Tutorial for setting up a Linux machine with 3 monitors? [closed]

Solution 1:

I run a three monitor setup using xinerama and two Nvidia gfx cards. This works with X.org 1.9.4. Have a look at my xorg.conf:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier     "X.org Configured"
Option      "Clone"     "off"
Option      "Xinerama"  "on"
Screen      0  "Screen0"
Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
Screen      2  "Screen2" LeftOf "Screen0"
InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option      "DontZap"       "false"
EndSection

Section "Files"
ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/local"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load  "record"
Load  "extmod"
Load  "dbe"
Load  "dri2"
Load  "dri"
Load  "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier  "Keyboard0"
Driver      "kbd"
Option      "XkbLayout" "gb"
Option      "XkbOptions" "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp" 
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier  "Mouse0"
Driver      "mouse"
Option      "Protocol" "auto"
Option      "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option      "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier   "Monitor0"
VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName    "Monitor Model"
Option       "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier   "Monitor1"
VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName    "Monitor Model"
Option       "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier   "Monitor2"
VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName    "Monitor Model"
Option       "DPMS"
EndSection



Section "Device"
Identifier  "Card0"
Driver      "nvidia"
VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
BoardName   "G80 [GeForce 8800 GTS]"
BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
Option      "NoLogo"    "1"
Option      "RenderAccel"   "True"
Screen      0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier  "Card1"
Driver      "nvidia"
VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
BoardName   "G80 [GeForce 8800 GTS]"
BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
Option      "NoLogo"    "1"
Option      "RenderAccel"   "True"
Screen      1
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier  "Card2"
Driver      "nvidia"
VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
BoardName   "G92 [GeForce 8800 GTS 512]"
BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
Option      "NoLogo"    "1"
Option      "RenderAccel"   "True"
Screen      0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device     "Card0"
Monitor    "Monitor0"
Option     "Metamodes" "1680x1050"
SubSection "Display"
    Depth     24
    Modes     "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device     "Card1"
Monitor    "Monitor1"
Option     "Metamodes" "1680x1050"
SubSection "Display"
    Depth     24
    Modes     "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen2"
Device     "Card2"
Monitor    "Monitor2"
Option     "Metamodes" "1680x1050"
SubSection "Display"
    Depth     24
    Modes     "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Yes, I know Xinerama is old and all the cool kids should be using xrandr. Well, if anybody can show me an Xrandr config that works, I'd change in a heartbeat.

Another solution would be to use a hardware gizmo that multiplexes your monitors. Expensive, but would allow you to run SLI/xrandr/etc instead of Xinerama. Gizmos here