Xinerama On a Laptop

[gearjunkie]

I'm not sure if this is better here or in hardware, but here goes....

I am currently running mandrake 9.0 on a IBM thinkpad T20. I have it all set up nice and neat, but I want to be able to use the extended desktop features of Xinerama.

I've tried to look at the tutorials online, but most of them deal with using 2 video cards. I am wondering how I need to configure everything so that I can do it with one card, with a dual head (I guess that's what it's called, although there's only one head of it visible, and the other one is on the laptop screen, I would guess).

I was wondering if anyone has any insight on how to do this with the laptop. I'll probably need some pretty explicit instructions. I've worked with the command line a fairly good amount, but never messed directly with this config file (Mandrake does the config for you)

I have heard I need to stop x from running to do it also, and so I'll probably need to know how to do that, if somebody could help me out. I have attached my XF86config file here as well.
Thanks,
Nathan

[gearjunkie]

bump

[gwpritch]

I'm not exactly clear on what you want to accomplish. Xinerama allows you to essentially extend your desktop over two monitors and move back and forth between the two. Two monitors require two video cards. A laptop can be linked to an external monitor but you are only going to get the same output as on the builtin flat screen.
using Xinerama is fairly simple. you define both devices (video cards), monitors and screens for each then in the layout section at the end of the XFConfig-4 script define the layout you want eg.
"Screen1" Leftof "Screen2"
then:
option "xinerama" "on"

[gearjunkie]

I was under the impression that it could also be used with a video card that had 2 heads, or something to that effect. I know that it is possible to seperate the outputs. The issue is that I use my laptop as a 'desktop' a lot and I like to use a second moniter with it when I'm in windows to extend the desktop and have a 'double wide' desktop. I would like to do the same in linux.

[dkeav]

your talking twinview, like with tv-out type nvidia cards for example, you can probably set this up in your x-config, google search it, also have you tried the hardware option, should be on one of the number keys at the top of the keyboard to switch the monitor output, mine switches from laptop screen, to external vga output, both so try that first