1

I have an Intel card, and it appears that it is not possible to just stream audio and no video. So is there a way to just activate the port and send a dummy video signal to have audio working? I do not want to extend my desktop on the additional screen.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

You can set up a second X display for the HDMI output. This will still use up video RAM and display it, but it will be separate from your primary desktop, so your desktop stays on your monitor and doesn't extend to the additional screen. I've set this up on my Intel integrated graphics with an /etc/X11/xorg.conf file that contains

Section "Device"
    Identifier "intel0"
    Driver "intel"
    Option "AccelMethod" "sna"
    Option "ZaphodHeads" "VGA1,HDMI1,DP1"
    Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "intel1"
    Driver "intel"
    Option "AccelMethod" "sna"
    Option "ZaphodHeads" "HDMI3"
    Screen 1
EndSection

You can add Screen sections to specify the resolution if you want.

You'll probably need different output names, look at the output of xrandr to see what outputs your card has. I don't remember why I had to specify the AccelMethod, maybe it was to make it work on my particular chipset. The first screen will have the display name :0, the second on the HDMI port :1 (so you can still tell programs to make use of it if you want to by adding options like -display :1 when you run them).

I'm using two instances of the fvwm window manager for each display; possibly you may need to tell your window manager to only use the first display.

Improve this answer
2
  • I wish I could avoid starting a second X server though, not because of the ram usage but because it requires static configuration and I'm doing this just sporadically from a laptop.
    – Lorenzo Pistone
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 15:29
  • There's no second X server involved (that would require two xorg.conf files, and the displays would be 0:0 and 1:0). You run one server that drives two screens. I too only use the HDMI output sporadically (though this is my Desktop machine), and really the only ressource used is more video RAM. No need to turn it off if you don't need it.
    – dirkt
    Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 16:01

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .