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3 monitors, 2 nvidia cards - how to setup without xinerama?

asked 2015-01-20 22:12:34 +0000

tenspd137 gravatar image

updated 2015-01-21 02:40:37 +0000

Hi all,

I have 3 monitors and 2 nvidia cards attached to my computer at work. I can obtain 3 separate X screens and run 3 separate sessions of i3 using the DISPLAY=$DISPLAY i3 & trick, but I would like to have it so I am only running one session of i3 that sees all the monitors and still treats them independently. So far, I I have only been able to achieve this by turning on Xinerama and using the --force-xinerama option, but that isn't a solution because it kills 3d acceleration. I am also stuck using the prop. drivers because nouveau doesn't have support for OpenCL, which I also use. Following are my .xinitrc, xorg.conf, and xrandr output. Would someone be willing to take a look and help me figure out if you can do this? I thought you would be able to by RANDR 1.4. I have been using i3 on my laptop and think it is fantastic, I would really like to use it at work as well. Thanks!

.xinitrc

xscreensaver -nosplash &
udiskie &
CURRENT_DISPLAY=(`echo $DISPLAY | tr '.' ' '`)
( xcompmgr -CcFf &>/dev/null ) &
( xcompmgr -CcFf -d ${CURRENT_DISPLAY}.1 &>/dev/null ) &
( xcompmgr -CcFf -d ${CURRENT_DISPLAY}.2 &>/dev/null ) &
#exec i3 -V >> i3.log 2>&1
DISPLAY=:0.0 i3 &
DISPLAY=:0.1 i3 &
DISPLAY=:0.2 i3

xorg.conf

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 1920 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" LeftOf "Screen0"
    Screen      2  "Screen2" RightOf "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "HP ZR30w"
    HorizSync       49.3 - 98.7
    VertRefresh     59.9 - 60.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "HP LP2465"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 94.0
    VertRefresh     48.0 - 85.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor2"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "hp L2335"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 94.0
    VertRefresh     48.0 - 85.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "Quadro 2000"
    BusID          "PCI:5:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "Quadro FX 1700"
    BusID          "PCI:4:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device2"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "Quadro FX 1700"
    BusID          "PCI:4:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-4"
    Option         "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "Device1"
    Monitor        "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DVI-I-2: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth ...
(more)
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Comments

I think a bit more information is needed: Which distribution and version thereof are you using? Nvidia driver version? i3 version? Also, have you tried to start X without an `xorg.conf` (that includes any files below `/etc/xorg.conf.d`)?

Adaephon gravatar imageAdaephon ( 2015-01-21 06:42:09 +0000 )edit

Sorry - I keep forgetting not everyone uses the same version of stuff as me. Running Gentoo (rolling), Nvidia Drivers 346.22, i3 4.8. And, that is a good idea - I have had the xorg configs so long, it never occured I might not need them or could pare them back. I'll try that and write back..

tenspd137 gravatar imagetenspd137 ( 2015-01-21 16:19:22 +0000 )edit

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answered 2015-02-13 22:21:58 +0000

I have similar situation.... 4 monitors with 2 nvidia cards. Appears that by default an X screen can only use displays on the same card.

Xinerama would work - but be in conflict with xrandr

you can also enable base mosaic mode in the nvidia driver. Run nvidia-settings - and select advanced button - this makes "Enable Base Mosaic" available in the X server Display Config

enable that and set all displays to be on X screen 0

Appears to be working well - no crashing - can move windows between all monitors /workspaces

OS: Centos7 - Nvidia driver ver: 346.35 - i3 ver: 4.6

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I don't have the points to upvote, but "Enable Basic Mosaic" did the trick for me.

freb gravatar imagefreb ( 2015-08-03 22:42:16 +0000 )edit

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Asked: 2015-01-20 22:12:34 +0000

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Last updated: Feb 13