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Ubuntu 7.10 Dual Monitor Setup

The Older Story

At the end of my travails that described configuring a mixed dual monitor setup under Ubuntu 6.06, one digital and the other analog I mentioned two pertinent thoughts. One was my intention to test the dual monitor configuration abilities of later Ubuntu versions, which I heard were easier. The other was an observation, quoted here: "... even known errors need not be deadly, however, easy to do mislabeling of port numbers are a killer.", which again proved to be true, albeit, on a very weird installation of Ubuntu 7.10.

Preparation

Before moving forward on the installation I did a bit of research. For example, I was aware of a HowToForge dual monitor setup article, which I read just prior to beginning my installation attempts [1.]. However, it gave me the impression that I had a chance of having a two monitor system during or shortly after installation. Here are other references I used to prepare myself for the installation, the full treatment on HowToForge and the post installation configuration details that contained more than I paid attention [2.]. I also printed out hard copy portions of my notes on what was needed to configure the dual monitor setup and the installation.

I thought I was ready to go, however, in many respects I began to think of this installation as the most difficult I encountered, since my first attempts using Mandrake 5.0 and then Red Hat 5.2 that were my first initiation to Linux. The fault lay, however, with my home directory being formatted as a logical partition that proved to be invisible to the installer. Moreover, even manual partitioning and formatting proved to be ineffective at reversing this error.

Multiple Monitor Friendly

Yes, I found this installation the most multiple monitor aware installation I had encountered [3.], however, it had two significant failures. The installation saw two monitors, but while getting one correctly, i.e. the smaller Samsung and its correct screen resolution, it thought the second monitor was also a Samsung with lessor resolution. The second monitor identity was completely wrong. The more significant error was numbering of the ports respectively one ("1") and two ("2") whereas they should have been zero ("0") and one ("1"), which I noted in a previous article was a near certainty failure [4.]. Somehow, the cited HowToForge article showed the proper zero and one ports, had I seen the same my dual monitor setup might have worked too.

After loading the mid range nVidia driver for my card, using sudo rights I saved the configuration file as the /etc/X11/xorg.conf as xorg.conf.single version and copied my working dual monitor configuration from the 6.06 installation. I rebooted and got a working dual monitor system that appeared an almost exact copy but showing the characteristics of the 7.10 installation. So one could reasonably think dual monitor configurations are much nearer to working upon installation than they were previously.

Final Thoughts

These are probably my last words on configuring dual monitors under Ubuntu 7.10. However, I am wiping out my previous installation and completely reformatting the disc to remove the current logical drive location of the home directory and changing it to a primary partition. I noticed other problems, e.g. the inability to successfully start a terminal window. Therefore, I distrust the contents on this drive so completely only wiping it clean will suffice.

If I encounter something astounding in the re-installation of Ubuntu 7.10 regarding dual monitors I might mention it. However, I expect the next time I mention the topic is when I have loaded the more recent desktop 8.04 LTS on my hda disc. If it just works; I think I will just shut up.

Corrections, suggested extension or comments write: How-To-Guy. If the mailto does not work, use this: hcohen[-At-]bst-softwaredevs.com.

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    1.  The installation was aborted multiple times due to an 
        inexplicable and unexpected formatting of the target drive.  
	As a result dual monitor configurations became a secondary 
	issue.  Return

    2.  I missed an important hint on getting dual monitors to work 
        being too focused on the post installation details.  The 
        suggestion advises using the Recovery mode boot and keys 
	to configure the monitors after the initial installation.  
	Return

    3.  But I have not experimented with any recent installations, 
        my last was Ubuntu 6.06 desktops and some server installs.  
	The latter server versions only temporarily shared a  
	single monitor with an adjacent desktop.  Return

    4.  If you look at the bottom of the article, I make the 
        point forcefully.  That is, the wrong port identifi-
	cations are a death knell.  I used the same quote 
	here in the opening paragraph here with a more wordy 
	form.  Return

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