Re: Are nVidia closed source drivers still needed for 2 years old chipset?

On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:16:49 -0800, Dean S. Messing wrote:

Amadeus W.M. wrote:
: Dean Messing wrote:
: > Does the open source driver have (the equivalent of) TwinView these
: > days? I need TwinView to make my laptop drive an external : >
projector/beamer.
: >
:
: I don't think so. But I couldn't get TwinView to work with the nvidia
: driver either. I do get to display, on my hdtv, but I can't clone the
: laptop monitor. I get a desktop stretching over both displays, half on
: the laptop, half on the tv.

I don't mess with GUI's much so if you are uncomforatble editing your
xorg.conf, just disregard the following.

Following is what I cobbled together for my laptop for doing just what
you want. (Normally one wants a clone, not an extension of one's
desktop when one is using a projector.)

I don't pretend to be an X config expert but the following does work
(for me). More comments after the code.


======= Begin "relevant section of laptop xorg.conf file" =======
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice
"Synaptics"
"CorePointer"
EndSection

<snip>

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
Option "AIGLX" "on"
EndSection

<snip>

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Seiko" # this is the 1920x1080 laptop panel
manuf.
HorizSync 30.0 - 75.0
VertRefresh 60.0 - 60.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "Quadro FX Go1400"
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
Option "BackingStore" "On"
Option "DPI" "100x100"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True" Option
"DisableGLXRootClipping" "True"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "DFP, CRT" Option
"metamodes" "DFP:
1920x1200; DFP: 1920x1200, CRT: 1024x768" Option
"TwinViewOrientation" "clone" SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1920x1200" "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection
======== End "relevant section of laptop xorg.conf file" ========

Here's how this is used:

I normally just run my laptop w/o a second monitor so I have never
booted with a second monitor hooked up. I say this because, based on
some traffic in another thread, if you do boot with the 2nd monitor
hooked up, then the "Fn-CRT/LCD" key may come into play (at least on a
laptop) and with the above setup it does not.

My laptap panel is a 1920x1200 LCD. When I need to make a presentation
I plug in the VGA cable from the projector and hit "Ctrl-Alt-Fn +"
(that's control-alt-Fn `+') to switch modes from the first metamode (DFP
alone) to the second one (DFP, CRT). "CRT" does _not_ mean you must
have a CRT hooked up (contrary to what Lonni Friedman seems to believe).
It is just the device on the other end of the VGA cable.

If you're using a regular keyboard (not a laptop kbd) then there's often
an explicit keypad with a + and - keys. In that case leave off the the
"Fn" (i.e. "function") part of the sequence above and use the keypad +
and -. The + atop the = will not work here. (See the "Modes" section of
the xorg.conf man page for more on this).

With the above recipe, I see the desktop at full resolution on my laptop
and the upper left 1024x768 rectangle of it on the beamer. To switch
back I use "Ctrl-Alt-Fn -"

If your external device is a modern multisync CRT or another FPD that
can be driven at 1920x1200, then I see no reason that the above (mutatis
mudandis) should not give you a clone of your entire desktop. Or you can
run your laptap at a lower-than-native resolution to match the output
device. That of course will result in a degraded laptop display due to
the resampling that must be done.

One more thing: my xorg.conf file came from running
livna-config-display to get the basic entries right. I then added the
TwinView stuff myself and dorked around till it worked. Of course I
also studied the (excellent) Nvidia driver documentation which you shd.
find by running

locate -i nvidia | grep -i readme

from the comline (assuming your "mlocate" database is up-to-date). On my
system this prints:

/usr/share/doc/xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-100.14.19/README.Fedora
/usr/share/doc/xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-100.14.19/README.txt

The first file is useful basic stuff. The 2nd file is where all the
action is. Spend some time reading it and you will be an expert. :-)

Dean

Thank you, indeed nice write-up. At a first glimpse, I noticed
"TwinViewOrientation" "clone" that your xorg.conf has and mine doesn't.
I do have TwinView 1.

The xorg.conf file I have I created with

nvidia-setup

It's pretty good, and I did get to display on the tv, just not clone.
Thanks for the tips.


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