Recommend a dual head video card

[Tim]

On Tue, 2008-12-30 at 11:26 -0500, Robert Fitzpatrick wrote:
> I have had no luck with either my Matrox or Nvidia dual head cards. The
> Matrox G550 does not support the DVI 1440x900 resolution of my monitor
> and my Nvidia FX5500 card is completely unacceptable causing high Xorg
> cpu usage with every move on my desktop.

I can't comment about the FX5500, but I have the GeForce 8500GT running
dual-head.  That has one VGA and one DVI connector.


Key questions:
Have you got the appropriate NVIDIA restricted drivers installed (and
running)?

Is the X server using the proprietary nvidia driver or the open-source
one (nv)? You can tell because the proprietary driver will flash the
NVIDIA logo as X starts.  The open-source driver may not support
non-vesa resolutions properly.

Are you using the nvidia-settings tool to configure X?  That should
recognise the native resolutions of most monitors (especially newer
flat-panel models), and set up the X configuration appropriately.



>  I did not receive any
> suggestions for getting my Nvidia card to work well after a couple of
> previous posts, I've tried so many things from different posts and
> suggesttions in my xorg.conf, but still no help. So, I am now asking for
> any recommendation from anyone who knows of a card that would work well
> in my environment.
> 
> All worked great with two LCD 17" monitors and my Matrox card for a long
> time. One of those monitors died and I bought a new ASUS widescreen and
> still struggling to get it to work well. I want to use the DVI input for
> my new monitor with the 1440x900 resolution, can some suggest something
> they know works well from experience?

If the 5500 has a DVI connector, it should successfully query the
monitor capabilities.  The nvidia-settings tool, with the correct
restricted driver, should then set up the dual-head system.

Lots of further hints may turn up from googling 'FX5500 ubuntu
dual-head'
> 
> Thanks in advance!
> 
> -- 
> Robert
> 
> 

Hope this helps

Tim

-- 
Tim Frost <timfrost at xtra.co.nz>