How to Set Up Dual Monitors on Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid
This guest post was written by Blair Mathis from LaptopLogic.com, where you can read about new laptop software and go through the latest laptop news.
It has been shown by more than one study that dual monitors can increase work productivity up to 30%, irregardless of the type of work. Why two monitors would increase productivity is not known, although one could easily guess that the extra monitor screen space gives one more room to spread out their applications and requires less time shuffling between screens (which would give one ample reason to continuously check their emails).
No matter the reason, adding an extra monitor has become a favorite of many. Whether you’re using two standalone monitors or a single monitor plus a laptop’s LCD, setting up a dual monitor system in Ubuntu has always been difficult. Luckily, with the latest release (Intrepid 8.10), setting up dual monitors is slightly easier.
If you want to get a second monitor running on your system, but you’re not sure how, read on to find out.
Step 1: Obtain a second monitor. For this article, I’m going to assume that you’re using a laptop with a second monitor plugged into the VGA port. The first step is to plug the monitor into the computer and turn it on. Once plugged in, it should be automatically recognized. Some systems, however, require you to press a button to activate it. For example, on a Dell laptop, you would press FN+F8.
Step 2: Once the laptop is plugged in and turned on, you will see a clone output of your main monitor–in this case, a clone of your laptop display. In this article, we will change this so that your monitors are two separate displays, where you can drag and move different applications and widgets.
When attempting this with my Dell laptop (14″) and a ViewSonic 17″, it worked flawlessly the first time.
Navigate to System > Preferences > Screen Resolution. You will see one monitor in the window, and it will say something like “laptop 14″ — this is your main monitor. To see both monitors, uncheck the button in the upper left hand corner of the screen that says “Mirror Screens”. Now, click the square that says “laptop 14″ and drag it away a little–you will see a second monitor under that one.
Click and drag the monitors so they are arrange the way you want them–for example, if you have a larger monitor mounted above the smaller monitor and you want the screen to extend from top to bottom, drag the smaller laptop square below the larger one.
Once finished, make sure resolution is set to the resolution of the monitors–for example, if they are both 1440 x 900 monitors, make sure it is set to that resolution. If the monitors are different resolutions, you will need it to the resolution of the smaller monitor. So, for example, if one monitor is 1440 x 900 and the other is full HD resolution, you will have to set it at 1440×900.
Now that they are arranged, click APPLY. A box will appear warning that the xorg.conf file will need to be changed–the virtual resolution has to be set. The system will do this for you, so press OK and wait for it to make the change.
Once the virtual resolution has been added, it will prompt you to log out for the changes to take effect. Log out, and then log back into the session. The monitors will flicker briefly, and then they will be aligned in whatever order you have them setup.
The only reason that it works so well is because it is on one card, not 2… that is where it starts to get challanging.
This is indeed what I noticed: I could only get the resolution to the resolution ofthe samllest screen wich is completely stupid and not useful (I have a small notebook for portability and a dockingstation with a big screen). Before this change in X11 for dynamic changes to the resultion, I could get it to work with some xorg.conf hacking (not much fun but it did work), now it just does not work.
I am more than a little disapointed in ubuntu 8.10 because for me it is worthless this way.
Does anybody know how to tweak x11 to get this dual monitor stuff working?
second display goes in no problem however it then moves all my panels over to the projector screen leaving my laptop as the secondary display with just the wallpaper on it
any suggestions??
There is no such word as “irregardless.”
Actually, “irregardless” is most certainly a word. No argument that it should not be, but is used in exchange with “regardless”.
Irregardless is the new aint
I have a Dell D620 laptop with Intel video. I have the same problem as noughtypixy. When I connect an external LCD panel it becomes the primary display with menus etc on it. If I then hibernate the laptop and work elsewhere it comes up with a wallpaper screen only (plus any apps that were running on it) - the menus are still sitting on the other display.
I do get different resolutions on the two screens as I hoped. I just had to select the resolution I wanted from the menu. It defaulted to the best one based on the connected monitor as it turned out.
I like these notes on dual screen setup on Ubuntu 8.10. Actually they work quite fine for one of my system - since I have dual 1600×1200 monitors. My system has dual-video intel G35/X3500 graphics on motherboard. I wish I knew where the configuration from System > Preferences > Screen Resolution is written, so I could tweak it. I have tried manually to configure /etc/X11/xorg.conf for dual screen with Xenorama, but gave up after many attempts.
still havent figured this out :(
still 9.04 is out in 2 days hopefully that will fix it :)
Now this is some real good piec of advice,thanks a lot it was quit helpful … keep it up and you have a nice blog by the way
The easy solution for the primary display problem is to drag the panels to the desired monitor :)
Hello, your post is very interesting
good and usefull information,
thank you and very good blog…
Very interesting post - Might be old new, but it was new to me. Thanks.
Well, it didn’t work for my 9.04 release, but they were the best written instructions I’ve seen so far! Pretty sure it’s the dual video card issue that’s causing it not to work. Thanks for the advice, though!
Just wanted to say thanks! I had my dual screen set up but somehow my primary screen was flipflopped and I couldn’t get it back! Was so frustrated!!! Your FN+F8 tip did the trick!!! Thanks!!!
Hi, this article helped me a lot as I have a dell laptop too. Thanks!