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Is it possible to set up a multiseat environment with one graphic card and two Xorg instances? That is, one machine with a monitor/keyboard/mouse for the first Xorg instance and a second monitor/keyboard/mouse for another Xorg instance.

I am using Debian 8 with Intel HD4000 graphics. Every tutorial I have read describes multiseat environments with at least two graphic cards for multiple Xorg instances. I also could use Xephyr, but since this solution lacks performance I would rather prefer to use two Xorg instances.

At the end of the day I would like to have two distinct environments, not influencing each other. So the use of something like “screen1 LeftOf screen0” is not the right choice.

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  • Have you checked the debian wiki? It's old but it might still work. Commented Feb 26, 2015 at 12:30
  • Yes I have. But unfortunately I do not use any window managers nor do I have more than one videocard. Commented Feb 26, 2015 at 16:33
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    I don't see why having one card with two (or more) monitors should be that different from having two cards; on my Debian system with Intel graphics, I run two separate screens using the ZaphodHeads option, and I'm pretty sure I could do multiseat with it (though I didn't try). The more interesting question is how you can do anything under X without any window manager at all ... so I'm pretty sure you are using some window manager. :-) Commented Nov 26, 2016 at 14:39

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The Arch Wiki states, "It is possible to use only one videocard which has dual heads (like most nvidia cards will have), but this has some limitations: you have to use Xephyr on the second monitor which seems quite a messy solution from what I've read, and for optimal usage both screens need the same resolution."

Have you tried Xephyr? Depending on your use case, the performance may not be as impactful as you expect. I would at least give it a go. I suspect performance issues are mostly related to graphics-intensive operations.

The Multiseat Configuration "book" over at WikiBooks lists a few alternatives to Xephyr, but Xnest looks to be the only viable alternative for a single video card, at least based on that page's descriptions. Xnest might be a semi-viable alternative, but Xephyr supports more modern Xorg features such as randr.

If you're really concerned about performance (or Xephyr/Xnest are too slow), you're likely going to need a second video card.

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On the same machine, you can just work on one X-server simultaneously, since only that one whose virtual terminal is active will redraw content.

But multi-head setups with one and the same X-server with two displays which dont 'see' themselves (i.e. the one user cannot access the other display and vice versa) is possible. I don't remember the exact way to do it (long ago ...) and most multi-head configurations are tailored towards one and the same user using both heads, but also the other version works (at least worked in former times, when xinerama was state of the art and randr was not out yet).

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