Using dual-monitor setup with 2 independent screens

[Nico De Ranter-3]

Hi,

I'm not sure whether this is the right list to send my question to. If
it isn't please direct me in the right direction :-)

I have a dual-monitor setup with both screens setup as independent x
displays (so no twinview or xinerama).  Apparently this type of setup
isn't used much however I like it very much as it allows me to keep my
mail or a web browser open on 1 screen while working and switching
viewports independently on the other screen.  Unfortunately with this
setup it is not possible to drag windows from one display to the other,
however I don't mind as long as there is a reliable way to start
applications on the display where I want them to be.  Now there is the
rub: depending on the Linux distribution and even the version of the
distribution, starting applications from the Gnome menu bars or the menu
I get when right-clicking the desktop background will start applications
on the screen where I'm clicking or more likely always on the first
display (making it impossible to work as I can't drag them to the other
display).  For instance in Ubuntu 9.04 most applications I start from
the top menu bar will insist on appearing on the first display (not all
of them however?). Most notably it is now impossible for me to start an
xterm on my second display (I know I can force this by manually starting
the application with the '--display ' option but that's not easy to work
with as my wife also uses my pc so the display number will change
depending on who logged in first). Note that Ubuntu 8.10 did not have
this problem.  I already asked this question in the Ubuntu forum but
there I mainly got blank stares. I'm assuming this behaviour has
something to do with the Gnome version being used which is why I'm
trying my luck here now.

So, is there a way to change this behaviour so applications started from
the menu bars at the top and bottom of the screen will always start on
that specific display?

Or otherwise how can I change the menu I get when I right-click on the
desktop background? Whatever I start from this menu seems to appear on
the correct display. Unfortunately there isn't much useful in this menu
on Ubuntu.  The information I found on the Gnome website regarding
changing menus seems to be mostly about chaning the menus for the top
and bottom menu bars.

Thanks in advance,

Nico


--
 With kind regards,

Nico De Ranter
Senior System Administrator
Techsoft Centre

Technology and Software Centre Europe
The Corporate Village - Da Vincilaan 7-D1 - B-1935 Zaventem - Belgium

Phone:    [phone]
Fax:      [phone]
E-mail:   nico.deranter@...
Internet: www.sony-europe.com

A division of Sony Europe (Belgium) N.V.
Registered office: Technologielaan 7 - B-1840 Londerzeel - Belgium
VAT BE 0413.825.160 · RPR Brussels
Fortis Bank Zaventem 293-0376800-10 GEBA-BE-BB

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[Leszek Koltunski-6]

I also have the very same setup and very same problem. Various people have submitted a lot of bugs:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/gnome-applets/+bug/282845
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=533206
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=493019
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=556178

which sadly all tend to get ignored. One guy submitted a similar bug ( although he uses Xinerama ) to x.org
mailinglist:

http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/xorg/2009-October/047563.html

and got an answer that he has to recompile GTK+ with all the latest x.org libraries, which -
according to the submitter - works.

**********************************************************************************************
On an somewhat-related note, the 'multihead' setup seems to be extremely fragile;
I got it to work several times and always, sooner or later, it breaks, quite possibly
after the next x.org and/or Gnome libs update.


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[Wayne Sierke]

Nico,

On Fri, 2009-10-09 at 10:06 +0200, Nico De Ranter wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm not sure whether this is the right list to send my question to. If
> it isn't please direct me in the right direction :-)

This list doesn't see much traffic for some reason. I'm sure your
question is fine.

> I have a dual-monitor setup with both screens setup as independent x
> displays (so no twinview or xinerama).  Apparently this type of setup
> isn't used much however I like it very much as it allows me to keep my
> mail or a web browser open on 1 screen while working and switching
> viewports independently on the other screen.  

I use a similar configuration on FreeBSD using TwinView with a single
graphics card.

> Unfortunately with this
> setup it is not possible to drag windows from one display to the other,
> however I don't mind as long as there is a reliable way to start
> applications on the display where I want them to be.  Now there is the
> rub: depending on the Linux distribution and even the version of the
> distribution, starting applications from the Gnome menu bars or the menu
> I get when right-clicking the desktop background will start applications
> on the screen where I'm clicking or more likely always on the first
> display (making it impossible to work as I can't drag them to the other
> display).  For instance in Ubuntu 9.04 most applications I start from
> the top menu bar will insist on appearing on the first display (not all
> of them however?).

I also saw this behaviour. I don't have a reliable record but it's
possible that it started after upgrading gnome to 2.26.1. I didn't get
around to investigating whether a fix was available. Upgrading to 2.26.3
seems to have fixed it.

> Most notably it is now impossible for me to start an
> xterm on my second display (I know I can force this by manually starting
> the application with the '--display ' option but that's not easy to work
> with as my wife also uses my pc so the display number will change
> depending on who logged in first).

I was able to launch gnome-terminal and other apps on screen 1 simply by
launching them via the "Run Application" menu (Alt-F2) executed with
screen 1 active - and subsequently also by launching apps from the
command line in a gnome-terminal session opened on screen 1.

> Note that Ubuntu 8.10 did not have
> this problem.  I already asked this question in the Ubuntu forum but
> there I mainly got blank stares. I'm assuming this behaviour has
> something to do with the Gnome version being used which is why I'm
> trying my luck here now.
>
> So, is there a way to change this behaviour so applications started from
> the menu bars at the top and bottom of the screen will always start on
> that specific display?
>
> Or otherwise how can I change the menu I get when I right-click on the
> desktop background? Whatever I start from this menu seems to appear on
> the correct display. Unfortunately there isn't much useful in this menu
> on Ubuntu.  The information I found on the Gnome website regarding
> changing menus seems to be mostly about chaning the menus for the top
> and bottom menu bars.

There seems to be a utility called nautilus-actions however I've never
used it. It also seems that some people consider it worthwhile to use
compiz-fusion to take advantage of its ability to configure desktop
menus. Googling on something like "gnome desktop right-click menu"
should bring up some useful pages.


Wayne


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[Nico De Ranter-3]

On Tue, 2009-10-13 at 11:34 +1030, Wayne Sierke wrote:
> Nico,
>
> On Fri, 2009-10-09 at 10:06 +0200, Nico De Ranter wrote:
> > Hi,
> >

> > Unfortunately with this
> > setup it is not possible to drag windows from one display to the other,
> > however I don't mind as long as there is a reliable way to start
> > applications on the display where I want them to be.  Now there is the
> > rub: depending on the Linux distribution and even the version of the
> > distribution, starting applications from the Gnome menu bars or the menu
> > I get when right-clicking the desktop background will start applications
> > on the screen where I'm clicking or more likely always on the first
> > display (making it impossible to work as I can't drag them to the other
> > display).  For instance in Ubuntu 9.04 most applications I start from
> > the top menu bar will insist on appearing on the first display (not all
> > of them however?).
>
> I also saw this behaviour. I don't have a reliable record but it's
> possible that it started after upgrading gnome to 2.26.1. I didn't get
> around to investigating whether a fix was available. Upgrading to 2.26.3
> seems to have fixed it.

Hmm, Ubuntu 9.10 will use Gnome 2.28, I'll see what difference that will
make. I don't really want to start compiling my own gnome as I'm
managing about 20 linux workstations and they all need to be the same.

> > Most notably it is now impossible for me to start an
> > xterm on my second display (I know I can force this by manually starting
> > the application with the '--display ' option but that's not easy to work
> > with as my wife also uses my pc so the display number will change
> > depending on who logged in first).
>
> I was able to launch gnome-terminal and other apps on screen 1 simply by
> launching them via the "Run Application" menu (Alt-F2) executed with
> screen 1 active - and subsequently also by launching apps from the
> command line in a gnome-terminal session opened on screen 1.

Good tip. I'll try that one.

> > Note that Ubuntu 8.10 did not have
> > this problem.  I already asked this question in the Ubuntu forum but
> > there I mainly got blank stares. I'm assuming this behaviour has
> > something to do with the Gnome version being used which is why I'm
> > trying my luck here now.
> >
> > So, is there a way to change this behaviour so applications started from
> > the menu bars at the top and bottom of the screen will always start on
> > that specific display?
> >
> > Or otherwise how can I change the menu I get when I right-click on the
> > desktop background? Whatever I start from this menu seems to appear on
> > the correct display. Unfortunately there isn't much useful in this menu
> > on Ubuntu.  The information I found on the Gnome website regarding
> > changing menus seems to be mostly about chaning the menus for the top
> > and bottom menu bars.
>
> There seems to be a utility called nautilus-actions however I've never
> used it. It also seems that some people consider it worthwhile to use
> compiz-fusion to take advantage of its ability to configure desktop
> menus. Googling on something like "gnome desktop right-click menu"
> should bring up some useful pages.

Thanks I'll have a look at that too.

Thanks for the tips!!

Nico

--
With kind regards

Nico De Ranter
Senior System Administrator
Techsoft Centre

Technology and Software Centre Europe
The Corporate Village - Da Vincilaan 7-D1 - B-1935 Zaventem - Belgium

Phone:    [phone]
Fax:          [phone]
E-mail:    nico.deranter@...

A division of Sony Europe (Belgium) N.V.
VAT BE 0413.825.160 - RPR Brussels
Fortis - BIC GEBABEBB - IBAN BE41293037680010


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