From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: floyd@barrow.com (Floyd L. Davidson) Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: dual head video system Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 04:01:59 -0900 Organization: __________ Message-ID: <87vfbnpk1k.fld@barrow.com> References: <87pt2ej98v.fsf@node1.ddorf.de> <87zn1g2t5j.fld@barrow.com> <876540gxzw.fld@barrow.com> <87653u4x4t.fld@barrow.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: deer.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1101819943 3276 80.91.229.6 (30 Nov 2004 13:05:43 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:05:43 +0000 (UTC) Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Tue Nov 30 14:05:38 2004 Return-path: Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by deer.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 1CZ7hK-0005Su-00 for ; Tue, 30 Nov 2004 14:05:38 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.33) id 1CZ7ql-0000fn-N1 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 30 Nov 2004 08:15:23 -0500 Original-Path: shelby.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news-feed01.roc.ny.frontiernet.net!nntp.frontiernet.net!newshosting.com!nx01.iad01.newshosting.com!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!falcon.america.net!eagle.america.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help User-Agent: gnus 5.10.6/XEmacs 21.4.15/Linux 2.6.5 Cancel-Lock: sha1:EGmjjc50JiZKXFlx0boAGYciKaY= Original-Lines: 58 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.124.156.185 Original-X-Trace: eagle.america.net 1101819862 209.124.156.185 (Tue, 30 Nov 2004 08:04:22 EST) Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 08:04:22 EST Original-Xref: shelby.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:127040 Original-To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:22443 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help:22443 ken wrote: >Floyd L. Davidson wrote: > >>(For anyone that hasn't tried it, using a dual head video system >>under X is just astounding!) >> >> >That tasty morsel has had me salivating for a long time. How do >you do it? Is there a webpage or two which is/are particularly >helpful? Start by using google to find this Message-ID 87isb4afo3.fld@barrow.com, which is a description of XFree86 configuration that was posted to comp.os.linux.x last August. Then search the web and Usenet archives for "xinerama" and you'll find more about the mechanism. If you have one particular video card in mind, add a keyword for that too. Basically it requires either two video cards or a video card that supports dual monitors. Neither the cards nor the monitors need to be identical. A number of inexpensive video cards support dual monitors, so it does not require high end hardware. I fired up one box using an old PII-300mHz and two old video cards with 4K of RAM each, plus two 15" 1024x768 monitors that I picked up at a local "surplus sale" for $10 each. It is a Point-Of-Sale system now... In fact, that project was what got me to try it, as I bought the old PII box with a 17" monitor for peanuts just for the POS system. But when I saw xinerama in operation, that 17" monitor was quickly relocated to my work position, as the existing workstation already had a G400 Matrox video card. But what it does is what you really want to know about... :-) The two monitors can be totally separate, or they can be combined as if they are one big screen. They can also be at different resolutions, though that gets strange if they are combined. With a combined screen, the second monitor's screen can be positioned anywhere relative to the first. They can be stacked vertically or horizontally, with position 0,0 being either the top, bottom, right or left monitor. The only limitations that I discovered were having to use builtin VESA modelines as I could not get mine to work with a custom screen resolution, plus if your X server is configured to switch between screen resolutions, only the first screen can be switched. One external problem is that so far not many programs are xinerama aware, so such things as popup windows from your web browser might just land smack in the middle of the extended screen... half on one monitor and half on the other. That's a bummer, but not hard to ignore. Eventually we can expect all programs to check for dual monitors and adjust appropriately. -- Floyd L. Davidson Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@barrow.com