[mythtv-users] mythtv-users Digest, Vol 36, Issue 55

Beren Walters berenwalters at gmail.com
Fri Mar 10 00:46:09 UTC 2006


>
>
>Hello,
>
>My question may be out of topic but I have read through the list that
>some people have set up two running server X in order to get 2
>independent displays.
>
>Here is my situation: I have one pc which is my mythbox and my desktop
>box. I have two video cards and I would like to setup on my AGP card
>my normal desktop and on my second card mythtv.
>
>I can use xinerama to setup this but there is the problem of the mouse
>cursor which can go from one screen to the second. It will annoy me
>while I am watching a movie and my girlfriend surfing the web.
>
>Any help please ?
>Thanks
>Guillaume
>

Guillame,

Xinerama is not really useful for independant displays as they are not, 
well, independant.  You will have issues with the focus being shared 
between the screens, so even if you managed to get two mythtvs running 
on each screen (and I'm not sure if that is possible) you would only be 
able to control one app at a time.

I would recommend you follow Chris Tylers instructions on how to setup 
multiple Xservers using xorg 6.9/7.0 as this allows you to use multiple 
video cards as completely independant displays.  So the displays each 
have their own keyboard,  mouse, resolution, window manager, etc.

The instructions can be found here - 
http://blog.chris.tylers.info/index.php?/archives/14-Multiseat-X-Under-X11R6.97.0.html

I have used these instructions to add another seat to my debian etch 
home pc.  I can now do my work while the kids play games or watch tv on 
the other monitor - even though the second card is an archaic S3 4MB PCI 
card, it still plays SDTV fine.

The issues I encountered have all been documented on the above blog, but 
to summarize.
* I needed the -isolateDevice command in the xserver invocation lines at 
the bottom of my gdm.conf (apparently this is not always required).
* I had to disable the terminal blanking to stop the second seat 
blanking and never coming back to life.  Under debian this requires 
editing of /etc/console-tools/config as follows:
BLANK_TIME=0
(On other systems, just grep /etc for setterm and try and determine how 
to modify it appropriately).

Hope this helps, I have been very impressed with the stability and 
utility of this setup and the kids are loving it.  I have had a few 
issues with python games crashing and consuming 100% cpu, but it is 
trivial to kill off the process when you have another logged in screen 
sitting next to it.

My Setup:
Athlon XP 2400+ (800+MB RAM, 80GB HD)
2 * 19" CRT
2 * USB Mouse
2 * USB Keyboards w/ builtin USB Hub ( I was already using usb 
mouse/keyboard but you could also use a combination of USB and PS2).
USB extension cable
DSUB extension cable
Audio extension cable
(The extension cables aren't required, but I like to have the kids a bit 
away from my work space.... they can get a bit rambunctious).

I hope this gets you on the path to multiseat bliss - remember you don't 
need the latest components (the PCI video card thats been sitting in 
your cupboard should be fine).

The only issue I have not yet faced is directing audio to an appropriate 
sound device on a per seat basis.  Currently all audio streams go to the 
one output device in my setup, but the kids are pretty much the only 
ones who use sounds so it's not a big issue in my case.

Beren.


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