[Stu-e]

In the interest of economising on hardware, is it possible to have a dual head Linux PC with an X window manager on a monitor and XBMC on a HDMI connected TV? Different users can log in and out of X while XBMC plays continuously on the tv.

I have a an ATI/AMD IGP motherboard and I wish to add an Nvidia GT220 for XBMC VDPAU assisted output.

Thanks

Stu-e

[crackers]

Yes, it is, but it's not something a novice should undertake lightly. What you would need to do is run two X-sessions with customized xorg.conf for each, specifically targetting a specific output of the dual-head you want.

Just remember to keep a backup of your original xorg.conf so that you can get a functioning GUI back if you make a mistake...

[Stu-e]

Gulp
I think I'll splash some cash on new hardware.

Thanks

[lkraav]

Gulp
I think I'll splash some cash on new hardware.

Thanks

cmon, its not that hard at all to have two X-s running with different configs. let me know if you need help.

[fanchon]

Have you really found an easy way to do this? Please let me know because i didn't manage to find a better solution to get xbmc proprely xorking (eg. without tearing) on a dual screen setup.

I used to set-up this kind of configuration, running the two proprietary drivers (nvidia and ati) together was a real nightmare to maintain: as libglx, libdri and some other libs are specific to each drivers, I had to install them in different paths and ld_preload the correct libraries prior to launch the X sessions...

And of course, as i just joined, thanks to all for xbmc!!!

[lkraav]

fanchon, you're right, obviously if you need different system libraries for the drivers, it's going to be a mess. but if you have cards that live nicely on stable libdrm and friends, it should be a matter of just configuring a couple of xorg.conf-s and setting your login manager start up on two different ISPLAYs.

[-emory-]

Oh man, I feel like an ass, just posted a new forum when this is the same problem, simplified. Has anyone been able to do this? I have the hardware and I really want to try this out.