Hello!

I have 2 display cards installed and I have 3 screens connected.

What do I have to set up in Vista or Win7 to be able to play LFS on 3 screens?

Scawen wrote that there should be a switch somewhere in the display software.

My display cards:

9600GT as primary and 7600GT as secondary.

Thanks!

SoftTH, TH2GO, or set in expanded view or w/e, and use the adjustable FOV fix.

EDIT: DISREGARD THE PRECEDING....

Apparently, there is something new going on in Z16. Sorry for the misleading post.

I'd better get Z16 first, shouldn't i?

It's no different to doing so with regular Z patch, so you'll need SoftTH in your case. There are threads around for setting that up.

Z16 just means that you can use three viewports, so rather than having all monitors in a flat plane, you can angle them and have the 3D image match, like: http://lfs.thefloatingwidget.n ... /Three%20viewport%201.jpg

SoftTH supports up to 3 screens, but no more, right? I'd want a 4th

Then you'll need an ATI 5800 series card with EyeFinity support.

Quote from morpha :

SoftTH supports up to 3 screens, but no more, right? I'd want a 4th

I don't think 4 screens would be ideal, it has the same problem as 2 screens. The bezels end up right in the middle.

Quote from Bob Smith :

Then you'll need an ATI 5800 series card with EyeFinity support.

One thing to note about the new Radeon if you plan on running 3 displays on it. The HDMI connector is shared with one of the DVIs. Which means that if you want the 3 displays one of them has to be connected to the DisplayPort. And DisplayPort is not compatible with DVI/HDMI. So in conclusion you either need a active DP -> DVI adapter (100€+) or a DisplayPort in your monitor.

Quote from geeman1 :

I don't think 4 screens would be ideal, it has the same problem as 2 screens. The bezels end up right in the middle.

Not the way I intend to use them; 1 middle, 1 right and 2 left screens, which works great with Z16

Quote from geeman1 :

And DisplayPort is not compatible with DVI/HDMI. So in conclusion you either need a active DP -> DVI adapter (100€+) or a DisplayPort in your monitor.

I'm finding them for about £20, which seems reasonable to me.

Quote from Bob Smith :

I'm finding them for about £20, which seems reasonable to me.

Those are passive adapters. They only work if your GPU can output DVI signal through the DP connector. Which the new Radeons can't afaik.

EDIT: Apparently the version with 6 mini-DP connectors has two DP+ connectors (you can use passive adapters with those). But the regular version still has normal DP, so you need an active adapter.

Quote from Bob Smith :

Then you'll need an ATI 5800 series card with EyeFinity support.

one thing to note about this is that at the moment (iirc they inted to do something about this in the near future) eyefinity only supports regular span mode so unless all youre displays have the same vertical resolution youre gonna lose pixels
something that wont happen with softth (not that that hasnt got more than enough problems of its own but still)

Thank you for the answers.

Does anyone have experience with the th2go? I understand, that it creates one big display on one display connector, which may be great for LFS and FSX.

But in Windows I like to have 3 separate displays... Is it possible to do that too, or do I always need to plug my displays in the th2go for playing and in the display cards for working?

I tried softTH but it makes LFS crashing a lot at Win7 64bit and FSX crashes too sometimes. And my 2nd display card is connected to a 4x PCIe slot which causes a big frame rate drop (20FPS at start in LFS - I usually have about 100 at start).

i am trying to ask a simple question without starting a new pointless thread. sorry for the hi-jack

can i have 2 open windows at the same time, like lfs and facebook chat so i dont have to go out of lfs every time my stocker IM's me

Quote from JustForFunRacing :

I tried softTH but it makes LFS crashing a lot at Win7 64bit and FSX crashes too sometimes.

Yes, it is unstable, especially when changing resolution or to a window from full screen, or back again. The SoftTH forum might have more tips for improving stability.

Quote from JustForFunRacing :

And my 2nd display card is connected to a 4x PCIe slot which causes a big frame rate drop (20FPS at start in LFS - I usually have about 100 at start).

Try lower resolutions and colour depth for the sidescreens. Seeing as you should be rarely looking directly at them, and in LFS they contain no interface. it's not such a big deal as you might think.

Quote from logitekg25 :

can i have 2 open windows at the same time, like lfs and facebook chat so i dont have to go out of lfs every time my stocker IM's me

Yes. Why didn't you just try it? Whenever LFS is not the active window, you will not have any control.

Quote from Bob Smith :

like: http://lfs.thefloatingwidget.n ... /Three%20viewport%201.jpg

The link 404's bob.

Quote from JustForFunRacing :

I tried softTH but it makes LFS crashing a lot at Win7 64bit and FSX crashes too sometimes. And my 2nd display card is connected to a 4x PCIe slot which causes a big frame rate drop (20FPS at start in LFS - I usually have about 100 at start).

4x PCIe should be enough. You can try lowering the resolution and color depth on side monitors though if it seems like it is.
Mind though that the big resolution in it self needs a lot of power. So you should probably lower your anti-aliasing and anistrophic filtering settings as well.

For me SoftTH works quite well on LFS once you set it up. Changing the resolution and going from windowed mode often makes things go wrong so avoid those. What works for me is to set up SoftTH, change the resolution in LFS then exit LFS. Next time you start LFS it should work fine. Just disable windowed mode while connecting, so that LFS won't go windowed when connecting to a server. Also avoid switching to windowed mode at any time.

Quote from danthebangerboy :

The link 404's bob.

Ah yes, the site has now switched to Franky's new server but his backup was about a week old, so I've just re-uploaded all my latest changes. Try again now.

Quote from Bob Smith :

Yes. Why didn't you just try it? Whenever LFS is not the active window, you will not have any control.

that is the problem, i try to type back on facebook or xfire, but i have to exit lfs...so is there any way that i can have lfs open on my main moniter, but then have facebook or xfire, or i have heard other people say they have msn or something, open on my secondary moniter and active so i dont have to crash every time i have to type

Quote from logitekg25 :

that is the problem, i try to type back on facebook or xfire, but i have to exit lfs...so is there any way that i can have lfs open on my main moniter, but then have facebook or xfire, or i have heard other people say they have msn or something, open on my secondary moniter and active so i dont have to crash every time i have to type

I don't know about Facebook or MSN, but doesn't XFire have a overlay that comes up on games? I haven't used XFire in years, but you can bring it up by pressing some button combination and you can chat without leaving the game. I am not sure if it did work with every game.

it is not working for me, but the forums are resolving that (xfire forums)

Quote from logitekg25 :

that is the problem, i try to type back on facebook or xfire, but i have to exit lfs...

Only if you're running in full screen and you have the mouse clipped to the lfs monitor (press shift-C to toggle). If you make another window active when LFS is fullscreen, it should just minimise, not exit. If you run it windowed (shift-F4), there shouldn't be any issues at all (I do it all the time).

Quote from geeman1 :

I don't think 4 screens would be ideal, it has the same problem as 2 screens. The bezels end up right in the middle.

Just angle the viewpoint off to one side in the view options, so one screen is looking directly forward.

so i pressed shift f4, it windowed, then i tried typing, but controller stopped wotking, so i pressed shift c, and same thing is there any program that will allow it? or will xfire have to be my main way of comunicating when i get it to work.

Quote from logitekg25 :

so i pressed shift f4, it windowed, then i tried typing, but controller stopped wotking

If you mean your controller no longer registered in LFS, then this is either a limition of Windows or DirectInput. I don't think there's really anything you can do about it. Race, or chat. Both require attention that the other needs in order for you to do so successfully.

i will have to deal, thanks for trying

i wouldnt try anything unless i was in straits so ya

The only way to chat in MSN and facebook at the same time as driving is have another laptop or separate PC next to you.



[OT] would love to see a picture of someone using the new patch Z features with a photo taken from the correct viewing point to see what it looks like with the multi monitor features. ie: like your shot Bob, except the camera needs to be about 3 feet closer

would be cool to see it.