In most cases, the exact video card model is not important; it's the chipset that counts. From your video card documentation, find out the chipset manufacturer and model (such as NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX) and select that option from the list. In many cases, an exact match is not required because one video driver is used for a wide range of chipsets.If there are no options that work for your video card, select the VESA driver, which will provide basic capabilities on almost any modern video card.
The X.org server used in Fedora can drive multiple monitors. If you have a second monitor connected to a second video card , you can enable it here. Select the checkbox labeled "Use dual head," then specify the video card, resolution, and color depth to be used. You can also specify the desktop layout as "Individual desktops" or "Spanning desktops"; for most applications, "Spanning desktops" is most versatile, since it enables you to move windows between desktops or even have a window fill both desktops. The second monitor is assumed to be to the right of the primary monitor.
Once you have selected the desired configuration, click OK. The new configuration will take effect the next time you start the graphical user interface.
If you logged in graphically, the GUI won't restart until you restart the system. You can force it to restart sooner by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspacebut you will lose any unsaved data, so exit from all applications first. (This key sequence abruptly aborts the X server process and normally should not be used to exit from a graphical session).
2.4.2. How Does It Work?
system-config-display /etc/X11/xorg.confThe xorg.conf file contains configuration information for four types of devices:
Video card
Monitor
Keyboard
Pointer (typically a mouse, but possibly a trackball, graphics tablet, touch screen, light pen, or some other positional input device)
The xorg.conf file is a plain-text file and can be edited by hand (see Lab 4.4, "Basic Text Editing Using vi "). Be sure to make a backup copy before making any changes. You can find a detailed description of the configuration options in xorg.conf 's manpage (see Lab 4.2, "Accessing Online Documentation "):
$ man xorg.conf
The file is divided into sections, each of which looks like this:
Section " SectionName "
Configuration Directives
EndSection
The most commonly used sections in this file are shown in Table 2-3.
Table 2-3. Common xorg.conf section names
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Monitor | Monitor specifications. |
| InputDevice | Keyboard configuration. |
| Pointer device configuration (mice, graphics tablets, touch screens). | |
| Device | Video card configuration. |
| Screen | Associates a Device with a Monitor and defines the available resolutions and color depth. |
| ServerLayout | Associates one or more Screen sections with two or more InputDevice sections. Different ServerLayouts can be defined to combine devices in different ways for use at different times; for example, a laptop can have a ServerLayout that specifies that the internal+external displays should be used, and another one that specifies only the internal display. |
| Files | Location of auxiliary files such as fonts, drivers, and color tables. |
| ServerFlags | Flags to control the overall operation of the X server. The flags may alternatively be placed in the ServerLayout sections if they apply to some ServerLayouts but not to others. |
| Extensions | Enables/disables extensions to the server capabilities. |
| Module | Loads additional modules. (Modules may provide extensions, but extensions don't have to exist as separate modules.) |
| Modes | Defines special video modes (rarely required). |
| DRI | Direct Render Interface (DRI) device configuration, used for some 3-D gaming. |
Here is a typical xorg.conf file:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "single head configuration"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Synaptics" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "AlwaysCore"
EndSection
Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "dri"
Load "synaptics"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" # Scrollwheel support
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes" # L+R buttons count as middle
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics" # Laptop touchpad
Driver "synaptics"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor" # Just for reference
ModelName "LCD Panel 1400x1050" # Just for reference
HorizSync 31.5 - 90.0 # Horiz. sync in kHz
VertRefresh 59.0 - 75.0 # Vert. refresh in Hz
Option "dpms" # Enables power management
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nv"