… or why the xorg.conf configuration is not everything!

For testing purposes of some graphics related bug I disabled the xinerama setup using amdccle, the AMD/ATI control center. Later on I just copied the old xorg.conf file back into place, rebooted and – tada – one screen still blank. Fire up the control center again, everything is as required.

Once you actually know the reason for this behaviour the solutions is quite easy 🙂 But throw away the control center, it won’t and can’t help you here.

aticonfig –query-monitor

aticonfig –enable-montiro=tdms1,tdms2i

The first command gives the information about the monitors connected. Due to some reason the ATI configuration utilities disabled the second monitor while testing without Xinerama. The second command actually enables both monitors. In my case, 2 LCD screens.

So, normally, the xorg.conf is responsible for any X related configuration. Think again, if you are using ATI. Here, the videocard (or whatever else) is responsible for enabling monitors and storing these settings.