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major problem with dualscreen. suggestion to dev!

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Jan 27, 2009 Theomyr link
I'm having major trouble getting VO working properly with dual screens. I'm using the proprietary nvidia drivers and Twinview. I have tried all the things suggested before in the forum and it used to work for me before, but for some reason it doesn't this time I installed it. I've tried all sorts of combinations with the metamodes line:

Option "metamodes" "DFP: 1680x1050 +0+0, CRT: 1280x1024 +1680+0; 1680x1050,NULL;"

When it's like above my desktop works fine, but VO does't recognize 1680x1050 as a valid resolution and instead using the combined screen1+screen2 resolution.

I've tried omitting "NULL" on the second metamode, specifying DFP:, just having "1680x1050" and nothing else, removing the last semicolon, switching places back and forth and probably something else I've forgotten.

The only time I get VO to recognize 1680x1050 as valid resolution and enable play on one screen is when I completely disable the second screen. This is very annoying to do, just to be able to play VO, especially since vendetta is the only program that require such workaround. In order to fix this in a quick and easy way I suggest the following:

PLEASE, implement an override option in the config file, so it's possible to force a resolution and override whatever you are using to automatically detect it. You can still have the autodetect activate if the config option is missing.
Jan 27, 2009 roguelazer link
What actual Modes do you have? Or are you exclusively using nvidia's Metamodes? Because it should work if you have an actual 1680x1050 real mode in xorg.conf
Jan 29, 2009 Theomyr link
I didn't have any normal modes at all, but I tried adding them now. Tried both just adding a normal mode and having both the normal mode and metamodes. So now I have like this:

Option "metamodes" "DFP: 1680x1050 +0+0, CRT: 1280x1024 +1680+0; 1680x1050,NULL;"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050" "1280x1024" "1024x768"
EndSubSection

It doesn't work!
I really hoped that would be the problem though :(
Jan 29, 2009 vendettauser link
I have this same problem, i just submitted a "bug" via the submit a bug link.

my xorg.conf was configured by nvidia-settings

Section "Screen"
# Removed Option "metamodes" "CRT: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, DFP: nvidia-auto-select +1680+0"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "nvidia-auto-select"
EndSubsection
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "metamodes" "CRT: 1680x1050 +0+0, DFP: 1680x1050 +1680+0"
EndSection

Even if I specify 800x600 in config.ini, the game is still 3360x1050. If I'm in windowed mode, I can only see a portion of the game, which is always 3360x1050.
Jan 29, 2009 mr_spuck link
I don't have an nvidia card. But what if you use
Option "metamodes" "DFP: 1680x1050 +0+0, CRT: 1280x1024 +1680+0; DFP: 1680x1050,NULL" ?
Jan 30, 2009 Theomyr link
mr_spuck: As I wrote in the initial post, I've tried that and all similar combinations before but i did it again now, just to be sure.

With that config Vendetta works on one screen, but I also have only one screen working for the desktop. I know that in theory the first entry (with 2 screens) should be used for the desktop but alas it is not. I also tried reversing the line like; "DFP: 1680x1050,NULL; DFP: 1680x1050 +0+0, CRT: 1280x1024 +1680+0" but that doesn't do anything - it's same as with your suggestion.

Thanks for trying to help though :)
Jan 30, 2009 mr_spuck link
.. and you can't switch to the dual screen mode at run time with that config? Does the dual screen mode show up in xrandr or the resolution panel of your desktop? Maybe it's selecting the single screen modes by default. I'm just guessing around...
Jan 30, 2009 Theomyr link
> and you can't switch to the dual screen mode at run time ?

You would think so, but no... I don't know why. I have to blame the driver (maker) for that of course.

I can run in single-screen mode and play vendetta and logout/restart X to dual screen mode afterwards, but that is cumbersome and annoying.

I hope it would be a simple thing to force a certain resolution in VO if needed, that would help many in the future I think since dual screens are becoming more common with lcd's...
Jan 31, 2009 roguelazer link
mr_spuck: Alas, but the nvidia binary driver doesn't have very good xrandr support. :-(
Feb 23, 2009 PinguinXY link
Yep, i get the very same problem, and since it's a present problem it makes in unplayable for me because the Screens are neither close together nor at the same res. Would be nice if the force feature is implemented :-)
Apr 11, 2009 kiyoshigawa link
I too am having these problems and would like to add my vote to the adding of a 'force resolution' feature if at all possible. Right now I am having to disable the monitor using nvidia-settings before I play, which messes up all my window positions. Thanks in advance. ^_^
Jun 02, 2009 Gevatter_Tod link
I'm going to enqueue. Have the same screen settings and the same problems. Playing is difficult because of several previous steps to "emulate" only one screen...
Aug 07, 2009 blackadder link
It would be nice to be able to specify windowed/800*600 and windowed/1024*768 on any screen where the maximum resolution is higher than these.

Personally, I could actually have vo open on the same computer where I'm doing stuff that requires a full working twinview setup, instead of having it closed all the time.

More generally it would be usable
Aug 07, 2009 indra6oc link
Seems like a nice game, but yes, having it on one monitor instead of 2 would be nicer.
Usualy i can get most games to use only one (of two monitors) but as described before its hardly impossible with VO. (even tried hand editing config.ini but no avail)
Any updates on whether and when this issue could be fixed.
I'd like to try the game, but i'm not gonna disable any monitor.
Aug 08, 2009 momerath42 link
I haven't been checking this forum as often as I should (stuff doesn't usually break just for linux these days), and so I missed how common a problem this is (I was vaguely aware of it, but thought there was some obscure-ish solution). It's not a fun thing to figure out, since there are a lot of different dual-screen possibilities for X, and things can work differently in different driver or X versions. I'm going to make sure we have a ticket for this in our system right now, and I'll try to take a stab at it soon.
Sep 12, 2009 Adriel link
Any luck with this?

I vote for allowing us to type in a resolution somewhere and have it use that.

I do not know how this could be difficult.

If this is not fixed soon I will most likely cancel my account as I do not play because I do not want to keep turning off my second monitor.
Sep 13, 2009 ladron link
Threatening to cancel your account if the devs don't spend their time how you want them to is a good way to get your suggestion ignored, Adriel.

That being said, I agree that it would be nice to be able to run VO in an arbitrary resolution in windowed mode. In fact, I don't quite understand why this isn't done already. Not only is it a pain in the ass for people with dual monitors, but it is also inconvenient for those of us who want to run a client in windowed mode without it taking up the entire screen.
Sep 13, 2009 Adriel link
It is not a threat, it is a fact. Let me word it another way. Please reference the email address on my account and email me when this is fixed and I will sign back up.

:)

is that more positive?
Sep 13, 2009 Adriel link
Signed up 2009-08-07 12:51:54 Account type: Subscriber
Time spent online: 0 days, 15:50:14

I haven't spent much time online, this is the reason, and it is not cost effective for me to keep paying for a service I do not use.

The reason I do not use it is because of this issue, I do enjoy the game, but not enough to keep changing resolutions.

I considered canceling the first month, but I saw this thread and decided that the solution may be just around the corner.

It has now been over a month since the last update on this thread, and I do not know if a solution is coming. Without a fix I am just wasting money since I do not play for this reason.
Sep 18, 2009 raybondo link
I'm sorry about the delay. There have been so many other things happening that this has fallen down in priority. I'll try to escalate it and with any luck, a fix or hack will be available tonight.