Display Tools So Rough That They Need A Shave!

Well, it’s Ubuntu tutorial day again and you might be wondering where the latest piece is for today? Now before you assume that I fell asleep at the wheel, let me explain what the deal is. During my off-hours, I’ve been pounding out what I believe is going to simplify some of the headache involved with setting up a dual-head (two monitor) display with Ubuntu. Now for the fine print…

Installing NVIDIA drivers.
The first tool I created is basically a bash script which requires you enter your sudo password and then launches a two command shells and a detailed how-to for installing proprietary NVIDIA video drivers. ATI help is linked, but considering that I own zero ATI cards, this tool is not going to help out much there for driver installation. You’ll want to use the tutorial linked within my provided NVIDIA how-to.

So what does this first “tool” do besides opening some shell windows and a Open Office write file? For one thing, it just backed up your existing video settings for you - automatically. The tool also offers you the kernel information needed before you can safely go and download new video drivers. In addition to this, it also opens up a root shell that saves you from having to chase down a standard shell, only to have to enter your sudo password in it again. What’s this mean to you? A lot of saved time with clear documentation and repetitive tasks being dealt with automatically.

Please understand, because I lack the skills to create a tool that can easily determine your needed kernel info to get you the correct video driver, I have opted to for a cut and paste approach while clearing up any variables that might get you messed up. Once again, clear documentation is provided.

Setting up dual monitors.
Much like the first tool mentioned above, tool number two also utilizes clear documentation along with a two-tabbed instance of Firefox that opens up the best how-to for setting up dual monitors for both NVIDIA and ATI users. The NVIDIA tute offered in the open browser window is complete, but you’ll notice that I have opened a text file in Oo for you that will clear up a few points that I believe were glossed over. And of course, a shell has been created for you once again in the interest of making your cut and paste experience as simple as possible.

Obvious a number of you may find that the tute provided looks rather familiar. Don’t fret about it, I have filled in serious gaps in making sure you edited the xorg file right with super clear examples of what most commonly goes wrong. Just compare yours to the one I provide and you will be fine. As always, the tool that kicks all of this open has once again, backed up your video settings just in case things go wrong.

You’re lost and just want some help getting this to work.
I hear you. You’ve tried to make a go of the tools I provided , but it still crashes your video settings when you try for that second monitor. You would send me your video settings for help, but have no idea how. Based on this need, I have created a tool that can help. It’s designed for NVIDIA users who want to email me their existing video settings for some help, but have no idea where to find them. My tool will actually pull and save it as a file that will magically appear with a very obvious name right there in the program’s folder. Just follow the instructions and send me that file. If you are an NVIDIA user, have two LCDs (one VGA and DVI) or two CRT monitors, I can help when I get this info. It will then be sent back with a tool that will backup your existing working settings and overwrite the xorg file with my new one created for you. Nice and automatic.

Disaster recovery with the newbie in mind.
Hosing your video settings (that xorg file I keep talking about) is quite likely. But here is the cool part - it doesn’t matter. Thanks to a ready-to-print help file that allows you to boot into Ubuntu recovery mode and repair your damaged xorg file with a single line of typing. It’s so easy that it may actually surprise many of you out there.

Let’s sum this up.
Just to summarize what we have talked about, here is what you will be doing to make dual monitors a reality.

1) Use the first tool, follow the instructions assuming you have not installed proprietary drivers already (not installed by default in Ubuntu).

2) Run tool two and take a stab at editing your xorg using my super easy commentary along with the already offered tutes opened up for you automatically. If you follow both items to the letter, things will work (NVIDIA will, anyway). The trick is letting me show you how to cut through the text-overload you are seeing in the xorg file. I mean seriously, that’s pretty overwhelming to look at for the first time.

I realize that this is hardly a long term solution by any stretch as Fedora and SuSE have GUI tools that make dual monitor setup a snap. But I am hoping by offering tools so rudimentary, so rough that they require aftershave just to make their aftermath stop stinging. Ubuntu devs will likely see this and with any luck, take note at how a guy with no programing skills whatsoever managed to fumble together a fairly usable solution that works quite well everything considered. Watch for its release coming Tuesday. And on that note, I suspect that I am going to need download mirrors for the “tool” set. Anyone willing to take a Digg hit? Email me and let me know if you can help.

[tags]video,Ubuntu,display,dual monitor,Linux,driver[/tags]