Dual monitor setup?

okay, im still really new to linux, so forgive my ignorance, ive been using windows for the past 10 years or so.
but my question is, i have a Geforce video card and im wondering how i can get my dual monitor setup running, (note: a monitor and my tv) the monitor needs to run at 1280x1024 and the tv needs to run at 1024x768, is this going to be possible? i know the output is working because i can turn on my tv and get a cloned image, but its in my montiors resolution so its scrambled since the tv cant get that high.
do i need to download the nvidia drivers? my graphics card was automaticaly detected, model number and all. is there any software i can get?
thanks

yeh, u can do all this. i have a simple guide on my blog which would be the easiest thing to follow.

Also, in order to set the resolution for the TV, u need modelines set.

in the "Device" section add a line like this:

Code:

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Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1024x768; 1024x768,1024x768; 800x600,800x600; 640x480,640x480"

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the first resolution is basically what u see on the monitor, and the second resolution on the TV.

Hope this helps, if not, let me know, and i'll try and post a sample conf file for you.

well, that helped somewhat. however after editing the xorg.conf file, my system doesnt seem to shut down. the monitor goes blank and then into its sleep mode and im guessing the computer just hangs.
but the dual setup is working, i decided to do a cloned image, however the tvchip doent resize the image before sending it to my tv.
any ideas?
*edit* okay i took out all of the extra lines that i added to my xorg.conf and my system no longer hangs at shutdown, but i still cant see whats going on. im just not going to worry with the dual setup untill i become a little bit more adept with linux. now i just need to figure out how to fix this whole "cant see wtf is going on" thing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlackFox

well, that helped somewhat. however after editing the xorg.conf file, my system doesnt seem to shut down. the monitor goes blank and then into its sleep mode and im guessing the computer just hangs.

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Were you trying to shut down from within xwindows before the monitor goes blank, or does it do that after a period of inactivity or after some other command?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BlackFox

well, that helped somewhat. however after editing the xorg.conf file, my system doesnt seem to shut down. the monitor goes blank and then into its sleep mode and im guessing the computer just hangs.

---

Were you trying to shut down from within xwindows before the monitor goes blank, or does it do that after a period of inactivity or after some other command?

BTW, if you need to shut down xwindows without shutting down Linux, for testing or any other purpose, you can do a Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.

im running gnome, and going through the actions menu> log out> reboot computer. (so yeah i am doing it in xwindows i guess)
everything shuts down but right when its supposed to go to the shutdown process screen, the monitor goes blank. and i have no clue why.
and also everything that uses openGL is now laggy.

well i was hoping to get something of an answer for that, i know my gl has the ability to run perfectly. i had it running fine before i tried to get the dual setup going. can someone tell me how to fix this? ive reverted to my default xorg.config (removed all the extra lines) and ive reinstalled my nvidia drivers. and my opengl is still really laggy. playing ut2k4 like this is a nightmare. but the main thing that gets to me is that if the xserver has been started, if i go into the commandline and drop the runtime level to 3, the video goes out...
im worried that i broke something now.

I noticed that a few things went slightly laggy, things like dragging apps round the screen, and a coupla other things. the way i solved this was to add:

Code:

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    Option "RenderAccel" "true"
    Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"

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to the Section "Device" part of the xorg.conf. As for the problems of the screen going blank when u shut down, i am not sure.

and also regarding when u go to runlevel 3, you should lose X, it's not a problem. to get x back switch back to runlevel 5

Code:

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init 5

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if u want, i can pm u my entire xorg.conf if u think that may help?

but see thats the thing, i open a console "/sbin/init 3" (dont ask why i was in a lower runtime level, it was mainly so that i could install drivers for my graphics card.) and the screen just goes blank and the green LED flips to orange like its in standby mode. it kind of worries me. but the PM of your xorg script would be fanstastic i really appreciate the help mate.

ok, i am not sure, but i will pm u my xorg.conf :)