First I would like to say that I am new to linux in general as well as to this forum, please forgive my newbie-ness.
While I am now to anything related to linux I am knowledgable when it comes to computers (and windows).
I have been telling myself that I would switch to linux for quite some time now. The main thing that prevented that is games but now valve decided to go linux I don’t have any reason not to make the switch anymore!
I recently installed opensuse 13.1 alongside windows 7 and managed to fix a few issues with a bit of help, however I still have a few problems that I am unable to solve.
I am running opensuse 13.1 with KDE with the proprietary Nvidia drivers.
My main screen has a resolution of 1920x1200 and is connected over DVI, my secondary screen has a resolution of 1280x800, is connected over VGA (vga only screen) and is to the left of the main screen.
The problem is that when I am using 2 monitors game either run in the wrong monitor, the game stretches out over both monitors. Often programs also want to run on the left (my secondary) monitor despite it not being the primary display.
I am temporarily using a different secondary screen (VGA and DVI) instead of the one I use normally that is connected over DVI as well and now one monitor get turned off when running a game or is on the wrong screen.
I have no idea if this is relevant but when I login it looks like the screens are switched (because the tendency for the main screen to be on the left?) and I see garbled pixels in the area that was outside the displayable area before the switch, after a second it disappears.
Is there any way I can force fullscreen applications to use the main screen and still allow the secondary screen to display whatever I have running on it at the time ?
I also have the issue that whenever I have a screen connected over VGA and one over DVI and I try to shut down the computer it reboots 2 seconds after it appears to have shut down, this happen with both secondary screens. When I use the temporary secondary monitor over DVI the system shuts down like it should.
I have seen a lot of weird problems but this one is among the top of “how is that even possible”. Does anyone have a clue what is going on and perhaps know how to fix it?
I don’t thing you can (easily) run a fullscreen game in one screen and have a desktop in the other one, not without issues. Also some games that used to stretch to both monitors now don’t anymore, probably because of a driver update. You can try the nvidia-settings app (in root mode if you want the changes to be system-wide). To easily turn off one screen while playing yo can use system-settings>display and monitor.
When both are DVI it’s just a mater of switching cables, of course, but AFAIK if there’s a VGA monitor connected it takes precedence at least for the KDE login screen. Once upon a time there was a setting to prefer a specific screen for non-managed windows, and another to open windows in the screen where the cursor is. These settings were in the older screen/monitor module of system-settings.
Can’t help with multi monitor problem and don’t know why it would trigger a reboot after shut down but another user recently had a reboot after shut down problem that turned out to be a boot on net option in the BIOS. It might be that the multiple monitors set the condition that triggers the network card to think it should wake the machine. So check that option and turn it off if set on
On Tue, 12 Aug 2014 00:36:01 +0000, brunomcl wrote:
> I don’t thing you can (easily) run a fullscreen game in one screen and
> have a desktop in the other one, not without issues.
That would seem to be specific to nVidia (and/or KDE), as I have an ATI R9
270 here with an HDMI and DVI-connected monitors, and full-screen apps
run fine on the HDMI monitor, configured as the primary monitor. The
secondary monitor is left alone.
I don’t know KDE that well, but if there’s a place where you tell it
which is the primary and which is the secondary, make sure that’s set up
properly. There is in GNOME, and it was reversed for me initially.
I’m running a AMD A-3850 with built GPU, openSUSE13.1 and KDE. I have 2 monitors attached, 1680x1050 connected by DMI to the left and a 1280X1024 to the right connected by VGA.
The VGA connected monitor always take place as nr1 if not changed. I use the prop driver from AMD for the GPU and its very easy to change in the app for the driver. I don’t know how it is with Nvidia.
If I don’t missremember I did a similar setup on a a Intel GPU based computer(Laptop) and there I change(Switch monitor 1-2) in Configure Desktop->Display and Monitor->Display Configuration in KDE.
Well crud… What do you mean with issues? Are we talking about major problems that prevent normal use or small stuff like the occasional graphical glitch?
Is it possible to force stuff to use main monitor and have the secondary one be temporarily disabled?
And I forgot to say that I use KDE 4.11.5 with the Nvidia 331.89 driver
The problem only happened when there is a VGA monitor connected to the system. Turning boot on net off has fixed the problem, I still find it a very strange problem.
Sorry if I break in again, on my DE pc the installation of openSUSE goes trow but on first reboot I can on see a 1cm wide DE on the 1680X1050 monitor. I never found a way around to solve other then by install AMD prop drivers by:
-Install and have only the DVI monitor attached and install prop drivers
-ctrl+F2 at the login screen and bring a konsole and install prop drivers
I have tried with 2 DVI attached monitors and no problems. For me it is the VGA attached monitor that make the fuzz.
The problem only happened when there is a VGA monitor connected to the system. Turning boot on net off has fixed the problem, I still find it a very strange problem.
Agreed very strange. at least in your case it appears that the vga monitor connection some how interacts with the Net card and/or the BIOS to set a state that the machine believes is a wake up via net command. I’d say it is a combo hardware and software problem
Assuming this is aimed at me. Sorry but I can’t make sense of what you just wrote.
Is there any way to get the game to run only on the main screen? Because having to go into the settings and disable the second screen every time I want to play a game is a deal breaker, I would prefer having the second screen remain usable if this is not possible while running the game it is a compromise I am willing to make.
To easily turn off one screen while playing you can use system-settings>display and monitor.
No need to use nvidia-settings as root. You can even set an icon or a keyboard shortcut to the KCM display module, to switch the screens on and off even faster.
About your other doubts:
Issues are mostly with focus. Most full screen games are designed to have the focus all the time. When you move to another screen, the game might:
a) pause/stop,
b) change to widowed mode,
c) keep running wild
d) freeze the whole desktop - specially if running at a lower resolution. ALT+CTRL+BKSPACE is in order, then…
You have to try, some games will be OK, others won’t.
To define the screen, I think this new KDE screen management will remember the last position and use the same, if possible. For example, steel storm used to fill both screens in openSUSE 11.x, now it behaves nicely opening just on the larger monitor.
OTOH, if I’m watching netflix in fullscreen firefox and click a window in the other screen, ff will switch back to widowed mode.
Summing up, you should test your games, and be prepared to reboot a few times.
Sorry for the late reply, I lost track of time.
How would I create a shortcut that disables the second screen? I took a look at “configure desktop -> shortcuts” but that is currently above my level of knowledge, a quick search did not help either (the newbie is strong in this one).
