Is it possible to use dual head w/2 different resolutions

[eLiu]

I'm trying to setup dual head in REHL4...

I have a Radeon9600PRO with one DVI & 1 VGA output. The two monitors are primary: 2001FP (DVI), and secondary: 1905FP (VGA).

Anyway I can't get ATI's driver config (fglrxconfig) to make dual monitors work. The secondary monitor just displays "Cannot Display This Video Mode" so I assume the ATI config screwed up xorg.conf. I dont' know how, and I haven't been able to fix it.

So I dropped that crap completely & tried to use Xinerama. Well, Both monitors display stuff, but it won't let me use two different resolutions. So one or the other monitor has to look like sh!t. Right now the 1905FP is at "1600x1200"...i.e. it's displaying some amt of the desktop & not the rest...and it's fuzzy to the point of being hard to read.

This is so annoying, I've been messing with this config crap for hours & nothing works. I tried pulling stuff off google...nothing is successful.

I can really appreciate linux when I'm programming in C...but for general use, setting it up is such a PITA. I bet it's 99% me being an idiot, but still it's a killer.

Frustrated...please help,
-Eric

 

[Peter]

Use the free "radeon" driver included with XFree/XOrg. Xinerama in the current ATi releases is b0rked.

You can use arbitrary resolutions and refresh rates on any number of monitors, and then Xinerama-ize them together. Only the color depth must be the same on all monitors ... and you SHOULD use resolutions that give you the same physical pixel size, else things will grow smaller or bigger as you move them across monitors.

Now with the 2001FP both being flat panels with hard pixel sizes, and different ones to boot, there goes that last advice.

 

[eLiu]

Originally posted by: Peter
Use the free "radeon" driver included with XFree/XOrg. Xinerama in the current ATi releases is b0rked.

You can use arbitrary resolutions and refresh rates on any number of monitors, and then Xinerama-ize them together. Only the color depth must be the same on all monitors ... and you SHOULD use resolutions that give you the same physical pixel size, else things will grow smaller or bigger as you move them across monitors.

Now with the 2001FP both being flat panels with hard pixel sizes, and different ones to boot, there goes that last advice.

I think I tired using the line driver "radeon" already, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll try it this evening. In my past attempts, Xinerama would want to set both monitors to 1600x1200. Great for my 2001FP, but tragic for my 1905 b/c 1) it wasn't even displaying at 1280x1024 and 2) lots of desktop space was unviewable.

Setting 'clone mode' in ATI's config (i.e. two different desktops) has made things somewhat better...the 1905 is clearer but not as sharp as in Windows. Man, what a mess...

Programming in Linux = joy. Setting up Linux =

edit: oh and I don't mind stuff getting bigger as I move across monitors. Naturally it does that in Windows too & it hasnt really been an issue. I usually don't drag too often anyway--just put work stuff on the left, atech & such on the right.