On Sat, Sep 4, 2021 at 3:24 AM Steve Litt <slitt@???> wrote:

> o1bigtenor said on Fri, 3 Sep 2021 06:19:31 -0500
>
> >as I plug the 5th monitor (4k) in I've got uptime down to less than 28
> >hours.
>
> Deeeeuuuuuude!!!
>
> I hereby resign from the conversation. All of my experience is with one
> monitor of less than 4k capabilities. I can't even begin to understand
> the hoops you'd need to jump through to get five monitors, of different
> resolutions, running. When you get it running you should write a
> detailed article for one of the Linux trade magazines, because that
> will be a real accomplishment.
>
>
It was many years ago, likely in the early 2000s that I ran into an article
regards knowledge workers and their screen real estate. The conclusion
was that there was a direct connection between the worker's effectiveness
and their screen real estate.
I had bought a system in 1999 where I was fortunate enough to get a
1600x1200 crt monitor at a pretty good, for then, price. Really liked
having
the space. (At the time I used spreadsheets for my business record keeping
-
- - most call it accounting but that it ain't! - - - with the sheets having
over 250
columns (max was 256 columns at the time!) so being able to see more
columns
meant that I could work faster - - - - a good thing!!!
When I put together my present system (end 2011 very beginning of 2012) I
gave myself a treat and knowing that also thought of getting into some
fairly computationally intensive calculations (lol - - - still working on
that)
chose to drop in 3 gpus and set up 4 24" monitors. The cash spent was
'interesting' to say the least! (The shop that assembled the system - - -a
way to get a pretty good warranty - - - - nicknamed it the beast - - -
there weren't
too many 64 GB RAM systems around in 2012!!)
Started by using the proprietary drivers from nvidia. At that time there
was
support from nvidia for multi-gpu AND multi-monitor usage. I think it was
some time in later 2015 when I went to nouveau. Note that it was AFTER
all of this that Linus gave his all too appropriate salute to nvidia!!!! If
I had
only known - - - - but that salute was already 4 years AFTER this system
happened.
In early 2020 I had 2 gpus die in a fairly short time. I had set up the
system
for maximum cooling and the noctua fans (some not all) happened only after
the original ones died. From what I know now I really don't like most of
the
fans installed today - - - - too noisy, not enough air movement and then
cost
too much and far too many have stupid blinky lights or other such rot that
- - - - well - - - for me its for kid's toys - - - not 'work tools!!'. So I
needed to
replace at least one gpu and bought another nvidia because that was what
was already in the box. Even the 'old card(s) had a hdmi port and the new
card (1050 Ti) was rated for hdmi2.0b according to the literature when I
ordered it. I ordered it because it was very reasonable and that it did
have 3 (!!!)
available ports (hdmi, dp (1.4), and DVI - - - - the 4 monitors are all DVI
- - - a
very short lived option imo!).
It may be difficult to believe for those that have limited themselves to
the use
of only one monitor but I found myself hampered by my screen real estate on
my system as I found myself starting to get into some CAD and other design
usage. So I first bought a 4k TV that seemed to have the right specs - - -
that
was a joke and I chose to buy a fairly reasonable 4k monitor. That's when
the
'fun' with hdmi started. I am not sure exactly when things started changing
but I was getting up times in the many month (greater than 4 for sure) on a
regular basis. IIRC (and I may not be) that was with Debian Buster and a
4.9.x kernel yet. Adding the 4k monitor quite changed that. Understand - -
- I
had to learn how to use xrandr so that I could set up the monitors so they
would give my desired configuration and that needs to be entered EVERY time
I restart the box! I also like to use lots of desktops and too many of the
applications
are quite stupid so then I need to shuffle things around at EVERY restart.
I can
not do most of that in about 30 to 40 minutes but it still a headache
(every cotton
picking time!!!!!!!!!!!!). Yes when I plug in the 4k monitor my uptime
shrinks - - -
the bet I"ve had in quite a few tries is 28 hours - - - - sometimes as low
as 45
minutes - - - it doesn't bother me so much that I need to reboot - - - its
the time
it takes to get things back to the way I want them - - - - that's the pain.
My computers
are 'tools' for me - - - - they are not a hidden galaxy where I go to hide
myself from
the world around me. So I like to do some sorta - - - for most folks anyway
- -
unusual things - - - - I think that's my issue and not really anyone
else's!

I've tried remove the nvidia boards and installing a single Radeon 570 (I
thing
it was) tried with a pair of RX 460s and I can't get the system to boot
using either
option. My guess is that the mobo showed up at the beginning of the PCI3.0
era and that somehow the newer gpus just don't quite talk right - - - but I
dunno.

(If there is anyone who KNOWS and is willing to work with me - - - I'm game
to
drop in all three of the radeon products which would make things rocking -
- - -
again - - - - beeg wacky grin!)

So - - yes - - - I've had to learn a lot to set up the graphics sub-system
on this
girl but its the lack of support form nvidia for multi-gpu (which they used
to
promote!!!) and now nouveau's inability to get hdmi working well that are
the
hard parts. The rest - - - - you tell me and I'll try to help - - - - Have
gotten
quite good at using xrandr - - - - a lot of experimenting you know!! (there
is
very very very little up to date and/or accurate information on the web
about
using xrandr and for my $0.005 worth - - - its actually a decent tool - - -
be
better if some good docs were there but once one knows then docs are far
less
of an issue - - - right!?????! (Some I'm just like the other linux geeks
that way
I guess - - - - but no one has ever asked either!!!!!!!!!)

My take is that its amusing to watch someone try to work on a 15" laptop
and talk about how easy it is to get things done. (serious LOL happening)
When I was last doing my taxes - - - - (I do NOT use an accountant and use
ledger-cli for software) I had all four monitors full of screens and really
needed
more screen room - - - - hard to believe if your used to one 22" monitor
but
quite true. Then I had likely 2 or 3 pdfs for input, another text doc, one
terminal
for entering information, another for pulling reports, an on screen
calculator,
2 different sets of spreadsheets (home rolled equivalent to government
docs)
and I needed to use a browser - - - there just wasn't room - - - LOL.

So please - - - -if anyone knows something about taming this nouveau hdmi
issue
(I think that's what it is!!!), or how to get my mobo to talk to radeon
gpus I really
want to talk. (I also am open for questions on my setup but would prefer
not to
broadcast everything on the web - - - grin!).

TIA

Over and out for now.