Expanded desktop on ATI card Ubuntu 10.4

[Dr. Righteous]

Hey, I'm trying to get an expanded desktop across 2 monitors in Ubuntu 10.4.
It sees both monitors, it enables both, but all I can get is a mirrored desktop. There doesn't seem to be an option to span a single desktop across both.
The ATI card I'm using is OLD, a Radeon 8500, but this function worked fine under Windows XP.
What am I missing here? I was surprised this option wasn't included. Is it the card? I have heard that Nvidia cards are more Linux friendly. But everything else seems to work fine, no other video related issues. If this isn't supported it would be a deal breaker for me. I MUST have a expanded desktop to do my job.

Any ideas??

 

[INOX]

Does this help?

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Does this help?

NO. That guy is talking about the tool bar on the screen.

Not what I'm talking about at all.

What I have is that the desktop seems to be configured for an expanded desktop, but I see the SAME THING on both monitors.
The 4 desktops at the lower right of the screen show a an expanded desktop area. For instance if I pick up a window I can move it off screen on top a part of the desktop I can't see. If one of the monitors was working as expanded, I would be able to see it.
I have the ATI catalyst but it says I don't have an ATI driver installed when I try to launch it.
I went ATI site and downloaded the linux driver for my card, but how to actually install it, I don't know.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

I found the solution, but it is less than ideal.
Ubuntu automatically found the monitors and set them to their native resolution, but would never enable expanded desktop.
My monitors are 1440x900, apparently my card isn't support at that resolution with an expanded desktop.
I started playing with the resolution settings, and found expanded desktop worked at 1152x864.
It works, but looks like CRAP. The screen text isn't nice and sharp because it not running at it's optimum resolution. Looks like I need to upgrade the card.
This is an old P4 machine but Ubuntu is pretty speedy on it. Unfortunately it is only a AGPx8 board. Will look for something like a Radeon HD2400 or something.

 

[Digital Cro-Magnon]

Yep, with 64M on the video board, you won't get that high of a resolution. Although, it looks like the Max rez of this card for a digital flat panel is 1600 x 1200

What is the speed of the TMDS transmitter for driving a DVI-I based digital flat panel monitor and what is the maximum resolution?

Radeon™ 8500 supports a 165MHz TMDS transmitter and can reach resolutions of up to 1600x1200.

Maybe try a NV220 or NV210 they are fairly cheap and Nvidia drivers are pretty good on linux.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

New? LOL!

More like made in this decade but not exactly new.

I lucked out and found a ATI HD2600 PRO card AGP w/256M for $25 on Ebay BIN with free shipping. I couldn't buy it fast enough.
It looked like the seller was going to try to rook me at first because I think he realized it sold for less than half what it was worth. But after a couple harsh emails how Ebay auctions are legally binding he shipped me the card.
I installed it and booted back in to Ubuntu. I did a search for a new driver; Ubuntu found a ATI/Linux driver and installed it. At first I though this was going to be a FAIL. It didn't recognize the monitors running them both DVI and the native resolution wasn't there to set. A BETTER resolution of 1280x800 (at least the correct aspect ratio) was available, but 1440x900 didn't even show up.
It was better, but still not right. I had ATI CCC installed and I tried that, it opened properly this time. CCC recognized the monitors models and the correct resolutions but it would not set the correct resolution either.
At this point I thought we were dealing with a driver limitation but I decided to reboot and see if that made a difference.
Upon a reboot the 1440x900 showed up in the options as a "virtual" resolution. What the heck does that mean? Does it mean I will have to scroll to see the entire desktop?? Unacceptable! I set it for that resolution anyway and check it out. It looked right. I hit the info buttons on the monitors to check where it was actually set. 1440x900! I launched CCC again and looked at the setting. All was set correctly. EXCELLENT!!!

This is my work system and the apps we run are "on the cloud". But what is critical is having a high res monitor so you can hit the correct zoom level in your browser and not have the text run together and onto the next line. Everything must remain easy to read at a glance.
Man it is BEAUTIFUL!!! Ubuntu is very speedy on this old P4 system running at 2.6Ghz. The 2D was a bit slow with the old card but it is smooth with this card!

Cheers everyone!