Getting Dual Independent Heads to work on Debian(sid) on iBook
I am trying to enable dual independent heads on my iBook that has
Debian(sid) installed and XFree86 4.3.0.
The iBook has an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 (M7) installed. In order to
alleviate configuration issues I set the same mode up successfully on my
Dell laptop with RH9 installed that also has the same ATI video chip and
XFree86 4.3.0. I then just used the same basic changes I made to the
Dell/RH9 XF86Config file on the iBook/Debian system. When I did this the
iBook basically just cloned the display to the external CRT instead of
providing a second independent coordinate system on the external CRT
like I wanted. Here is my XF86Config-4 file on the iBook:
Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "GLcore"
Load "extmod"
# Load "fbdevhw"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
Load "dri"
Load "xtrap"
Load "speedo"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "DevInputMice"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "lcd"
VendorName "Generic"
ModelName "Flat Panel 1400x1050"
Option "dpms"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "external-21in"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Dell 1800FP (Analog)"
Option "dpms"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "radeon-lcd"
VendorName "ATI"
BoardName "ATI Radeon"
Driver "radeon"
Screen 0
# BusID "PCI:0:16:0"
# Option "UseFBDev"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "radeon-external"
VendorName "ATI"
BoardName "ATI Radeon"
Driver "radeon"
Screen 1
BusID "PCI:0:10:0"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "lcd-screen"
Device "radeon-lcd"
Monitor "lcd"
DefaultDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "external-21in-screen"
Device "radeon-external"
Monitor "external-21in"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
# Dual-head layout with a large monitor on the right of the LCD.
# Really this layout will work for any monitor that supports DDC
# queries. It may give you a higher resolution than you'd prefer
though.
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "default"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "DevInputMice" "SendCoreEvents"
Screen "lcd-screen"
Screen "external-21in-screen" LeftOf "lcd-screen"
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Group 0
Mode 0666
EndSection
The only odd behaviour I have noticed is around the BusID settings (in
the Device section) between the iBook and the Dell:
1. On the Dell system I set the BusID to the same value (as reported by
lspci or X --scanpci) in both Device sections and everything is ok.
2. On the iBook if I set both BusID's in both device sections to 0:10:0
then X won't startup even though this is the ID reported by lspci for
the ATI chip. If I just set the BusID in the device section associated
with the external CRT to 0:10:0 then X will start and the colors are ok
but there are scrolling lines in the lcd panel. Also, if I run glxinfo
then it reports information on just one screen even though I have
defined two of them.
3. If both are set to BusID 0:16:0 (or just the device section
associated with the external CRT) then X starts but both screens are
yellowish and there are scrolling lines in the lcd panel. Also, if I run
glxinfo then it reports information on two screens (as I expect).
>From previous mailing list responses around this issue and my test
results so far I have thought that further development work is required
on the radeon XFree86 4.3.0 drivers in order to properly enable this
dual-headed mode on the iBook and relieve some of the other odd issues
defined above.
Any help in pointing me in the right direction as far as changes
required etc. with the driver(s) would be appreciated.
-dean andreakis
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