1 PC, 2 non-simultaneous setup (reverse KVM?)

[Moonzy]

not sure if it's solvable by hardware or software, so i'll leave it in this subforum, feel free to move it where ever you like

 

situation:

I have 1 desktop, and would like to use it on two completely different setup (different monitors, speakers, and peripherals)

 

issue:

I tried manually switching my monitors on and off, and changing audio to the current setup's speakers

but some application will show on the other monitors that are off, so i have to drag the application from the other monitor to the current setup

basically a hassle everytime i switch setups

gave up after 1 hour of using it basically

 

hopeful solution:

i dont mind having both set of kb and mouse active as the same time, doesnt make much of a difference (or does it?)

 

main issue is just having my application launch in the monitors that are off

so im thinking some sort of monitor switcher? 1 input to multiple output? preferably a software solution.

i dont mind a batch file for both setup that i click to enable or disable certain monitor/audio devices, preferably linkable to a kb hotkey so i dont have to go to the other setup to click if i misclicked something.

also neat if audio can switch along too

 

main setup:

2 screen, 1 speaker, 1 usb hub with multiple things connected

 

secondary setup:

2 screens, 1 speaker, 1 logitech unifying dongle for kb and mouse, preferably a hub to plug in things

[Kisai]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

not sure if it's solvable by hardware or software, so i'll leave it in this subforum, feel free to move it where ever you like

 

situation:

I have 1 desktop, and would like to use it on two completely different setup (different monitors, speakers, and peripherals)

 

issue:

I tried manually switching my monitors on and off, and changing audio to the current setup's speakers

but some application will show on the other monitors that are off, so i have to drag the application from the other monitor to the current setup

basically a hassle everytime i switch setups

gave up after 1 hour of using it basically

 

hopeful solution:

i dont mind having both set of kb and mouse active as the same time, doesnt make much of a difference (or does it?)

 

main issue is just having my application launch in the monitors that are off

so im thinking some sort of monitor switcher? 1 input to multiple output? preferably a software solution.

i dont mind a batch file for both setup that i click to enable or disable certain monitor/audio devices, preferably linkable to a kb hotkey so i dont have to go to the other setup to click if i misclicked something.

also neat if audio can switch along too

 

main setup:

2 screen, 1 speaker, 1 usb hub with multiple things connected

 

secondary setup:

2 screens, 1 speaker, 1 logitech unifying dongle for kb and mouse, preferably a hub to plug in things

 

It's a pain in the ass to do unfortunately. As the OS remembers the devices individually by their connection heirarchy.

 

So the "best" way to do this would require two laptop docking stations and a GPU that has a USB-C port, which makes it more complicated and expensive than necessary.

The second best way to do this would be to have monitors that have USB ports on them and have your USB hardware plugged into the monitor and thus only move the USB upstream cable(s). You'd still have to replug the monitors which is a pain.

 

If neither of those are options, then clearly you can just keep all the USB devices plugged in, however USB-Audio devices will not like this. As long as there's no audio devices it'll be fine.

 

For monitors, the main thing is that Windows will "open" programs on monitors that are turned off, and I actually find this more of a problem, because sometimes I'll want the monitors turned on and sometimes I want them turned off, and unless I disable them in display properties, the OS will treat a powered off monitor as still being on.

 

So your best option here might be having a powershell script that actually turns on/off a monitor and moves anything on that monitor out of it when it's disabled. Which is not something I've personally done.

 

 

[eeeee1]

what you can do is something similar to what linus did in that video where he replaced every pc in his house. you just simply pass over and usb, gpu, audio port and set up your virtual machines.

[Moonzy]

11 minutes ago, Kisai said:

So the "best" way to do this would require two laptop docking stations and a GPU that has a USB-C port, which makes it more complicated and expensive than necessary.

i have a GPU with type-C (2070S)

how would this work?

 

13 minutes ago, Kisai said:

The second best way to do this would be to have monitors that have USB ports on them and have your USB hardware plugged into the monitor and thus only move the USB upstream cable(s). You'd still have to replug the monitors which is a pain.

mmm yea i would like to not have physical buttons or even flipping switches on the extension cord if possible, but if that's the only way then... i cant do it anyway, none of my 4 monitors have a usb hub.

 

14 minutes ago, Kisai said:

USB-Audio devices will not like this.

hmm... i dont have any but idk how i would plug in 2 audio devices to my PC without usb sound card, because my PC only has 1 front and 1 back 3.5mm jack which will only operate the front jack if both are plugged in i believe

and i wouldnt wanna run a 10m analog extension just to reach my 2nd setup, imagine the audio quality

 

16 minutes ago, Kisai said:

For monitors, the main thing is that Windows will "open" programs on monitors that are turned off, and I actually find this more of a problem, because sometimes I'll want the monitors turned on and sometimes I want them turned off, and unless I disable them in display properties, the OS will treat a powered off monitor as still being on.

meanwhile i have a monitor on my main setup that will literally act as if it's unplugged when it's idled, and every application would move to a single screen, and i'll have to re-adjust them everytime it re-powers

 

18 minutes ago, Kisai said:

So your best option here might be having a powershell script that actually turns on/off a monitor and moves anything on that monitor out of it when it's disabled. Which is not something I've personally done.

mmm... i know nothing about powershell scripts too

 

9 minutes ago, eeeee1 said:

what you can do is something similar to what linus did in that video where he replaced every pc in his house. you just simply pass over and usb, gpu, audio port and set up your virtual machines.

elaborate?

im trying to use 1 instances in 2 setups, just not simultanously (bedside to main desk to be specific)

VM is 2 separate instances, which is not what im after unfortunately

[Kisai]

20 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

i have a GPU with type-C (2070S)

how would this work?

 

if you have one you might get away with two unpowered usb-c Docks that use DisplayPort alt mode. Note that Displaylink is not DisplayPort. A DL dock is a software GPU and you can’t use it as a primary monitor if you want to use the dGPU. If it uses DP alt mode then you can just swap which dock is plugged in.

 

[panzerbuern]

4 hours ago, Moonzy said:

not sure if it's solvable by hardware or software, so i'll leave it in this subforum, feel free to move it where ever you like

 

situation:

I have 1 desktop, and would like to use it on two completely different setup (different monitors, speakers, and peripherals)

 

issue:

I tried manually switching my monitors on and off, and changing audio to the current setup's speakers

but some application will show on the other monitors that are off, so i have to drag the application from the other monitor to the current setup

basically a hassle everytime i switch setups

gave up after 1 hour of using it basically

 

hopeful solution:

i dont mind having both set of kb and mouse active as the same time, doesnt make much of a difference (or does it?)

 

main issue is just having my application launch in the monitors that are off

so im thinking some sort of monitor switcher? 1 input to multiple output? preferably a software solution.

i dont mind a batch file for both setup that i click to enable or disable certain monitor/audio devices, preferably linkable to a kb hotkey so i dont have to go to the other setup to click if i misclicked something.

also neat if audio can switch along too

 

main setup:

2 screen, 1 speaker, 1 usb hub with multiple things connected

 

secondary setup:

2 screens, 1 speaker, 1 logitech unifying dongle for kb and mouse, preferably a hub to plug in things

This could be done, if you want a physical button, you can program an arduino (which ever one supports hid-USB atmega 32u for example) and configure it to open a script on your pc(a powershell or cmd) later today I will try to find the necessary commands, but it seams feasible. Although you might have to keep all the peripherals connected at all times. A very simple solution might be to turn the secondary screens into mirror mode... (they should just copy the first screens) or if that's not possible (don't remember if you can't just mirror several screens, like you can with just 2 (like a projector and pc screen). A less cost effective but easy way might be to have 2 splitters effectively given only 2 outputs and thus mirroring the screens 

[Moonzy]

56 minutes ago, panzerbuern said:

A very simple solution might be to turn the secondary screens into mirror mode... (they should just copy the first screens)

... holy crap why havent i thought of this

i'll test it out soon

 

but one of my screen is an old 768p ugh... the rest are 1080p

i'll see what i can do

[panzerbuern]

12 hours ago, Moonzy said:

... holy crap why havent i thought of this

i'll test it out soon

 

but one of my screen is an old 768p ugh... the rest are 1080p

i'll see what i can do

So, did it work? Just curious) since I won't have to uphold the promise of finding the commands))) can your 768p downscale the 1080? 

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, panzerbuern said:

So, did it work? Just curious) since I won't have to uphold the promise of finding the commands)))

i havent tested it, as it requires moving my monitors around (and not in the mood for it)

but it should work

 

now the only problem is audio, i guess that could be manually flipped

 

2 minutes ago, panzerbuern said:

can your 768p downscale the 1080? 

both secondary monitor on both setup are 1080p 60hz, so mirror is not an issue for those

 

but my main setup primary is 1080p 165/240hz, and my secondary setup main is 768p 60

even if i can downscale to 768p, the refresh rate will be locked at 60, ugh

but it does open a new possibility so i'll think more about this

[panzerbuern]

32 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

i havent tested it, as it requires moving my monitors around (and not in the mood for it)

but it should work

 

now the only problem is audio, i guess that could be manually flipped

 

both secondary monitor on both setup are 1080p 60hz, so mirror is not an issue for those

 

but my main setup primary is 1080p 165/240hz, and my secondary setup main is 768p 60

even if i can downscale to 768p, the refresh rate will be locked at 60, ugh

but it does open a new possibility so i'll think more about this

Hmmm the refresh rate should not be a problem as that's the gpu centered control.. I.e the refresh rate is configured via the gpu controls (Nvidia control panel) where mirroring is probably centered around the OS.. Seems like the 768 might work nativly in it on resolution, and if they are the same aspect ratio, it probably will look seamless... That is if my logic about gpu control is correct, can't test multi monitor setups.. Sadly

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, panzerbuern said:

Hmmm the refresh rate should not be a problem as that's the gpu centered control.. I.e the refresh rate is configured via the gpu controls (Nvidia control panel) where mirroring is probably centered around the OS.. Seems like the 768 might work nativly in it on resolution, and if they are the same aspect ratio, it probably will look seamless... That is if my logic about gpu control is correct, can't test multi monitor setups.. Sadly

aight let me dig my 10m VGA cable real quick and give it a go

i'll report back soon

 

hopefully they can keep their respective res and refresh rate... i dont want a 24/27 inch 768p screen

[Moonzy]

20 minutes ago, panzerbuern said:

the refresh rate should not be a problem as that's the gpu centered control

you're right

20 minutes ago, panzerbuern said:

mirroring is probably centered around the OS

and you're right

 

man, 768p looks blurry on 27 inch, but the monitor still runs at 165hz

 

i havent tried 4 Displays as i lack 1 more HDMI port, my GPU only have 1 more DVI-D port left open

i could plug in a 2nd gpu to test but honestly... it should work anyways so i wont even try

 

problem is resolution now... time to buy a new monitor....?

-googles for mirroring same aspect ratio but different resolution-

[panzerbuern]

32 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

you're right

and you're right

 

man, 768p looks blurry on 27 inch, but the monitor still runs at 165hz

 

i havent tried 4 Displays as i lack 1 more HDMI port, my GPU only have 1 more DVI-D port left open

i could plug in a 2nd gpu to test but honestly... it should work anyways so i wont even try

 

problem is resolution now... time to buy a new monitor....?

-googles for mirroring same aspect ratio but different resolution-

Um, I may be saying something stupid, but can't you set the higher resolution monitor as the one to be mirror from? I. E the primary? Since even if it's powered of it will probably show up as a display) (just a guess) if you lack ports on the gpu, you can try a cheap secondary card(although you will have to set the game engines, and other programs priority to the main gpu, which might be a hassle) or you can just use hdmi or dp splitters (price/value is a good question as you are running high refresh, which some splitters might have problems with) 

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, panzerbuern said:

I may be saying something stupid, but can't you set the higher resolution monitor as the one to be mirror from? I. E the primary?

you dont get to pick which is the primary i think, windows just treat them both as one, and take the lowest resolution

i couldn't even change to 1080p from nvidia control panel

 

3 minutes ago, panzerbuern said:

if you lack ports on the gpu, you can try a cheap secondary card(although you will have to set the game engines, and other programs priority to the main gpu, which might be a hassle)

yea i have a ton of GPU at hand, just too lazy to plug them in haha

but i'm pretty sure it can mirror 1080p 60hz monitors just fine anyways

[Moonzy]

52 minutes ago, panzerbuern said:

Um, I may be saying something stupid, but can't you set the higher resolution monitor as the one to be mirror from?

nvm i got it working, i was just being stupid

 

so... now at least i know the project is possible

 

Audio:

i can plug one of the setup's speakers into a HDMI monitor, and manually switch between onboard and HDMI on taskbar

maybe there's a more elegant solution?

 

Display:

need to get 10M HDMI + F-F converter, to allow me to plug in my HDMI to mini HDMI cable

or a 10M type C-C cable, if i wanna use touchscreen (not sure if display signal on type C can be carried at such distance)

and a 10M VGA cable (mine wasn't 10M apparently)

 

USB:

i have a 10M USB extension, just need to get one more powered hub and i'll be good.

[panzerbuern]

36 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

not sure if display signal on type C can be carried at such distance

10m is a bit more then the max cable length, and having several reapetera might not be the best idea... Maybe a USB type c optical cable? (they might be a bit on the xpensive side though) 

[panzerbuern]

38 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

i can plug one of the setup's speakers into a HDMI monitor, and manually switch between onboard and HDMI on taskbar

maybe there's a more elegant solution?

This one just seems like the most sensible solution... Can you define in what way it should be more elegant?) 

[Moonzy]

Just now, panzerbuern said:

10m is a bit more then the max cable length, and having several reapetera might not be the best idea... Maybe a USB type c optical cable? (they might be a bit on the xpensive side though) 

yea, i think i'll stick to non-touch

dont wanna spend more than $100 on this project
 

Just now, panzerbuern said:

This one just seems like the most sensible solution... Can you define in what way it should be more elegant?) 

... -shrug- good question

no way for the PC to know which setup im using anyways so it cant do it automatically.

ig maybe a script to change between 2 audio choices, and bind it to hotkey. that's the most elegant i can think of atm

[panzerbuern]

35 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

no way for the PC to know which setup im using

AHAHAHA ARDUINO POWERD PRESURE SENSORS IN THE SEAT.... ehm well yeah, the hot key seems quite a good way 

[panzerbuern]

37 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

between 2 audio

You can just set one to listen to the other(I. E it will duplicate the other) and then you can just turn them off and on physically 

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, panzerbuern said:

AHAHAHA ARDUINO POWERD PRESURE SENSORS IN THE SEAT.... ehm well yeah, the hot key seems quite a good way 

i thought it it bruh, i thought of it... too much effort

[Moonzy]

Just now, panzerbuern said:

You can just set one to listen to the other(I. E it will duplicate the other) and then you can just turn them off and on physically 

then i'd rather switch with software, hardware switches arent as reliable as softwares

[panzerbuern]

30 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

then i'd rather switch with software, hardware switches arent as reliable as softwares

... Call me old fashioned but I think an on/off switch is way more reliable then what ever Microsoft cooks up in there updates... (swears in igpu breaking the system) 

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, panzerbuern said:

... Call me old fashioned but I think an on/off switch is way more reliable then what ever Microsoft cooks up in there updates... (swears in igpu breaking the system) 

well hardware switches wear out, software switch gets glitches, pick your poison right

[panzerbuern]

1 hour ago, Moonzy said:

well hardware switches wear out, software switch gets glitches, pick your poison right

I always know how to change a switch, fixing bugs in an os on the other hand..... Yeah I'd rather stick to being an engineer in aviation then..... Messing with glitch software