Getting mad with Linux multihead. Could use some help

Software & Operating Systems Linux
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1

Hi guys,

i want to escape windows and i used linux a while but never with 3 screens ins multihead.

I got a HD5340 and the intel integrated graphics in my low-power working machine and i would really love to switch to windows. More PC Specs here. Thats my second Account (i don't know why i have two...)
After one day trying to set up a multihead on arch i have given up.
Atm all monitors get signals. The middle and the left are kinda working but the right (the intel one) looks like its pure X and nothing more. The middle and the left have kde, but i can't move the windows to the left. The just get into halfscreen.

Is there anyone who could help me out with this?

The xinit.config:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Alpha" 0 0
Screen 1 "Charlie" LeftOf "Alpha"
Screen 2 "Bravo" RightOf "Alpha"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ati2"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "intel"
Driver "intel"
BusID "PCI:00:02:00"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ati"
Driver "ati"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "AlphaMon"
Modeline "1680x1050_60.00" 146.25 1680 1784 1960 2240 1050 1053 1059 1089 -hsync +vsync
Option "PreferredMode" "1680x1050_60.00"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "CharlieMon"
Modeline "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync
Option "PreferredMode" "1920x1080_60.00"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "BravoMon"
Modeline "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync
Option "PreferredMode" "1920x1080_60.00"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Alpha"
Device "ati2" # e.g. Radeon, Intel, nvidia
Monitor "AlphaMon"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 3600 2130 # 1920 + 1680 (3600), 1080 + 1050 (2130)
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Bravo"
Device "ati" # e.g. Radeon, Intel, nvidia
Monitor "BravoMon"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 3600 2130 # 1920 + 1680 (3600), 1080 + 1050 (2130)
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Charlie"
Device "intel" # e.g. Radeon, Intel, nvidia
Monitor "CharlieMon"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 3600 2130 # 1920 + 1680 (3600), 1080 + 1050 (2130)
EndSubSection
EndSection

2

Try sudo pacman -S arandr, and then run arandr, setup the monitors as you want them. Then you should be able to move windows at least.

I've never been so unlucky to have to configure an xorg.conf, so I'm not too good at reading them. Your's seems fine to me, but I'd suggest trying to remove it temporarily (sudo mv /etc/xorg.conf{,.bak}, and sudo mv /etc/xorg.conf{.bak,} to restore ti). Restart X, and try setting up the screens with arandr.

3

Well, i have arandr but i wasn't able to configure it.
If i have no xorg.conf, alls screens are ok and i can arrange them in arandr after every startup (if i recall right) but when i try to do this persistend with the config, there are two possibilities: 1. the left and the middle kinda works (with huge bugs like moving windows from the middle to the left is impossible) or the right works fine. Never all together.

Oh i forgott to say: the intel and the amd drivers are loaded as modules in the kernel of course, so that should not be the problem.

I really love linux.. i really dislike windows but without this multihead i just can't switch.
I am also considering buying a new graphics card for my pc just to get rid of the problems. With one card, it would be possible i think.
But i am not that into multihead and graphic cards. Do you know if it is possible to do drive 3 screens with the Palit GeForce GTX 750 Ti KalmX?
Because it has just 2 DVI and one HDMI i don't think this is possible.

4

I don't recommend this, and don't really condone it either. But... I personally 'solved' the problem by saving the screenlayout through arandr, then in my ~/.xinitrc I've got source ~/.screenlayouts/layout.sh. It works...

I'm not very good with new tech, but I run HDMI, DVI, and DP of my AMD HD7770. Works for me.

5

Well, with one card that all would be no problem at all. But with two different cards..... Its a hell of a buggy mess. I will get one card that can handle all 3 screens. screw it. Anybody needs a HD5450? :P

Thanks for you help anyway!

6

just out of curiosity: what windowmanager / desktop environment are you using?

I also would prefer the randr way over the xorg way.
I solved my special setup (clone main monitor to TV and have additional monitor on the left) this way and wasn't able to do this with xorg or the nvidia tool.

I just dropped this in a startup script from my WM:


xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --primary --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output HDMI-0 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output DVI-D-0 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 1920x0 --rotate normal

logically this creates a 3840x1080 desktop that is treated differently, depending on your window manager.

1 Like
7

Ill ask the same question as @the193rd what DE are you using? Are you using the monitor config through the DE? IS there a reason you need to play around with xorg config files? And what drivers are you using? And what distro?

8

I am using plasma5/kde. Now it kinda works.. the panel is a bit buggy but its kinda ok...
Distro is arch. I gave up messing with the configs and confirgured all with xrandr.

9

If you still can't get them working you can always try Cinnamon. Kde is kind of hard to get working correctly, especially since Plasma 5 isn't the most stable DE right now. (customizing it just broke every thing in virtualbox for me 6 months back) I know Cinnamon works with 3 monitors without much setup needed on your part. It's less customizable but simple and works. The Arc theme dark, and Windows 10 theme are pretty good on it. (If your running gtk 3.20 Windows 10 won't work exactly correctly)

10

You lucky bastard.

11

Arch is not a good distro for first time switching your daily driver to linux.