64 bit SuSE 11.1 fglrx ATI Radeon 4850x2 tri-head setup, possible?

[ryansturmer]

I know that trying to get more than 2 monitors, or more than 1 monitor on more than one card is a common question around these parts, but I've been futzing with this thing off and on for a month, and this seems like the best place to ask.

I've got the setup described in the title of this post, 64-bit SuSE, 2 ATI Radeon 4850s with the proprietary drivers. I've been working for awhile with 3 separate screens (all under fglrx) but no shared desktop. Acceleration worked great, no issues. I want to switch to Xinerama, 1 big desktop spanning 3 screens (I've got 2 plugged into one card and 1 into the other) Try as I might, I can't make all 3 monitors active. I can only ever have one card at a time active. (So I get my 2 outside monitors, or the one in the middle) I've read that this *should* be possible, but I've stripped about everything I can out of xorg.conf and I'm at my wits end. I'll post it here, and maybe some one can help.

Section "ServerFlags"
	Option	    "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
#	Option	    "ZapWarning" "on"
	Option	    "Xinerama" "true"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Layout[all]"
	Screen   "screen_right"
	Screen   "screen_center" RightOf "screen_right" 
	Screen   "screen_left" RightOf "screen_center"
	#Screen   "screen_center"
	#Screen   "screen_unused"

	#"screen_left" "screen_right" "screen_unused"
	#Screen      0  "screen_center"
	#Screen      1   "screen_left" LeftOf "screen_center"
	#Screen         "screen_right" RightOf "screen_center"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice    "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
	#InputDevice    "Mouse[3]" "SendCoreEvents"
	Option	    "Clone" "off"
	Option "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "card_0_0"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
	Screen	    0
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "card_0_1"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
	Screen      1
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "card_1_0"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
	Screen	    0
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "card_1_1"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
	Screen      1
EndSection



Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "monitor_left"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "monitor_right"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "monitor_center"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "monitor_unused"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection


Section "Screen"
	Identifier "screen_left"
	Device     "card_0_0"
	Monitor    "monitor_left"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "screen_right"
	Device     "card_0_1"
	Monitor    "monitor_right"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "screen_center"
	Device     "card_1_0"
	Monitor    "monitor_center"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "screen_unused"
	Device     "card_1_1"
	Monitor    "monitor_unused"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection


Section "Module"
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "freetype"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard[0]"
	Driver      "kbd"
	Option	    "Protocol" "Standard"
	Option	    "XkbLayout" "us"
	Option	    "XkbModel" "microsoftpro"
	Option	    "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse[1]"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Buttons" "7"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
	Option	    "Name" "Cirque GlidePoint"
	Option	    "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
	Option	    "Vendor" "Sysp"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse[0]"
	Driver      "evdev"
	Option	    "HWHEELRelativeAxisButtons" "7 6"
	Option	    "InputFashion" "Mouse"
	Option	    "Name" "Logitech VX Nano Laser Mouse"
	Option	    "Pass" "3"
	Option	    "Vendor" "Sysp"
	Option	    "evBits" "+1-2"
	Option	    "keyBits" "~272-287"
	Option	    "relBits" "~0-2 ~6 ~8"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
	Identifier     "Modes[0]"
	ModeLine     "1680x1050" 146.0 1680 1784 1960 2240 1050 1053 1059 1089
EndSection

Section "DRI"
	Group        "video"
	Mode         0660
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
Option "RENDER" "Enable"
EndSection

Thanks, guys and gals.

-R

[bridgman]

Take a look at what Matthew recommended in another post :

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?p=66789

I'm not sure whether aticonfig needs to start with an "as installed" amdpcsdb or whether it will back out any other incompatible changes you might have made, so I guess try it first with your current installation and if that doesn't work either delete amdpcsdb or try an inunstall/reinstall followed immediately by aticonfig.

[ryansturmer]

I looked at that, but my aticonfig doesn't accept the --adapters=all switch. Am I running an outdated version?

[ryansturmer]

Hah, durf! It's --adapter=all not --adapters=all

It produced a file that's more or less equivalent to the one I have now. I launch it, and it's the same issue, only one adapter is ever active. I've got it configured as a dual-head now, and it's working fine, but I still wish I could get my third monitor active :/

Here's the xorg.conf it produced, for the record...

# generic XFree86 4.x configuration file
# Screen Section for module X support
# -------------------------------------
# Screen Section for fbdev support
# vesafb defaults to 16bit
# others default to 8bit, force a higher colordepth
# on Apple onboard controllers, remove the default #207338
# changes for DefaultDepth have to be made in /usr/lib/YaST2/startup/YaST2.call as well
# ----------------------------------
# Screen Section for vesa support
# ----------------------------------
# Screen Section for vmware support
# ----------------------------------
# Device Sections...
# -------------------

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Layout[all]"
	Screen      0  "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
	Screen         "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1" RightOf "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
	Screen         "aticonfig-Screen[1]-0" RightOf "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1"
	Screen         "aticonfig-Screen[1]-1" RightOf "aticonfig-Screen[1]-0"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice    "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
	Option	    "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	InputDevices   "/dev/input/mice"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/uni/"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "extmod"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
	Option	    "AllowMouseOpenFail"
	Option	    "BlankTime" "0"
	Option	    "Xinerama" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard[0]"
	Driver      "kbd"
	Option	    "Protocol" "Standard"
	Option	    "XkbRules" "xfree86"
	Option	    "XkbKeycodes" "xfree86"
	Option	    "XkbModel" "pc104"
	Option	    "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse[1]"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse[3]"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
	Identifier     "Modes[0]"
	ModeLine     "800x600" 40.0 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync
	ModeLine     "640x480" 31.5 640 656 720 840 480 481 484 500 # 6. Try
	ModeLine     "640x480" 31.5 640 680 720 864 480 488 491 521 # 5. Try
	ModeLine     "640x480" 28.0 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525 # 4. Try
	ModeLine     "640x480" 28.3 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525 # 3. Try
	ModeLine     "640x480" 25.2 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525 # 2. Try
	ModeLine     "640x480" 25.2 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525 # 1. Try
EndSection

Section "Modes"
	Identifier     "Modes[vmware]"
	ModeLine     "800x600" 29.4 800 816 896 992 600 601 604 617
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[1]-0"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[1]-1"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
	Screen      1
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[1]-0"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[1]-1"
	Driver      "fglrx"
	BusID       "PCI:4:0:0"
	Screen      1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
	Device     "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
	Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-1"
	Device     "aticonfig-Device[0]-1"
	Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-1"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[1]-0"
	Device     "aticonfig-Device[1]-0"
	Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[1]-0"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[1]-1"
	Device     "aticonfig-Device[1]-1"
	Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[1]-1"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Any other thoughts?

-R