Two displays

English Hardware
1

Hi,
I’m trying to set up a second display (1280x1024) besides my laptop display (1280x800).
I have an Acer 3023 WLMI with an ATI Mobility Radeon X600 graphic card and OpenSuse 11.0 on it.
I’ve been trying to change it via xorg.conf and aticonfig. Both lead to the same result namely a working second screen but a smaller first screen (laptop). The laptop screen was then not as wide as usual. At the left and right hand side of the desktop appeared black bars or the desktop was drawn out and it seems to be a graphic like 1024x800.
I read on the internet that it would be possible to set up two desktops with a task bar on each display with resolutions as I wish. Unfortunately I havent found to solve this problem.
Maybe you could help me??

Thank you!

2

Could you show us the contents of /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and the output of running /sbin/lspci as root, please. That would make it easier to spot the problem.

3

My xorg.conf now:

Section “Monitor”
Identifier “Monitor[0]”
VendorName “SNY”
ModelName “SONY SDM-S71”
UseModes “Modes[0]”
DisplaySize 338 270
HorizSync 30.0 - 65.0
VertRefresh 43.0 - 65.0
Option “CalcAlgorithm” “XServerPool”
Option “DPMS”
Option “PreferredMode” “1280x1024”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “Device[0]”
Driver “fglrx”
VendorName “ATI”
BoardName “ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 (M24 3150)”
Option “Capabilities” “0x00000000”
Option “VideoOverlay” “on”
Option “OpenGLOverlay” “off”
Option “FSAAEnable” “off”
Option “FSAAScale” “0”
Option “XAANoOffscreenPixmaps” “true”
BusID “PCI:1:0:0”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “Screen[0]”
Device “Device[0]”
Monitor “Monitor[0]”
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection “Display”
Depth 15
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1024x768” “800x600”
EndSubSection
SubSection “Display”
Depth 16
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1024x768” “800x600”
EndSubSection
SubSection “Display”
Depth 24
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1024x768” “800x600”
EndSubSection
SubSection “Display”
Depth 8
Modes “1280x1024” “1280x960” “1024x768” “800x600”
EndSubSection
EndSection

This is the xorg.conf while using aticonfig. As I tried out sax2 there were 2 sections of monitor and screen but it has the same result…

/sbin/lspci shows the following:

00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 Host Bridge (rev 01)
00:02.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI-X Root Port
00:06.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge
00:07.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB2 Host Controller
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 SMBus Controller (rev 11)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 IDE Controller
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-ISA Bridge
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-PCI Bridge
00:14.5 Multimedia audio controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 AC’97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:14.6 Modem: ATI Technologies Inc SB400 AC’97 Modem Controller (rev 02)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M24 1P [Radeon Mobility X600]
06:05.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)
06:06.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx21/x515 Cardbus Controller
06:06.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
06:06.3 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated FlashMedia Controller
06:06.4 SD Host controller: Texas Instruments PCI6411/6421/6611/6621/7411/7421/7611/7621 Secure Digital Controller
06:07.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)

Any further ideas??

Thank you

4

Any further ideas??

Well, initially there is no mode “1280x800” offered in the screen section for the default depth of 24 bits color, or for any other depth either for that matter. And since it says UseModes “Mode[0]” in the monitor section there must be a “Modes” section somewhere with a ModeLine describing how the mode “1280x800” should be setup.

Your laptop is probably trying to use the next best thing doable and available, which seems to be “1024x768”. There should likely be a warning or error about it in the /var/log/Xorg.0.log file. Have a look and see if you have any lines starting with (WW) or (EE), warning and error respectively.

So, change all the Modes lines in Section “Screen” into something like this:

Modes "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600"

where “1280x800” is added, and have a look in Section “Modes” that there is a line similar to this:

ModeLine     "1280x800" 88.7 1280 1352 1488 1696 800 801 804 830

Most of the numbers will likely differ for you, depending on the capabilities of your graphics chip. If there is no Section “Modes” there will likely be complaints about it in the log file, but the X server will do the best it can, that is talk to the graphics chip and guess how to control it.

There could be other reasons for your problem, but let’s start with this. It this doesn’t work, come back with the entire xorg.conf file and at least the warnings and errors from the Xorg.0.log file.

5

Hey,
sorry, I have been busy and I havent found time to work on this matter.
I tried to do what you suggested me but the only thing i can change is which display is showen correctly and which one not.
With the parameter
“ModeLine “1280x800” 88.7 1280 1352 1488 1696 800 801 804 830”
I can use my laptop screen an with
“ModeLine “1280x1024” 88.7 1280 1352 1488 1696 800 801 804 830”
the external screen.

This is my xorg.conf

/…/

SaX generated X11 config file

Created on: 2008-10-28T18:15:29+0100.

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 “AIGLX” “on”
Option “AllowMouseOpenFail” “on”
Option “IgnoreABI” “on”
Option “ZapWarning” “on”
EndSection

Section “Module”
Load “glx”
Load “type1”
Load “extmod”
Load “dbe”
Load “freetype”
Load “dri”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Driver “kbd”
Identifier “Keyboard[0]”
Option “Protocol” “Standard”
Option “XkbLayout” “de”
Option “XkbModel” “microsoftpro”
Option “XkbRules” “xfree86”
Option “XkbVariant” “nodeadkeys”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Driver “mouse”
Identifier “Mouse[1]”
Option “Buttons” “7”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/mice”
Option “Name” “Chic Browser Mouse”
Option “Protocol” “explorerps/2”
Option “Vendor” “Sysp”
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5”
EndSection

Section “InputDevice”
Driver “synaptics”
Identifier “Mouse[3]”
Option “Buttons” “5”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/mice”
Option “Emulate3Buttons” “on”
Option “HorizScrollDelta” “0”
Option “InputFashion” “Mouse”
Option “Name” “Synaptics;Touchpad”
Option “Protocol” “explorerps/2”
Option “SHMConfig” “on”
Option “Vendor” “Sysp”
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5”
EndSection

Section “Monitor”
Option “CalcAlgorithm” “XServerPool”
DisplaySize 338 270
HorizSync 30-65
Identifier “Monitor[0]”
ModelName “SONY SDM-S71”
Option “DPMS”
Option “PreferredMode” “1280x800”
VendorName “SNY”
VertRefresh 43-65
UseModes “Modes[0]”
EndSection

Section “Modes”
Identifier “Modes[0]”
Modeline “1280x800” 108 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
EndSection

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

Section “Device”
BoardName “ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 (M24 3150)”
BusID “PCI:1:0:0”
Driver “fglrx”
Identifier “Device[0]”
Option “XAANoOffscreenPixmaps” “true”
Option “Capabilities” “0x00000000”
Option “OpenGLOverlay” “off”
Option “FSAAScale” “0”
Option “FSAAEnable” “off”
Option “VideoOverlay” “on”
Screen 0
VendorName “ATI”
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Layout[all]”
InputDevice “Keyboard[0]” “CoreKeyboard”
InputDevice “Mouse[1]” “CorePointer”
InputDevice “Mouse[3]” “SendCoreEvents”
Option “Clone” “off”
Option “Xinerama” “off”
Screen “Screen[0]”
EndSection

Section “DRI”
Group “video”
Mode 0660
EndSection

Section “Extensions”
EndSection

How can I see the xorg.o.log?

Thank you

6

no further ideas?