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I have one VGA-port and one HDMI-port connected to the system. With this, I can easily configure clone mode as well as extended mode.

In clone mode, both monitors mimic each other. In extended mode, both monitors behave as if single monitor.

Now, I would like to set them as Independent Mode, where both monitors will act as separate displays. Both monitors will have separate display values; e.g. VGA will have :0.0 whereas HDMI will have :0.1. In this mode, unlike Extended mode, only the mouse pointer will be able to switch from one monitor to another. I will not be able to drag any application from one monitor to another.

How do I configure this ?

I am using Ubuntu-17.04 and I would like to do this through manually configuring xorg configuration and anything that requires.

SHW@SHW:~ $ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA Compatible controller: Intel corporation Atom Processor
SHW@SHW:~ $ Xorg -version
X.org X Server 1.18.2
Jeff Schaller
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SHW
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    Did you actually get it working in the way that the accepted answer indicates? Can you post your final config? – mvreijn May 31 '17 at 09:21

1 Answers1

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The mode with several displays for each "head" (output) is also called "Zaphod-Mode". On my machine, I configure it in /etc/X11/xorg.conf in the following way:

Section "Device"
    Identifier "intel0"
    Driver "intel"
    Option "ZaphodHeads" "VGA1,HDMI1,DP1"
    Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "intel1"
    Driver "intel"
    Option "ZaphodHeads" "HDMI3"
    Screen 1
EndSection

Look at the output of xrandr to identify your output names, they'll be likely different from mine. I'm not sure of the Intel Atom uses the intel driver or the modesetting drive, look in Xorg.log. The modesetting driver might need a different setup.

Edit: The mousepointer is automatically "shared", because there's only one instance of the X server running. How it works in practice may also depend on your Window Manager. I use fvwm, which automatically starts on both displays.

dirkt
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  • Thanks. I do have two "heads". But how do I share same mouse pointer with both of them, as I have mentioned in question. – SHW May 18 '17 at 10:59
  • FYI,I am using icewm – SHW May 18 '17 at 13:55
  • I don't know how icewm handles it. Just try it out? – dirkt May 18 '17 at 13:57
  • Though, I can switch mouse from Screen 0 to screen 1 by using `xdotool mousemove ` command. But I would like to achieve this by Xorg configuration file. – SHW May 18 '17 at 14:05
  • You can't do it via `xorg.conf`. You need some program that watches when the mouse leaves the visible screen, or whatever action you want to signify "screen change", and puts in on the other screen, just as `xdotool mousemove --screen` does. Typically, this is the job of the WM. If icewm can't be configured for it (I don't know, I'm not familiar with icewm), you need a different window manager, or some additional tool - something cobbled together with `xbindkeys` and `xdotool`, a small C program, whatever. – dirkt May 18 '17 at 14:11
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    x2x could help to move mouse cursor from one screen to the other – mviereck May 18 '17 at 18:28