dual head on fedora

[Jim Patterson]

I was trying to set up a computer with dual head and install an ATI 9250 
AGP card and an ATI 9250 PCI card.  When I go to display and select Dual 
Head I can setup the card resolution and Color Depth and the monitor, 
but even after reboot the second screen still doesn't show anything.  It 
just stays blank.  Is there anything else I should look at.

following is xorg.conf
--------------------------------------------
# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Multihead layout"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" LeftOf "Screen1"
    Screen      1  "Screen1" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    Option        "Xinerama" "on"
    Option        "Clone" "off"
EndSection

Section "Files"

# RgbPath is the location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name 
of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally
# no need to change the default.
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
    RgbPath      "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
    FontPath     "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load  "dbe"
    Load  "extmod"
    Load  "fbdevhw"
    Load  "glx"
    Load  "record"
    Load  "freetype"
    Load  "type1"
    Load  "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
#    Option    "Xleds"        "1 2 3"
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
#    Option    "XkbDisable"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
#    Option    "XkbModel"    "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#    Option    "XkbModel"    "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#    Option    "XkbLayout"    "de"
# or:
#    Option    "XkbLayout"    "de"
#    Option    "XkbVariant"    "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#    Option    "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:swapcaps"
# Or if you just want both to be control, use:
#    Option    "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:nocaps"
#
    Identifier  "Keyboard0"
    Driver      "kbd"
    Option        "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option        "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Mouse0"
    Driver      "mouse"
    Option        "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
    Option        "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option        "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option        "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "G810-5"
    DisplaySize  410    300
    HorizSync    30.0 - 97.0
    VertRefresh  50.0 - 180.0
    Option        "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor1"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "KDS Visual Sensations VS-190/VS-195e/VS-195i"
    HorizSync    30.0 - 95.0
    VertRefresh  50.0 - 120.0
    Option        "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Videocard0"
    Driver      "radeon"
    VendorName  "Videocard vendor"
    BoardName   "ATI Radeon 9200PRO"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Videocard1"
    Driver      "radeon"
    VendorName  "Videocard Vendor"
    BoardName   "ATI Radeon 9200PRO"
    BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
    Screen      1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device     "Videocard0"
    Monitor    "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth     16
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     16
        Modes    "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" 
"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen1"
    Device     "Videocard1"
    Monitor    "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth     16
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     16
        Modes    "1400x1050"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
    Group        0
    Mode         0666
EndSection

[Joel Jaeggli]

On Sat, 28 Jan 2006, Jim Patterson wrote:
> I was trying to set up a computer with dual head and install an ATI 9250 AGP 
> card and an ATI 9250 PCI card.  When I go to display and select Dual Head I 
> can setup the card resolution and Color Depth and the monitor, but even after 
> reboot the second screen still doesn't show anything.  It just stays blank. 
> Is there anything else I should look at.

Can you send the output of /var/log/Xorg.0.log and lspci ...

Does the agp card actually have dual ports (a vga and a dvi). how about 
the pci?

which card initializes first?
> following is xorg.conf
>
> # Xorg configuration created by system-config-display
>
> Section "ServerLayout"
>   Identifier     "Multihead layout"
>   Screen      0  "Screen0" LeftOf "Screen1"
>   Screen      1  "Screen1" 0 0
>   InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
>   InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
>   Option        "Xinerama" "on"
>   Option        "Clone" "off"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Files"
>
> # RgbPath is the location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the
> # file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally
> # no need to change the default.
> # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
> # By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
> # the X server to render fonts.
>   RgbPath      "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
>   FontPath     "unix/:7100"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Module"
>   Load  "dbe"
>   Load  "extmod"
>   Load  "fbdevhw"
>   Load  "glx"
>   Load  "record"
>   Load  "freetype"
>   Load  "type1"
>   Load  "dri"
> EndSection
>
> Section "InputDevice"
>
> # Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
> #    Option    "Xleds"        "1 2 3"
> # To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.
> #    Option    "XkbDisable"
> # To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
> # lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.
> # keyboard, you will probably want to use:
> #    Option    "XkbModel"    "pc102"
> # If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
> #    Option    "XkbModel"    "microsoft"
> #
> # Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
> # For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
> #    Option    "XkbLayout"    "de"
> # or:
> #    Option    "XkbLayout"    "de"
> #    Option    "XkbVariant"    "nodeadkeys"
> #
> # If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
> # control keys, use:
> #    Option    "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:swapcaps"
> # Or if you just want both to be control, use:
> #    Option    "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:nocaps"
> #
>   Identifier  "Keyboard0"
>   Driver      "kbd"
>   Option        "XkbModel" "pc105"
>   Option        "XkbLayout" "us"
> EndSection
>
> Section "InputDevice"
>   Identifier  "Mouse0"
>   Driver      "mouse"
>   Option        "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
>   Option        "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
>   Option        "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
>   Option        "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Monitor"
>   Identifier   "Monitor0"
>   VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
>   ModelName    "G810-5"
>   DisplaySize  410    300
>   HorizSync    30.0 - 97.0
>   VertRefresh  50.0 - 180.0
>   Option        "dpms"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Monitor"
>   Identifier   "Monitor1"
>   VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
>   ModelName    "KDS Visual Sensations VS-190/VS-195e/VS-195i"
>   HorizSync    30.0 - 95.0
>   VertRefresh  50.0 - 120.0
>   Option        "dpms"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
>   Identifier  "Videocard0"
>   Driver      "radeon"
>   VendorName  "Videocard vendor"
>   BoardName   "ATI Radeon 9200PRO"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
>   Identifier  "Videocard1"
>   Driver      "radeon"
>   VendorName  "Videocard Vendor"
>   BoardName   "ATI Radeon 9200PRO"
>   BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
>   Screen      1
> EndSection
>
> Section "Screen"
>   Identifier "Screen0"
>   Device     "Videocard0"
>   Monitor    "Monitor0"
>   DefaultDepth     16
>   SubSection "Display"
>       Viewport   0 0
>       Depth     16
>       Modes    "1400x1050" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" 
> "800x600" "640x480"
>   EndSubSection
> EndSection
>
> Section "Screen"
>   Identifier "Screen1"
>   Device     "Videocard1"
>   Monitor    "Monitor1"
>   DefaultDepth     16
>   SubSection "Display"
>       Viewport   0 0
>       Depth     16
>       Modes    "1400x1050"
>   EndSubSection
> EndSection
>
> Section "DRI"
>   Group        0
>   Mode         0666
> EndSection

[Msquared]

On Sat, Jan 28, 2006 at 03:14:55PM -0600, Jim Patterson wrote:
> I was trying to set up a computer with dual head and install an ATI 9250 
> AGP card and an ATI 9250 PCI card.  When I go to display and select Dual 
> Head I can setup the card resolution and Color Depth and the monitor, 
> but even after reboot the second screen still doesn't show anything.  It 
> just stays blank.  Is there anything else I should look at.

Stays blank or stays off?  If it stays off, try this:

* Configure X with only one screen
  * Restart X (telinit 3 then telinit 5)
  * Configure X with dual head enabled
  * Restart X (telinit 3 then telinit 5)

If the second head comes up, you're suffering the same problem as my
Matrox G550.  It needs to come up first in single head mode to turn on the
second video output before dual head mode works.  My solution:

* Install rhgb
  * Configure X for one screen
  * Copy /etc/X11/xorg.conf to /etc/rhgb/xorg.conf
  * Configure X for dual head
  * Reboot

This triggers X in single screen mode to display the startup in graphics
mode, thus turning on the second monitor.  When you finally get to the
login screen and it switches to dual head, the second monitor is now on.

The irritating thing is that dual head used to work perfectly fine when I
was running RHL9, but sometime during the life of RHL9 a package was
updated that no longer initialised my G550 properly.

Regards, Msquared...

[Endy]

Rather than using the system-config-video app, manually configure dual 
head through the Xorg config file.  Everytime I have dealt with the 
gui's I haven't been able to get dual head to work at all.  
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Dual_Monitors this should help you out a 
greal deal, though you'll need to use lspci to determine the BusID for 
each card (it'll be different since you aren't doing dual head from one 
card).

Shoot me an email if you're still having trouble,

-Endy