Linux Dual Monitor Prob

OK I have an annoying prob getting my dual monitor setup to function under linux. Im using Fedora Core 3 with the KDE GUI.

Now my problem is, when I try to enable dual head, I geta silent failure when I click OK, it basically does nothing, all I see is the button animation push in and out and thats it. I tried reloading the rpm for the drivers, and I can redo my xorg.conf file cause its read only and Im a total n00b at this, so dont know how to make it writeable.

I ran through the setup for multi monitor in the ATi driver install, but it still didnt work. I can get a mirrored image in ridiculously low resolutions, such as 640x480, which I get to simply holding ctrl+alt and then pressing the numpad +/- keys.

This is driving me insane, so if anyone knows how to make this damn thing work, it would be much appreciated.

To make your xorg.conf file writable , you have to log in as root.
Other than that i have no idea.

Wrath, pala or aravi are the best ppl to talk too..........od knows some stuff but he'll be too busy

i've never tried a dual monitor linux setup, sorry. deus ex was correct about needing root priviliges to write to the config file. use 'su' at a command prompt to temporarily gain them. use 'exit' to return to your normal user account afterwards.

Yeah, I can do the root priveleges stuff no prob, just keep forgetting to as Im used to being the admin off the bat :p
But yeah, got my NTFS drives mounting on boot, though I have to access them before programs see the subfolders as folders and not files for some reason.

I cannot get dual monitor to work, and its driving me insane, might try a different distro.

a brief google seems to suggest that its a massive pain in the arse, and there might not be much you can do bar reinstalling your video drivers.

i did find this, however. dunno how much use it is to you though.
Quote from that site:
my only suggestion would be to do

$ man radeon

There is an Option argument for the device stanza of xorg.conf that you can add to explicitly tell X which head to use on the card.

Yeah, tried that Mungus, also tried like 4 different versions of my drivers, to no avail. The distro seems to have a bug, cause it supports dual head by itself, but when I select it, it doesnt work. Going to try another distro. Wouldnt mind Knoppix except I dont know how to make it HDD bootable.

there is a few ppl on darwinwireless who are prety good @ Linux, so wack up a post there, 1 of em should be able to elp ya out !!!

knoppix -> hdd

Running gentoo dualhead atm:

xorg 6.8.1.904
ATI Radeon

Section "Device"
Identifier "Radeon0"
Driver "radeon"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 0
Option "MergedFB" "True"
Option "CRT2HSync" "30-98"
Option "CRT2VRefresh" "50-160"
Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT,CRT"
Option "OverlayOnCRTC2" "true"
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024-1280x1024"
Option "CRT2Position" "RightOf"
EndSection

OK worked it out eventually.

Turns out there was a couple of probs. First one is the Dual Head mode in Fedora is buggy, and wont let you set it off a fresh install, however deleting the xorg.conf file, and then reloading X fixed this.

My other prob was that in windows, it reads my VGA as primary and my DVI as secondary, Fedora does it the other way around, so what ended up happening was I set my monitors up, but had the 17" at 1024x768 and the 15" trying to do 1280x1024, so the 15" would crap out and the 17" would look gumby arse...simply swapped ports and it's all good.

Its always something simple :p