Dual-head on Precision 490 running RHEL4

[Fuller, John]

I've had only three problems with dual-head confguration over the past four and a half years.   My operations center of 25 Dell Precision class systems (variable numbers) alone use two, three, and with the 690 four-head configuration just fine.   The group is so much dependent on the multi-head displays, I get paged if there was an issue with the dual-head not working.      
 
When I get into work later this morning, I'll forward some of my xorg.conf and XFree86.conf files since I still use RHEL3 for a few systems, but primarily use RHEL4.   I always edit the files manually and don't want to rely on the computer doing the work for me.   I also highly recommended using the dell-nvidia dkms modules provided by John's group under http://linux.dell.com/files/nvidia.   
 
There is one for RHEL3&4 (8765) and one for RHEL5 (97##), both of these drivers have been extensively used and have been proven to work.   This way you don't have to manually rebuilt the module upon a new kernel release each and every time.  
 
John  
 
John E. Fuller
WSI Data Center Operations
400 Minuteman Road
Andover, Massachusetts, 01810 
E-mail: jfuller at wsi.com 
Phone: (978)-983-6794
Cell:  (978)-726-5534

________________________________

From: linux-precision-bounces at dell.com on behalf of Lars_Olsson at dell.com
Sent: Wed 25-Jul-07 13:02
To: John_Hull at dell.com
Cc: linux-precision at dell.com
Subject: RE: Dual-head on Precision 490 running RHEL4


Actually I've been testing nvidia-xconfig and nvidia-settings on this system but I didnt find any options for dual-head in the GUI.
 
Running nvidia-xconfig --twinview does configure my setup for dual-head. When running nvidia-settings the GUI shows up
but I didnt have all the options..
 
I found a printscreen ( http://gallery.popey.com/gallery/screenshots/Screenshot_NVIDIA_X_Server_Settings_1 )
X Server Information and X Display Configuration didnt show up on my screen.
 
Updating to the v.100.14.11 of the nvidia drivers solved that issue.
 
Also found some people indicating that the dual-head tab in RHEL4 doesnt do any good with just one gfx card.. 
 
________________________________

From: Hull, John 
Sent: den 25 juli 2007 12:45
To: Olsson, Lars; linux-precision-Lists
Subject: RE: Dual-head on Precision 490 running RHEL4


I've never had much luck using Red Hat's tool for dual display, so I don't recommend using it. Nvidia has a tool included with the driver called "nviida-xconfig" that you can use to set up the dual head modes more easily than editing the xorg.conf file yourself (try `man nvidia-xconfig`). In addition, newer Nvidia drivers also includes a GUI tool that is even easier to use for configuring dual head

________________________________

From: linux-precision-bounces at dell.com [mailto:linux-precision-bounces at dell.com] On Behalf Of Lars_Olsson at dell.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 4:24 AM
To: linux-precision-Lists
Subject: Dual-head on Precision 490 running RHEL4


Hi!
 
I'm trying to run Dual-head on a Precision 490 running RHEL4 but have ran into some problems. It seams to be impossible to enable dual-head
via the display settings options. The "Second Video Card" options are grey.
 
I followed the instructions in the nvidia manual, Appendix P. Configuring Multiple X Screens on One Card.
http://http.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-8178/README/appendix-p.html.
 
After following the instructions my dual-head setup works just fine though I cant edit any options in the display settings.
 
If I go to the Dual head tab and enable "Use dual head" the drop list "Second Video Card" is empty as it was before editing the xorg.conf manually
and if I do any changes my xorg.conf gets overwritten and my settings for dual-head is of course gone.
 
I have tried two diffrent nvidia gfx cards, nvidia Quadro NV 285 and nvidia Quadro FX4500 but still get the same (errors?)
 
Should I be able to activate dual-head via the display settings or must I do this manually in xorg.conf?
 
Thank you for your time.
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