Gnome 3.0 displays menu on secondary monitor.

[Hyperthinker]

I am able to get gnome 3.0 working with kmod-nvidia. 280.13 and the latest kernel.

To this i had to delete the screen information until only the bare bones of the configuration file were left. From there i can create a single screen configuration using nvidia-settings and am able to use gnome 3.0 with a single monitor (.conf is at bottom of post)

Without doing this gnome 3.0 starts in failsafe mode.

From there i use nvidia-settings to create the seperate X screen, set resolution information and "right of" positioning to the "absolute" positioning of my main screen. I have tried this process with monitors on either port so with main screen as dfp-0 and as dfp-1

However the main screen output is sent to the secondary screen, despite the configuration file seemingly telling it to output correctly. Further to this the main screen resolution is set correctly as is specified in the .conf file.

This has bewildered me as it appears to be a bug. When in gnome 3.0 failsafe seperate X screen behaves as expected using an xorg.conf with identical serverlayout specifications.

The below configuration uses seperate X screen and Xinerama correctly but only loads in Gnome 3.0 Failsafe mode.

Section "ServerLayout"

# Removed Option "Xinerama" "0"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib64/nvidia"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from data in "/etc/sysconfig/keyboard"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "keyboard"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 60.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "LG Electronics LGTV"
    HorizSync       31.0 - 84.0
    VertRefresh     57.0 - 75.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 285"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 285"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Screen"

# Removed Option "metamodes" "1920x1200_60 +0+0"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP-0: 1920x1200_60 +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "Device1"
    Monitor        "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP-1: 1360x768_60 +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

The below configuration causes the main screen / gnome 3.0 menu to appear on the secondary screen (and no background on the main)

Section "ServerLayout"

# Removed Option "Xinerama" "0"
    Identifier     "Layout0"                                               
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    ModulePath      "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules/extensions/nvidia"
    ModulePath      "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules"
    ModulePath      "/usr/lib64/nvidia"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from data in "/etc/sysconfig/keyboard"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 60.0
#    Option         "DPMS"                                         # This was originally not set, in an effort to match the working .conf file it was set and had no effect.
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "LG Electronics LGTV"
    HorizSync       31.0 - 84.0
    VertRefresh     57.0 - 75.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 285"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 285"
    BusID          "PCI:3:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Default Screen"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"

# Removed Option "metamodes" "1920x1200_60 +0+0"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP-0: 1920x1200_60 +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "Device1"
    Monitor        "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DFP-1: 1360x768_60 +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

The question i am left with is why when no difference is made in the server layout specification is the screen layout being changed by gnome 3.0 running in non failsafe?

Thanks in advance for any help.

The following is the conf required for Gnome 3.0 to run correctly, using only the single monitor.

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from data in "/etc/sysconfig/keyboard"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "keyboard"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 60.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 285"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "1920x1200_60 +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

[Hyperthinker]

Going by the amount of views to replies ratio I'm guessing that you are all as stumped by this as me.

When seemingly the only differing factor between the configurations is the settings that allow gnome 3.0 to start it should certainly not be swapping the menu to the other monitor, It has to be a gnome 3.0 bug.

[Hyperthinker]

Should i have posted in badly written english " PLEASE HELP ME FIX SCREEN STUFF." without providing any relevant information?

Most of those threads get answers! lol.

[jpollard]

They are also simpler failures.

Your problem is one that doesn't occur very often. And no, I don't have the answer either - I find gnome3 to be so bad it is unusable.

[Hyperthinker]

Hi Jpollard, Thanks for the reply.

I'm starting to think its a Gnome 3.0 bug.. however i really do like the interface, especially with rhythm box and empathy popups.

I guess ill hopefully wait for Gnome 3.0 updates, Becaus failsafe mode is like Gnome 2.0 without any of the good parts lol...

I think ill submit a bug report too.

I've been thinking about this some more and its quite clear that it has something to do with one of the screens failing in its configuration which would explain why no background is displayed on the Monitor gnome thinks is secondary. It would seem to indicate resolution configuration problems. I'm going to tweak the first monitors settings and will post if it is successful.