Multi-monitor setup with i3 and xrandr on arch linux
- 14 Aug 2017: Post was created (diff)
I am using i3 window manager and connecting a second screen. i3 is multi-monitor-ready and should work out of the box when a second monitor has been configured with xrandr. It is expected that the current setup with a single monitor is working, and that when executing xrandr, all connected screens are listed as connected.
Install the xrandr CLI
# pacman -S xrandr-xorg
List connected screens
$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 3840 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
DP1 disconnected primary (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI2 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 620mm x 340mm
1920x1080 60.00*+ 50.00 59.94
1920x1080i 60.00 50.00 59.94
1680x1050 59.88
1600x900 60.00
1280x1024 60.02
1280x800 59.91
1280x720 60.00 50.00 59.94
1024x768 60.00
832x624 74.55
800x600 75.00 60.32
720x576 50.00
720x576i 50.00
720x480 60.00 59.94
720x480i 60.00 59.94
640x480 75.00 60.00 59.94
720x400 70.08
VGA1 connected 1920x1080+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 480mm x 270mm
1920x1080 60.00*+
1280x1024 75.02 60.02
1152x864 75.00
1024x768 75.03 60.00
800x600 75.00 60.32
640x480 75.00 59.94
720x400 70.08
VIRTUAL1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DVI-I-1-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DVI-I-1-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
And since my second screen is placed to the right of my main one, I simply specify that as an argument to xrandr
$ xrandr --output VGA1 --right-of HDMI2 --auto
Using --auto for making the monitor use its first preferred mode (or, something close to 96dpi if they have no preferred mode).
A second screen with i3wm magically appears
The mouse should now be able to travel through to the other screen. Move i3 windows to the second screen with the default i3 keyboard shortcuts: ($mod+Shift+Left / Right). Play around and enjoy the simplicity.
Set preferred primary output
$ xrandr --output HDMI2 --primary
Make i3 place the tray area of i3bar on the primary output
bar {
status_command exec i3status
tray_output primary
}
References
- https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html#multi_monitor
man xrandr
If you have any comments or feedback, please send me an e-mail. (stig at stigok dotcom).
Did you find any typos, incorrect information, or have something to add? Then please propose a change to this post.