dual monitor woes

sinjin · Aug 15, 2003, 11:46 AM

yesterday, after 4 years of service, my trusted samsung went down.

so...i picked up a pair of identical viewsonic flat crt's at the local pc shop and lugged them home. having always wanted a dual screen setup...i was excited about the chance to configure one.

here's my problem. i was under the impression i could set 1 screen as primary and the other as secondary. having apps open on 1 and displayed on its own task bar instead of spanning across both screens (using ultramon perhaps).

the other issue i'm having is running mohaa. basically, it clones itself on both screens. i can't alt_enter/resize/tile/etc for it to run on just 1 screen while leaving the other screen available to display other open/idling apps.

take a look at my display property screenshots.

any ideas?

shuki · Aug 15, 2003, 01:19 PM

your 17" will handle 2048x768 res?? wow!

~~DriveEuro~~ · Aug 15, 2003, 01:50 PM

NO, divide 2048 by two. Doesn't that number seem familar? 1024. He's spanning it from one monitor to the other. Just stretched.

Logla · Aug 15, 2003, 01:57 PM

Sinjin, Which OS & drivers are you using?

In XP there is normall an option at the bottom of the display properties screen "use this device as the primary monitor and Extend my windows desktop onto this monitor" I notice yours doesnt have these options.

shuki · Aug 15, 2003, 02:14 PM

thats what I've got too logla on my 8500 machine! his just is not there!

sinjin · Aug 15, 2003, 02:18 PM

using win2k sp4 w/ the latest omegas, cat3.5s, and 3.6s.

im spanning cuz its the only thing i can do other than clone.

sinjin · Aug 15, 2003, 06:43 PM

i've read there is a workaround for my problem...but i just can't find any documentation.

Vampyromaniac · Aug 15, 2003, 09:56 PM

have you tried Hydravision?

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 12:17 AM

Necrosis · Aug 16, 2003, 01:01 AM

Interesting becaues I just re-read your first post and I also have dual Viewsonic's.

Have you installed the lastest drivers for your monitors?

Here is what it should look like.

It sure sounds like to me like both your monitors are being seen as primary.

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 02:59 AM

yup thats exactly whats going on..both are being recognized as primary.

i've tried the last 2 viewsonic driver sets and am currently running them as 'win plug and play' monitors...perhaps i need to go in the registry and completely wipe out any instance of viewsonic and try installing again from scratch.

other than that...i don't know what else to do.

Logla · Aug 16, 2003, 03:18 AM

What kind of options do you get in the Adapter tab under list alll modes. If you can force a normal display mode it may give you the option to use dual displays (I thnk)

Dyre Straits · Aug 16, 2003, 03:22 AM

I'm using XP and have my primary monitor (19"), secondary monitor (15"), and Video Out -> Video In between two vid cards. (Of course only one of the latter two can be active at any time.)

When I select the primary monitor from the Display Properties, I have a check in BOTH "Use this device....." and "Extend my Windows...." EDIT: ...but the options are grayed out.

When I select the secondary monitor in that same screen, there is no check in "Use this device....."

Also, there are actually two different monitors in the Display dropdown menu.

Is it possible that your system is only detecting ONE monitor -- since they're identical -- rather than TWO separate physical ones? Maybe one will be the Viewsonic and the second one Plug n Play or Default. Just thinking.

Logla · Aug 16, 2003, 03:31 AM

Is this where "Alternate DVI operational mode" in the options comes into play?

Dyre Straits · Aug 16, 2003, 04:00 AM

What do you get when you right click on those primary and secondary screens in the Display Properties window? I have to have 'Attached' checked for my secondary one to work, too.

Logla · Aug 16, 2003, 04:19 AM

In the screen where you have your two monitors, and you can open the options for each monitor, is "use ddc information" set on each monitor. Mine are both off although I don't use two displays anymore.

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Logla
What kind of options do you get in the Adapter tab under list alll modes. If you can force a normal display mode it may give you the option to use dual displays (I thnk)

theres a list of a few dozen resolutions with different refresh rates available...forcing it to another mode results in the cloning of displays...dual displays still not shown in win properties.

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dyre Straits
Is it possible that your system is only detecting ONE monitor -- since they're identical -- rather than TWO separate physical ones? Maybe one will be the Viewsonic and the second one Plug n Play or Default. Just thinking.

under device manager there are 2 monitors shown...under display properties there is only 1 monitor icon (see screenshot on previous page again).

i find it difficult to believe that i'm the only one that is using identical monitors for their dual display setup....heck, see that post in the off-topic forum with the 13 monitor span? i'm sure a few of those are identical.

oh..and in reply to your suggestion...i tried setting one as plug/play, and vice versa...still no dice.

thx tho.

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Logla
Is this where "Alternate DVI operational mode" in the options comes into play?

hmm, using cat 3.6 and i don't see that option anywhere within display properties > settings > advanced > options. perhaps i'm using the wrong control panel?

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dyre Straits
What do you get when you right click on those primary and secondary screens in the Display Properties window? I have to have 'Attached' checked for my secondary one to work, too.

right clicking on those little screens give me a single "What's This?" box.

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Logla
In the screen where you have your two monitors, and you can open the options for each monitor, is "use ddc information" set on each monitor. Mine are both off although I don't use two displays anymore.

both were checked...then i unchecked them and was then able to reset the monitor's max resolution and refresh rate. wonder what would happen if i set one of these to 3200x1200x200?

j/k

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 05:12 AM

wonder if this has anything to do with flashing the bios up to a 9100 from 8500 awhile back?

Logla · Aug 16, 2003, 05:19 AM

Does the 9100 normally support dual displays?

Logla · Aug 16, 2003, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sinjin
hmm, using cat 3.6 and i don't see that option anywhere within display properties > settings > advanced > options. perhaps i'm using the wrong control panel?

This is what I get using the Omega's but It's there in the Cat 3.6s aswell

sinjin · Aug 16, 2003, 05:26 AM

thanks...i definitely have the wrong cp installed. :embarrassed: come on wolf..let me use those emoticons!

Logla · Aug 16, 2003, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sinjin
right clicking on those little screens give me a single "What's This?" box.

Don't right click, left click.

You will get to here

Logla · Aug 16, 2003, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sinjin
thanks...i definitely have the wrong cp installed. :embarrassed: come on wolf..let me use those emoticons!

Let us know if you get it working.

Necrosis · Aug 16, 2003, 05:37 AM

I'm running identical displays. If you control panel is the wrong one you may want to do a good wipe of your video drivers, and start from scratch. However, don't forget you can also c