ubuntu- multiple screens?

[lockmac]

Hi. I have 2 screens. Is their a way in Ubuntu 7.10 to have multiple desktops like in Windows so that the screens are sort of made into one and you can move the mouse from one desktop to the other?

At the moment both screens are just displaying the same thing.

Thanks guys

 

[Peter]

There, not their. Thanks.

What you want isn't "multiple desktops", it's one desktop spanning multiple monitors. And yes, X (the graphics system in Linux) has been supporting that for ages. The system approach (on top of hardware drivers, like Windows does it) is called "Xinerama". Certain graphics cards drivers support spanning on the hardware driver level - and for that, there are vendor specific methods of enabling it.

You may have graphical tools to configure things, or if all else fails, you'll have to edit the X configuration file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf or somesuch) to have multiple Monitor, Device and Screen sections.

 

[Alienwho]

It's still a pain most of the time to get it to work exactly the way you want. Good luck.

 

[Nothinman]

Since I'm using the binary nVidia drivers I just turned on TwinView and it "just worked". The docs make it seem a little overwhelming at first but the defaults worked fine for me.

 

[MrColin]

If you have an ATI card you need to install the latest binary driver from them (install it per the instructions at the unofficial wiki) then in a terminal enter these commands:

sudo aticonfig --dtop=horizontal

press ctrl+alt+backspace

log back in and go to the screen resolution gui under preferences and choose the really wide one

In the latest versions the bundled display manager application (it comes with the drivers) wont crash X like it used to you can also set "Big Desktop" and reboot. You may still need to set your desktop resolution after rebooting.

 

[Net]

all the linux desktops have dual monitors at my school. its possible. can't tell you how to do it though.

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: MrColin
If you have an ATI card you need to install the latest binary driver from them (install it per the instructions at the unofficial wiki) then in a terminal enter these commands:

sudo aticonfig --dtop=horizontal

press ctrl+alt+backspace

log back in and go to the screen resolution gui under preferences and choose the really wide one

In the latest versions the bundled display manager application (it comes with the drivers) wont crash X like it used to you can also set "Big Desktop" and reboot. You may still need to set your desktop resolution after rebooting.

how do you install the binary for nvidia