nvidia drivers, second monitor covered by black

[Clint Byrum]

Some time in the last few days of updates, my TwinView based nvidia setup (chip == NV96) has stopped working properly. The second monitor is completely covered by a black, blank screen. The mouse is visiable there, but clicks do not register.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: unity 4.2.0-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-5.6-generic 3.0.0-rc7
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-5-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia wl
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 275.09.07 Wed Jun 8 14:16:46 PDT 2011
 GCC version: gcc version 4.6.1 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.1-4ubuntu1)
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,scale,session,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: None
Date: Wed Jul 20 00:23:26 2011
DistUpgraded: Log time: 2011-07-14 11:41:08.323281
DistroCodename: oneiric
DistroVariant: ubuntu
GraphicsCard:
 nVidia Corporation G96 [GeForce 9600M GT] [10de:0647] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Apple Computer Inc. Device [106b:00a9]
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101008.1)
JockeyStatus:
 xorg:nvidia_173 - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use)
 kmod:wl - Broadcom STA wireless driver (Proprietary, Enabled, In use) [auto-install]
 xorg:nvidia_current - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Enabled, Not in use)
MachineType: Apple Inc. MacBookPro5,1
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-5-generic root=UUID=ed27950b-c6c0-4232-aa2b-c545364a68b8 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
Renderer: Unknown
SourcePackage: unity
UdevDb: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-07-14 (5 days ago)
XorgConf:
 Section "Device"
  Identifier "Default Device"
  Option "NoLogo" "True"
 EndSection
dmi.bios.date: 05/05/09
dmi.bios.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.bios.version: MBP51.88Z.007E.B05.0905051508
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag#
dmi.board.name: Mac-F42D86C8
dmi.board.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.board.version: Proto
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset Tag#
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Mac-F42D86C8
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAppleInc.:bvrMBP51.88Z.007E.B05.0905051508:bd05/05/09:svnAppleInc.:pnMacBookPro5,1:pvr1.0:rvnAppleInc.:rnMac-F42D86C8:rvrProto:cvnAppleInc.:ct8:cvrMac-F42D86C8:
dmi.product.name: MacBookPro5,1
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Apple Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.5.0-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu13
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.26-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.11~1-0ubuntu4
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental 7.11~1-0ubuntu4
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.11~1-0ubuntu4
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+7ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.6.0-1ubuntu13
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.15.0-3ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110411+8378443-1

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

Thanks for your report.

Do you see the unity launcher and/or top panel over the black area on the second screen ?
Could you attach a screenshot/picture ?

Thanks in advance.

[Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar)]

No I see nothing at all in the black area except the mouse pointer. When I logout, I do briefly see the background appear before the screen disappears. I will try and post a screenshot later.

[Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar)]

BTW I have switched to XFCE and this does not occur, which is why I believe it is a unity problem.

[Jean-Baptiste Lallement (jibel)]

There is the same type of issue with intel cards. Setting to confirmed, targeting for Oneiric and assigning to DX for review.

[Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar)]

This is actually on a MacBookPro 5,1 with an Nvidia GF9600

Screenshot attached

[Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar)]

More info. So normally I had the minimal xorg configuration, and would just use twinview when plugging in an external monitor.

I switched it to this:

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 280.13 (buildd@yellow) Fri Aug 5 12:31:28 UTC 2011

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "Layout0"
    Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier "Mouse0"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol" "auto"
    Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier "Keyboard0"
    Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier "Monitor0"
    VendorName "Unknown"
    ModelName "Apple"
    HorizSync 30.0 - 75.0
    VertRefresh 60.0
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 9600M GT"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device "Device0"
    Monitor "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "TwinView" "1"
    Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DFP-1: nvidia-auto-select +1440+0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

And on first boot/login, the monitor works fine. However, If I open up nvidia-settings and disable the external monitor, nvidia settings complains but no more windows are placed on it (the mouse can still traverse into it).

Upon re-adding the external monitor to TwinView, however, this effect happens again.. black area where mouse can traverse but no windows. Logging out / back in "fixes" this, but that means loss of my session.

So it seems that whatever method nvidia settings uses to re-configure displays isn't being honored by Unity.

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Have the same problem on other hardware: marked my bug report as duplicate:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-settings/+bug/840462

[SilverWave (silverwave)]

http://silverwav.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/upgrading-to-oneiric-11-10-beta-1-propritary-nvidia-drivers/

This was a little tricky.

I have a Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS; 1 x Samsung SM226BW (left 1680x 1050); 1 x SMB2430H (right 1920x 1080.).

I was using TwinView via NVIDIA Settings in Natty 11.04 OK prior to the upgrade.

________________________________________

Update : 02.09.2011

I find that to have TwinView work correctly across both screens I need to do this:

The NVIDIA Settings Screen Dance

Enable TwinView, apply and click OK on the invisible dialogue box.

Set Clone and Apply then Cancel.

Note: Both screens now are enabled (but both showing the same view).

Move the right screen to the left or vice versa and apply.

Note: Both screen now allow windows to be moved from one to another.

Move the right screen back to the left and apply.

All working correctly now :-)

Oh and you may want to have a look at this.

________________________________________

Update : 08.09.2011

The latest update has fixed this issue, NVIDIA Settings with TwinView now works fine. :-)

Linux 3.0.0-10-generic #16-Ubuntu SMP Fri Sep 2 18:32:04 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

NVIDIA Driver Version:280.13 (nvidia-current)
Server Vendor Version:1.10.2.902 (11002902)

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Cannot confirm that an update fixed the problem.
Twinview under unity (3D) highly buggy and forces untiy/compiz to crash.

[SilverWave (silverwave)]

Update : 10.09.2011

Tested again, NVIDIA Settings with TwinView and I still need to do the The NVIDIA Settings Screen Dance (#9) to get TwinView working.

 :-(

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

For all users that really need a running system:

Since I found out, that the Gnome3 (shell) environment is affected too (crashes), I temporarily installed xfce4 (compositor not enabled). All problems have gone. System is fast and stable. Nvidia-settings works like a charm.

I'll keep an eye on this until future updates will fix the issue. I am sure you guys will find a solution, unity is a really great software.

[Didier Roche-Tolomelli (didrocks)]

Note that it appears particuarly after restarting unity. Should maybe be a nvidia bug.

[Jay Taoko (jaytaoko)]

I have tested with a macbook pro (Nvidia 9600 inside). I can setup a TwinView between my macbook screen and a 1600x1200 monitor. Unity works fine, but twinView takes some times to configure. It sometimes refuse to set a configuration that I know to be working...
I recommend trying again with the latest pre-release of Oneiric and report the findings.

[Jay Taoko (jaytaoko)]

I will mark this as invalid, as I suspect a bug in Nvidia TwinView. Re-open if there are more information to suggest otherwise.

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Hi Jay,

1. For more information: did you read this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-settings/+bug/840462 ?
2. Did you read #12 ?

Could you be a little bit more declarative why you changed this to invalid and "suspect" this is a bug in Nvidia-Twinview, why not Compiz or Compiz/Unity 3D?

Like I wrote more than once Twinview works flawlessly in all other deskop-environments than Unity 3d (Gnome-Shell, Unity 2d, XFCE) - I am currently using it under XFCE. Problems I had with Gnome-Shell are not with Twinview, but compiz / general performance.

So please until you do not file a bug in another context or really give us some concrete arguments please leave this bug open. This is the place where people will look for the concrete problem! Changing it to invalid is not a good choice, cluttering things up in more bug reports - that's my oppinion.

Greets Axel

[David Peter (davidpeter)]

I fully agree with Axel. I have exactly the same problems and I think this is really unity/compiz related. Everything was working fine with 10.04.

[Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar)]

Excerpts from Jay Taoko's message of Wed Sep 14 15:52:12 UTC 2011:
> I will mark this as invalid, as I suspect a bug in Nvidia TwinView. Re-
> open if there are more information to suggest otherwise.
>

I did actually have a more positive experience when disabling the second
monitor today with all updates applied. I was in a hurry and not able to
re-enable the second monitor, but will do so tonight when I return home.

Still not sure if your experience alone is enough to change from Confirmed
-> Invalid, since you were never "affected" AFAIK.

[Nate Carlson (natecarlson)]

Ditto - everything worked fine under 11.04 with gnome-session, upgraded to Oneiric, now cannot enable twinview in Unity without things breaking. Things are OK under Unity 2D.

[SilverWave (silverwave)]

I used "Reset" from XServer Display Configuration in Nvidia Settings.

Now I don't see any configuration errors on start-up and twin-view is working correctly from no config required.

:-)

Yay!

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

nvidia-common 1:0.2.35
nvidia-current 280.13-0ubuntu3
nvidia-settings 280.13-0ubuntu2
xorg 1:7.6+7ubuntu7
unity 4.16.0-0ubuntu2
unity-2d 4.8.0-0ubuntu
unity-common 4.16.0-0ubuntu2

Note: nvidia-settings was gone/not working for some reasons. So I had to reinstall it (apt-get install --reinstall nvidia-settings).

As of the last update, I can confirm that the problems are gone.
Nvidia-Settings is working under unity (3D) again.

I cannot say, if this is due to updates to unity (which occured some days ago) or xorg,.

But due to real performance issues (xorg takes a lot of cpu) I work with unity2d which is very fast and needs much more less graphics power than unity(3d).

Thanks all developers who had an eye on this.

[Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar)]

I just wanted to note that I no longer have the "covered by black" problem
in 11.10 beta2, however I still do have issues when adding/removing
monitors to TwinView. They're mostly visual corruption that go away once
the transition is over. I suspect these are different issues than the one
reported here though.

Excerpts from Pedro Villavicencio's message of Tue Sep 27 11:06:54 UTC 2011:
> ** Changed in: nvidia-graphics-drivers (Ubuntu Oneiric)
> Importance: Undecided => High
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/813343
>
> Title:
> nvidia drivers, second monitor covered by black
>
> Status in Unity:
> Invalid
> Status in “nvidia-graphics-drivers” package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
> Status in “unity” package in Ubuntu:
> Invalid
> Status in “nvidia-graphics-drivers” source package in Oneiric:
> Confirmed
> Status in “unity” source package in Oneiric:
> Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> Some time in the last few days of updates, my TwinView based nvidia
> setup (chip == NV96) has stopped working properly. The second monitor
> is completely covered by a black, blank screen. The mouse is visiable
> there, but clicks do not register.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
> Package: unity 4.2.0-0ubuntu5
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-5.6-generic 3.0.0-rc7
> Uname: Linux 3.0.0-5-generic x86_64
> NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia wl
> .proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
> .proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
> .proc.driver.nvidia.version:
> NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 275.09.07 Wed Jun 8 14:16:46 PDT 2011
> GCC version: gcc version 4.6.1 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.1-4ubuntu1)
> Architecture: amd64
> CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,mousepoll,vpswitch,regex,animation,snap,expo,move,compiztoolbox,place,gnomecompat,wall,ezoom,workarounds,staticswitcher,resize,fade,scale,session,unityshell]
> CompositorRunning: None
> Date: Wed Jul 20 00:23:26 2011
> DistUpgraded: Log time: 2011-07-14 11:41:08.323281
> DistroCodename: oneiric
> DistroVariant: ubuntu
> GraphicsCard:
> nVidia Corporation G96 [GeForce 9600M GT] [10de:0647] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
> Subsystem: Apple Computer Inc. Device [106b:00a9]
> InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101008.1)
> JockeyStatus:
> xorg:nvidia_173 - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use)
> kmod:wl - Broadcom STA wireless driver (Proprietary, Enabled, In use) [auto-install]
> xorg:nvidia_current - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Enabled, Not in use)
> MachineType: Apple Inc. MacBookPro5,1
> ProcEnviron:
> PATH=(custom, user)
> LANG=en_US.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-5-generic root=UUID=ed27950b-c6c0-4232-aa2b-c545364a68b8 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
> Renderer: Unknown
> SourcePackage: unity
> UdevDb: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
> UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiri...

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

@Clint, can you confirm you're no longer having the black screen issue, and that this bug report can be closed?

Also interested in if the corruption during transition still occurs; you're right it's probably a separate bug.

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

I can see some artifacts when changing the screen (see video). This is under unity, the same applies for unity 2d.
I don't see these when using e.g. xfce (probably things only are faster and therefore artifacts not visible?).

linux-image-3.0.0-12-generic - 3.0.0-12.19
nvidia-cg-toolkit - 3.0.0007-0ubuntu1
nvidia-common - 1:0.2.35
nvidia-current - 280.13-0ubuntu5
nvidia-settings - 280.13-0ubuntu2
xserver-xorg-video-all - 1:7.6+7ubuntu7

Greets
Axel

[Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar)]

Excerpts from Bryce Harrington's message of Fri Oct 07 08:46:31 UTC 2011:
> @Clint, can you confirm you're no longer having the black screen issue,
> and that this bug report can be closed?
>
> Also interested in if the corruption during transition still occurs;
> you're right it's probably a separate bug.
>

The issue is entirely resolved for me in Oneiric.

[psypher (psypher246)]

Hi All,

I have a GeForce GT 445M and this issue is not resolved with latest Oneiric. My transition is also totally corrupted and then goes back to default. If I save my xorg.conf at that point and restart lightdm I have dual view working but there are still issues. When pressing super+s the right screen zoom out view looks like it drew frames in between the zoom animation (screenshot attached). Also Once zoomed out I have issues in selecting apps to drag and drop to other desktops. Works about 30% of the time and is terrible. Are these two issues related or should I log new bugs for each of them or can they both be logged as one expo feature bug?

Thanks

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Hi psypher,

my desktop looked exactly the same when using supe-s as shown in your screenshot.

What i did: booted into recovery mode and removed nvidia-current AND nvidia-settings:

apt-get remove --purge nvidia-current nvidia-settings

Then I searched for ALL occurences of nvidia*[current|settings] and removed them from the filesystem.

rm -rf /var/lib/dpkg/alternatives/nvidia_settings_conf
rm -rf /var/lib/dkms/nvidia-current
rm -rf /usr/src/nvidia-current-280.13
rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/nvidia-current*
rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/nvidia-settings.*

Rebooted the machine.
Then I started unity and installed nvidia-current with jockey-gtk and rebooted again.
I use a minimal xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Default Device"
        Option "NoLogo" "True"
        #Option "RandRRotation" "on"
EndSection

Hope this helps.

[Nikolaj Hansen (barnabasdk)]

@Axel

Thank you!

This made Gnome-Shell (v3) work with twinview on my Lenovo W520 running discrete graphics only.

Unity still breaks down when twinview is started.

[psypher (psypher246)]

Hi Axel,

I tried all of that but still to no avail. As soon as I try setting twinview again the screen corrupts, times out and is back to normal. replacing my working xorg.conf and restarting still yields the same issues when going in to expo mode, I still get the errors on boot and themes are still broken especially in nautilus. Made no difference.

Any response from Jay as this is still marked as invalid and we have proved this is not a nvidia issues but a unity issue?

Unity is effectively completely broken when using twinview, whether trying to set it or using a known natty working xorg. It's unusable and since I ONLY work with a twinview setup oneiric is a useless to me.

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

OK - just for a workaround: if Unity(3D) is not working. Are you able to use unity2d?

It works (almost) perfectly on my different twinview workplaces. That's what I am doing since I have massive performance issues on my 128MB nvidia quadro NVS140M card - which is "older", but normally should be not that bad for 3D ;)

This is really, really weird and I agree with you, this is not only a bug in nvidia, but might be with unity & nvidia & twinview.

Should be a new thread specially for unity(3d).

[Michael Blank (mblank)]

I have a white screen on my second monitor - however, you can see the mouse pointer (as an "x", like in the classical X windows).

My graphics card is a Nvidia Quadro NV290 ( NVIDIA Driver Version:280.13 (nvidia-current) )

[psypher (psypher246)]

HI Axel,

Tried unity 2d, still get the "Could not apply the stored configuration for monitors" error on boot with missing theme, then as before I click OK and then the desktop is draw with correct theme yet nautilus is still missing theme. Also not sure how unity 2d acts on a dual screen, never tried before. But expo mode is only on the primary screen and you can't drag apps to other desktops at all, is that by design?

[psypher (psypher246)]

Oh I still have to hold my left mouse down on any of the indicator applets to keep them menu open

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Hi psypher,

as said in #30 I don't write to the xorg-file wiht nvidia settings (what one might do), only use a minimal.
In very very old days, some monitors need to have appropriate modelines: see https://wiki.blue-it.org/Xserver_Issues#Modline_generator

@#35: Did you install the package unity-desktop. Probably there are some packages missing? What "theme" is missing?: Lightdm or nautilus? Did you use any ppa's in former times? Or any other window-managers like emerald or so?
Expo I cannot try in the moment, because I am on xfce4 in the moment - sorry (and I would open another bug on this).

@#36: other bug.

Greets Axel

[psypher (psypher246)]

HI Axel,

I know you are using a minimal xorg but I am not understanding what is the point when we are trying to get twinview working with unity. I have no issues when running with one screen, expo works, indicators work, themes work. As soon as I apply my Natty working xorg the entire desktop breaks, hence why I mention those other bugs. They might be separate bugs but they are all related to the general corruption of the unity desktop when twinview is turned on.

I had none of these issues in Natty except one, I have attached a screenshot of that below. The one that says "could not apply the stored config for monitors". That occurs at boot and remains until I click close. Then I am left with the broken desktop as described before and the other attachment shows the missing themes. If I log out lightdm also has missing theme yes in a similar way.

There is no packages called unity-desktop, do you perhaps mean ubuntu-desktop? And yes that is installed by default and I have checked it it there.

No PPA's were used in former times, this is a default install from scratch and I have tried installing it twice and checking my image consistency.

No other managers were ever used.

I have opened another bug for expo issue (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity/+bug/854556). Thats been logged for over a month now and it's only barely been touched and marked as confirmed, not assigned. From all the issues I see, as soon as I turn on twinview, I suspect that as soon as the main issue with twinview is fixed all the other will fall in place.

What still concerns me is the lack of action being done on this bug, it's still being marked as invalid for unity but confirmed for nvidia yet not assigned. We have already proven that nvidia-settings works 100% in XFCE and I have just tried installing it and it worked fine for me too. I also don't get any errors during login. Ofcourse i can't test expo but still, no errors and a working dual desktop by using nvidai settings and not my xorg.conf (which also works BTW)

Due to all of these things as far as I am concerned this is a unity issue and I would really like to see some Canonical developer input on this issue urgently.

[psypher (psypher246)]

Error at login

[psypher (psypher246)]

Missing themes

[Ben Gladwell (bengladwell)]

@#11 - I also have to set second display to Twinview:Clone. That never works on the first attempt, but works on the second attempt. Once second display is cloned, I can change to "Right Of". I am not able to use the workaround described in #20.

GeForce 8600M GT
nvidia-current (280.13-0ubuntu6)

[Bill Gurley (bgurley)]

I'm having the same symptom as that of Michael, #34. Also a Quadro card.

I cannot get Twinview to work since I upgraded to Ubuntu 11.10. My computer is a Dell Optiplex 960, with a Dell-supplied nVidia Quadro NVS 420 card, connected via DVI to two Dell 2009W monitors. Until Monday, I was successfully using my two monitors in twinview mode, using the nVidia restricted driver, and Ubuntu 10.04. On Monday, I performed a step-wise upgrade to 11.10. Since that time, I have not been able to get dual monitors to work. A single monitor setup with the nvidia driver works fine. When I use nvidia-settings to enable the second monitor, and then reboot, the second monitor initially flashes the normal ubuntu desktop color, and then immediately goes to a grayish-white screen. If I move the mouse pointer to the second monitor, the pointer changes from an arrow to the old X-windows "X" pointer. If I right-click the screen of the second monitor, it will change to the normal color. But doing anything else causes it to go white again. Also in this mode, Unity running on the primary screen behaves oddly. For example, files sitting on the desktop cannot be moved with the mouse. Another notable point is that when I use nvidia-settings to enable the secondary monitor, the "Twinview" choice is shaded and not available. I tried purging all nvidia files with apt-get and removing xorg.conf to start over, and then installed nvidia-current from PPA, but it did not help. I am running 64-bit Oneiric, and the nvidia driver is 285.05.09.

For now, I am using a single monitor, hoping that this is a bug that can be fixed soon.

[Bill Gurley (bgurley)]

Followup on my entry, #42: As suggested in #12, I installed xfce4. I logged in using xfce, and was able to easily get twinview working, with no anomalies. Looks like this may be a Unity bug instead of specifically an nvidia bug?

[Bill Gurley (bgurley)]

This morning I applied updates that came in via update manager. There were Unity updates, so I rebooted and tried again to use my two monitors, but I still have the same behavior as described in #42. Anyone else having this issue?

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

@Psypher
Just an idea: do you have an ~/.config/monitors.xml file?

See http://askubuntu.com/questions/23869/could-not-apply-the-stored-configuration-for-the-monitor

[[e-mail] (yeosuanaik)]

FWIW, after today's updates, I managed to get twinview (partially) working.

Previously, whenever I enabled twinview, Unity just plain crashed, and literally all I was left with was my desktop wallpaper. I had to save Nvidia's settings to xorg.conf in order to get dual monitors, but even then I was having the tray-clicking issues described in #36.

Right now, I can enable twinview (it definitely still is a little finicky - you HAVE to select "you this as my main screen" on one of the screens, and it doesn't always work the first time) without Unity crashing, and it seems to work perfectly after that. However, the settings don't get saved; so if you restart your machine you'll start with a single screen and have to reconfigure them.

This doesn't bother me too terribly as this machine will hardly get rebooted, but I'm sure its still a deal-breaker for many. Hope it helps, anyway.

gfx card: GeForce 9300 GE
driver version: 280.13
kernel: 3.0.0-12-generic-pae

[Russ Adams (rustushki)]

I've been experiencing these same problems with my MacBook Pro 5.1 system. Based on all of your comments, this is my work around.

1. Login from LDM in Unity.
2. Add a link to /usr/bin/unity on your Desktop.
3. Open Nvidia Settings
4. Enable second monitor in Twin View mode.
5. It will fail leaving you with only one monitor. That's OK.
6. Enable second monitor in Twin View mode a second time.
7. You'll have a dual monitor desktop, but Unity will crash.
8. Double Click on unity icon on your desktop.
9. Nautilus will ask you how you want to load the file. Click 'Run'.

[Wouter Geraedts (w-geraedts)]

I've been experiencing these same problems when extending my desktop. Cloning the desktop works, but system is unstable for a minute or two. (As described in bug 877438)

chipset: nVidia Corporation GF104 [GeForce GTX 460] (rev a1)
nvidia-current: 280.13-0ubuntu6

[psypher (psypher246)]

@Axel:

Thank removing that file solved my login problem as well as my themes in nautilus.

Since unity update came out my indicator applets have stopped giving me issues. I can now click on them to open without holding down the mouse.

@Russ

That method seemed to work for me, except my unity did not crash, which i guess is a good thing.

My expo mode is still broken but I will chase that up on the other bug.

[Wouter Geraedts (w-geraedts)]

Evidence suggests this is a problem with the unity-plugin in Compiz, rather than a problem with TwinView. (No problems with Unity2D, XFCE, KDE, etc.)

[Christian George (radu-j-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Hello,

I noticed that several of you say that TwinView works out of Unity. I am using Xubuntu, all latest patches applied, and TwinView does not work. Nvidia-settings app simply hangs and will not work again, unless i logout and login again.

Please let me know how you guys manage to get it to work in Xfce.

Thanks!

[psypher (psypher246)]

@Radu

I have not installed xubuntu from the cd, I installed Ubuntu and then installed the xubuntu-desktop package and then switched to xfce from lightdm. Then I was easily able to use nvidia-settings

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Hi Radu, could you please give us a little bit more information about you system and settings (xubuntu version, program version of nvidia, xorg.conf, lightdm.log, xorg.logs, ...). Its a little bit hard to see where your problem is, without these fact ;)

[Christian George (radu-j-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Hello ,

Thank you very much for replying to me :)

Indeed my first post did not include too many details. I have a Dell E6520 laptop, and i use 1 x HDMI and 1 x DisplayPort output through a Dell Port Replicator. It was working perfectly before the Ubuntu upgrade.

I tested:
Ubuntu with XFCE4
Ubuntu with Unity 2D and 3D
Ubuntu with Gnome classic
Xubuntu
Ubuntu with xubuntu-desktop

All of the above attempts failed in the same way. Nvidia-settings freezes when i try to configure second monitor in TwinView.

The nvidia driver i use is installed through Additional Drivers. I tested both available drivers, "current" and "post-release updates" and both behave the same.

From the nvidia-settings I can find out:
NVIDIA Driver Version: 280.13
Server Version Number: 11.0
Server Vendor Version: 1.10.4 (11004000)
NV-CONTROL Version: 1.27
Screens: 1

I did not find anything unusual in the logs when i checked. But i will re-check and return with the log output once i re-test.

[Christian George (radu-j-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Hello again,

I performed the test again and i can see no output in any of the logs.
The only odd thing is that nvidia-settings freezes, and it consumes 70-80% of CPU resources. I check this using top tool.

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Could you please open a console do the following:

Start nvidia-settings, try to configure, then nvidia-settings freezes. Then go into your console an do (you can copy and paste the following):

cd ~/Desktop
mkdir reports
cd reports

sudo cp /var/log/lightdm/*
sudo apport-bug --save=~/Desktop/reports/apport.log nvidia-settings
sudo cp /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf .
sudo cp /var/log/lightdm/*
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf .
sudo nvidia-bug-report.sh
sudo gunzip nvidia-bug-report.log.gz

sudo tar czvf reports.tgz *
sudo chmod 777 reports.tgz

And send the reports.tgz (it contains all necessary files).

[Christian George (radu-j-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

I have done as you said. Please find the attached report

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Hi Radu, thanks for sending the information. As far as I can see there is only one thing that i don't understand in the xorg.log, when you try to add the second monitor.:

[ 310.430] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "DFP-0:NULL,DFP-1:1920x1080@1920x1080+0+0"

mine looks like this when attaching a display:

[ 37938.491] (II) NVIDIA(0): "DFP-0:1680x1050@1680x1050+1920+0,DFP-1:1920x1080@1920x1080+0+0"

As you can see, your DFP-0 is not configured.

All other things seem to be configured correct and all packages are up to date.

What I would suggest (not necessarily in this order)

1. Get rid of ALL old nvida related packages and reinstall them:

Boot into save mode.
See https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-settings/+bug/840462 (there #13)
Delete ~/.nvidia-settings-rc and ~/.config/monitors.xml (#45)
Reboot in save mode and reinstall nvidia-current and -settings.

2. You could you probably try the autoconfiguring tool Disper for nvidia cards ( https://launchpad.net/disper ) to get twinview working. On xfce you must enable an indicator message docklet to see the applet. But you can also use it from the command line (disper --help / man disper). On unity you have to add "Disper" to the list of allowed applets (dconf-editor->desktop->unity->panel).

Here is the package:
https://launchpad.net/~disper-dev/+archive/ppa/+files/disper_0.3.0_all.deb
(you can savely uninstall it afterwards)

Good luck

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

Forgot to mention: Point 1: you should probably use the "jockey-gtk" tool to install nvidia after the uninstallation procedure and reboot!!!

[Christian George (radu-j-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

DFP-0 is unavailable because i turned it off.
I want to use DFP-1 and DFP-2 for twinview.
DFP-0 is the laptop screen.
DFP-1 and DFP-2 are external.

Thanks for the instructions above. I will try your advice and let you know the results.

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

> DFP-1 and DFP-2 are external

This is a problem, because as far as I know "Twin"-view (as the name implies) is for dualmonitor-view only!
What you need is xinerama and this is a complete different thing - and would be another bug report as well. This bug handles the case, where people try to extend their primary monitor (DFP-0) with a second one. "Disper" - the tool I suggested - also has no support for more than two monitors!

Sorry, but in this case I won't be able to help you because i don't have the hardware supporting such a scenario.
Also see threads like this: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1703524&page=2

[Christophe Gosiau (christophe-r)]

Hi Axel,

This is not completely true. In Natty, it was possible to activate twinview on 2 external monitors if DFP-0 is disabled.
This was done via nvidia-settings.
However now, the nvidia-settings seems to crash when the same setup is applied.

Like Radu, I also experience this problem. I have a Dell Latitude E6420 with NVS 4200M.
I now switched back to Natty until this problem is solved :/

PS: I had the same problem when only connecting 1 external monitor, so twinview on DFP-0 and DFP-1.

[Axel Pospischil (apos)]

@Christophe and @Radu: I really suggest opening a new, separate bug for this special case with two external monitors, primary one switched off.

@Christophe: is it possible to use your old xorg.conf (11.04) with 11.10 (without nvidia-settings)? Or save the running configuration to an xorg.file with nvidia-settings and use it. Possibly you could post the xorg.conf here?
Working with three monitors like this is new to me, thanks for correction ;)

[Christian George (radu-j-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

@Axel: thanks for the tip regarding "disper" :) I installed this software immediately and i was able to use my 2 external monitors like i used to do using nvidia-settings. The command i used was:
disper -d DFP-1,DFP-2 -e -r auto

It seems to work without a glitch, on Xubuntu . Nvidia-settings still does not work however. But disper is just as good from what I can see. Thanks for the tip!!

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Hey clint-fewbar,

Hi, thanks for reporting this issue during the development period of
Ubuntu.

I notice there's not been further comments to the bug report since the
release came out, would you mind updating us on the status of it in the
release?

Are you still able to reproduce the issue? If not, do you think the bug
report can be closed, or do you think we should continue tracking it?

[Michael Knap (michael-knap)]

I just want to chime in here and say that there is something seriously wrong with Ocelot and Compiz and Unity and nVidia. In fact, this issue is one reason why I haven't upgraded one of my machines. I did upgrade my work machine, and I had similar issues as above. I managed to finagle the settings enough to get it useable, but I am seeing progressively higher CPU usage by compiz. This did not occur on the same machine with natty. For example, upon a clean boot, comiz may use 3% cpu; by the evening compiz will b e using 10-15%. The next morning compiz will be using 20-25%. If I leave for the weekend and return, compiz will be using 70% cpu.

This may not be the same bug as mentioned above, but I haven't found anywhere else to discuss the issue. And I post it here because I have been following this thread as my own problems started with these kind of issues. If anyone could tell me a way to help with the debugging, I would love to contribute.

[Achim Behrens (k1l)]

I use a Dell Vostro 1500 with a GeForce 8600M GT.
I used to have lucid with gnome2 (of course) with a seperate x-server setting for my external tft. everything worked like a charme.

Then i switched to an SSD and did a oneiric reinstall.
When installing any oneiric nvidiadriver and setting up the seperate xserver setting i get the same issue with black (or white when i click around) screen on the external tft. Mouse apears as the low-graphic X, nothing of unity is shown, nothing is clickable.

Twinview works, BUT like #66 its ugly slow. compiz and Xorg are using >10%cpu each, scrolling in chromium gets laggy, shoving programs between ext. and laptop screen laggs and switching to fullscreen takes several seconds.
It is like using an old pentium 2 :/

this is the bug with the seperate xscreen. its unity related like this one.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nvidia-settings/+bug/882143

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

We're closing this bug since it is has been some time with no response from the original bug reporter. However, if the issue still exists in the latest development version of Ubuntu and you are the original reporter please feel free to reopen with the requested information. If you are not the original reporter, please don't reopen this one but instead file a new bug and reference this one.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

The issue that the *original reporter* described have been verified to be fixed by the reporter himself. If its still an issue for anyone in Ubuntu Precise please open new bug report./