Multiple Screen Question.

[Jayce]

Is it at all possible to set up multiple screens on a computer system in the sense that... on one screen it would be dedicated to a full screen game such as Counterstrike, where as the second monitor would be dedicated for applications such as web browsing, AIM, etc?

I'm primarily a Linux user, however I do have MS 2kProSP4 installed for gaming... but there's games I play in Linux too that this would benefit me with.

Possible?

 

[WorldIndustries]

I wouldn't reccomend it in the first place, since you don't have a dual core processor.

 

[Mr. Switch]

You can see it, but it's impratical. Granted the resolution of the game matches that of your monitors, you'd be able to see your AIM window, but not be able to use it unless you alt+tab out of it, and when you do that, wtf is the point of dual monitors?

For the record, having a dual core processor wouldn't make any difference at all if the other monitor is just going to have firefox or AIM on it.

 

[The General]

Jayce,

I can't help you with Windows, but I can help you with Linux.

I have a regular monitor and an HDTV, both are plugged in via DVI. Here is my xorg.conf ... This is what you are asking for, only problem is that you can't drag a window across the screens, for that you need twinview but I hate twinview so yeah. You may be able to adapt this to your liking, I don't know, but I know it will be of some help.

With this, if I am playing Wolf:ET, when I open the console in-game, my mouse is freed from the game, this making the other monitor usable. It doesn't work with UT2k4, but it works for every game in Cedega and every one of ID software's games. To get the Cedega ones to work, I have Yakuake running, bound to ` (or ~ without shift ) so when I do that, it shows up over the game and thus freeing the mouse.

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Layout0"
	Screen	      0 "Screen0"
	Screen	      1 "Screen1" Above "Screen0"
	InputDevice	"Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice	"Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
	FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
	FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
	FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
	FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
	FontPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
	#path to defoma fonts
	FontPath	"/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
	RgbPath		"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
	FontPath	"unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"dbe"
	Load	"i2c"
	Load	"bitmap"
	Load	"ddc"
	Load	"dri"
	Load	"extmod"
	Load	"freetype"
	Load	"glx"
	Load	"int10"
	Load	"type1"
	Load	"vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Mouse0"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ExplorerPS/2"
	Option		"ZaxisMapping" 		"4 5"
	Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"false"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Keyboard0"
	Driver		"kbd"
	Option		"CoreKeyboard"
	Option		"XkbRules"		"xorg"
	Option		"XkbModel"		"pc104"
	Option		"XkbLayout"		"us"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier     "Monitor0"
	Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Device0"
	Driver		"nvidia"
	VendorName	"NVIDIA Corporation"
	BoardName	"GeForce 7900 GT"
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0"
	Option		"RenderAccel"           "true"
	Option		"AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
	Option		"AddARGBGLXVisuals"	"True"
	Screen		0
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Device1"
	Driver		"nvidia"
	VendorName	"NVIDIA Corporation"
	BoardName	"GeForce 7900 GT"
	BusID		"PCI:1:0:0"
	Option		"RenderAccel"           "true"
	Option		"AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
	Option		"AddARGBGLXVisuals"	"True"
	Screen		1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Screen0"
	Device		"Device0"
	Monitor		"Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth	24
	Option		"UseEdidFreqs"		"True"
	Option		"TwinView"		"False"
	SubSection	"Display"
		Depth		24
		Modes		"1680x1050" "1440x900" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Screen1"
	Device		"Device1"
	Monitor		"Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth	24
	Option		"UseEdidFreqs"		"True"
	Option		"TwinView"		"False"
	SubSection	"Display"
		Depth		24
        	Modes		"1920x1080"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
	Option		"Composite"		"True"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
	Mode	0666
EndSection

 

[Harper]

I have tried it in the passed, but over all, I have found it rather impractal.

I have found that the second you go into full screen mode for your game, your mouse will only do as far as your primary monitor.

Do you any thing on the other screen, you need to leave the game.

 

[The General]

I have tried it in the passed, but over all, I have found it rather impractal.

I have found that the second you go into full screen mode for your game, your mouse will only do as far as your primary monitor.

Do you any thing on the other screen, you need to leave the game.

Yeah, I have a script that will enable or disable the HDTV, I only have it enabled when I am watching TV shows or something that I have ... recorded ... and then I disable it. I find it annoying when my mouse disappears and I move it around and can't find it only to find that it's on my TV which is turned off.

P.S. Why are these HDTV Battlestar Galactica recordings (which are aired at 1080i) 960x540? Shouldn't they be 1920x1080 interlaced or 1366x768 or something like that? Oh, nevermind, 1080/2 = 540, so I guess they are deinterlaced but wouldn't that mean a loss of quality horizontally?

 

[Greg]

only problem is that you can't drag a window across the screens, for that you need twinview but I hate twinview so yeah.

What's wrong with twinview? The only thing that I don't like about it is that you can only use two monitors with it.

 

[Harper]

No Idea. I am just thankful for bit torrent so I can see season 3 down here as appose to waiting 12 months between DVD boxset realeases.

 

[The General]

No Idea. I am just thankful for bit torrent so I can see season 3 down here as appose to waiting 12 months between DVD boxset realeases.

Yep, it's pretty convenient, I don't have to be home by 9pm on Friday's because I can just download the episode and watch it when I get home.

Perfectly legal, because what's the difference between doing that and recording it with Tivo or a VCR? Nothing.

What's wrong with twinview? The only thing that I don't like about it is that you can only use two monitors with it.

The wallpaper is stretched across both monitors, and a bunch of configuration stuff that gets annoying.

 

[Lord AnthraX]

Yeah I have some dual view woes as well.

For instance when I have one monitor that is 1650 X 1080 it really sucks when I find an excellent wallpaper for my Widescreen but looks horrible on my 1024 x 768.

also the whole run the game on the widescreen, click on the 1024x768 and then minimize the game is really annoying and makes me pretty frustrated.