I wanted to employ a 1600x1200 monitor (Dell 2007 WFP) to extend the desktop of a 32bit XP machine (TinkerBell).  She already has a 30" 2560x1600 monitor.  She has two nVidia 8800GTX video cards in SLI.  My plan was to use the second monitor rotated to 1200x1600 in order to match the existing desktop pixel height.

I have used precisely this combination of 2560x1600 and 1200x1600 monitors before, on Vista 64bit driven by an nVidia Quadro FX5800 video card.

But on Tink, even after checking the extend my desktop to this monitor box, I get nothing.  The second monitor reports getting no signal from the computer.  I tried hooking up via DVI and via S-video, and the monitor doesn't see a signal from either input.

Anyone see how to fix this?

In retrospect,  perhaps I need to reset the SLI configuration so that the cards run in parallel rather than doubling their speed/performance.

 I don't know much about monitors and duel displays, but one thing i would try (if you haven't already) is unhooking the first monitor and making sure the second works by itself. No sense pulling you hair out if it's a hardware issue. If that doesn't help pray someone who knows something come on to help.

The monitor works - it was Galadriel's secondary, but she now has another 30" 2560x1600 as her secondary, so TinkerBell now gets the 1200x1600 as a secondary.

I  may be wrong about this, but I don't think you can run dual monitors off of a typical SLI setup. I think you would be better off plugging each monitor into a separate video card or disable one and use the dual monitor connectors.

Far as I know, SLI doesn't offer anything for windowed apps anyway, only games.

I believe sli uses the second card to boost the performance of the first. I dont believe you can run two cards as sli and get an output image from both.

AFAIK SLI only supports one monitor, so if you want two, you'll have to live without SLI.

Thanks, friends.  ^^  You've jogged my memory.

  I don't need SLI - I don't game.  TinkerBell will be used to model, UV map, generate texture and displacement map images, and to do some scene setup work.  Cameron and Galadriel will do the rendering "heavy lifting" work.

When I get a chance to fire Tink up later today, I'll look for that nVidia control panel switch -which I now recall seeing- for setting whether the cards run in SLI.

I used to set up DVI on 1 monitor, and VGA on the other. however, that's probably too primitive...;)
Whatever monitor that got stuck on first usually wound up as the primary, but you could move the 2 displays around in Windows. (and that was back with XP)

This is my oldest machine still in service, and it is 32bit XP.  Removing the SLI bridge worked, but I can't rotate the desktop on the second display.  I need it in "portrait" mode, rather than the default "landscape" mode.  The primary monitor is 2560x1600, so I have this second monitor rotated to "Portrait" so that it is 1200x1600 - with the pixel height matched, so that there is no "deadspace" on the desktop.

  When I used this monitor as a secondary -also paired with a 2560x1600 primary- on Galadriel (64bit Vista), the control panel / display options included rotating the display on the secondary to "portrait".  I don't see any means of doing this on TinkerBell (32bit XP).

I used another DVI for the secondary, pakled;  1600x1200 (or 1200x1600, since I have it rotated to portrait mode) is the highest res I've seen for 4:3 aspect ratio monitors, so I don't know if VGA could tote the load.

If anyone knows the trick to rotating the desktop display on ye olde XP, please do tell!

In the advanced settings of the display (where you can set the display's refresh rate) there's a checkbox that when set prevents setting resolutions that aren't supported by the display. Unchecking that checkbox might allow rotation.

some of the older displays had an option to rotate to portrait by physically rotating the screen; but perhaps checking with the vendor of the screen wouldn't hurt

Attached Link: dual monitor screen capture

     The 64bit machines have Quadro video cards, which come with the nView desktop manager utility.  nVidia does offer this for GeForce cards on XP, so I installed that on TinkerBell, and now I have one honkin' huge desktop going across both monitors, just like the 64bit machines have!  ^^

TinkerBell has dual 30" 2560x1600 pixel monitors.  To get one huge desktop image across both screens, install nVidia's nView desktop manager utility along with the video driver.

I'm ashamed of the milk crates holding the Dozer chassis CPU  =0 , but proper chrome steel wire racks are enroute.

If you do a screen capture [Prt Scrn], you get the whole desktop;  see hotlink above.

You've been robed!! All your papers are missing. I've never seen a computer desk so clean before.

Heh heh...  I do scribble notes frequently when modeling or doing scene setup.  You can see a dry-erase whiteboard (one of several) and pens in this pic.  This desk is one wing of a U-shaped assembly, and there is a paper pad, calculator, coffee warmer hotplate, and a candy bowl full of flash drives on the larger center desk.

Quote - You've been robed!! All your papers are missing. I've never seen a computer desk so clean before.

LOL! So true. No manuals, unpaid bills, or even coffee mugs.

I thought that screen flip was in the nvidia settings.

Ha! I have the exact same keyboard (Saitek).

Hmmm. According to this there is SLI Multi Monitor support - http://www.slizone.com/object/sli_multi_monitor.html

Although it does state Windows Vista 32/64 bit in system requirements. After quickly reading some aged forum threads in various places it doesn't look like Nvidia made drivers to support that for XP unfortunately and I'm not certain about any 'tricks' by the looks of things.

With the two nVidia GeForce 8800GTX cards in SLI, I could not get a second monitor option at all.  I removed the SLI bridge and the second monitor option appeared.  Each video card now drives one dual-link DVI 2560x1600 pixel monitor.

     I don't know much about this, so I can only pass on what I experienced, for what it's worth.  Maybe one of the more knowledgeable folk can explain/correct my findings.

In Vista and Win7, you can rotate the display in the Windows control panel (display), but no such option exists in WinXP.  I didn't find a rotate option in the nVidia control panel (on the WinXP machine) either, but it is there now.  I don't know whether it appeared due to removing the SLI bridge, or if it is due to installing the new nView driver/utility package.

     But if you have WinXP and want to have a different desktop image on the second monitor, you'll need to get the free nView package for XP.  Then use any photo program to break a double-width image into left and right halves.   Set the left half as the priimary monitor background, and the right half as the secondary monitor background.

@ General Nutt:  the coffee mug is sitting on the hotplate, just a bit offscreen left.  ^^

     I have gobs of manuals -I love actual paper book manuals and will pay extra to get them if needed- but they are on more of the black steel wire racks, behind the camera.

@ cyberscape:  I love those glow-through-the-keys keyboards!  ^^  I can work late into the night, like a mad scientist! :p