"Activate Dual Head Mode" Option Unavailable

kwikness · February 6, 2009, 11:00pm

Hi, I’m new to openSUSE and I’m trying to configure both of my monitors to work.

From what I’ve read, my graphics card(nvidia geforce 6800 xt) should work with the default drivers.

However, when I go into sax2: X11 config, only one of my monitors is recognized and there is no “Activate Dual Head Mode” check box that most users setting this up multiple monitors report to see.

I’ve checked out the driver’s at Nvidia’s site here:
Linux Display Driver - x86. Listed at that site were special instructions for Suse users:

It is recommended to use YaST for installation of the NVIDIA
driver. There are several reasons for this. First, it’s
simple. Second, and this is the most important one, you won’t need to
recompile the nvidia kernel module after a kernel update.

Update your Kernel via YOU (YaST Online Update). Use

YaST -> Software -> Software Repositories -> Add

Protocol: HTTP
Server Name: : download.nvidia.com
Directory on Server: /opensuse/11.1

to add the NVIDIA http server as additional installation source.
Now use

YaST -> Software -> Software Management

to install the NVIDIA driver. The appropriate NVIDIA packages will be
autoselected, if your card is supported. These are either

a) x11-video-nvidia + nvidia-gfx-kmp-(kernel_flavor)

or

b) x11-video-nvidiaG01 + nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-(kernel_flavor)

or

c) x11-video-nvidiaG02 + nvidia-gfxG02-kmp-(kernel_flavor)

If no additional packages are autoselected, your card is not supported
by the driver (RPMs) at the moment.

Use “sax2 -r” for X.Org configuration.

People who aren’t afraid of recompiling the nvidia kernel module or
even reinstalling the nvidia driver each time the kernel has been
updated and want or need to use the latest and greatest nvidia driver
can use the following steps 1-3. The others should use the
instructions above using YaST and skip the steps below.

Kernel sources must be installed and configured. Usually this means
installing the ‘kernel-source’, ‘make’ and ‘gcc’ packages with YaST2.

Use the nvidia installer for 180.22.

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run -q

Configure X.Org with

sax2 -r -m 0=nvidia (0 is a digit, not a letter!)

NOTE: There is no need to try to enable 3D support. It’s already
enabled, when the nvidia driver is running.

IMPORTANT: You need to recompile and install the nvidia kernel module
after each kernel update.

sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.22-pkg1.run -K

I followed those instructions and rebooted but nothing seemed to change; the “Dual Head” check box was still unavailable.

What more can I do to get my 2nd monitor configured properly?

Axeia · February 6, 2009, 11:26pm

Try running ‘nvidia-settings’ from a console, does that bring up a window?
And if so, if you attempt to the set up the dual monitor in there… does it work?

(If you want to save the settings in nvidia-setting you’ll need to start it as root as it will modify xorg.conf and needs root-rights to write there.)

kwikness · February 7, 2009, 6:41am

Couldn’t manage to get into an nvidia-settings app

kwikness@linux-hl1v:~> su
Password:
linux-hl1v:/usr/bin # nvidia-settings

The program ‘nvidia-settings’ can be found in following packages:

x11-video-nvidiaG01 path: /usr/bin/nvidia-settings, repository: zypp (11.1) ]

x11-video-nvidia path: /usr/bin/nvidia-settings, repository: zypp (11.1) ]

x11-video-nvidiaG02 path: /usr/bin/nvidia-settings, repository: zypp (11.1) ]

Try installing with: sudo zypper install x11-video-nvidiaG01

bash: nvidia-settings: command not found
linux-hl1v:/usr/bin # zypper install x11-video-nvidiaG01
Download (curl) error for ‘http://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.1/repodata/repomd.xml’:
Error code: Connection failed
Error message: Couldn’t resolve host ‘http.download.nvidia.com’

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: r
Loading repository data…
Reading installed packages…
Resolving package dependencies…

The following NEW packages are going to be installed:
kernel-default kernel-default-base kernel-default-extra nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-default
nvidia-gfxG02-kmp-default x11-video-nvidiaG01 x11-video-nvidiaG02

Overall download size: 42.8 M. After the operation, additional 140.9 M will be used.
Continue? [YES/no]: yes
Retrieving package kernel-default-base-2.6.27.7-9.1.i586 (1/7), 7.6 M (14.2 M unpacked)
Failed to mount cd:///?devices=/dev/sr0 on /var/adm/mount/AP_0x00000001: No medium found (mount: No medium found on /dev/sr0)

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: r
Failed to mount cd:///?devices=/dev/sr0 on /var/adm/mount/AP_0x00000001: No medium found (mount: No medium found on /dev/sr0)

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: i
Warning: You have chosen to ignore a problem with download or installation of a package which might lead to broken dependencies of other packages. It is recommended to run ‘zypper verify’ after the operation has finished.
Retrieving package x11-video-nvidiaG01-173.14.15-2.1.i586 (2/7), 6.3 M (25.3 M unpacked)
Retrieving: x11-video-nvidiaG01-173.14.15-2.1.i586.rpm [error]
Download (curl) error for ‘http://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.1/i586/x11-video-nvidiaG01-173.14.15-2.1.i586.rpm’:
Error code: Connection failed
Error message: Couldn’t resolve host ‘http.download.nvidia.com’

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: r
Retrieving: x11-video-nvidiaG01-173.14.15-2.1.i586.rpm [error]
Download (curl) error for ‘http://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.1/i586/x11-video-nvidiaG01-173.14.15-2.1.i586.rpm’:
Error code: Connection failed
Error message: Couldn’t resolve host ‘http.download.nvidia.com’

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: r
Retrieving: x11-video-nvidiaG01-173.14.15-2.1.i586.rpm [done (1.6 M/s)]
Installing: x11-video-nvidiaG01-173.14.15-2.1 [done]
Retrieving package kernel-default-2.6.27.7-9.1.i586 (3/7), 13.0 M (41.9 M unpacked)
Failed to mount cd:///?devices=/dev/sr0 on /var/adm/mount/AP_0x00000002: No medium found (mount: No medium found on /dev/sr0)

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: i
Warning: You have chosen to ignore a problem with download or installation of a package which might lead to broken dependencies of other packages. It is recommended to run ‘zypper verify’ after the operation has finished.
Retrieving package kernel-default-extra-2.6.27.7-9.1.i586 (4/7), 5.0 M (15.6 M unpacked)
Failed to mount cd:///?devices=/dev/sr0 on /var/adm/mount/AP_0x00000001: No medium found (mount: No medium found on /dev/sr0)

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: a
Retrieving package nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-default-173.14.15_2.6.27.7_9.1-2.1.i586 (5/7), 1.8 M (7.5 M unpacked)
Retrieving: nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-default-173.14.15_2.6.27.7_9.1-2.1.i586.rpm [error]
Download (curl) error for ‘http://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.1/i586/nvidia-gfxG01-kmp-default-173.14.15_2.6.27.7_9.1-2.1.i586.rpm’:
Error code: Connection failed
Error message: Couldn’t resolve host ‘http.download.nvidia.com’

Abort, retry, ignore? [A/r/i]: :quit
Invalid answer ‘:quit’. [A/r/i]: ^
Invalid answer '. [A/r/i]: ^C
OK OK! Exiting immediately…

Axeia · February 7, 2009, 3:21pm

Disable the dvd (cd) as a repository (via YaST software management)
It should try to fetch the things from somewhere else ( a web repository ) then, which most likely gets rids of the flood of ignore message.
Insert the DVD/CD

Run sudo zypper install x11-video-nvidiaG01 again.
All the ignored dependencies are preventing it from working correctly, I’m surprised it still boots normally even.
You should basically never ever use ignore it can mess things up bad. Use either abort and inform on the forums about what is wrong, or spam retry and hope it works. (Flakey connection, damaged optical media)

If that all goes smooth try running nvidia-settings again, after take the steps that you tried before.

PS: You can use ‘y’ instead of a full ‘yes’ with zypper

kwikness · February 7, 2009, 7:54pm

lol, thanks for all your help so far, I’ll give this a shot and get back to you.

kwikness · February 8, 2009, 8:43pm

Tried it again and it worked. Dual-head mode is now working properly.

Thanks!