Ubuntu dual screen, multiple monitors, R52

UPDATE:
I have since updated to Gutsy Gibbon, don't necessarily recommend it other than being able to read Windows files. Well, today I was trying to show a friend how to use aticonfig to setup two screens and I went to System->Administration->Restricted Drivers Manager and selected and unchecked the Enabled block for the ATI driver. I tried re-installing it but aticonfig simply wouldn't work. I had plenty of xorg backups as aticonfig does this on every change, but it simply wouldn't work, here is the solution:

First, download the newest driver from ati and store it in a folder I stored it in

/home/santiago/ATIDRIVERS

the file was

ati-driver-installer-8-8-x86.x86_64.run

I changed to that folder after downloading the file and ran

sudo sh ./ati-driver-installer-8-8-x86.x86_64.run

I used automatic and default settings. Afterwards I ran
sudo aticonfig --initial -f

After this, restart the computer, don't just press ctrl-alt-backspace.

After restarting run:
sudo aticonfig --dtop=horizontal

And now press ctrl-alt-backspace

and if you have a second monitor plugged in it should come to life!



If you happen to have a version of Ubuntu before Gutsy Gibbon, you know there isn't a GUI for setting up multiple monitors, and if you have ever been unlucky enough to try configuring your own xorg.conf file, you know that one little mistake can leave you with a terminal on startup until you manage to reload the backup. Anyways, if you're lucky enough to have an ati video card driver, the command in Ubuntu to setup a dual head system is


$sudo aticonfig --initial=dual-head


At this point press ctrl-alt-backspace which restarts X, log back in and you'll have a two head setup. This is also only temporary, so when you restart you'll have your normal settings back.