Configuring a dual screen setup - XBMCbuntu (Ubuntu 11.10 LXDE)

[Smiler]

Installed, trying figure it out.

[Smiler]

Sorry, not having a lot of luck.

I try'd another approach, I pinned an XBMC icon to the desktop and try'd to drag that to the second screen to see if opening the icon there would open the program there. Sadly not, the icon just flew back to the primary screen as soon as I released it.

The XBMC forum doesn't seem to be very forthcoming with help and google has been suprisingly spartan with its results too. I would have thought that this would be a fairly common request, particularly in the HTPC world.

Being perfectly honest, would I be better off trying to apply all this to a bigger version of Linux? I've been taking up your time for the past couple of weeks now and if a bigger version is more likely to have the tools in place then perhaps that would be the more stable soloution.

Peppermint seemed very similar to this XBMCbuntu, would that be a better starting point? Or would a full fat Ubuntu OS make things easier? I would prefer Ubuntu 10.4 so I could run it in classic mode as I liked the layout of the task bar menus.

I don't want all this work to be a waste of time and I am very, very grateful for all your help, I'm guessing most of this will read across to another distro.

Cheers,

Smiler.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

I'm not convinced another distro is the answer as the Xserver, xrandr, and the graphics drivers are all going to be pretty common between them all .. it *may* be that other window managers are more capable of remembering Window positions, I don't know .. but I doubt it, and I'm starting to think using an "extended" desktop isn't the way forward .. so I'm now looking into Zaphod mode, Twin seat, and running multiple instances of X

I'm quite willing to try solving this, but you'll have to wait till I have the time and opportunity to test out some of the things I've been reading about.

Is there NO possibility you could switch to an NVIDIA dual head graphics card, as the NVIDIA drivers have a "separate X screens" feature that effectively gives you 2 separate desktops.

I'm also looking if something similar can be done with the intel card by starting another instance of X for the second monitor.

I'm pretty sure this is achievable, but as I've never tried it before and don't have "easy" access to the hardware, it may take me a while.
(but it's an interesting proposition, so I'm going to give it a whirl)

What you do whilst I'm working on the problem is up to you though ;l)


You would think in these days of multi core CPU's, dual channel memory, 7.1 audio, twinhead graphics cards, multiple monitors, etc .. you could just add a second mouse and keyboard and have 2 PC's in 1


Another though that has just struck me .. if XBMC likes being on screen 0, this may be as simple as making the TV screen 0, and the monitor screen 1.

[Smiler]

l  shall look into the Nvidia option to see what's available (it'll have to be a half height card).

Of course I'd rather use the motherboards capabilities as apart from having just paid for them and wanting to keep this machine as codensed as possible, I only have one expansion slot which I'm hoping to use with a tuner card in the future for freeview so that I can hopefully ditch the Virgin media box.

I had wondered about swapping the screen priorities over myself but haven't yet found a way of doing it. Bios doesn't give much by way of options for display output.

Thankyou again for all your great help, if you get this working I think you might start a revoloution in the HTPC world. I'm certainly not the only person trying to get the one PC to multi-task and perform two duties at the same time. We've certainly got close, the XBMC program was manualy launching itself into screen 2, it might be that if we'd thought about putting the delay into the auto-run for xbmc it might have worked.

Best regards,

Smiler.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Forget the NVIDIA card for now.

After the dual screen desktop has loaded, does XBMC remember its screen position (on the TV) if started from the command line:

Code: [Select]

xbmc

In other words .. if you start xbmc from the command line, move its window to screen 2, close it, and run it again from the command line .. does it open on screen 2 ?


If the answer is YES -

Open  ~/.config/autostart/monitor-adjust.desktop for editing:

Code: [Select]

gedit ~/.config/autostart/monitor-adjust.desktop

(if that opens a blank file STOP and let me know)

and make it read:-

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Monitor Auto Adjust
Comment=run ARandR saved config
Exec=/home/smiler/.screenlayout/arandr.sh
Terminal=false

SAVE the file and close gedit.

Now open ~/.screenlayout/arandr.sh for editing:

Code: [Select]

gedit ~/.screenlayout/arandr.sh

(if that opens a blank file STOP and let me know)

Now we're going to add two new lines underneath what's already there .. so if it already reads:-

#!/bin/sh
xrandr --output DP3 --off --output DP2 --off --output DP1 --off --output HDMI3 --off --output HDMI2 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output HDMI1 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x1232 --rotate normal --output VGA1 --off

you want it to read:-

#!/bin/sh
xrandr --output DP3 --off --output DP2 --off --output DP1 --off --output HDMI3 --off --output HDMI2 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output HDMI1 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x1232 --rotate normal --output VGA1 --off
sleep 15
xbmc

SAVE the file and exit gedit.

Now REBOOT to test.

The 2 new lines in arandr.sh told it to apply the xrandr settings, then wait for 15 seconds, then run xbmc .. you can always adjust the sleep time later if necessary.

[BkS]

Right from I understand, Smiler, you want to open windows on the screen they were last open correct?

I use Openbox as well, and what I've found is that if you unmaximize a program, then drag it onto which every screen you want it on, then maximize it on there, it'll stay there.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Something else of note .. XBMCbuntu 11.0 (Eden) reached "Final Release" last night  (24-3-2012)
http://linux.co.uk/2012/03/xbmc-11-0-eden-released/
and
http://xbmc.org/natethomas/2012/03/24/xbmc-11-0-eden/

So if you're on 10.1 (Dharma), you may want to change .. there are supposed to be a TON of improvements to 11.0 (Eden) .. you can view the changelog here:
http://mirrors.xmission.com/xbmc/releases/11.0-Eden-changelog.txt

and in other news ..

MythTV are due to release 0.25 "Final" VERY soon .. they are hoping for the 2nd April 2012:
http://www.mythtv.org/
Which I'm *guessing* will be used in Mythbuntu 12.04 when it's released .. but don't hold me to that

[Smiler]

I try'd as you suggested  but no joy.

BKS - Thanks for the reply but it's not quite as simple as that.

Mark, I shall make a list of everything I have put on this OS and then give the new one a go. You never know, it might pick up itself that I have a second screen.

MythTV is tempting, particularly as it orks with NetFlix that we are looking to get.

I shall have a play.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

As a matter of interest, what happened when you tried the above ?

[Smiler]

XBMC just launches in screen 1 again.

If I'm going for a fresh install I'm going to go for a main stream Distro such as Peppermint (I like the LKDE environment) to give a solid foundation. I can then use either xmbc or mythtv.

Cheers.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

OK, if you have the same issue with whatever you end up with .. come back here and we'll try setting the TV as screen0 and see if that works.

[EDIT]

I read earlier that Ubuntu 12.04 is going to allow a launcher on either or both/all desktops in a mutli monitor setup .. maybe that would help somehow.

[Smiler]

Now that was worth knowing, I'll take a look.

Cheers.

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

See here:
http://www.ubuntuvibes.com/2012/03/unity-58-released-with-new-features-and.html
and
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/03/ubuntu-12-04-multi-monitor-to-be/
amongst other places.

Unity 5.8 Multi Monitor Options

(Click picture to enlarge)

Details

By default the launcher will be just on one screen, but you can enable it on all screens .. and I'm guessing MythTV will be in the repos.

From the reports I'm reading from people who have tried 12.04 .. the new unity is supposed to be much quicker too.

[BkS]

I'll tell you that my experience with the 12.04 Beta's have left me nothing short of amazed. I'm running it in a VM, testing it quite regularly  too, and it's just great. Will definitely be switching to it once it's released. I'll give it a couple of weeks to mature first though.

Oh and yeah, I voted for that option. Have one by default but have one on each screen as an option. It seemed like the best way to go about things, that way you can please everyone.

I have been keeping my testing secret because I plan on writing a review about it.

[Smiler]

Right, new and improved version of xbmcbuntu-11.0 installed.
Straight away I have a monitor settings tab in the preferences menu and it shows two hdmi outputs, both active (despite one being DVI).
Options are limited to on/off, screen resoloution and refresh rate.  No other options available and both are working mirrored.

xbmc itself is still only acting as though there is just one screen.

ARandR next?