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Is there any way to specify which monitor the console is displayed on in Linux?

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I have a 3 monitor setup with 2 video cards. When I boot the computer, the BIOS displays on the PCI graphics card (which has a small monitor). When starting Linux, the console is displayed on the same monitor. Is there a way to have the console output on a different monitor? I'm using the vesafb framebuffer.

I don't see a way in my BIOS to change the default video card.

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i've had the same trouble on a dual-monitor setup (single video card); after swapping outputs i've determined the BIOS just displays on the first monitor to be detected. i get the right monitor if i disconnect or completely cut power to the one the BIOS usually picks, but if it's connected (even on standby) then the BIOS sends everything to that monitor. – quack quixote Mar 20 '10 at 20:58
I was hoping for a kernel command flag that would choose which video card to connect to. – Tim M Mar 20 '10 at 21:03
+1 good question. – Syrplex Sep 20 '11 at 16:08
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I believe this will depend on the window manager you are using. For example Enlightenment has the ability to remember window position.

Fluxbox also supports the saving of window positions and states.

I don't believe GNOME can do this out of the box since they believe that it should be up to the application developer to write code that can remember it's last state.

So having this functionality depends on:

  1. The version of linux you are running
  2. The window manager you are using
  3. If you are willing to try switching your window manager to one of these
  4. And it depends on if these window managers are supported by your favorite flavor of linux.
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