Introduction
This article explains how to use Xorg, a popular windowing system for Linux, to display and interact with a program window on two separate displays. This setup can be particularly useful for university lectures, software development, or multitasking in general.
Prerequisites
To follow this guide, you'll need:
- A Linux system with Xorg installed
- Two or more displays connected to your system
- A program that can be run in a window
Configuring Xorg for Two Displays
Before you can display a program window on two displays, you need to configure Xorg to use both displays. You can do this by editing the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file or using a display manager like XF86-Video-ModeSetting or nvidia-settings. Here's a simple example of an xorg.conf file for two displays:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "intel"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1920x1080" "1366x768" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1920x1080" "1366x768" "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Displaying a Program Window on Two Displays
To display a program window on two displays, you can use the xdotool or wmctrl utility. These utilities allow you to move, resize, and interact with windows programmatically. Here's an example of how to use xdotool:
# Replace 'firefox' with the name of your program and 'Display1' and 'Display2' with the names of your displays
xdotool search --name "firefox" | while read w; do
display=$(xdotool get_desktop $(xdotool get_desktop $w | awk '{print $1}'))
if [ "$display" = "Display1" ]; then
xdotool window $w move 0 0
elif [ "$display" = "Display2" ]; then
xdotool window $w move 1920 0
fi
done
Interacting with a Program Window on Two Displays
Interacting with a program window on two displays can be a difficult problem to solve. Unfortunately, there's no straightforward solution for this, as it depends on the specific window manager and program being used. Some window managers, like XFCE4 and GNOME, support multi-monitor input by default. Other window managers, like i3 and dwm, may require additional configuration or third-party tools.
In this article, we covered how to use Xorg to display and interact with a program window on two separate displays. We discussed the prerequisites, configuring Xorg for two displays, displaying a program window on two displays, and interacting with a program window on two displays. For more information on Xorg and related topics, check out the following resources: