2 X sessions on a Inspirion laptop in Linux?

Hi,

Can Linux run 2 independent X sessions on my laptop. Its a Dell Inspiron
8600 with NVidia GForce Go 5200

I would want one on the internal LCD, and one on the VGA port. Obviously I
would only expect the keyboard and mouse to work with one of them! (for now)

Ive played with the XF86Config.org file, but I cannot get the external VGA
port to do anything.

The port is fine, as it works when I use the keyboard shortcut to swap from
LCD - external CRT, and twinview works under Windows XP.

I do NOT want twinview - i want 2 seperate x servers one on each screen.

Are there any up to date howto's showing how to do this? im running Mandrake
10.1 with all patches.

Ive tried duplicating all the entries in my xf86Config file (see below) for
the second 'card' (with Option "Screen" "2" in the second driver)

Ive also tried starting X with the second screen only, and it just bombs.

Anyone done this?

thanks

g





# File generated by XFdrake.

# ************************************************** ********************
# Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# ************************************************** ********************

Section "Files"
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent
of
# the X server to render fonts.
FontPath "unix/:-1"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
#DontZap # disable CrtlAltBS (server abort)
#DontZoom # disable CrtlAltKP_+/KP_- (resolution switching)
AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse
doesn't work
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx" # 3D layer
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
Option "XkbOptions" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor0"
VendorName "Dell"
ModelName "Flat Panel 1680x1050"
HorizSync 31.5-100
VertRefresh 30-90
Option "FlatPanelProperties" "Scaling = aspect-scaled"

Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
Modeline "1680x1050" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096
Modeline "1680x1050" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103
Modeline "1680x1050" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "LG"
ModelName "Flat Panel 1280x1024"
HorizSync 31.5-100
VertRefresh 30-90
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "device0"
VendorName "nVidia"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "DPMS"
Option "UseEdidFreqs" "yes"
# Option "FlatPanelProperties" "Scaling = ascpect-scaled"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "nVidia"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "DPMS"
Option "UseEdidFreqs" "yes"
Option "Screen" "2"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen0"
Device "device0"
Monitor "monitor0"
DefaultColorDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1680 1050
EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1280 1024
EndSubsection
EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "layout0"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
Screen "screen0"
EndSection

Turns out what I was doing wrong was not specifying the busid in the driver
sections of the x conf file.

I assumed that since it was working on 1 screen, it was aware of where on
the bus the graphics card sits... seems that was a silly assumption

The error it gave was

"more than one matching device section found"

for the benefit of google groups!

cheers

g

Here is a working conf file, for Mandrake 10.1 with a Dell 8600 Inspiron
laptop.




# File generated by XFdrake.

# ************************************************** ********************
# Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# ************************************************** ********************

Section "Files"
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent
of
# the X server to render fonts.
FontPath "unix/:-1"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
#DontZap # disable CrtlAltBS (server abort)
#DontZoom # disable CrtlAltKP_+/KP_- (resolution switching)
AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse
doesn't work
# Option "Xinerama" "true"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx" # 3D layer
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
Option "XkbOptions" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor0"
VendorName "Dell"
ModelName "Flat Panel 1680x1050"
HorizSync 31.5-100
VertRefresh 30-90
Option "FlatPanelProperties" "Scaling = aspect-scaled"

Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
Modeline "1680x1050" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096
Modeline "1680x1050" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103
Modeline "1680x1050" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "LG"
ModelName "Flat Panel 1280x1024"
HorizSync 31.5-100
VertRefresh 60
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "device0"
VendorName "nVidia"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "DPMS"
Option "UseEdidFreqs" "yes"
Screen 0
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "nVidia"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "DPMS"
Option "UseEdidFreqs" "yes"
Screen 1
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen0"
Device "device0"
Monitor "monitor0"
DefaultColorDepth 24
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP"
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1680 1050
EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 24
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT"
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1280 1024
EndSubsection
EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "layout0"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
Screen 0 "screen0" 0 0
Screen 1 "screen1" RightOf "screen0"
EndSection