Ubuntu

How do I get an exteral projector to work with a laptop?

Asked by Jim Hutchinson

I have a Dell D620 running with feisty. To date, I have never been able to connect an external LCD projector and have the display show on both the laptop and the projector. It's either one or the other.

Since I have an nVidia card, I tried using

gksudo nvidia-settings

I can activate twinview but it makes the projector display an extension of the laptop - i.e. like having a larger desktop. Things on the laptop do not appear on the projector. That would be cool if I had two monitors and wanted a larger workspace, but for a presentation I want what I'm seeing to be the same as the audience.

Anyone know how to get this to work?

Thanks.

lspci output:
jim@laptop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 01)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 01)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Quadro NVS 110M / GeForce Go 7300 (rev a1)
03:01.0 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ601/6912/711E0 CardBus/SmartCardBus Controller (rev 40)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5752 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)

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Cesare Tirabassi
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Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#1

Since you already attempted TwinView most probably you just need to change the TwinViewOrientation option to "Clone". If you paste here your xorg.conf we can look at it together.

Revision history for this message
Jim Hutchinson (jphutch) said : 		#2

I found something that was option clone but it didn't work. Might have been before I tried twinview though. It's currently commented out. Anyway here is the relevant part of xorg.conf. I also don't have anything added for the different resolutions of the project. I think it's 1024x768.

On a related issue, if you happen to know why I only one option for refresh rate (50hz) that would be cool too.

Thanks.

Section "Device"
 Identifier "nVidia Corporation G72M [Quadro NVS 110M/GeForce Go 7300]"
 Driver "nvidia"
 Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
 Option "AddARGBVisuals" "True"
 Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
 Option "NoLogo" "False"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "Generic Monitor"
 Option "DPMS"
 Option "MetaModes" "nvidia-auto-select, nvidia-auto-select"
# Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT,LFP"
# Option "Clone" "true"
 Horizsync 28-72
 Vertrefresh 43-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Device "nVidia Corporation G72M [Quadro NVS 110M/GeForce Go 7300]"
 Monitor "Generic Monitor"
 Defaultdepth 24
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 1
  Modes "1440x900"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 4
  Modes "1440x900"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 8
  Modes "1440x900"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 15
  Modes "1440x900"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 16
  Modes "1440x900"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 24
  Modes "1440x900"
 EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
 Identifier "Default Layout"
  screen "Default Screen"
 Inputdevice "Generic Keyboard"
 Inputdevice "Configured Mouse"
 Inputdevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
 Inputdevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
 Inputdevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
 Inputdevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
 Mode 0666
EndSection

Revision history for this message
Jim Hutchinson (jphutch) said : 		#3

Oops. This

I also don't have anything added for the different resolutions of the project.

Should read

I also don't have anything added for the different resolutions of the projector.

(We really need the option to edit posts.)

Revision history for this message
Best Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#4

I don't think that TwinView is enabled with that xorg.conf. You should add these to the device section:

Option "TwinView"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"

You may also need to comment out the MetaModes option if it does not give you satisfactory choices and give them yourself explicitely.

For the 50 Hz choice, we would have to look at your Xorg.0.log file to see what is picked up by the driver and why (for this it would be better to generate it with a verbosity level of 5).

You can read about the various TwinView options in appendix G of your nvidia README.

Revision history for this message
Jim Hutchinson (jphutch) said : 		#5

Thanks Cesare Tirabassi, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Jim Hutchinson (jphutch) said : 		#6

Thanks Cesare. That ended up working but not ideally. This laptop has a wide screen and with windows it resizes the laptop screen to match the projector. With ubuntu the laptop screen resolution stays the same and the projector screen is squished to fit the contents. Not a horrible thing but not ideal either. In any case, I now how a working setup. Thanks.

I looked through the Xorg.0.log but it was gibberish to me. I can post it but it's long. I also wasn't sure what you meant by verbosity level 5 (or at least how to activate it). Since everything works I guess it's not so important. I would like to understand but I can post a new question someday or search. I've seen lots of people with the same question so there must be an answer out there somewhere.

Thanks again.

Ubuntu Rocks.

Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#7

What we could do for the resolution is change the MetaModes definiton, one for the laptop and another for the projector. You can then switch with xrandr or through your GUI (for instance in Gnome: Menu->System->Preferences->Screen Resolution).

Assuming your laptop native res is 1440x900 and the projector is 1024x768 you need to change the MetaModes line in xorg.conf from:

 Option "MetaModes" "nvidia-auto-select, nvidia-auto-select"

to:

 Option "MetaModes" "1440x900; , 1024x768"

I assume that your 1st display is the LCD and 2nd the Projector.

I must also apologise for having given you an obsolete information. In the latest NVIDIA drivers, TwinView has been moved from Appendix G to Chapter 13.

Revision history for this message
Cesare Tirabassi (norsetto) said : 		#8

Also, with the MetaModes as given you will have either the laptop or the projector (hopefully each with the correct resolution).
You can add a new meta mode or modify the second to have BOTH LCD and Projector. For instance:

 Option "MetaModes" "1440x900; 1024x768, 1024x768"

Or:

 Option "MetaModes" "1440x900; , 1024x768; 1024x768, 1024x768"

I've never experimented with that myself so I'm curious to know how it works.

Revision history for this message
Roberto Luberti (rluberti) said : 		#9

thanks for your help guys
I want to confirm that on the following configuration:
Dell Inspiron E1505 + NVIDIA GeoForce Go 7300 TurboCache + Ubuntu 7.04

adding the already mentioned lines in X11/xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
        Option "TwinView" "yes"
        Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
        Option "MetaModes" "1680x1050,1680x1050"

Section "Monitor"
        Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT,LFP"

the issue is fixed, and you can play with video output on both screens

Revision history for this message
Rajan (omni-vorous) said : 		#10

Hello

I'm a newbie (moving in from Windows) and hoping to get help from this forum. I have a similar data projector problem, with minor variations: mine is a Dell Vostro 1000 laptop, with a Radeon Xpress 1100 card. It's an AMD 64 X2 system, with dual boot: XP pro 64, and Kubuntu 7.4. I'm unable to connect to a data projector during presentations. It works fine with the XP os, but with Kubuntu, the laptop screen just goes blank. Having read the relevant discussions in the forum, I'm giving below the text of my xorg.conf:

-----------------------xxxxxxxxxx---------------------------------------------

Section "Device"
 Identifier "ATI Technologies Inc RS485 [Radeon Xpress 1100 IGP]"
 Driver "ati"
 BusID "PCI:1:5:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "Generic Monitor"
 Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Device "ATI Technologies Inc RS485 [Radeon Xpress 1100 IGP]"
 Monitor "Generic Monitor"
 DefaultDepth 24
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 1
  Modes "1280x800"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 4
  Modes "1280x800"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 8
  Modes "1280x800"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 15
  Modes "1280x800"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 16
  Modes "1280x800"
 EndSubSection
 SubSection "Display"
  Depth 24
  Modes "1280x800"
 EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
 Identifier "Default Layout"
 Screen "Default Screen"
 InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
 InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
 InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
 InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
 InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
 InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
 Mode 0666
EndSection

-------------------------------------xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-----------------------

Please do help.
Thanks in advance
Rajan