Dual Monitor setup for desktop .....Don't delay, step on up!
Posted: Tue 24 Jul 2012, 03:20
Keywords: Dual screen, extended screen, dual port graphics card, vga/ dvi, multiple screens, multiple graphics cards, ATI radeon, Nvidia, twinview, xinerama.
Just got a flatscreen monitor for 5 bucks at a garage sale. It even works! Local shop had a used dual port card for $30.
Why have a dual screen? Awesome! You'll never go back. For research, spreadsheets, games, convenience, artwork, CAD, efficiency, etc. Cutting /pasting much easier.
Rant: Q. Why are so many newer web pages unable to size down onto a smaller window?
A. Follow the money - their ads don't show properly. It's all about them, not about you. End Rant.
Searching on this topic, it seems most entries are old, or for laptops. There was some mention of incorporating dual monitor into Puppy but so far, I haven't found anything in the menu.
First I identified the video card. Slickpet easily probed my system and reported the following:
ATI RV280 (Radeon 9200 SE Rev1). It has two output jacks - a vga and a dvi - for which i got an adapter. This means that one output is dvi.
Until Puppy upgrades xorgwizard, one must edit /etc/x11/xorg.conf. There are several threads, some very long/ too complex for a noob to figure out and was nervous about just copy/pasting the whole thing which may be for a different puppy, etc.
Caution: messing with xorg can cause puppy to crash and be unable to start up again as I found out the hard way. Fortunately John Doe was able to point out that if your modified xorg stops in startup leaving you at a prompt, you just type 'xorgwizard' and then after it has finished, 'xwin', to continue the startup. You should still backup your pup_save file since if the screen goes wonky, you may not be able to recover - as i learned the hard way - again!
edit - well, there is a way - during bootup, hit F2 key when instructed, enter
puppy pfix=nox
this will eventually get to a prompt where you can enter 'xorgwizard' as above
edit2 - umm, seems i lost my printer setup so better save the _save file after all.
There are 4 things to change in xorg - server layout, screen, monitor and device, and you must tell Puppy that screen1 is left or right of screen0 (the default is all screens showing same image). Order seems not to be important. But for some reason, leftof never worked so just use rightof.
Also note that while the solution arrived at seems general in nature, it may be only applicable to my particular video card. Well, I mean the format is what hopefully works for you, specific details must naturally change to suit your machine.
Thanks to Monsie and Karl Godt for their invaluable help - and patience with this noob.
Edit - Getting the Nvidia card to work was a whole different story.
************************* masochists read on, all others hit this next link for ATI and other cards,
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 0&start=33
or the following for nvidia cards
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 0&start=50
although you'll have to work back a bit too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mazes - what follows is the bowels of my researches and howls of my discontent and the helpful comments that ultimately led to success. Proceed at your own risk!
Here's the links found so far with a brief notation.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=74601
for laptop based on the Navidia card not the ATI Radeon that I have. Also the instructions there were meant for experts - I'll need something more detailed. It mentioned twinview, openbox, Compiz/Beryl, xfce but I don't know what to do with this info.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=18073
another thread (for laptop) I can't seem to follow - but may well have the solution (in sublinks)
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=9013
a more basic/ helpful thread which I'm trying to follow
- but not too successfully. I think there is a syntax problem.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... aaf48078b8
Lobster says future puppies will fix this and gives a link (below) for code to insert.
http://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=01213
Barry's Blog. He gives a link to Pizzagood's code but link is broken. I've asked Barry for a repost and will post here when available. Apparently it was put in Woof but not Slacko??
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... ba3e7e97e8
A more complex setup but easily understood. Not sure how to change all the variables.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=16086
Very complex. Long post. Can't decipher it.
Well, that's as far as I've got so maybe I'll stop and post, especially as the larger monitor just blinked out (no signal). Seems not to be liking whatever I've done so hopefully some kind soul will come along!! Hoping also I didn't bust anything.
So, what am I doing wrong? Why is larger monitor turning off after some minutes?
Just got a flatscreen monitor for 5 bucks at a garage sale. It even works! Local shop had a used dual port card for $30.
Why have a dual screen? Awesome! You'll never go back. For research, spreadsheets, games, convenience, artwork, CAD, efficiency, etc. Cutting /pasting much easier.
Rant: Q. Why are so many newer web pages unable to size down onto a smaller window?
A. Follow the money - their ads don't show properly. It's all about them, not about you. End Rant.
Searching on this topic, it seems most entries are old, or for laptops. There was some mention of incorporating dual monitor into Puppy but so far, I haven't found anything in the menu.
First I identified the video card. Slickpet easily probed my system and reported the following:
ATI RV280 (Radeon 9200 SE Rev1). It has two output jacks - a vga and a dvi - for which i got an adapter. This means that one output is dvi.
Until Puppy upgrades xorgwizard, one must edit /etc/x11/xorg.conf. There are several threads, some very long/ too complex for a noob to figure out and was nervous about just copy/pasting the whole thing which may be for a different puppy, etc.
Caution: messing with xorg can cause puppy to crash and be unable to start up again as I found out the hard way. Fortunately John Doe was able to point out that if your modified xorg stops in startup leaving you at a prompt, you just type 'xorgwizard' and then after it has finished, 'xwin', to continue the startup. You should still backup your pup_save file since if the screen goes wonky, you may not be able to recover - as i learned the hard way - again!
edit - well, there is a way - during bootup, hit F2 key when instructed, enter
puppy pfix=nox
this will eventually get to a prompt where you can enter 'xorgwizard' as above
edit2 - umm, seems i lost my printer setup so better save the _save file after all.
There are 4 things to change in xorg - server layout, screen, monitor and device, and you must tell Puppy that screen1 is left or right of screen0 (the default is all screens showing same image). Order seems not to be important. But for some reason, leftof never worked so just use rightof.
Also note that while the solution arrived at seems general in nature, it may be only applicable to my particular video card. Well, I mean the format is what hopefully works for you, specific details must naturally change to suit your machine.
Thanks to Monsie and Karl Godt for their invaluable help - and patience with this noob.
Edit - Getting the Nvidia card to work was a whole different story.
************************* masochists read on, all others hit this next link for ATI and other cards,
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 0&start=33
or the following for nvidia cards
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 0&start=50
although you'll have to work back a bit too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mazes - what follows is the bowels of my researches and howls of my discontent and the helpful comments that ultimately led to success. Proceed at your own risk!
Here's the links found so far with a brief notation.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=74601
for laptop based on the Navidia card not the ATI Radeon that I have. Also the instructions there were meant for experts - I'll need something more detailed. It mentioned twinview, openbox, Compiz/Beryl, xfce but I don't know what to do with this info.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=18073
another thread (for laptop) I can't seem to follow - but may well have the solution (in sublinks)
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=9013
a more basic/ helpful thread which I'm trying to follow
- but not too successfully. I think there is a syntax problem.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... aaf48078b8
Lobster says future puppies will fix this and gives a link (below) for code to insert.
http://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=01213
Barry's Blog. He gives a link to Pizzagood's code but link is broken. I've asked Barry for a repost and will post here when available. Apparently it was put in Woof but not Slacko??
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... ba3e7e97e8
A more complex setup but easily understood. Not sure how to change all the variables.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=16086
Very complex. Long post. Can't decipher it.
Well, that's as far as I've got so maybe I'll stop and post, especially as the larger monitor just blinked out (no signal). Seems not to be liking whatever I've done so hopefully some kind soul will come along!! Hoping also I didn't bust anything.
So, what am I doing wrong? Why is larger monitor turning off after some minutes?