Multi-display all screwy...

[David Hunter]

Hi,

david@geophys-mint ~ $ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82540EP Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Mobile) (rev 03)
02:02.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter (rev 04)

Contents of xorg.conf (the entire file):

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Configured Screen Device"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 768
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Mint 8, GNOME.

I have just connected an old TFT monitor to my laptop (via VGA cable) and found a few problems:

1. See attached screenshot. This happens intermittently, only when having the two screens not mirrored. As you can see, there's no other way of describing this except for "it's screwy". (2nd screenshot shows the system when mirrored for reference).
2. Also seen on the screenshot, panel only stays on the laptop's monitor - it doesn't stretch across onto the other monitor.
3. At boot, if screens aren't mirrored, LM freezes after entering login password (but before display of panels, etc.). (must hard power off to stop this)... When mirrored, everything's fine.
4. #3 occurs on the Live CD as well.

I don't think I've ever had to install graphics drivers as it's all worked peachy without any modifications, and I don't really know how to install graphics drivers either...

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[David Hunter]

Did some googling, and changed my xorg.conf file as follows:

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Configured Screen Device"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 768
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "radeon"
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
Option "MergedFB" "on"
Option "EnablePageFlip" "on"
Option "RenderAccel" "enable"
EndSection

(a handy guide can be found at http://linux.die.net/man/4/radeon)

This has fixed issue 1 for the external monitor only - so a step in the right direction. Issue still occurs on laptop monitor. Anyone know if there's a way of specifying these settings to this monitor specifically?

(To be honest, I'm stumbling around in the dark experimenting to see what works, as frankly I have no clue what most of this means... lol).

Thanks.

Revised screenshot attached.

[David Hunter]

Just found something interesting.
Rather than having the external monitor on the right of the laptop (in Display Preferences), I put it on the left of the laptop, making the laptop the right screen.

This time, the laptop, on the right, worked fine, and the external monitor - now on the left - had the issue.

Interesting...

[David Hunter]

<bump>
Any ideas?
Pretty please? lol

[Koninator]

I have Intel graphic card and i don't remember ever seeing anting like that.
So there must be driver problem, Try to download new open ATI drivers.
Ati drivers for Linux are bad.
Try to set same screen resolutions and refresh rates on bolth screens.

[David Hunter]

Nah that didn't help.
Doesn't really matter though anymore as I've put the laptop up on a shelf above my desk, so now I just use the TFT... no dramas.

Thanks anyway.