I’m not sure this belongs in ‘hardware’ so move me if I’m wrong.
So I have a (very) small SONY laptop (mio) with SUSE, and when I go to work I plug in a bigger monitor (HP) . That works fine, but I see the same thing on both the laptop screen and the monitor at all times. I would like to use the screens as 2 monitors (extended desktop) but when I go to system config -> multiple monitors as I normally would, it seems to not detect that there are 2 displays. :sarcastic:
Any help welcome.
On 08/14/2012 10:36 AM, sbgirl54 wrote:
>
> I’m not sure this belongs in ‘hardware’ so move me if I’m wrong.
>
> So I have a (very) small SONY laptop (mio) with SUSE, and when I go to
> work I plug in a bigger monitor (HP) . That works fine, but I see the
> same thing on both the laptop screen and the monitor at all times. I
> would like to use the screens as 2 monitors (extended desktop) but when
> I go to system config -> multiple monitors as I normally would, it seems
> to not detect that there are 2 displays. :sarcastic:
> Any help welcome.
The built-in graphics adapters in laptops are low end; therefore, they do not
contain enough hardware to support 2 distinct displays. Thus, there is
effectively only one display with 2 screens. As a result, you are seeing exactly
what I would expect.
On Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:18:17 +0000, Larry Finger wrote:
> The built-in graphics adapters in laptops are low end; therefore, they
> do not contain enough hardware to support 2 distinct displays
Arguably that depends on the laptop. I’ve had several laptops that this
wasn’t the case on, including my current (Dell N7110 17R laptop).
But lower end laptops that certainly could be the case. To the OP, what
is the video hardware in the laptop in question?
Jim
–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
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Hi sbgirl54
This might happen if you’re using a proprietary driver. (If that is the case you usually need to configure with the proprietary utilities as well). Tell us more about your graphics hardware and driver in use
/usr/sbin/hwinfo --gfxcard
but if you are not using a prop. driver, and are using an open source kernel module instead, and (assuming you are running KDE), you could use the XRandR GUI (KRandR) … one way of getting to it is via: Kmenu (classic setting) > System Settings > Hardware Section > Display and Monitor
Then go to the Size and Orientation config > under the Position setting for the external monitor, change it from “Clone of” to whatever orientation you desire
but if you are not using a prop. driver, and are using an open source kernel module instead, and (assuming you are running KDE), you could use the XRandR GUI (KRandR) … one way of getting to it is via: Kmenu (classic setting) > System Settings > Hardware Section > Display and Monitor
Then go to the Size and Orientation config > under the Position setting for the external monitor, change it from “Clone of” to whatever orientation you desire
I think that is what the OP is trying to do (ie the default DE monitor utility). A common cause of failure is when using proprietary drivers. Examination of /var/log/Xorg.0.log will show conclusively.
Yes, quite possibly … but I posted what I did specifically because of what the OP wrote:
when I go to system config -> multiple monitors as I normally would, it seems to not detect that there are 2 displays
If one is to look at the KRandR gui (well, actually there are two slightly differeing gui’s: KRandRTray, which features 3 tabs and “System Setting > Hardware > Display and Monitors”, which features 4 tabs of configuration options), one will see the “Multiple Monitors” tab as the OP discusses. They may simply be overlooking the obvious (or not so obvious): the Size & Orientation tab and its “Position” option
The ‘krandrtray’ utility, is the same as System Setting > Hardware > Display and Monitors. I’m assuming the OP is referring to the equivalent (xrandr-based) Gnome utility.
Note quite. The System Settings gui blends two “KDE control modules/System Settings modules” (display and screensaver) together. You can run each of the individual modules alone via the command line “kcmshell4 display” or “kcmshell4 screensaver”. Of course, when one runs “kcmshell4 display”, one finds that the display module is exactly the same as KRandRTray (wrapping anyone?). But within the System Settings gui, we find that the tabs “Size & Orientation”, “Gamma” and “Multiple Monitors” (as well as the screensaver module) are now arranged vertically and graphically as icons. In addition, the System Settings provides a descriptive title for each of the tabs which is not present in the standalone KRandRTray.
So, again, as I wrote originally (emphasis mine):
the KRandR gui (well, actually there are two slightly differeing gui’s: KRandRTray, which features 3 tabs and “System Setting > Hardware > Display and Monitors”, which features 4 tabs of configuration options)
I’m assuming the OP is referring to the equivalent (xrandr-based) Gnome utility.
Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m not familiar with the Gnome interface and they didn’t provide such details (as well as which version of openSUSE) as to what they are actually using. So, we are left with assumptions
The point about the drivers remains: The XRandR tools (regardless of GUI or CLI), rely on the underlying driver compliance with the XRandR extensions . If the OP tells us more about the hardware and driver it may be able to assist further.