D&C GLug - Home Page

[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]

Re: [LUG] Multiple users on 1 PC

 

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Michael Mortimore wrote:
> there is a guide somewhere on the alphagrip google group about setting
> the trackball speed differently to your mouse speed. it'll tell you
> how to do the udev rules.
> 
> http://groups.google.com/group/alphagrip?lnk=lr
> 
> can't link the relevant thread since it's blocked at work :(
> 
> On 10/12/06, Grant Sewell <dcglug@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Neil Stone wrote:
>>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>> Hash: SHA1
>>>
>>> Grant Sewell wrote:
>>>> Rob Beard wrote:
>>>>> HI folks,
>>>>>
>>>>> When I was playing around with Kubuntu at work on one of our new Dell
>>>>> PCs (Pentium D 820) I got wondering something.  Would it be possible to
>>>>> run two desktops at the same time on one PC?
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I know there have been products in the past that provide an extra
>>>>> video output, keyboard, mouse and sound for Windows, but I wondered if
>>>>> it could be done cheaply on Linux?
>>>>>
>>>>> What I was thinking of was...
>>>>>
>>>>> Standard PC (say a average sort of spec Pentium D or Athlon 64) with an
>>>>> ample amount of memory (say 1GB).
>>>>> An extra video card (say PCI 128MB Radeon card or similar).
>>>>> An extra sound card (PCI cheapo sound card)
>>>>> A USB keyboard and mouse and extra monitor.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wondered if it would be possible to run two copies of X and Gnome/KDE
>>>>> etc on the one PC so one user is on the main monitor using the main
>>>>> keyboard/mouse/sound card and a second user is on a second monitor with
>>>>> a completely different desktop using the second video card, USB keyboard
>>>>> and mouse and extra sound card?
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm thinking something a bit like LTSP but one one machine?
>>>>>
>>>>> Is it possible to have more than one USB keyboard and mouse on a PC and
>>>>> then specify which one is used for input?
>>>>>
>>>>> If it is possible then I dare say it is another opportunity to put some
>>>>> of these high powered desktop PCs to a more cost effective use.
>>>>>
>>>>> Rob
>>>> I have regularly thought about this, but never actually got around to
>>>> testing it out.
>>>>
>>>> You can certainly add the appropriate entries in your X config, you'd
>>>> need 2 of everything mind... two mouse entries, two keyboard entries,
>>>> two GFX card entries, two monitor entries, two "Screen" entries and two
>>>> ServerLayout entries.
>>>>
>>>> You can definitely start a second X session easy enough... from the CLI.
>>>>   I regularly do.  At a CLI, if you type "startx -- :1" (without the ""
>>>> marks) then it'll load up another X session locally.  If you wanted to
>>>> start it on the second set of devices, then you could use "startx --
>>>> -layout OtherDevices :1" *should* work (if I've read the docs correctly).
>>>>
>>>> Making it do all this automagically on a "normal" distro is, however,
>>>> going to be a touch more complex.  Presuming, of course, that you want a
>>>> login manager such as GDM to start on both screens.
>>>>
>>>> Grant.
>>>>
>>> Yes thats about it in a nutshell.. I have used somthing like this
>>> before... wasn't with USB which i can see as the only potential hurdle,
>>> but still, doable.
>>>
>>> - --
>>> Neil Stone
>>>
>>> Systems Administrator
>>> FlashTek UK
>> USB shoudln't be a hurdle.  So long as you know the order in which
>> devices will be detected, you should be fine.  For example, if I want X
>> to take input from my trackpad (laptop) then I can tell it to read from:
>> /dev/psaux
>> /dev/input/mice
>> /dev/input/mouse1
>>
>> If X is set to /dev/input/mice, then any other pointing device (USB
>> mouse) will also be read for the same input.  However, if I specifically
>> specify a unique device (/dev/input/mouse1) then any other pointing
>> device (/dev/input/mouse2, for example) will be ignore by the X session
>> using /dev/input/mouse1.
>>
>> So, it is possible to specify which pointing device each X session uses.
>>  The same is true for keyboards.  The hard bit in this respect would be
>> discovering which physical device is attached to which /dev/ device, and
>> being confident that they will always use those device names.
>>
>> If you wanted to get really into it, you could hack around with the uDev
>> rules to make it that each known keyboard is assigned unique names (such
>> as /dev/mainkeyboard and /dev/extrakeyboard) and then use those unique
>> names in your X config... but that might not be necessary. ;)
>>
>> Grant.
>>
>> --
>> The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
>> http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
>> FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html
>>
> 

Or you could talk to your IT dept...

- --
Neil Stone

Systems Administrator
FlashTek UK

- -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GIT d+(++) s: a-(?) C++++(--) UL++++$ P+ L+++ E- W+++ N+
o+ w--- O M PS+ Y+ PGP++ t+ 5+ X+ R+ tv+ b- DI++ D+++ G
e h--- r+++ y++++(**)
- -----END GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFFLjrkz3Av8JKgzxQRAr4AAJwN+XMDqe3+UTe7WkcpqLlAwx2C4wCfbBmL
1ovv3ZDEni/p8cbLnjmBym0=
=8EQy
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

-- 
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html