http://judsonsnotes.com/notes/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=673:triple-head-monitors-on-thinkpad-t520&catid=37:tech-notes&Itemid=59 Configure bumblebee and the X server Now we can restart the machine. In the BIOS, make sure that OPTIMUS is enabled and OS detection is disabled. Upon restart, go to a text console, kill the display manager, and get to work on configuring bumblebee and figuring out an xorg.conf file that works. Configuring bumblebee is relatively easy. In /etc/bumblebee.conf, set the following options by locating these lines and setting their values as shown here: 1.KeepUnusedXServer=true 2.Driver=nvidia 3.PMMethod=none I have attached my bumblebee.conf file. Notice also which xorg.conf file it is set to use in conjunction with the nvidia driver (/etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia). This is where we will place our custom xorg.conf file. Now configuring the X server is a royal pain, as usual. This is what took me forever to figure out, not being an expert in xorg.conf options. The real issue is what the /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia file should look like, since this is what we need to get the DisplayPort monitor working. After MUCH hassle, here is what mine looks like: /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia I figured this out by working from a text console, trying different xorg.conf settings from a temporary file. For instance, I edited a file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.test, then attempted to start an X server using that file by: 1.startx -- -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf.test If it worked, I would see the DisplayPort monitor wake up to a blank screen (it was very hard to notice because it was a blank screen and was hardly different from the black screen while the monitor was sleeping, but once I noticed it was working that essentially told me that that xorg.conf.test file was powering the DisplayPort monitor, which is what I wanted). If it didn't work, I could read the xorg log file in /var/log to figure out why. The other critical issue is what the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file looks like. This is what is driving the ThinkPad and VGA display. I generated this file using the binary Nvidia drivers downloaded from Nvidia's website. (This was back before I started trying to triple-head my monitors. I have since removed the binary Nvidia drivers, but this xorg.conf file still works like a charm for my first two displays). Note that this xorg.conf file was originally generated in Ubuntu 11.10, then when I upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04, the update-manager commented out many lines, as you can see. /etc/X11/xorg.conf Enable the third monitor Now we can restart the machine. Upon restart, login (hopefully) as normal (to a graphics console) and check to make sure that the bbswitch module is loaded. If you totally botched your xorg.conf, you may not be able to get to a graphics console or text console. One time I had to run Ubuntu from a USB memory stick to get a working xorg.conf back. (ALWAYS BACK UP A WORKING XORG.CONF!) If you are using Gnome 3 like me, you should be in the full, hardware accelerated version, not the fallback mode. If you are in fallback mode, you can still use three displays, but I personally prefer not to run in fallback mode. At this point, you should have both external monitors plugged in to your laptop. The VGA monitor should be in use automatically, but the DisplayPort monitor will be blank. You should have a nice Xorg.0.log file in /var/log. Here is a look at mine: /var/log/Xorg.0.log Now check that the xserver patch is working by typing "xrandr" and you should see another entry for "VIRTUAL unknown connection". You should also see LVDS1 for the ThinkPad display and VGA1 for the VGA display. Turn the nvidia card on by running: 1.sudo tee /proc/acpi/bbswitch <<< ON Now start another X server for the DisplayPort monitor: 1.sudo optirun true If you look in /var/log, you will see the log file Xorg.8.log, since bumblebee defaults to starting an X server on number 8. Read the log file and there should be no serious errors (input device errors aren't serious at this point). Here is mine: /var/log/Xorg.8.log Now run xrandr to set up the VIRTUAL display to be the right size and placement. Here is my command: 1.xrandr --output LVDS1 --mode 1600x900 --output VGA1 --mode 1600x1200 --right-of LVDS1 --output VIRTUAL --mode 1600x1200 --right-of VGA1 Now for the grand finale: cloning the contents of the VIRTUAL display onto the X server created by bumblebee, which is connected to the DisplayPort monitor via the Nvidia chip: 1.screenclone -d :8 -x 2 In this command, "-d" tells screenclone which X server to target, and -x tells it which xinerama screen to use. Since my VIRTUAL display is the third in my sequence of displays, I had to specify "-x 2" (counting from zero). The result for me is the satisfying glow of three displays: Without Bumblebee I was able to get this working without bumblebee installed, but I was always in Gnome fallback mode, which I didn't like. I had to install bumblebee to get the normal Gnome working. But without bumblebee installed, it is still possible. You will need to install bbswitch-dkms, turn on the nvidia card and load the driver, then manually start the X server. Commands would look like: 1.tee /proc/acpi/bbswitch <<< ON 2.modprobe -v nvidia 3./usr/bin/X -ac -audit 0 -config /etc/X11/xorg.conf.DisplayPort -sharevts -modulepath /usr/lib/nvidia-current/,/usr/lib/xorg/modules -nolisten tcp -noreset :1 & 4.screenclone -x 2 Updating Be careful updating your computer. If you install updates to the xserver, the patch may be overwritten and your triple display set up won't work. After updating, I simply re-ran these steps: 1.apt-get build-dep xserver-xorg-video-intel 2.apt-get source xserver-xorg-video-intel 3.cd xserver-xorg-video-intel-2.19.0 4.wget https://raw.github.com/liskin/patches/master/hacks/xserver-xorg-video-intel-2.18.0_virtual_crtc.patch 5.patch -p1 < xserver-xorg-video-intel-2.18.0_virtual_crtc.patch 6.dpkg-buildpackage -b 7.cd .. 8.dpkg --install xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.19.0-0ubuntu1~xup1_amd64.deb and then after a reboot I had my virtual display back and could use all three monitors. Another update actually killed bumblebee for me. When I tried to start it, I would get the error: 1.[ERROR]The Bumblebee daemon has not been started yet or the socket path /var/run/bumblebee.socket was incorrect. 2.[ERROR]Could not connect to bumblebee daemon - is it running? The solution here was to upgrade bumblebee: view source print? 1.sudo apt-get update 2.sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia #1 Mark Waschkowski 2012-05-28 21:23 Hi, Wow, this looks great, but complicated. I just installed 12.04 and am looking for the easiest way to get 3 monitors working. I'm running Unity, and my display port monitor is not being picked up. Do I *need* bumblebee to get the displayport monitor recognized? Thanks! Mark --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #2 Judson 2012-05-29 13:03 Hi Mark, You technically don't need bumblebee to send a signal to the displayport monitor. I was able to do it without bumblebee but using the bbswitch-dkms package to turn on the nvidia card and a manual command to start the X server, as written above. The real trick for me was finding an xorg.conf that will get the DP monitor to work. Without bumblebee, I wasn't able to run the full, hardware-accelerated version of Gnome 3. I was stuck in the 2d fallback mode. I don't know if you'll have the same problem with Unity. Judson #3 Nils Hondong 2012-06-19 15:00 Hi Judson, just followed your Instruction. After some nvidia driver issues I came to the point to activate the 3. Screen with screenclone. xrandr sees the 3 Monitor, but screenclone doesn activate it :( Any Ideas? kind regards, Nils --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #4 Judson 2012-06-19 16:00 Hi Nils, Do you have the VIRTUAL display listed when you type "xrandr"? Is bbswitch on and did the second X server start successfully with the xorg.conf for the third monitor? If so, then it is just a matter of getting screenclone to work. screenclone -d :8 -x 2 the number "8" comes from the X server number and should match the Xorg."8".log file created when you start the second X server. the "-x 2" is the screen to use, and you could try 0,1, or 2 here. Good luck, Judson #5 Nils Hondong 2012-06-19 17:33 xrandr lists all Displays bbswitch is ON The xorg8.log does not have any relevant errors. just module kbd failed. screenclone -d :8 -x 0(1 + 2) do not work. has screençlone any log file? kind regards, Nils --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #6 Judson 2012-06-19 18:23 No, screenclone does not have any log file. even though there are no errors in Xorg.8.log, are you sure your /etc/bumblebee/xorg.conf.nvidia file works for the third monitor? when you test it, does the monitor "wake up"? are you using a T520? --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #7 Nils Hondong 2012-06-20 06:40 Good Morning ;) yes I use a T520. I just tried the xorg-Displayport.conf as the Xorg Config file. Then the nvidia Card was activated and the other 2 Diplays where Blank (with a cursor) So the Driver ist working. I think I have an issue with mine xorg.conf I use Ubuntu 12.04 and have copied your xorg.conf. kind regards, Nils --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #8 Judson 2012-06-20 13:17 just to be sure, does the output of "lspci|grep VGA" match this: 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF119 [Quadro NVS 4200M] (rev a1) if it does, then I'm not sure why my xorg.conf files wouldn't work for you, assuming you installed the drivers the same way I did and have everything enabled in the BIOS properly. This is really strange, I'll have to give it some more thought. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #9 Nils Hondong 2012-06-20 16:41 Hi, the output of lspci is exacly the same. I just tried some settings with Xinerama. I got the 3 Monitors to display something, but the VGA just cloned the Thinkpad Device. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #10 Judson 2012-06-20 19:52 I guess the only other difference between us is our monitors, but that shouldn't matter. I have Xinerama turned off, but if it's working for you, that's great. If it makes you feel any better, it took me over a week to make it work. I'd love to know what your solution is when you do get it. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #11 Andrew 2012-06-23 07:38 I never reply to blog posts, basically, but you deserve some major kudos for this. Thank you for such a well explained write up. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #12 Leandro Asrilevich 2012-06-24 23:56 Hey. First at all, sorry by my english, is not good. I have a W520 with a Nvidia Quadro 1000M, and I'm trying to have the 3 monitors with graphics acceleration. I had already achieved it, following Zach's post, the 3 monitors running, but without acceleration. Now following your guide, after I had removed the drivers, installing everything again, applied the pacth and do the initial configuration in xorg.conf.nvidia and bumblebee.conf. When I try to start X the Thinkpad screen turns on (VGA and DisplayPort screen are off) and when I back to text console I see the following error: "fbdev (0): FBIOPUTCMAP: Invalid argument" repeatedly times. Also I look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log and I see: (EE) Failed to load module "nvidia" (module does not exist, 0) I have installed nvidia-current, but for some reason is not being loaded. I would greatly appreciate if you can help me on how to continue. Thanks. Bye. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #13 Judson 2012-06-25 14:03 Leandro, I received those errors sometimes when I was working on it. I think the problem may be in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. If you have an xorg.conf saved from before you started trying to triple-head your monitors, I would suggest using that as a starting point. Or you can take a look at mine and make changes to it. When you are trying to get a working xorg.conf, a good strategy is to simplify the xorg.conf file as much as possible and make changes one at a time. I would also recommend reading the online xorg.conf manual. Good luck, Judson --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #14 Leandro Asrilevich 2012-06-25 20:41 Hi Judson. I think that my problem actually is not in my xorg.conf, because whit any xorg configuration is get the same result. When I white in the text console or graphic console "lsmod|grep -i nvidia" I dont get anything. So I think that my sytem is not loading the nvidia module. Thanks. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #15 Judson 2012-06-26 13:26 Leandro, When I first start my computer, before enabling my third screen, I don't have the nvidia module loaded. it's not until I start the extra X server (optirun true) that the nvidia module loads. Accordingly, in Xorg.0.log, I have the error "Failed to load module "nvidia" (module does not exist, 0)" but in Xorg.8.log I have the success "LoadModule: "nvidia"". Best of luck to you and please let me know what your solution is when you get it figured out. Judson --------------------------------------------------------------- +1 #16 Sam Hughes 2012-08-17 21:48 It might be helpful to mention that before compiling hybrid-screenclone the user needs to install packages libxcursor-dev, libxdamage-dev, libxinerama-dev, and libxtst-dev (or some other general x11 dev package?) --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #17 jason 2012-10-08 21:29 :cry: Think I followed instructions carefully, but now I can't even log into my machine. I get a login screen but when I enter my password, I am kicked back out to my login screen. Now just trying to get back to be able to log in and do work... --------------------------------------------------------------- +1 #18 Judson 2012-10-08 21:39 Quoting jason: :cry: Think I followed instructions carefully, but now I can't even log into my machine. I get a login screen but when I enter my password, I am kicked back out to my login screen. Now just trying to get back to be able to log in and do work... I had that happen when I installed xfce 4.10 and I took some rough notes that may be of help (link). --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #19 jason 2012-10-09 01:12 I've gotten logged back in, but my video drivers are completely hosed and the nvidia card isn't even being utilized by the machine. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #20 jason 2012-10-09 13:19 :-* Heh, I went back through the notes. Bumblebee blacklists nvidia drivers...uninstalling fixed it. Maybe I'll try again later, this is my work machine so I can't afford to be down too long. Thanks for the earlier help, good job on getting this working. --------------------------------------------------------------- #21 David 2012-10-22 17:14 I had to install several dev packages in order to compile hybrid-screenclone: libxcursor-dev libxdamage-dev libxinerama-dev libxtst-dev and then I found this ppa with it already available: https://launchpad.net/~jethrogb/+archive/ppa/+build/3850283 --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #22 Floh 2012-10-25 14:45 Did someone of you got this working on Kubuntu 12.10. Unfortunatelly I got segmentation fault at Xorg startup, so I'm stuck in console. cu Floh --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #23 Floh 2012-10-26 09:10 Solution: https://raw.github.com/liskin/patches/master/hacks/xserver-xorg-video-intel-2.20.2_virtual_crtc.patch This ones work fine with kubuntu 12.10. --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #24 Judson 2012-10-26 10:00 Quoting Floh: Solution: https://raw.github.com/liskin/patches/master/hacks/xserver-xorg-video-intel-2.20.2_virtual_crtc.patch This ones work fine with kubuntu 12.10. Thanks for the update! --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #25 Nila Hondong 2012-11-06 12:10 Hi, i´m currently trying to Setup this with 12.10. I followed the instructions well. now, nvidia module cannot be loaded, because Bumblebee blacklists the module. Is this correct? Or should I remove them from the blacklist? Kind regards, Nils --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #26 Judson 2012-11-06 16:49 Quoting Nila Hondong: Hi, i´m currently trying to Setup this with 12.10. I followed the instructions well. now, nvidia module cannot be loaded, because Bumblebee blacklists the module. Is this correct? Or should I remove them from the blacklist? Kind regards, Nils Definitely leave it in the blacklist. the system won't be able to load the nvidia driver, but bumblebee will load it when it starts. so you will still be able to use the nvidia chip. If I do a "lsmod|grep nvidia" I can see it running (while I have triple monitors). --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 #27 David 2012-11-20 23:10 I have this working, and generally working well. However, I am not able to shut back off the nvidia adapter when I undock and want to use only the internal display. I tried to track it down last week, and echoing OFF back to /proc/acpi/bbswitch never sticks. It seems this has to do with the fact that the nvidia module is still loaded, and I can't unload it because it's listed as permanent. Does anyone have a solution for this?