Dual monitor on intel 945

[-=[lunar-blue]=-]

I am trying to extend my screen to an external monitor on my laptop, but when I use sax2 it always ends up cloning and setting the resolution very low, i believe it is 1024x768 (it is also only showing a portion of the screen since my laptop screen resolution is 1440x900.

i was looking this up and i read somewhere that someone used xrandr, i tried this and i tried setting screen resolution to many different sizes by using -fb, but it did not work, i always got the following message

xrandr --output VGA --fb 1440x900 --right-of LVDS
xrandr: specified screen 1440x900 not large enough for output VGA (1024x768+1440+0)

can anyone help me out?

Thanks,
Damoun.H.

[MikeH30]

Unfortunately I am unable to help out, but I do share your pain. I recently purchased a 22" Samsung and was unsuccessful in extending the desktop. I too found that all I could get was 1024 X 768 and my laptop is capable of at least 1280 X 800. There is definitely a problem with the SAX2 software in OpenSuse 11.0, KDE 4.1.1. I also unsuccessfully tried to extend the desktop on a laptop with OpenSuse 10.3 and 11.0 Gnome, and Ubuntu 8.0.4. My friend hooked up his 6 year old Mac Book and he was able to extend the display to 1680 X 1050 (the max resolution on the external monitor) without any trouble. I have tried this with Dell Insprion and Sony VAIO laptops. The Sony has a newer Nvidia graphics card ( GForce 8200). I am not sure why there is so much trouble with dual monitors on notebooks running Linux. At any rate, I would still rather run Linux then go back to windoze!

-Mike

[-=[lunar-blue]=-]

what if I want to output only to my external monitor and just use that instead of my laptop screen. The main reason i want the external display is because i need a bigger screen to work with..

would this be possible? if not through sax2 is it possible through other means?

[MikeH30]

That was exactly what I wanted to do - output to a larger monitor. I was not able to get it to work. So then I settled for trying to get dual monitors working, and as I mentioned, I could not do that either. I have some posts on the topic in the forums here ( about 3 weeks ago). For now I have given up on using an external monitor with a laptop. If you find a way, please post your solution.

-Mike

[reveil]

It is possible to have dual screen setup on intel 945 though the method I achieved it (Xinerama) sacrifices DRI so: no 3D acceleration, no compiz and xine engine not working for movies (Mplayer works fine). Don't use sax2. You have to manually edit xorg.conf. On the up side you can have a large resolution on the connected monitors.

Here is relevant xorg.conf fragment:

   Section "Device"
       Identifier      "Intel Corporation Mobile Integrated Graphics Controller"
       Driver          "i810"
       BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
       Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT,LFP"
       Option "DevicePresence" "true" 
       Screen 1
   EndSection
   Section "Device"
       Identifier      "Intel Corporation Mobile Integrated Graphics Controller External CRT"
       Driver          "i810"
       BusID           "PCI:0:2:0"
       Screen 0
   EndSection

   Section "Monitor"
       DisplaySize  330 210
       Identifier      "LCD"
       Option          "DPMS"
       Option       "PreferredMode" "1280x800"
       HorizSync    30-62
       VertRefresh  43-60
   EndSection
   Section "Monitor"
       Identifier      "External CRT"
       Option          "DPMS"
       HorizSync 30-83
       VertRefresh 43-100
   EndSection

   Section "Screen"
       Identifier      "External Screen"
       Device          "Intel Corporation Mobile Integrated Graphics Controller External CRT"
       Monitor         "External CRT"
       DefaultDepth    24
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           24
               Modes           "1280x1024"
       EndSubSection
   EndSection
   Section "Screen"
       Identifier      "Default Screen"
       Device          "Intel Corporation Mobile Integrated Graphics Controller"
       Monitor         "LCD"
       DefaultDepth    24
       SubSection "Display"
               Depth           24
               Modes           "1280x800"
       EndSubSection
   EndSection



   Section "ServerLayout"
       Identifier      "Default Layout"
       Screen          0 "Default Screen" 0 0
       Screen          1 "External Screen" RightOf "Default Screen"
       Option         "Xinerama"
       InputDevice  "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
       InputDevice  "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
   EndSection

Be sure to adjust HorizSync and VertRefresh for your monitors. Otherwise you might damage the hardware! You can find these values in the monitor specification. I got that info on manufacturers website.

My source is:
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 - ThinkWiki

Hope that helps!

[MikeH30]

Thanks for the post reveil. I will have to try this when I get a laptop again ( a few weeks). I got rid of my laptop and I am using a desktop for the time being with a Samsung SyncMaster 2253BW. I am getting max resolution (1680 X 1050) from the desktop(OpenSuse 11.0, KDE 4.1.2) instantly. The graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO. However back to the laptop issue.

Why does SaX2 fail at making the modifications? Why isn't it possible to edit the xorg.conf file from SaX2?

Thanks again for your reply and I will definitely experiment with your solution when I get my new laptop ( I am looking at a Dell XPS ).

-Mike

[reveil]

Please keep in mind that my post refers to Intel graphics. Also note that I switched to the old i810 driver instead of the new one which is default SaX2 uses. I think ATI and Nvidia should have some utility for dual head on their binary drivers. I know for sure Nvidia had it. Never owned an ATI card though so best if you google for it.

I also managed to get the new driver working yesterday including DRI, AIGLX and compiz. You can see my setup here:
YouTube - compiz fusion dual head on intel graphics

Again edit xorg.conf by hand.

My new xorg.conf (relevant fragment):

Section "ServerFlags"
  Option       "AIGLX" "on"
  Option       "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
  Option       "ZapWarning" "on"
EndSection

Section "Module"
  Load         "dbe"
  Load         "type1"
  Load         "extmod"
  Load         "freetype"
  Load         "glx"
  Load         "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "kbd"
  Identifier   "Keyboard[0]"
  Option       "Protocol" "Standard"
  Option       "XkbLayout" "gb"
  Option       "XkbModel" "microsoftpro"
  Option       "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "mouse"
  Identifier   "Mouse[1]"
  Option       "Buttons" "10"
  Option       "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
  Option       "Name" "Razer Lachesis"
  Option       "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
  Option       "Vendor" "Sysp"
  Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Intel Graphics Adapter"
        Driver     "intel"
        Option     "monitor-VGA" "CRT"
        Option     "monitor-LVDS" "LCD"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    DisplaySize  330 210
    Identifier      "LCD"
    Option          "DPMS"
    Option       "PreferredMode" "1280x800"
    HorizSync    30-62
    VertRefresh  43-60
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier      "CRT"
    Option          "DPMS"
    Option       "PreferredMode" "1280x1024"
    HorizSync 30-83
    VertRefresh 56-76
EndSection

Section "Screen"
     Identifier      "Default Screen"
     Device          "Intel Graphics Adapter"
     SubSection "Display"
       Virtual         1280 1824
     EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier      "Default Layout"
  InputDevice  "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
  Screen "Default Screen"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
  Group      "video"
  Mode       0666
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
  Option       "Composite" "on"
EndSection

Set the Virtual to your combined resolution. Also note that my displays have to be aligned vertically so the combined resolution is kept within the card's hardware frame buffer (2048x2048 on Intel GMA950 the one on chip 945GM).

Just as last one use this as a reference how to set up your own. Your input devices and monitors are probably different so adjust it for them.

This setup however requires me to use the xrandr command every time X is restarted:

xrandr --output VGA --above LVDS

This switches from clone to extended desktop mode.

Sometimes the monitor resolution comes bad too so I use krandrtray to set it correctly.

Whew - not the easiest thing to set up. That said it works like a charm.

[MikeH30]

I just saw your set up via the You Tube link. That is very cool!! Thanks.

It is good to know dual monitors will work correctly with a laptop ( with some effort ) but it looks worth it. I am looking forward to setting that up when I get my laptop.

-Mike

[MikeH30]

Hi reveil,

I noticed that your laptop has a resolution of 1280X800 and your CRT is 1280 X 1024. I am getting ready to purchase a Dell XPS laptop. If I plan on using my external LCD monitor which has a max resolution of 1650 X 1080, do I need to make sure the max resolution on the laptop is equivalent? The base XPS model has a max resolution of 1440 x 900. The high definition model has a max resolutions of 1920 X 1200 which is greater than my external monitor's resolution. Also, the video card on the base XPS is 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS. Is 128MB sufficient for utilizing Compiz with dual head or is it worth the extra $100 for the 256 MB video card?

-Mike

[kvikas]

Please keep in mind that my post refers to Intel graphics. Also note that I switched to the old i810 driver instead of the new one which is default SaX2 uses. I think ATI and Nvidia should have some utility for dual head on their binary drivers. I know for sure Nvidia had it. Never owned an ATI card though so best if you google for it.

I also managed to get the new driver working yesterday including DRI, AIGLX and compiz. You can see my setup here:
YouTube - compiz fusion dual head on intel graphics

Again edit xorg.conf by hand.

My new xorg.conf (relevant fragment):

Section "ServerFlags"
  Option       "AIGLX" "on"
  Option       "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
  Option       "ZapWarning" "on"
EndSection

Section "Module"
  Load         "dbe"
  Load         "type1"
  Load         "extmod"
  Load         "freetype"
  Load         "glx"
  Load         "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "kbd"
  Identifier   "Keyboard[0]"
  Option       "Protocol" "Standard"
  Option       "XkbLayout" "gb"
  Option       "XkbModel" "microsoftpro"
  Option       "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "mouse"
  Identifier   "Mouse[1]"
  Option       "Buttons" "10"
  Option       "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
  Option       "Name" "Razer Lachesis"
  Option       "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
  Option       "Vendor" "Sysp"
  Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Intel Graphics Adapter"
        Driver     "intel"
        Option     "monitor-VGA" "CRT"
        Option     "monitor-LVDS" "LCD"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    DisplaySize  330 210
    Identifier      "LCD"
    Option          "DPMS"
    Option       "PreferredMode" "1280x800"
    HorizSync    30-62
    VertRefresh  43-60
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier      "CRT"
    Option          "DPMS"
    Option       "PreferredMode" "1280x1024"
    HorizSync 30-83
    VertRefresh 56-76
EndSection

Section "Screen"
     Identifier      "Default Screen"
     Device          "Intel Graphics Adapter"
     SubSection "Display"
       Virtual         1280 1824
     EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier      "Default Layout"
  InputDevice  "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
  Screen "Default Screen"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
  Group      "video"
  Mode       0666
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
  Option       "Composite" "on"
EndSection

Set the Virtual to your combined resolution. Also note that my displays have to be aligned vertically so the combined resolution is kept within the card's hardware frame buffer (2048x2048 on Intel GMA950 the one on chip 945GM).

Just as last one use this as a reference how to set up your own. Your input devices and monitors are probably different so adjust it for them.

This setup however requires me to use the xrandr command every time X is restarted:

xrandr --output VGA --above LVDS

This switches from clone to extended desktop mode.

Sometimes the monitor resolution comes bad too so I use krandrtray to set it correctly.

Whew - not the easiest thing to set up. That said it works like a charm.

Thanks revil. Worked for me on FreeBSD7 KDE-4.1, except one thing. I did similar setup with VGA above LVDS, but i can not move windows to LVDS. kde panel at the bottom of VGA blocks it and do not let me move windows through it.

I checked the video you posted on youtube and found that you are able to do it. Any special setting for this in kde ?

Thanks,
Vikas.