My appologies for bringing this up from the dead, but as it still comes up near the top of some google serches, it is still relevant.
xf86-video-intel v2.99, 22/Dec/2014, has a new tool.
Check and see if you have the tool 'intel-virtual-output' installed. This is included in 'xf86-video-intel' =< v2.99, aprox date released is 22/Dec/2014 Running 'intel-virtual-output' without any extra parameters will daemonize itself and detect attached displays in the background.
It will then perform all the trickery of virtualizing and cloning so that the newly attached screen can be used via conventinal screen management methods, such as cloning/extending with xrandr. The tool itself can be run with a standard bumblebee installation, as it will switch on bumblebee for access to the nvidia chipset.
If no displays are attached, or you are using the laptop display only, the tool can be killed so that bumblebeed can then disable the nvidia chipset for powersaving. To make it easier to kill 'intel-virtual-output' after running, start it in a console with the -f switch.
Usage: intel-virtual-output [OPTION]... [TARGET_DISPLAY]...
-d <source display> source display
-f keep in foreground (do not detach from console and daemonize)
-b start bumblebee
-a connect to all local displays (e.g. :1, :2, etc)
-S disable use of a singleton and launch a fresh intel-virtual-output process
-v all verbose output, implies -f
-V <category> specific verbose output, implies -f
-h this help
If no target displays are parsed on the commandline,
intel-virtual-output will attempt to connect to any local display
and then start bumblebee.
Games can be run on the external display via "export DISPLAY=:8", however they will not grab the mouse or keyboard properly. You will also need to start games with "primusrun" or "optirun" as per usual.
I spent a day doing this specifically on the XPS 15 9530. I finally got it working after looking at many different (and conflicting) sources. I started a write-up on it, which outlines how to get it to work. It is still a work-in-progress, but I hope the guide will get it working for you. As of right now, this guide covers it up to the point of getting Bumblebee to work. I have not done the multi-monitor setup yet, but I figure this will get you closer.
http://wiki.belmankraul.com/linux/mint16_bumblebee
Best Answer
I am not an expert but I had the same problem. I have finally find the solution on this forum (here).
First, enter
xrandr
in your terminal. You will see that there are several outputs which are connected. TheLVDS1
is your laptop's screen. Normally, there is another outpout calledVGA-1
orVGA-2
which is also connected. You have to note the name of this output.Then, edit your grub with
gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub
and addvideo=VGA-1:d
(VGA-1 is the name of the wrong output) in theGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX
line (you must have something likeGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="video=VGA-1:d"
).If your output is called like
VGA-1-1
, setvideo=VGA-1:d
(settingvideo=VGA-1-1:d
won't work).If your output is called like
VGA-1-2
, setvideo=VGA-2:d
(settingvideo=VGA-1-2:d
orvideo=VGA-1:d
does not seem to work, although one may still try them out separately to be certain).Then update your grub with
sudo update-grub
and reboot.