Monitor and TV as two separate X-Screens with nvidia Ti4200

Message

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 3:54 pm

Can anybody please post a working configuration, i.e. XF86Config? I would like to be able to type

$export DISPLAY=":1.0"
$mplayer xyz.avi

and have the movie displayed on my TV, while I continue to work on my computer. I have followed the suggestions at the end of the nvidia doc's and I have browsed the forums but whatever I did, I haven't been able to open display :1.0.

Please do not suggest nvtv or using one X-Screen with TwinView. I know they exist, but they don't serve my purposes.

Thanks in advance.

paulisdead · Post by **paulisdead** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 5:52 pm

I'm not quite sure if this is what you're looking for, but here's my XF86Config for using my TV as a secondary display

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "GeForce4 TI4200"
    Driver      "nvidia"
    VideoRam    131072
    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
        Option "CursorShadow" "true"
    	Option "CursorShadowAlpha" "150"
    	Option "CursorShadowXOffset" "4"
    	Option "CursorShadowYOffset" "2"
	Option "NoLogo" "on"
	Option "TwinView"
        #Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
	Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync"     "30-50"
        Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh"   "60"
        Option "MetaModes" "1152x864, 800x600 @800x800; 1024x768, 800x600; 800x600, 640x480"
        Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
EndSection

That starts X with the TV as a secondayr display, then I just drag the video window onto the TV, and full screen it. BTW, if you live outside the US, you may have to use a different TVStandard option than me. Also change the meta modes resolutions to match what you're really using.

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 7:06 pm

Thanks very much for the reply

No, this isn't really what I actually wanted, but I tried it anyway and it didn't work. The picture on my TV set was completely scrambled. Strange, I used to use the TwinView setup under debian and it was ok there. Since I can't get it running with TwinView, something else must be borked. But in the end, I would prefer separate X-screens for monitor and TV, as opposed to one display stretched over two devices. I'll keep trying

ps: I did use "PAL-B", which is the standard in Europe.

DiS-K · Post by **DiS-K** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 12:05 pm

Here you go:

Code: Select all

#Section "ServerFlags"
#	Option "Xinerama" "true"
#EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "XFree86 Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0"
	Screen	    1  "Screen1" LeftOf "Screen0"
	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
	InputDevice    "Mouse1"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	RgbPath      "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
	ModulePath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
	FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
	FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
	FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
	FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
	FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
	FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "record"
	Load  "xtrap"
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "speedo"
	Load  "type1"
	Load  "xinerama"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "keyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse0"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Mouse1"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/misc/psaux"
EndSection

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

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor1"
	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
        HorizSync	30-50
        VertRefresh	60
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier "nvidia0"
	Driver "nvidia"
	VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
	BoardName   "NV25 [GeForce4 Ti 4200]"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
	Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "nvidia1"
	Driver      "nvidia"
	VendorName  "nVidia Corporation"
	BoardName   "NV25 [GeForce4 Ti 4200]"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
	Screen 1
	Option	"SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
	Option	"SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
	Option	"TVStandard" "PAL-B"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen1"
	Device	"nvidia1"
	Monitor	"Monitor1"
	DefaultDepth 24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "nvidia0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth	24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     24
#		Modes	"1280x1024,1024x768,800x600"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

This will give you two seperate screens, with different resolutions. This works for my GF4 Ti4200 with XFree 4.3 using the latest (masked?) nvidia drivers.

DiS-K · Post by **DiS-K** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 12:07 pm

I have just one problem with this setup: I'm using gnome 2.3.x and totem to play a video on the tv, but when I click on anything on my crt, the gnome panel comes to the front on my tv screen. Very annoying, please let me know if you have a solution.

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 11:01 am

Dear DiS-K, thanks a lot!

Works perfectly, now. The reason why my TV image was scrambled was that I had set the resolution to 800x600 as opposed to 1024x768.

I am however wondering why I cannot launch a movie from my monitor to be displayed on the TV, not even as root. I always get the message "can't open display 1:0". Does anybody know a solution? Probably some X server configuration issue.

So the way to watch a movie in TV is to move the mouse onto the TV and launch the movie there. As to the gnome panel problem, I use 2.2 and I have no problem with totem nor mplayer, but I have the described problem with xine. In fact, when I launch xine from the TV desktop, I will see the panel all the time, unless the mouse is on the TV, which is rather annoying.

All in all, I think having two separate X screens is the perfect solution if you use the second screen for watching video., exclusively. No hassle with switching resolutions, any more. Great!

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 11:19 am

So, the monitor, screen and server sections of my XF86Config read as follows:

Code: Select all

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "Hitachi CM611"
    HorizSync   31-92
    VertRefresh 50-120
    # for 100dpi
    DisplaySize 327 248
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "TV"
    HorizSync 30-50
    VertRefresh 60
EndSection



Section "Device"
    Identifier	"nvidia0"
    VendorName	"NVidia"
    BoardName	"Ti 4200"
#    Chipset	"generic"
    Driver     "nvidia"
    BusID      "PCI:1:0:0"
    Option "NvAGP" "1"
    Option "NoLogo" "1"
#    Option "DigitalVibrance" "1"
#    Option "RenderAccel" "1"
#    Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT"
#    Option "UseEdidFreqs" "false"
    Screen 0    
#    VideoRam	256
#    Clocks	25.2 28.3
EndSection


Section "Device"
    Identifier  "nvidia1"
    Driver      "nvidia"
#    Option "DigitalVibrance" "1"
#    Option "RenderAccel" "1"
#    Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
#    Option "UseEdidFreqs" "false"

    BusId       "PCI:1:0:0"

    Screen      1

   Option   "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
   Option   "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
   Option   "TVStandard" "PAL-B"
EndSection



# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen0"
    Device      "nvidia0"
    Monitor     "Hitachi CM611"
    DefaultDepth 24
    DefaultFbBpp 32
    Option	"NvAgp" "1"
    Option	"NoLogo" "true"

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection

EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen1"
    Device      "nvidia1"
    Monitor     "TV"
    DefaultDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1024x768"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
EndSection



# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes
# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout
# section may be specified from the X server command line with the
# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.
# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section
# is used alone.

Section "ServerLayout"

# The Identifier line must be present
    Identifier  "Simple Layout"

# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally
# the relative position of other screens.  The four names after
# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right
# of the primary screen.  In this example, screen 2 is located to the
# right of screen 1.


        Screen         0 "Screen0"
        Screen         1 "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"


# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection

I can only just highly endorse this solution.

DiS-K · Post by **DiS-K** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 4:38 pm

Err, error opening display 1:0 ? You should use DISPLAY=:0.1
And by default X doesn't allow applications from another user to be shown, you'll have to use xhost to allow other users. "xhost + " allows all.

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Sun Jul 13, 2003 6:21 pm

DiS-K wrote:Err, error opening display 1:0 ? You should use DISPLAY=:0.1

OK, it's working now. Thanks for the hint. By the way, I use "xhost +localhost", which isn't as much of a security hazard as "xhost +". For people more concerned about security, there is also xauth.

What I wrote about totem in my last but one mail was wrong. I experience exactly the same as you regarding the gnome-panel. With mplayer (which I use all of the time, anyway) the panel doesn't get in the way. I'm wondering whether that is a totem/xine problem or a panel problem.

Thanks again for the support.

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 11:30 am

In order to be able to play movies on the TV directly from nautilus, I made the tiny script

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
 
xhost +localhost
DISPLAY=":0.1"
exec /usr/bin/mplayer "$1"

which one can then associate with movie files. It's nice. The only disadvantage is that the fullscreen (-fs) switch does not work as expected. So you have to go over with the mouse and type"f".

Kenadin · Post by **Kenadin** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 5:48 pm

I have my geforce working like yours now, but i was wondering if it is possible to prevent the mouse from going to the tv. Currently if I move my mouse to the right past the edge of the screen it goes to the tv. I don't want that to happen.

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 7:20 pm

While I wouldn't know how to prevent this, I know that I wouldn't want to prevent the mouse from going to the second screen. As I said, I have to fullsize the mplayer window, so I have to leave my monitor in order to do so. And for the other mplayer keystroke commands to take effect, I must move the mouse to the second screen, too.

dishkuvek · Post by **dishkuvek** » Mon Jul 14, 2003 9:27 pm

Sorry for the dense question, but I was considering buying the same card far a new system I am creating. I have never worked with TV-Out before so I am not sure what I am in store for. What kind of connection is on the back of the card and through what method do you go about connecting the card to the TV (type of connection on TV)?

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Tue Jul 15, 2003 5:35 pm

Come on, that's way off topic and above all very easy to find out on the vendors' home pages. But whatever, the type of output is S-VHS, there are cheap adapters to SCART, which is the sort of input my TV has. More modern TVs have S-VHS input.

jief · Post by **jief** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 1:23 am

i was wondering, i kinda had a similiar problem than yours. I'll try your solution when i get back home. Does X crash/hangs when you exit it with this XF86Config?

Right now i use twinview, but it doesnt rescale properly on the TV. and when i exit X, weither with ctrl-alt-backspace, the log out option in gnome, you name it, it always hangs. Obviously i use the latest drivers. With a GeForce ti 4200.

jief · Post by **jief** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 4:21 am

i still have the same problem. When X exit, my system hangs ... i really dunno what to do next : (

helmers · Post by **helmers** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 8:17 am

I am currently using TwinView, but the solution of Chris Finch seems much more "native" to me. Is it possible to export the display this way, and play a game, like tuxracer or quake3 on the TV?

Because TwinView with the clone option uses both devices, and is not exactly perfect.

helmers · Post by **helmers** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 10:00 am

dishkuvek wrote:What kind of connection is on the back of the card and through what method do you go about connecting the card to the TV (type of connection on TV)?

Hi! Usually(on all nvidia cards I've seen) you get a VGA-out, a S-video-out, and sometimes a DVI out. So far, every single nvidia card I have touched (which isn't part of an n-force mobo), includes a cable that seperates the signal into s-video and composite, and Gainward have delivered the best so far; four outputs, two of each. What I currently use to connect to my TV is just a long composite cable, and a scart-"head" for it, which I plug in my TV.

I have also used S-Video, but that plugs in at the front and I don't like a lot of wires everywhere. The image quality is almost the same.

Chris Finch · Post by **Chris Finch** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:35 am

helmers wrote:Is it possible to export the display this way, and play a game, like tuxracer or quake3 on the TV?

By all means, yes! The game will nicely fill your TV screen, leaving your monitor completely unaffected. I might also mention that those ugly black bars on the left and right are not any more. There is an overscan parameter in the new nvidia drivers, but it turns out that the default is right for me.

Because TwinView with the clone option uses both devices, and is not exactly perfect.

I feel that way, too.

About the tv-out: I meant s-video, not s-vhs, sorry.

jief: I've never had that problem. Have you closely followed the nvidia docs as to which modules not to include in XF86Config, etc? Also, there is a troubleshooting FAQ in there, maybe it helps. At last, look at the end of /var/log/XFree86.0.log, that might give you a clue.

helmers · Post by **helmers** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 12:02 pm

Kenadin wrote:I have my geforce working like yours now, but i was wondering if it is possible to prevent the mouse from going to the tv. Currently if I move my mouse to the right past the edge of the screen it goes to the tv. I don't want that to happen.

You could probably modify the "ServerLayout" part of XF86Config, and change "RightOf" to "LeftOf", or "TopOf", and thus place it a bit less intrusive. On Windows, I usually place it on the "top middle", because I rarely "toss" the mouse in that direction.

yartz · Post by **yartz** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 1:44 pm

helmers wrote:You could probably modify the "ServerLayout" part of XF86Config, and change "RightOf" to "LeftOf", or "TopOf", and thus place it a bit less intrusive. On Windows, I usually place it on the "top middle", because I rarely "toss" the mouse in that direction.

It would be great if you could somehow toggle the mouse going to the TV. That way you could disable it while you're not using TV-output and enable it when you need to use mouse there.

helmers · Post by **helmers** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 5:41 pm

yartz wrote:It would be great if you could somehow toggle the mouse going to the TV. That way you could disable it while you're not using TV-output and enable it when you need to use mouse there.

I second this one. And it should be easy to toggle, perhaps something like "ctrl+shift+alt". Is this possible to do with standard tools, dear hackers?

maKKus · Post by **maKKus** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 7:19 pm

>Right now i use twinview, but it doesnt
>rescale properly on the TV. and when i exit
>X, weither with ctrl-alt-backspace, the log
>out option in gnome, you name it, it
>always hangs. Obviously i use the latest
>drivers. With a GeForce ti 4200.

I've the same problem!

jief · Post by **jief** » Fri Jul 18, 2003 4:36 pm

Chris Finch wrote:
helmers wrote: jief: I've never had that problem. Have you closely followed the nvidia docs as to which modules not to include in XF86Config, etc? Also, there is a troubleshooting FAQ in there, maybe it helps. At last, look at the end of /var/log/XFree86.0.log, that might give you a clue.
ok, i'll check that, and try to recompile Xfree. thanks for the advice.

triad · Post by **triad** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 4:50 am

Thank YOU!! This setup works awesome. I just have one minor problem.

When I open a movie on the TV Display in Full Screen I loose my mouse and get stuck on the TV Display. But if I go back to normal screen the mouse comes back and I can traverse both Displays.

I am using the script Chris Finch wrote up above to open movies up in a File Manager.

Any Ideas what might be causing this?

Thanks again.

Triad