[ltp] Dual-head non-scrolling viewport

[Alex Deucher]

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 22:42:32 -0800, John Locke <mail@freelock.com> wrote:
> Alex Deucher wrote:
> 
> >>1. The external LCD has a couple of slightly fuzzy bands. I've seen this
> >>before when I've set the monitor on another computer to Mandrake's
> >>settings for a generic monitor, and they went away when I selected a
> >>generic flat panel monitor. It's a Samsung 15" Syncmaster 570S. I have
> >>no idea what the difference is between the "Generic" monitor and "Flat
> >>Panel"--is this a different Modeline added to the file? Mandrake's
> >>wizards don't help configure a second monitor...
> >>
> >
> >Try changing the hsync and vrefresh (crt2hync and crt2vrefresh if
> >using mergedfb) settings for your external monitor.  Many LCDs support
> >70Hz refresh rates, but look MUCH better at 60Hz.
> >
> >
> >
> Wow. That did it. I set these two lines:
>    Option "CRT2HSync" "48.61"
>     Option "CRT2VRefresh" "60"
> 
>  ... and it looks SO much better. Got the Hsync line from this script,
> after giving it the resolution and refresh rate:
> 
> http://xtiming.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/xtiming.pl
> 
> Although now my 1400x1050 mode doesn't show up in krandr as an
> option--before, it would give me that resolution on the laptop screen
> and blank the external monitor.

hmmm... it should.  can you post you config and log somewhere?

> 
> Now I don't see a way of disabling the external monitor without stopping
> X. Is there something I can add to do that?

If you set metamodes for both dualhead and clone configs you should be
able to switch using xrandr.


> 
> >>2. KDE loads the task bar on the external monitor, not the laptop
> >>screen. Is there a way I can force the task bar to the laptop instead?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >try:
> >Option "MergedXineramaCRT2IsScreen0" "true"
> >see the radeon man page for more.  However, you may be able to switch
> >it within KDE (in GNOME, you can just drag it to whichever head you
> >want).
> >
> >
> >
> Huh. Whaddya know? I didn't think of dragging it, but it worked! Very
> cool. And it came back where I left it, when I logged back in!
> 
> >
> >
> >>3. Here's the tricky one. I'm finding it extremely annoying to have the
> >>viewport on the external monitor scroll. I've found I can use the krandr
> >>applet to change both screens to have the same height, at 1024x768. Is
> >>it possible to set up my system so that I can have two screens at
> >>different resolutions, without one of them scrolling? I'm thinking this
> >>isn't possible with MergedFB--can I do it with two separate screens,
> >>using Xinerama? If I don't use Xinerama, can I set it up so that I can
> >>still move the mouse between screens and get the keyboard to work on
> >>both screens? If somebody could point me to a good how-to on how to set
> >>this up, that would be great!
> >>
> >>
> >
> >It's not really possible with mergedfb.  There are some patch floating
> >around that lock the viewport at a particular offset, however, hte
> >mouse and potentially windows can still end up in the offscreen areas.
> > What you want to do is definitely possible with regular dualhead and
> >xinerama.
> >
> >
> Okay. That's what I thought about MergedFB. I guess I'll do some
> experimenting with multiple screens then--have not yet tried that route,
> I'm still an X newbie...
> 
> So somebody mentioned the possibility of choosing a different conf file
> at startup. How do you do this? Does this only work if you use startx,
> instead of having a display manager that starts X automatically at startup?
> 

Usually startx.  I'm not too familiar with the display manager start
up scripts.  you may be able to ajdust the X invocation stuff from
their configs.  mergedfb will start single head or dualhead depending
on whether it detects a monitor on the crt port.

Alex


> Thanks for all your help!
> 
> Cheers,
> --
> John Locke
> "Open Source Solutions for Small Business Problems"
> published by Charles River Media, June 2004
> http://www.freelock.com
>