Nvidia - two monitors, separate X screens

My current install is CentOS 6 primarily because of my dual monitor setup. it worked in Ubuntu 9.10 but not in 10.04 LTS so I moved to CentOS. In a nutshell I have two monitors configured in the Nvidia configuration tool as X Screen 0 (left monitor) and X Screen 1 (right monitor). Each monitor has its own panels with the main Gnome menus and different collections of launchers. Sort of like having two computers.

I have tried installing Linux Mint 15.10 but it will not work. I don’t recall the exact errors but please bear with me. I tried Linux Mint Mate 17.2. This sort of worked. I ended up with a panel on each monitor. They appear to be independent but it has been a while since I tweaked Mint panels so this option needs more testing. Mint Cinnamon crashed after making the X Screen change and restarting X.

As Mint 17.2 is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS I tried installing Ubuntu Mate 14.04. After changing the X Screen configuration and restarting X (reboot actually) I found that the default menus, launchers and notification icons were duplicated on the left screen panels. One launcher which I had manually created before the changes was NOT duplicated. I do not recall if I had panels on the right monitor - I have tested so many things today I can’t see straight.

However, I found that the system was not responsive to the mouse or keyboard. I could move the mouse pointer but it would not activate anything which I clicked on.

Does anyone have any experience tweaking dual monitor setups? Help!

TIA,

Ken

Hi Ken,

take a look here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NvidiaMultiMonitors

Hope it helps. :smiley:

Thanks wolfman,

I am familiar with the process. It is quite straight forward and simple. It just does not work :disappointed: Here is my latest status:

Ubuntu Mate 14.04 - The icons on the panels are duplicated and I loose all keyboard and mouse control.

Mint Mate 17.2 - Again I have duplicate icons but by deleting and recreating the panel I can resolve that situation. I have created two separate sets of panels (top with menu and launchers) and bottom with buttons for open applications, desktop switcher etc. So far, so good. However, I cannot change the desktop to a solid color nor can I change the background theme.

CentOS 7 (the Nvidia package requires a newer kernel than the repo tells me is current).

CentOS 6 - This configuration has been working fine for 5 years +

Ken

Hi Ken,

how did you create your boot media?, if you used a USB stick, did you fully format it before creating your bootable stick?. If you used a DVD, did you burn it at the slowest possible speed?.

If you didn’t do either of the above, it could have caused read/write errors on the installation media and that might be the problem you are having with double entries in your panel etc?.

Thanks again wolfman,

The double icons did not appear until AFTER the display was set to separate X Sessions. The same thing happened with CentOS 6 when I first installed it several years ago. According to my build notes the double icons disappeared after a couple of reboots. This did not work with The Ubuntu Mate nor Mint Mate installs.

Ken

Hi Ken,

it is possible that you somehow have a “broken install”, try running the following terminal (Ctrl + Alt + t) command and restart if anything updates:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -f

the second part of the command forces the package installer to force an install of any failed package installation by making sure that all dependency requirements are met!.

Hope it helps!. :smiley:

It is broken alright :disappointed: I have found the CentOS driver issue - i will try the older driver until the kernel catches up with the one which is available. Then I will do a total reinstall of Ubuntu Mate. I found that in Mint Mate if I delete and recreate the panes the dopplegangers go away. I will blow away the Ubuntu Mate default panels, create new ones and THEN switch to separate X sessions. I will post back what I find.

Ken

Experiencing the exact same issue as OP.

Ubuntu MATE 15.04, latest updates.

Nvidia with primary on HDMI, secondary on DVI as seperate X screen (X Screen 0, X Screen 1).

Panel icons duplicating + no mouse control of desktop.

Upgrade to 15.10 and see if that helps!: