 480.

Makes my thing it's a problem with the access to the hardware.

[Illydth]

Same problem with the Intel driver (i915 chip I believe).

Couple things of note:

* My F9 box upgraded to F10 does not have this problem, only the F10 newly installed box does.

My guess is it has something to do with the drivers. I could be totally hosed here but I have a copy of the X11 driver for the Intel chipset and will go through the options of compiling and installing.

Will post back my findings.

--Douglas Wagner

[cepal67]

Originally Posted by Illydth

Same problem with the Intel driver (i915 chip I believe).

Couple things of note:

* My F9 box upgraded to F10 does not have this problem, only the F10 newly installed box does.

My guess is it has something to do with the drivers. I could be totally hosed here but I have a copy of the X11 driver for the Intel chipset and will go through the options of compiling and installing.

Will post back my findings.

--Douglas Wagner

Hmmm interesting... Maybe F10 itself doesnt yet have the problem, but in updates there is the updated buggy driver, so while doing yum upgrade/update we got the one buggy from updates, while on install DVD there was the older "OK" one... So one possible solution is roll back...

My findings was also that the buggy driver could not cope with more than 1440x1440 virtual so that's why it worked to have 2x 640x480 for the guy in previous post...

For me, the solution was to switch to Ubuntu (FYI I first tried to switch to kubuntu, but KDE 4.1 in Kubuntu 8.10 is much worse than KDE 4.2 in Fedora10, so I installed gnome and have kubuntu running Gnome now and am very very happy)... Just a bit pissed off by some alterings which made me to symlink e.g. the location of my Thunderbird profile or I was hard on finding "chkconfig" alternative on ubuntu but otherwise, the system rocks...

[JBLoudG20]

I would like to mention that I finally solved the problem.

Under the section "device" The option for 'NOACCEL" needs to be uncommented in order to get the Virtual Resolution to work.

Whew!!!

[nagais]

I have had a similar problem with my netbook Asus 1005HA. It is to do with compiz and virtual resolution capability of a given graphics chip set. Please see if the solution that I have posted helps :

http://www.geekytalk.snaga.net/2010/...-handling.html