11.1 update: ATI RV280 [Radeon 9200 SE]: no more dualhead

[fghome]

After online update of my machine on 2009-jul-19 the second monitor is dark with X11 while console mode (runlevel < 5) happily duplicates the primary screen.

sax2 is unable to adjust (center) the primary display (LCD AMW 19'' on vga port) if dual monitor mode is enabled.
Secondary DVI port is connected via a VGA adapter to a Compaq P900 19'' CRT.

After renaming /etc/X11/xorg.conf and reconfiguring with
'sax2' from runlevel 3 the problem pertains - the primary display is displayed incomplete, shifted to the left.
Dual-head mode still not possible.

Even in single monitor configuration runlevel 5 shifts the
primary display horizontally to the right while sax2 from
runlevel 3 did fit the screen exactly.

There was a warning in /var/log/Xorg.0.log that "SaxDual..."
is not being used - file overwritten while testing.

Any hints ?
Thanks, frank

------------------------------------------------------
uname -a:
Linux x2 2.6.27.23-0.1-pae #1 SMP 2009-05-26 17:02:05 -0400 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
------------------------------------------------------
lspci:
0:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation E7505 Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation E7505/E7205 PCI-to-AGP Bridge (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DB (ICH4) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 SE] (rev 01)
01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 SE] (Secondary) (rev 01)
05:02.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5702X Gigabit Ethernet (rev 02)
05:0c.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AIC-7902 U320 (rev 03)
05:0c.1 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AIC-7902 U320 (rev 03)
05:0e.0 RAID bus controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3114 [SATALink/SATARaid] Serial ATA Controller (rev 02)

---------------------------------------------------------------
/etc/X11/xorg.conf was modified by update (modification time changed), no backup, leaving this :
# /.../
# SaX generated X11 config file
# Created on: 2009-05-01T18:31:09+0200.
#
# Version: 8.1
# Contact: Marcus Schaefer <sax@suse.de>, 2005
# Contact: SaX-User list <https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/sax-users>
#
# Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#
Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/local"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/URW"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/xtest"
FontPath "/opt/kde3/share/fonts"
InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata"
InputDevices "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

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

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

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

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "mouse"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
Option "Buttons" "9"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Name" "ImExPS/2 Generic Explorer Mouse"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
Option "Vendor" "Sysp"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
DisplaySize 340 270
HorizSync 29-80
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "X1900DS"
Option "PreferredMode" "1280x1024"
VendorName "AMW"
VertRefresh 50-75
UseModes "Modes[0]"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
Modeline "1280x1024" 136.57 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1068
Modeline "1280x960" 129.86 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 1002
Modeline "1280x960" 120.84 1280 1368 1504 1728 960 961 964 999
Modeline "1280x960" 110.95 1280 1360 1496 1712 960 961 964 997
Modeline "1280x960" 102.10 1280 1360 1496 1712 960 961 964 994
Modeline "1280x800" 107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835
Modeline "1280x800" 98.89 1280 1352 1488 1696 800 801 804 833
Modeline "1280x800" 91.61 1280 1352 1488 1696 800 801 804 831
Modeline "1280x800" 83.46 1280 1344 1480 1680 800 801 804 828
Modeline "1152x864" 104.99 1152 1224 1352 1552 864 865 868 902
Modeline "1152x864" 96.77 1152 1224 1344 1536 864 865 868 900
Modeline "1152x864" 89.56 1152 1224 1344 1536 864 865 868 897
Modeline "1152x864" 81.62 1152 1216 1336 1520 864 865 868 895
Modeline "1280x768" 102.98 1280 1360 1496 1712 768 769 772 802
Modeline "1280x768" 94.98 1280 1352 1488 1696 768 769 772 800
Modeline "1280x768" 87.97 1280 1352 1488 1696 768 769 772 798
Modeline "1280x768" 80.14 1280 1344 1480 1680 768 769 772 795
Modeline "1280x720" 95.65 1280 1352 1488 1696 720 721 724 752
Modeline "1280x720" 89.04 1280 1352 1488 1696 720 721 724 750
Modeline "1280x720" 81.68 1280 1344 1480 1680 720 721 724 748
Modeline "1280x720" 74.48 1280 1336 1472 1664 720 721 724 746
Modeline "1024x768" 81.80 1024 1080 1192 1360 768 769 772 802
Modeline "1024x768" 76.16 1024 1080 1192 1360 768 769 772 800
Modeline "1024x768" 69.71 1024 1080 1184 1344 768 769 772 798
Modeline "1024x768" 64.11 1024 1080 1184 1344 768 769 772 795
Modeline "1280x600" 79.00 1280 1344 1480 1680 600 601 604 627
Modeline "1280x600" 72.80 1280 1336 1472 1664 600 601 604 625
Modeline "1280x600" 66.74 1280 1336 1464 1648 600 601 604 623
Modeline "1280x600" 61.50 1280 1336 1464 1648 600 601 604 622
Modeline "1024x600" 63.20 1024 1080 1184 1344 600 601 604 627
Modeline "1024x600" 58.10 1024 1072 1176 1328 600 601 604 625
Modeline "1024x600" 53.78 1024 1072 1176 1328 600 601 604 623
Modeline "1024x600" 48.96 1024 1064 1168 1312 600 601 604 622
Modeline "800x600" 48.91 800 840 920 1040 600 601 604 627
Modeline "800x600" 45.50 800 840 920 1040 600 601 604 625
Modeline "800x600" 42.11 800 840 920 1040 600 601 604 623
Modeline "800x600" 38.22 800 832 912 1024 600 601 604 622
Modeline "768x576" 45.51 768 808 888 1008 576 577 580 602
Modeline "768x576" 41.66 768 800 880 992 576 577 580 600
Modeline "768x576" 38.56 768 800 880 992 576 577 580 598
Modeline "768x576" 34.96 768 792 872 976 576 577 580 597
Modeline "640x480" 30.72 640 664 728 816 480 481 484 502
Modeline "640x480" 28.56 640 664 728 816 480 481 484 500
Modeline "640x480" 25.95 640 656 720 800 480 481 484 499
Modeline "640x480" 23.86 640 656 720 800 480 481 484 497
EndSection

Section "Screen"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024
x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
Virtual 3840 1200
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024
x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
Virtual 3840 1200
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024
x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
Virtual 3840 1200
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1280x720" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024
x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480"
Virtual 3840 1200
EndSubSection
Device "Device[0]"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
EndSection

Section "Device"
BoardName "RV280 5964"
Driver "radeon"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Option "SaXDualHead"
Option "monitor-VGA-0" "Monitor[0]"
Option "monitor-DVI-0" "EXT"
Option "SaXDualMonitorVendor" "COMPAQ"
Option "SaXDualOrientation" "LeftOf"
Option "SaXDualResolution" "1280x1024"
Option "SaXDualMode" "Xinerama"
Option "SaXDualHSync" "30-107"
Option "SaXDualMonitorModel" "P900 COLOR MONITOR"
Option "SaXDualVSync" "50-120"
Option "SaXExternal" "Identifier&EXT+DisplaySize&+VendorName&COMPAQ+Lef tOf&Monitor[0]+PreferredMode&1
280x1024+HorizSync&30-107+ModelName&P900 COLOR MONITOR+VertRefresh&50-120"
VendorName "ATI"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
HorizSync 30-107
Identifier "EXT"
ModelName "P900 COLOR MONITOR"
Option "LeftOf" "Monitor[0]"
Option "PreferredMode" "1280x1024"
VendorName "COMPAQ"
VertRefresh 50-120
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
Screen "Screen[0]"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Group "video"
Mode 0660
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
EndSection
----------------------------------------------------------

[fghome]

After a lot of search i found a thread dealing with xinerama problems
with the mga driver dated may-2009 where a downgrade of the X11 packages
was recommended by a SUSE developer.

Another google search told me how to do :
yast --> software --> search --> xorg
--> xorg-x11-server --> version --> 7.4-17.4.1

Yast does NOT adapt the other RPMs automatically, so the same
manual procedere was required for
xorg-x11-driver-video-7.4-19.8.2
xorg-x11-driver-video-radeonhd-1.2.4_121202_4e89726-2.1.1
xorg-x11-driver-input-7.4-11.6.1
xorg-x11-server-sdk-7.4-17.4.1
xorg-x11-7.4-8.19.1
xorg-x11-xauth-7.4-8.20.1

BTW :
- only the graphic version of Yast has this 'version' button to select
any previous version of an installed RPM
- meanwhile i recreated xorg.conf avoiding 'xinerama' setting as
described in the x11 wiki for xrandr 1.2
- 'rpm -qa --last' does not give a real history, it knows about any
rpm ever installed but
- displays its last installation date only - not other previously
versions installed
- falls back to the date of first installation for downgraded RPMs
i could not find an option displaying every change happened.
- i was hit by this problem on 19 july - after recovering the machine
from a kernel update disaster where the kernel was updated but not
the driver modules, thus making the system non-boot due to lack of
a driver for my disk controler and had to download the missing
essential package(s) with another machine.
Other view : can kernel updates be directed to install newer versions
in parallel to the older kernels leaving a bootable prior GRUB-entry
in case of trouble (as it is done in SLES) ?
Alternative : Can anybody direct me to a procedere to mirror the
updates (and the many packages available for 11.1 but not on the
install-DVD) ?
- maybe i'm posting in the wrong forum but this problem is related to SUSE
online update and i could not find a more apropriate forum in
the list - please advice