[ltp] Re: Multi-headed desktop with ATI Radeon Mobility 7500

[Krishna Sethuraman]

>    4. Re: Multi-headed desktop with ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 (Jeff 
> Browning)
>    9. Re: Multi-headed desktop with ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 (Tod 
> Harter)

> Basically, I followed the approach Krishna laid out as closely as I
> could. However, there may be something I missed. Fundamentally, I
> currently have two XF86Config files, one called XF86Config.docked and
> one called XF86Config.undocked. I use a simple shell script to dock and
> undock. The two files were created with Sax2 at the time the computer
> was docked and undocked, respectively. Thus, Sax2 saw the internal
> screen when undocked, and the external screen when docked.

I didn't use it in a docking station; I just connected the external 
monitor to the R40's VGA port.  I'm wondering if the fact that it's 
docked (since it's through a big dedicated connector) tells the R40 to 
do something funky and reroute certain functions through the station in 
a hard manner (e.g., maybe if that connector is plugged in, it tells 
the laptop to turn off the lcd because it'll be folded shut and kept 
under the monitor stand, a la some Dell docking stations).

> I used Krishna's XF86Config file as a guide to try to combine these two
> XF86Config files into one, hopefully-working, Xinerama-enabled file.

I forgot that the radeon kernel driver may need to be loaded (comes 
default with 2.6.3 Debian kernel image).  I don't have access to that 
laptop now so I can't tell for sure.  But I know for sure I got it 
working with that XF86Config file.

> When I boot with this file as the XF86Config file, I get the usual "X
> server cannot start" message. /var/logs/messages says the following:

What's showing up in your /var/log/xdm.log or /var/log/kdm.log?

> Message: 9
> Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 13:10:53 -0400
> From: Tod Harter <tharter@giantelectronicbrain.com>
> Subject: Re: [ltp] Multi-headed desktop with ATI Radeon Mobility 7500
>
> believe you have to give them different names, like 'Radeon 1' and
> 'Radeon 2' so that each screen section can call out a different one. At

I think what he has is fine, but the 'identifiers' must be different, 
which they are.  In any case, I'd flag those entries in your XF86Config 
with a comment that that might be a gotcha.

> Its also worth noting that some ATI chips do support 'big desktop' as 
> an
> alternative to Xinerama. Its not as nice, but you can always try that 
> too!

What's this, and how do I get it to work on an R40?

Thanks,
Krishna