Author Topic: Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!  (Read 641 times)

KernelPanic

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« on: 28 June 2002, 21:37 »
I am doing my work experience right now at a computer store. They have let me build a machine and it is basically mine to use for the 2 weeks. I was bored and wondered how difficult it would be to set up dual head on Mandrake 8.2. So whammed in an old PCI grapics card to give the PC two, connected an extra monitor and booted Linux. Went into Mandrake Control Center, and entered the resolutions etc and... IT WORKS!
That is all that was needed - so very simple, I've never tried it but im pretty sure it is not that easy with windoze.
ps. It did not even install any extra packages.

Thats boosted my seratonin for the day!          
Contains scenes of mild peril.

Master of Reality

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #1 on: 28 June 2002, 21:55 »
windows will eaily allow you to add another monitor. Unless you have a video card that doesnt like to share (i had one). I might put another monitor on my computer, and run my server with no monitor. I will also take out my video card from my server. Why would a server need a monitor, keyboard, video card, mouse, or sound? As long as i can ssh to it.

[ June 28, 2002: Message edited by: Master of Reality / Bob ]

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choasforages

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #2 on: 28 June 2002, 21:59 »
i got my nvidia geforce 2 card with a tv out to work . too bad tv's have shit resolution. it was fun for a time though. all i had to do was do a little vi work on the XF86config-4 file. by anychance has any of you ever gotten a tv capture card to work. im thinking about getting on and want to know a good one that will work with linux.
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choasforages

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #3 on: 28 June 2002, 22:01 »
and why a server dosn't need keyboard and mouse. i have a 100mhz pentium and 400mhz system/*never tried any of the other ones*/ that would boot with out keyboard
x86: a hack on a hack of a hackway
alpha, hewlett packed it A-way
ppc: the fruity way
mips: the graphical way
sparc: the sunny way
4:20.....forget the DMCA for a while!!!

KernelPanic

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #4 on: 28 June 2002, 22:03 »
I think whether you need a keyboard to boot is a mobo specific thing, dont really know though.
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Master of Reality

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #5 on: 28 June 2002, 22:09 »
hmmm... I'm not sure if my computer will boot without a keyboard.. I will leave one attached if i do need it.
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sporkme

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #6 on: 28 June 2002, 23:12 »
can you drag playing video from one monitor to the other in linux?  this almost always hard locks windows.
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KernelPanic

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #7 on: 28 June 2002, 23:39 »
On my stup i couldnt drag any window from one screen to another, this was with KDE(2.2)
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voidmain

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #8 on: 29 June 2002, 04:59 »
Unless something has changed with KDE 3.x it doesn't support dual head.  Last time I had dual heads I had to use WindowMaker, or run KDE on one and another Window manager on another.  With WindowMaker I could make the desktop stretch across both monitors and it would act like one large desktop, that is, you could drag windows from one monitor to the other.  Had no problems with lockups...
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KernelPanic

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« Reply #9 on: 29 June 2002, 22:47 »
I will test dual monitors on KDE 3 on monday or tuesday if anybody cares
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Sleeping Dog

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Dual Heads on Linux!!!!!!!
« Reply #10 on: 1 July 2002, 21:15 »
I have run dual-head under MicroSlop 98 for four years now on three different systems.  All three allowed for full dexktop expansion and drag between monitors.
First system used two dissimilar PCI video cards w/8MB of memory each.  It was relatively stable except when highly math-intensive apps were expanded to both screens (CAD or big spreadsheets).  Of course, these are the kinds of apps where you would want to use multiple monitors.  The lockups experienced would freeze everything requiring a reboot (lost work, etc.)  Problem seemed to trace to a video memory cache issue.

The next system used a 32MB AGP card and one 16MB PCI card.  Same thing happened but not quite as often.

I upgraded the video card to a Matrox Millineum 450 Dual-head card thinking that this would resolve the lockup issues under Winblows.  It only "sorta" did.  The only lockups and BSOD's that it does now, happen if I strech a 3D AutoCAD screen with multi-view tiled viewports across both monitors.  This would be really cool, if it worked, because the different views would (theoretically) update in real time as one made design changes.  WRONG......it still crashes despite tweaking every setting known to God and man....but what else should I expect, it's running under Windonts.

All other apps that I use on a job level (PhotoShop, Flash, etc.) seem to handle dual-head world with ease.  I also love the convenience of having different apps running on different monitors and being able to drag and drop between them without having to toggle.  This is great for tech writing because you maintain vour view of the document being created....real time saver.

I will be watching your thread with great interest to see which applications work well under Linux in a dual-head setup (and with which GUI).  This is the kind of info that I will need if and when Linux application development progresses to the point where I can economically migrate my professional software tools to the Linux OS.

Kindest Regards.

Sleeping Dog