Two graphics cards and three monitors - how to?

[Liam Proven]

On 16 October 2011 20:21, Colin Law <clanlaw at googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 16 October 2011 17:00, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 14 October 2011 21:17, Colin Law <clanlaw at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>> I am trying to convert my son to ubuntu and is now trying it
>>> (Oneiric).  Unfortunately he "needs" three monitors.  He has an
>>> onboard ATI Radeon HD3300 graphics controller with a monitor on it and
>>> an NVidia Gforce GTS250 with another monitor and a TV.  With the
>>> onboard controller enabled in bios then only that monitor works.  If
>>> he disables that one then he is able to use the nvidia controller with
>>> the other monitor and the tv
>>>
>>> I have googled for how to get all three going and while there are a
>>> number of hits that look hopeful they are mostly rather old so I don't
>>> know how relevant they are now.  Can anyone point me in the right
>>> direction?  I fear a dose of xorg.conf is approaching, which is an
>>> area in which I have very little experience.
>>
>> I've set up similar in the past. I found that using dissimilar
>> graphics cards caused a world of pain. Now, OK, this was on Windows,
>> but still.
>>
>> I'd recommend going all-nVidia, myself, but all-ATI might also help.
>> Using a mixture of both means 2 different proprietary binary drivers
>> are required, which is not going to be simple or easy, I would expect.
>>
>> The easiest but most expensive way would probably be to disable the
>> onboard controller, remove the GTS250 and replace it with a
>> triple-head card. Again, in my limited experience, nVidia's Linux
>> support is better than AMD/ATI's.
>
> OK, I was afraid that might be the answer.  The problem (for Ubuntu)
> is that it is all working fine with all three monitors in Windows 7 so
> if this will not work then I have no hope of converting him to Ubuntu.
>  Perhaps this is one of the relatively rare instances where Windows
> makes a better job of it than Ubuntu.
>
> Now what I need is someone to take up the challenge to prove me wrong :)

It wasn't easy when I did it in Windows XP. Default drivers for both
wouldn't work. Proprietary drivers for both wouldn't work. What worked
was default driver for one and proprietary for the other. I can't
remember which way round now. And of course there are issues removing
a proprietary driver from Windows.

I think the 2-X-servers approach, while it's likely to work, is going
to be a lot of extra hassle & you won't be able to do simple stuff
like drag a window from one screen to another.

I'd start with disconnecting the TV and try to get just the 2 monitors
working. Start with, say, just the nVidia. I am guessing you can't
attach the TV to the onboard video? Is it possible to attach all 3
screens to the nVidia card - dual DVI + HDMI, something like that?


-- 
Liam Proven • Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven
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