Can't use both monitors

[Fakum]

Well, I have succeeded, at least primarily.

I found that editing the options.lua and replacing the one in the:

 

C:\Users\Don\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Eagle Dynamics\Ka-50\BlackShark\data\scripts

 

Directory made a world of difference (Im using Vista)

 

I was putting the edited options.lua in the:

 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Eagle Dynamics\Ka-50\BlackShark\data\scripts\options.lua

 

Directory

 

That didn’t necessarily cure it entirely, I am running the game in 2560x1600, and my desktop was set to 1152x864. When I set my desktop to match the game resolution,,, all was well!

 

Looks very good, the mouse buttons line up and function on the cockpit, what more can I ask for?

That’s when I went to bring up my Trim Indicator, and my FPS counter,,,, they don’t appear? I tried different variations,, ok ,,, I did some reading awhile back about folks not being able to use their radio commands etc,,, looks like I have to go deeper, but I am that much closer.

I could go into some more details on other things, like I found I could get both the same results with or without running the phantom fix and a few other things, but right now I want my Trim Indicator, and my FPS counter back!

Edited July 24, 2009 by Fakum

[ruprecht]

Excellent, congrats.

 

The radio commands and FPS counter are probably being rendered on your phantom, off the screen. Now that it's working, create an alternate config for the phantom monitor fix exe and you should find that you get your menus back.

 

Will update the wiki with notes on desktop resolution, cheers.

[Fakum]

Thanks,,, but I have no idea what you mean by

"create an alternate config for the phantom monitor fix exe"

sorry, can you show me an example? I dont know if you mean I have to modify the options lua or the monitor lua?

[ruprecht]

Look here: http://www.vaaf.net/wiki2/index.php5?title=Black_Shark_MultiMonitors#TripleHead2Go_.2B_Abris.2FShkval

 

You can comapre the two different configs, one with the exe, one without.

 

Note that I've not used the phantom fix exe yet, so this is all based on reading.

[Fakum]

Im a bit confused on thwe Wiki Instructions, particularly under

“Bravo46's Dual Monitor Setup Using the Phantom Monitor Fix”

 

I understand the following for having both resolutions set at 1280x800

Open your options.lua with notepad++ and go to the bottom. These are the values we are interested in as follows-

["aspect"] = 3.2,

["height"] = 800,

["resolution"] = "2560x800",

["width"] = 2560,

The following however makes no sense to me for the same resolution:

 

Viewports ={Center = This is the cockpit screen size. Not the total resolution. My Abris and SHKVAL are mounted above each other in order to maximise my pit

{

x = 512; This pushes my cockpit 512 to the right. 512 is the width of my ABRIS as shown below

y = 0; This value remains unchanged as my pit starts at the top of my screen

width = 2048; This value is Total resolution minus ABRIS/SHKVAL eg:

2560-512=2048

height = 800; This value remains unchangedview

Dx = 0;

viewDy = 0;

aspect = 26/10; Width divided by Hieght of pit 2048/800=2.56. I rounded this value to to 2.6 to 1 or 26/10. Its expressed in 100ths in the multimonitor lua so I kept it that way.

}

}

ABRIS ={

x = 0;

y = 0;

width = 512; My ABRIS is 512 wide

height = 450; My ABRIS is 450 high

}

Shkval =

{x = 0;

y = 450; I push my SHKVAL down to the bottom of the ABRIS.

width = 512; My SHKVAL is the same width as the ABRIS

height = 350; This is the remainder of my total height. ABRIS

450+SHKVAL 350=800res Height}

 

How do you get: x= 512 when you have 2 monitors, set at 1280 each, the center of the left monitor would be 640, so if you want Abris far left x would = 0, width would = 640, and height would = 800 (not 450?).

 

Heres what I would expect my numbers should be under these guidelines for 2 monitors @1280x1024 no Phantom

 

 

 

If your numbers are correct, I cant make sense of them, therefore, I will not be able to reconfigure these numbers for my calculations. I hope the numbers are wrong in the Wiki otherwise, im at a loss?? Thanks

Edited July 25, 2009 by Fakum

[Fakum]

I have spent many hours on this. I have been able to get the FPS and Trim Indicator back on screen using the 2 different approaches. I have found out that in order to do so, I have had to drop the resolution on my main cockpit monitor, I am accustom to, and want to maintain a main cockpit screen resolution of 2560x 1600, but it appears to be the following.

With the Shkval and ABRIS monitor maxed out to its resolution of 1280x1024, and the main cockpit monitor at 1600x1024, I can see FPS and Trim Indicator, the next increment resolution on the main cockpit monitor of 1600x1200, the trim indicator starts to drop halfway thru the bottom, (another words, I only see the top half of the Trim Indicator). Of course as I increase the main cockpit monitor, the trim Indicator and FPS start to disappear entirely. Any advise on this?

[Panzertard]

Fakum, I've got two possible theories:

There's the aspect ratio;

- you obviously change aspect.

Have you tried playing around with this a bit?

1280x1024= 1,25

1600x1200 = 1,333333333333333

1600x1024 = 1,5625

2560x1600 = 1,6

(1600 (main X) +1280 (abris X)) x 1200 (largest Y)=2,4

 

Or the second possibility - alignement:

It could be the fact that the "main" now is at larger resolution than the abris (1200 main vs 1024 on arbis).

Which means you may have to use the same vertical resolution on both - or "move" the Y-cord of one of the monitors (abris maybe) - the one that is being used as "first coords found" by the game engine.

This way both "main" and "abris" will align at the bottom (where you want the Trim/Input indicator).

[ruprecht]

Fakum, my apologies but I've not played with the phantom fix exe much. I will try and have a look tonight.

 

If there are any errors in the wiki page I'd appreciate the feedback, however I didn't write that section I'm afraid.

 

Cheers

[old_red_eyes]

If your numbers are correct, I cant make sense of them, therefore, I will not be able to reconfigure these numbers for my calculations. I hope the numbers are wrong in the Wiki otherwise, im at a loss?? Thanks

 

Oh dear, you are unlucky :( That setup in the Wiki doesn't make sense to me either. It looks like a cross between a widescreen setup and a dual 1024x800 setup, either way it doesn't seem to match the description.

 

Your numbers look good to me, at least on paper. As my prof used to say, if you can find errors in the example, you must have cracked the theory :thumbup:

 

I've been working on a Monitor Wizard, but I've discovered that BS is sensitive to the exact order of parameters in the lua files, which seems weird. So if you are editing lua files don't be tempted to reorder lines in a more logical order!

 

Upshot is I will have to write my own lua parser which will take a little longer.

[Fakum]

Thanks for the feedback guys, yeah, Im glad its not me on the numbers issue in the Wiki page,,,, I was so stumped!I just couldnt make sense of it.

 

ya know guys, in my spare time, this is the stuff ive been working on, between the multi setup problems and my Cougar HOTAS zoom spiking, and testing W7 RC for Black Shark, I havnt even had time to fly the dang thing, HAhahahahaha,, oh well ,, Im determined to get this dual monitor configured, but i wont be satisfied unless I get the cockpit to 2560x1600,, if I dont this would have been a huge waste of time for me,,, so be it! Thanks again guys,, Ill keep pushing

[ruprecht]

I got my TH2G setup going tonight, both with and without the phantom fix exe, by using my configs at the very bottom of the wiki page. The only difference is that when using the phantom fix, you don't configure a phantom. Works perfectly.

 

Also, I noted exactly the same framerate both ways (with and without phantom fix) in instant action - 27FPS with everything up full. I suspect though, that using the phantom fix exe will make a difference in a more realistic test.

 

Fakum, the numbers you posted look right for 2x1280x1024 no phantom.

 

Double check that you're sure it's picking up the correct options.lua and monitorsetup lua? I found the same issue with Win7 tonight that it saved off the options.lua into a different location.

 

*EDIT* attached numbers for 2560x1600 main + left 1280x1024 ABRIS/Shkval using the phantom fix. good luck.

 

Can you post a digital photo of what you're currently seeing? With all the various updates and bugs, I'm not sure what stage you're at. Also, happy to support the phantom fix exe now as I've some experience with it myself as of tonight.

 

With the Shkval and ABRIS monitor maxed out to its resolution of 1280x1024, and the main cockpit monitor at 1600x1024, I can see FPS and Trim Indicator, the next increment resolution on the main cockpit monitor of 1600x1200, the trim indicator starts to drop halfway thru the bottom, (another words, I only see the top half of the Trim Indicator). Of course as I increase the main cockpit monitor, the trim Indicator and FPS start to disappear entirely. Any advise on this?

 

Obviously if you change the main monitor resolution you're going to have to change all your numbers right?

Edited July 26, 2009 by ruprecht

[Fakum]

Panzertard, those are some interesting aspect ratios

 

There's the aspect ratio;

- you obviously change aspect.

Have you tried playing around with this a bit?

1280x1024= 1,25

1600x1200 = 1,333333333333333

1600x1024 = 1,5625

2560x1600 = 1,6

(1600 (main X) +1280 (abris X)) x 1200 (largest Y)=2,4

My aspect ratios are derived from (total width resolution/largest vertical resolution)

I will try your approach as well, after all, all I have to lose is time. Thanks

[Fakum]

ruprecht, Yes, I have the same numbers for that config as well. As far as which options.lua to change, for me in Vista its in the Virtual directory not the root directory.

[Fakum]

Panzertard, I see why it seemed to me that your aspect ratios appeared to be unique to me, its because I see you have an error in your equation.

you have:

(1600 (main X) +1280 (abris X)) x 1200 (largest Y)=2,4

 

It should actually read:

(1600 (main X) +1280 (abris X)) / 1200 (largest Y)=2.4

Correct?, which is the same equation I currently use.

[Panzertard]

Sorry, you're right - here in norway we use "," as a decimal separator opposed to "." other places.

And the x isnt *, it's just slang for "x by y" so "/" is the correct mathematical term, yes.

[Fakum]

No Problem, thanks for clearing that up, I am interested in your other notion though.

 

Or the second possibility - alignement:

It could be the fact that the "main" now is at larger resolution than the abris (1200 main vs 1024 on arbis).

Which means you may have to use the same vertical resolution on both - or "move" the Y-cord of one of the monitors (abris maybe) - the one that is being used as "first coords found" by the game engine.

This way both "main" and "abris" will align at the bottom (where you want the Trim/Input indicator).

 

This has me intrigued, but Im not clear on which "y" to edit and to what?

1280x1024 will be for the ABRIS and Shkval monitor, while 2560x1600 will be for the cockpit monitor. I am assuming it will be the ABRIS "Y" on the far left as thats where the Trim Indicator pops up (far left bottom) unless there is a way to influence the trim indicator to show up somewhere else (that would be even better as I would love to have it show up in the bottom left of the cockpit).

[Panzertard]

I dont have 2 monitors, neither have I studied the monitor setup for the DCS. However - in realworld and quite often in programming - you need to reffer to the coords and references to an image/monitor.

So what Im discussing is just pure theory/mindgames.

 

As of my reference to alignment; - since you obviously need a method to align the two monitors/display surfaces (either the method builtin to Windows - or DCS's own methods). Either aligned at top, centered or at the bottom.

And thats why I reffer to the Y-coord / ref. Up and down, vertical alignment.

 

The "trim" display needs to get it coords from somewhere - so it needs to read out / borrow the sum of display from somewhere (1600 height or 1024 height) and figure out "where is the lower left corner for this display?" so it can be drawn there.

 

If it does this by using a combination of the surface area, coordinates or total pixels I dont know - but if you could tweak some of the parameters you could provoke a reaction to where it is drawn.

 

Hence my jibber-jabber ... about stuff I really dont know too much about .. yet ;)

Edited July 26, 2009 by Panzertard

[Fakum]

I think I will start another thread just to see if anyone knows where (if any where) the X and Y coordinates for the Trim indicator can be located and edited so I can have it show up where ever I tell it too. Thanks

[ruprecht]

I believe there was some discussion on this front in regard to another UI element (maybe radio messages?) and it was determined that it was compiled in and not available for editing the placement.

[old_red_eyes]

I believe there was some discussion on this front in regard to another UI element (maybe radio messages?) and it was determined that it was compiled in and not available for editing the placement.

 

Yeah, I wondered about that. I finally found my comms menu at the top right corner of the second display.

 

I think that means with the multi-monitor trick then something has to go, since the trim display is at bottom left. I call it a trick, because we are using a "virtual display" some of which is not physically there, but BS has no way of knowing that.

[PlainSight]

Yeah, I wondered about that. I finally found my comms menu at the top right corner of the second display.

 

I think that means with the multi-monitor trick then something has to go, since the trim display is at bottom left. I call it a trick, because we are using a "virtual display" some of which is not physically there, but BS has no way of knowing that.

 

What about setting up yet another display, last in row, just for displaying radio comms. That way, comms don't appear on other monitors, like abris of shkval. Just extend the total width for some 400 pixels.

[Fakum]

I dont have 3 monitors to try that, I have to find a way to set the coordinates for the FPS counter and Trim indicator, or live without them, or just use fraps for benchmarking. I dont know of any other solutions within my currnt hardware capabilities?

[Fakum]

Heres a screen shot I took at resolutions 1280x1024 and cockpit at 1600x1200. you can see that the trim indicators top half only is displayed. The FPS is there, just under the text"MENU" at the top left corner of the ABRIS. Keep in mind, with the cockpit resolution set at 1600 x 1024, the Trim Indicator is fully displayed, once I try to increase the cockpit resolution (as shown ) it starts to vanish, and eventually, so does the FPS counter

 

 

Edited July 29, 2009 by Fakum

[ruprecht]

On your numbers spreadsheet, cell B21, shouldn't that be 1200?

 

I'm confused, you keep changing your main monitor resolution. One minute it's 1280x1024, then 1600x1200, then 2560x1600. I think you're causing yourself a lot of trouble by doing this. Pick a resolution and stick with it. When you have a config for that resolution that works exactly as desired, save it off, and then experiment with a different one if you want to.

[Fakum]

Yeah, the B21 is an error, I put that sheet together a little to quick. and it was only for reference to get the pictures on the forum, the actual lua file is acurate for that resolution.

 

Your correct, I do keep changing the resolutions, thats because I am experimenting, because I have NOT found one that works for me with the main set at 2560x1600 and still keep the trim indicator visable.

 

I was asked to provide a picture example of what it was that I was expieriencing trouble with, so this is it. Heres an example of what happens when I start hitting resolutions above 1600 x 1024 on the cockpit monitor.

:joystick: