Triple-head works in GDM, but not in Gnome

0

I've got three displays connected via DVI on two different ATI cards on Arch Linux using the xf86-video-ati driver.

All three are currently serving output, but one of my displays (the one on the second card) falls back to a grey screen and a black "x" cursor after logging in to GDM.

Worth noting is that the display functions on the GDM login screen, rendering the background of the login screen (but not the login box, as the other two displays do).

How can get a working desktop with all three displays?

I'm using GDM and Gnome3, with the following xorg.conf:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
    Screen      2  "Screen2" RightOf "Screen1"
    Screen      3  "Screen3" RightOf "Screen2"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load  "glx"
EndSection

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

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Mouse0"
    Driver      "mouse"
    Option      "Protocol" "auto"
    Option      "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option      "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor1"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor2"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor3"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
        ### <percent>: "<f>%"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "NoAccel"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SWcursor"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "EnablePageFlip"        # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ColorTiling"           # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ColorTiling2D"         # [<bool>]
        #Option     "RenderAccel"           # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SubPixelOrder"         # [<str>]
        #Option     "AccelMethod"           # <str>
        #Option     "EXAVSync"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "EXAPixmaps"            # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ZaphodHeads"           # <str>
        #Option     "EnablePageFlip"        # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SwapbuffersWait"       # [<bool>]
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:3:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
        ### <percent>: "<f>%"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "NoAccel"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SWcursor"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "EnablePageFlip"        # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ColorTiling"           # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ColorTiling2D"         # [<bool>]
        #Option     "RenderAccel"           # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SubPixelOrder"         # [<str>]
        #Option     "AccelMethod"           # <str>
        #Option     "EXAVSync"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "EXAPixmaps"            # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ZaphodHeads"           # <str>
        #Option     "EnablePageFlip"        # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SwapbuffersWait"       # [<bool>]
    Identifier  "Card1"
    Driver      "radeon"
    BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
        ### <percent>: "<f>%"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "ShadowFB"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "DefaultRefresh"        # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ModeSetClearScreen"    # [<bool>]
    Identifier  "Card2"
    Driver      "vesa"
    BusID       "PCI:3:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
        ### <percent>: "<f>%"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "ShadowFB"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "DefaultRefresh"        # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ModeSetClearScreen"    # [<bool>]
    Identifier  "Card3"
    Driver      "vesa"
    BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device     "Card0"
    Monitor    "Monitor0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     1
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen1"
    Device     "Card1"
    Monitor    "Monitor1"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     1
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen2"
    Device     "Card2"
    Monitor    "Monitor2"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     1
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen3"
    Device     "Card3"
    Monitor    "Monitor3"
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     1
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Eric Martindale

Posted 2013-02-05T07:07:40.200

Reputation: 245

Answers

1

I tried to do dualhead on my machine using a single ATI graphics card. I noticed that the virtual screen size was too small to accomodate both monitors.

In the end I only had to increase its size to be able to set both monitors right within Gnome3's screen management application.

Section "Screen"
        ...
        SubSection "Display"
                Virtual 4200 2800
        EndSubSection
EndSection

I also tried adding all screens as separate ones in Xorg.conf, but ended up being unable to drag windows across screen borders etc. so I didn't persue that method any further.

Nils Werner

Posted 2013-02-05T07:07:40.200

Reputation: 290

Yeah, I've come to a similar conclusion and simply moved the second card over to a second machine and used synergy to transmit input / bind screens. Unfortunately, this means I can't swing a window over to the third monitor, but I wonder if some magic with X can be used to remedy this... – Eric Martindale – 2013-03-05T00:27:17.343

Asked: 2013-02-05T07:07:40.200

Viewed: 351 times

Active: 2013-03-04T12:09:15.567