Two displays on one terminal

Have got any interesting solutions and ideas for problems with terminal servers? Looking for any solution?
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aka
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Two displays on one terminal

Post by aka »

In WTware 5.1.21 we added support of two displays.

Two displays can work with these video drivers:

video = gma(F)
video = i915(F)
video = nouveau(F)
video = radeon(F)

video = ati(U)
video = intel(U)
video = nouveau(U)

With other video= values second display won't work. And with VESA also it won't work.

This feature can work only if terminal video card has two or more video outputs. Two video cards in one computer are not supported now.

Second display is turned on by M2_display parameter. For example:

Code: Select all

video=i915(f)
display=1280x1024,VGA
M2_display=1366x768,DVI
Resolution must be the exact physical monitor resolution. VGA and DVI keywords mean the video outputs where monitors are connected. Specifying video outputs is required. Possible values: VGA, DVI, HDMI, LVDS, DP, VGA2, DVI2, HDMI2, LVDS2, DP2. Usually value with number 2 means second output of this type. But sometimes driver mistakes, for example for ASRock E350M1 motherboard DVI should be specified in configuration file as HDMI2. It's hard to explain. Better look at terminal log and try to see it. Here's part of terminal log with ASRock E350M1 motherboard:

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[KERNEL] [drm] Radeon Display Connectors
[KERNEL] [drm] Connector 0:
[KERNEL] [drm]   HDMI-A-1
[KERNEL] [drm]   HPD1
[KERNEL] [drm]   DDC: 0x6430 0x6430 0x6434 0x6434 0x6438 0x6438 0x643c 0x643c
[KERNEL] [drm]   Encoders:
[KERNEL] [drm]     DFP1: INTERNAL_UNIPHY
[KERNEL] [drm] Connector 1:
[KERNEL] [drm]   HDMI-A-2
[KERNEL] [drm]   HPD2
[KERNEL] [drm]   DDC: 0x6440 0x6440 0x6444 0x6444 0x6448 0x6448 0x644c 0x644c
[KERNEL] [drm]   Encoders:
[KERNEL] [drm]     DFP2: INTERNAL_UNIPHY
[KERNEL] [drm] Connector 2:
[KERNEL] [drm]   VGA-1
[KERNEL] [drm]   DDC: 0x64d8 0x64d8 0x64dc 0x64dc 0x64e0 0x64e0 0x64e4 0x64e4
[KERNEL] [drm]   Encoders:
[KERNEL] [drm]     CRT1: INTERNAL_KLDSCP_DAC1
As you may see driver sees two HDMI outputs and no DVI. First HDMI on motherboard is HDMI connector. Second determined by driver HDMI is DVI connector on motherboard. That's why for physically connected to DVI display and this motherboard should be specified HDMI2 in configuration file.

Relative position of two displays is specified by M2_position parameter:

M2_position = right-bottom

Which means that second display is positioned to the right of the first monitor, and they are bottom aligned. Bottom or top alignment is significant if resolutions are not the same. If resolutions are equal, then values =right, =right-top and =right-bottom will give the same result.

Second display can work in two modes:

1. One RDP session on two displays. The same as mstsc.exe does. For this mode no special parameters except M2_display= and M2_position= are needed on configuration file. Terminal finds instruction to use second display, sees no individual sessions for second display and automatically tries to stretch session on two displays. Of course if terminal server supports this feature - 2008R2 supports two displays, 2003 doesn't.

2. Individual virtual screens and connections on each display. Just the same as on one display, separate list. Starts from magic word:

M2_next screen

The everything is the same as for the first display. Each next virtual screen starts from the word M2_next screen. Example of configuration file with menu with two items on the first display and another menu with three items on the second display:

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video=i915(f)
display=1280x1024,VGA
M2_display=1366x768,DVI
connection c1
connection c2
M2_next screen
connection c2
connection c3
connection c4
Another example. On the first display: two virtual screens, each with one connection, that start immediately on terminal start. On the second display: two virtual screens, each with menu.

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video=i915(f)
display=1280x1024,VGA
M2_display=1366x768,DVI
connection c1
next screen
connection c2
M2_next screen
connection c2
connection c3
connection c4
M2_next screen
connection c5
connection c6
connection c7
There's technical capability to run terminal with two displays, two keyboards, two mouses for two users. It will be two workplaces in one system unit. Is it useful?
smurfjesse
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:31 pm

Re: Two displays on one terminal

Post by smurfjesse »

Thank you, it's working now one (new) pc, now we want it working on an old pc. Would be nice if it works with 2 different videocards. It's very difficult to find a low profile pci graphic card with 2 outputs. By the way, we have problems with the displayport output. With vga and dvi it's working fine.
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