Enable clone mode

[The-Boxhead]

couldent find any info about this on this forum so i did my own research and found the sollution.

I have hooked up a laptop to my tv via VGA cable

Since im a complete linux newbie i found the sollution by digging into the net ;)

Boot your stick and when xbmc has loaded hit ctrl alt F1 to get to console.
then type:
sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Scroll down to your Section "Monitor"
under the Option "DPMS" add this lines:
Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT,LFP"
Option "Clone" "true"

Then find the next section "Device"
under the Option "NoLogo" add these lines
Option "TwinView"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "crt,crt"

hit ctrl x and y to save. reboot

Then PRESTO ! you should have picture on your tv and on the laptop :)

[althekiller]

That device section looks suspiciously nvidia specific. Just thought I'd point that out.

[The-Boxhead]

oh yes, i bellive its nvidia specific. forgot to add that ;) thanks

[nanub]

A more complete overview to configure twinview clone for Nvidia
In section "Device" under the Option "NoLogo", add the needed lines, without "#"
#Configuring TwinView in Clone-mode
#Option "TwinView"
#Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Clone"
#use "CRT, CRT" if you want to use the secondary VGA-Connector, for TV-OUT use "CRT, TV"; for DVI usage use "DFP" instead of "CRT"
#Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT, CRT"
#Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT, TV"
#change your color encoding for TV-Out; valid values are "PAL-B" "PAL-G" "NTSC-M", and many more; for component output choose the proper one
#Option "TVStandard" "PAL-B"
#Option "TVStandard" "PAL-G"
#Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD480i"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD480p"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD576i"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD576p"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD720i"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD720p"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD1080i"
#Option "TVStandard" "HD1080p"
#change output signal; valid values are "AUTOSELECT" "COMPOSITE" "SVIDEO" "COMPONENT"
#Option "TVOutFormat" "AUTOSELECT"
#Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
#Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
#Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPONENT"
#enlarge TV Screen; valid values are between 0 and 1
#Option "TVOverScan" "0.5"
#defining the output resolution; syntax is "1st Screen, 2nd Screen; next resolution pair", for deactivating a display use "NULL"
#example for TV-OUT for Composite or SVideo
#Option "metamodes" "1280x1024, NULL; 1024x768, 1024x768; 800x600, 800x600"
#example for HDTV up to 1080p
#Option "metamodes" "1920x1080, 1920x1080; 1280x720, 1280x720; 720x480, 720x480"


Useful Links:
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/NVidiaProprietaryDriver NVidia Proprietary Driver Overview
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/ComponentOut Component HDTV-Settings
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC if your are unsure, which color encoding you need
http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/173.14.12/README/index.html official nvidia documentation

[matt_cyr]

For a how to on setting up dual screens in ubuntu,
you could try following one of the guides located here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=221174

There are 4 different guides based off of the drivers/card you are using.
I haven't tried them myself, but it seems to have good success rate.

[jkrellner]

I am not sure I get what this thread is intended to do that cannot already be done quite easily. Setting up cloned displays is simple using the nVidia settings interface. You do not even have to get your hands dirty messing with xorg.conf, which for most people results in a PC that won't boot.

I also want to point out that (correct me if I am wrong -- please, I beg you) nVidia does not support scaled cloning. In other words, if one display is 1024x768 and the other is 1080p, cloning will not work effectively (meaning, you cannot have both displays using their respective native resolutions).

If anyone has found a fix, please let me know. But this is the problem I encountered that means I basically wasted a wad of cash on a second monitor (which I intended to use to control XBMC when the 1080p monitor was turned off).