Two graphics cards and three monitors - how to?

[Liam Proven]

On 17 October 2011 20:39, Colin Law <clanlaw at googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 17 October 2011 19:24, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 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 had not thought of that, with two X servers there is not going to be
> one extended desktop spanning the two monitors, one on each graphics
> chipset, so that is no good.
>
>>
>> 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?
>
> I believe that the graphics card can only do one monitor and the TV,
> though I will double check.
> To use a technical term I think we are stuffed.  I don't think it will
> work without spending money.
>
> Having said that though, I must check what he gets on Windows in the
> way of extended desktop.  Is it capable of extending across different
> graphics card I wonder.

If the drivers play nicely together, then yes, Windows is. Linux is
too, I've done it, but it's harder. I did it back in the early
noughties, before Ubuntu existed, with SUSE.

By the sound of your - his - config, I think you want to avoid nVidia
Twinview. It is /not/ going to work with a non-nVidia card, AFAIK.

I'd start with trying to ensure that you have the latest binary
drivers from both AMD/ATI and nVidia installed and working, and
obviously, that the system is fully up-to-date. Then it's either
fiddling with xrandr or writing a custom /etc/X.11/xorg.conf file.

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