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Howto: Dual Monitors with Ubuntu and NVidia

Pursuant to my previous post on using dual monitors in Linux, I decided to post a some information that would have definitely appreciated having a long time ago. This specifically covers how get two monitors working in a reasonable fashion in Ubuntu and Xubuntu, but I originally figured it out in Gentoo (and it applies to other distros).

1. Make sure that you’re using the proprietary nvidia driver and that you have nvidia settings installed:

   sudo apt-get install nvidia-settings

2. Open up nvidia-settings (under System -> Administration in Ubuntu and System in Xubuntu).
3. Under “X Server Display Configuration”, you need to set each monitor to have the correct resolution. Also specify the layout you want, and change the configuration to TwinView. Finally, set the position of both to “Absolute”.
4. Now hit “Save to X Configuration File”. Save this to your home directory (i.e. change the path to ~/xorg.conf).
5. (Optional.) If you want to get rid of the NVidia splash screen every time X restarts, open the xorg.conf file in the editor of your choice and make sure that the line

   Option   "NoLogo" "True"

   appears under each “Device” section.

6. Move the file to the proper directory (you need root access):

   sudo mv ~/xorg.conf /etc/X11/

7. Restart the X server. The easiest way to do this is to log out and log back in.
8. Now the Xinerama info should be getting sent properly. In Ubuntu you can tell that this is the case if you are able to place your panel on just one screen instead of both of them (drag it around a bit). Unfortunately, Gnome doesn’t let you set separate desktop backgrounds, so if you want something different on each screen you’ll need to make an image the width of both screens added together and paste the two pictures in (you can do this easily in the Gimp). In Xubuntu, when you open up the properties for your panel, you’ll be able to choose the monitor on which it should appear. Additionally, Xfce allows you to set separate desktop backgrounds.

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