Multiple monitors

[Alex Deucher]

On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 11:21 AM, Paul van der Vlis <paul at vandervlis.nl> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I would like to use multiple monitors. I use Asus M4A78 PRO mainboards
> with AMD 780G/SB700 chipset and integrated Radeon HD 3200 Graphics.
> This mainboard has a VGA and a DVI port. Can I use that for dual screens
> with OSS drivers?

Yes.

>
> When I add a PCIe card with HD 3450 chipset I cannot use the integrated
> graphics anymore. In the manual they tell about "surround view". Is this
> possible with OSS drivers?

In theory it should work with kms using drm-next.  fglrx also supports
multiple cards.

>
> I am interested in multi-seat systems too.
> Do you know about setups for multi-seat systems with ATI/AMD and OSS
> drivers?
>
> I would like to have hardware accelerated 2D. What version of X/kernel
> do I need as a minimum?

For 2D acceleration you need 2.6.31.  For 3D and kms you'll need
drm-next or 2.6.32.

>
> And are there ATI videocards what use really less energy?

The hardware is capable of quite a few power saving features, they are
just not well implemented yet in the open source driver.  There are
some options in the non-KMS ddx to reduce engine clocks and enable
clock gating, but it's pretty basic right now.

Alex