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Multiple Display question
#195136 02/06/08 01:13 AM
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Good Day, my geek posse!

Some of you may remember that I have a JVC 1080p HD-ILA TV. I dig it.

I have a quasi-HTPC in that room. Without going completely off-track, I mostly use it for streaming FLAC files. No DVR functions because I have the DirecTV HD-DVR.

I still have a crappy old 15" LCD attached to the PC also, because it is often more convenient to simply use that rather than use the TV.

I am using a Gigbyte GV-NX66128DP video card, which feeds the monitor via VGA and the TV via DVI-to-HDMI.

I'm having trouble launching some games, I think because of the NVidia Dual View configuration (I can't clone the monitors because they are different resolutions).

I thought about getting a widescreen monitor to match the TV resolution, but that seems like a pretty pricey solution. I've tried to work through the issues with the NVidia software, but it irritates me and I can't make it work.

What if I just got another cheap video card for the monitor? I've never run two video cards before. Should I look for a better/different dual-head card or something?

It's not a robust machine (AMD Athlon 64 3000+, Socket 939, 1.5GB RAM) and I'm not a hard core gamer. I just want to be able to play some PC games on the TV (Madden, etc.) I only have the one PCI-E slot.

Whaddyathink?


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Re: Multiple Display question
tomtuttle #195137 02/06/08 01:16 AM
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It sounds more like a driver problem than anything else. What kind of errors are you getting? And what games?

Last edited by kcarlile; 02/06/08 01:16 AM.

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Re: Multiple Display question
Ken.C #195138 02/06/08 01:25 AM
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Madden 2006. I don't remember the exact error. I want the monitor to have the taskbar and the computer "stuff" on it, but play the game on the TV (which is the right side of the dualview display). I've tried every combination of which one is primary and it just won't flippin work. I updated the drivers. It could certainly be user error. I've tired of trying.

Maybe I'll just get a newer copy of Madden and see if that works.


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Re: Multiple Display question
tomtuttle #195165 02/06/08 05:22 AM
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 Originally Posted By: tomtuttle


I'm having trouble launching some games, I think because of the NVidia Dual View configuration (I can't clone the monitors because they are different resolutions).


I know what you're saying about the nVidia software. Did some hair pulling myself.

Not sure if this is at all helpful but I have a laptop at 1280x800 connected via VGA to a projector at 854x480 and am using the Clone view with my projector set as the primary. Everything shows up on the projector but video and games are just black windows on the laptop. There is a little bit of side loss on the projector (usually the close window X is offscreen). Other than that it works quite nicely.


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Re: Multiple Display question
tomtuttle #195168 02/06/08 06:26 AM
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You didn’t say exactly what troubles some games are having. If they just fail and exit to the desktop about all I can suggest is besides updating the drivers as you already have also make sure you have the latest patches for the games.

If the only issue is having your “desktop on the monitor and your game playing on the TV then there is no real good solution only work-arounds.

Most applications are not mutli-monitor aware and will insist on starting on whichever monitor you designated as primary which is also where your desktop icons and taskbar default. What I did is to designate my TV as the primary and then drag all the desktop icons and the taskbar to the smaller LCD monitor. The first time you start any program after setting up multiple monitors the program will default to starting on the (primary) TV in my case. You can then drag it to the secondary to use it. If you exit a program that is multi-monitor aware (most operating system stuff is) it will restart on whichever monitor you closed it on. Most applications like games will always start on the primary if started in full screen mode.

The work-around for games is to either start the game in windowed mode if it’s available. Some games allow you to select this from a menu, others require you to edit a resource or startup file and some just won’t allow it or don’t function properly in windowed mode. Search the internet for instructions on how to use window mode on a given game.

I use the other gaming work-around which is to start the game in full screen mode so it pops up on the primary monitor normally. The problem here is that this usually locks the cursor into the game and won’t let you move it to the other monitor while the game has focus (the application that the mouse and keyboard are currently tied to). To get out of the game and back your desktop use ALT+TAB to move the focus out of the game to the desktop or another open application. This should cause the game to minimize to the taskbar and allow you to use the mouse and keyboard normally. When you want to go back to the game just hold ALT down and keep pushing the TAB until the game pops back up in the primary monitor.

Hope this helps. I’m tired so if it’s not clear I’ll try to clarify it later or maybe someone else with a better solution will chime in.

P.S. I set up the dual monitors using the Windows: Properties > Settings box and don’t mess with the nVidia stuff.


Edit: One more work-around. Use Linux and a Windows emulator. Most popular Linux GUIs allow you to CTL+TAB between virtual desktops avoiding the whole dual monitor issue completely. I use to do that but haven’t got around to putting Linux on my HTPC yet.

Dean



Last edited by grunt; 02/06/08 06:37 AM. Reason: another option

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Re: Multiple Display question
grunt #195204 02/06/08 04:47 PM
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I'm wondering if there might be a config switch somewhere to tell it which monitor to use (1 or 2).


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Re: Multiple Display question
Ken.C #195206 02/06/08 04:58 PM
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Gentlemen, thank you very much for the excellent guidance. You've given me several approaches to try, and consequently, provided "hope". I appreciate your help and will report back. I'm going to need time and beer to approach this again.

So, adding a second video card wouldn't really help me, would it?


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Re: Multiple Display question
tomtuttle #195221 02/06/08 05:36 PM
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Not likely--it seems to be more of a game problem than a driver problem as I initially thought.


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Re: Multiple Display question
Ken.C #195241 02/06/08 06:57 PM
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Probably somewhat off base, but, do you have anything else running in the background? I know I have to shutdown folding@home before launching any games, even though it is supposed to just be using idle processing power.


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Re: Multiple Display question
doormat #195246 02/06/08 07:44 PM
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No, there is nothing else running. The mainapp.exe just bombs out. Could just be the game, so I'll try that and also working through the NVidia stuff again. I do appreciate the suggestions. Thank you so much.


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