Multiple monitors now possible with FS9??

[Guest David Lee 2]

I used several monitors with FS2K2 and PIC767 and it worked very well. With FS9, though, it was not so simple, having to reconfigure the windows everytime the program was started. I have to go into window mode, drag the windows to their proper monitor and then go to full screen mode. That works but the configuration is not saved with the aircraft or flight, which gets old pretty fast. A friend of mine told me the other day that he does not have that problem. Is there a new driver or something that has changed? ThanksDavid

[Guest baron58tc]

David:No-Nothing has changed with FS2004 since release--as is always the case with Microsoft. All us "mup-mons" had the same problem transitioning from 2002 to 2004. (And will probably have the same issues with FS2006.)In 2004, start your flight and go to windowed mode. Undock and move your panels to the desired monitor/location.SAVE the flight in windowed mode.Fly your flight in window or full screen--whatever you desire. MOST IMPORTANT--when you finish the flight--ALWAYS REVERT TO WINDOWED MODE, WITH ALL PANELS OPEN, IN THEIR PROPER LOCATIONS. If desired, save the flight at your destination airport at this time. EXIT THE PROGRAM WITH . REPEAT--ALWAYS EXIT IN WINDOW MODE WITH ALL PANELS OPEN!!I believe you will find that upon recalling the saved flights, all will come up as you left them.Hope this helps.Baron

[Bill Womack 7]

Baron,Did you ever fly FS2000? If so, you might have downloaded the patch for it that Microsoft provided to clear up some issues months after initial release. More recently, how about CFS3? If you had flown it when it first came out, you would have been right to think it needed patching -- that's probably why Microsoft did just that a bit later. I'm not saying FS2004 (or Microsoft for that matter) is perfect, but it rankles me that people continually state that they have some sort of anti-patch policy. That's demonstrably wrong.

[Guest David Lee 2]

Baron,Thanks! One of the most helpful replies I've had on Avsim in recent months. Can't wait to try it.David

[Guest David Lee 2]

Bill,I know what you are saying because FS9 never ceases to amaze me. Still, the multiple monitor issue is particularly troubling for us who have invested large amounts of money in our home cockpits only to discover this relatively large set back. Since it affects only a small percentage of simmers, I'm not very optimistic that MS will correct it in a patch. I'm simply doing what I have with almost every sim, learn to live with its quirks.David

[Bill Womack 7]

I hear ya! Actually I use two monitors too, and I'm somewhat perturbed that they seem to have broken some of the functionality in FS9.

[Guest seev_39]

Thanks for the tip Baron,One question; if I forget to close the session acording to your intructions will it effect any cfg files or just that particular flight I tried to save. I wish to try it but want to be sure, that is, after all your warningsBTW, it takes exactly 1 minute or less to drag the windows to their proper place, but it would be nice to start from where you want to - especially when entertaining your Saturday evening guests showing them your expensive hobby instead of offering them a drink (anyway they think you are nuts).Have funSeevProcessor; AMD Athlon 64 - FX51Motherboard; Giga-Byte FA-K8NNXP-940, Dual Channel DDR400Memory; Corsair, 2 X 512 MB 400Mhz (total 1,024 MB)Video card; GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, 256 MB bufferHDD; Western Digital 200 GB, 7,200 RPM, 8 MB bufferCase; Thermaltake Xaser III lanfireSound card; Creative Blaster Live 5.1DVD burner; PioneerCRT Monitor; 17" for panel, CRT Monitor; 19" for view - with 25" x 19" fresnel lens (Edmund Optics)Home built Flight controller; Hagstrom card 72 operations, including 2 way flaps, 3 Goflight modules for a/p, navigation and radio, 3 axis + 4 button controller for throttle and rudder,O/S; WIN XP

[Guest baron58tc]

seevIf you close without going to windowed mode, it will only affect that flight.i.e. You arrive at your destination in full screen, save it, and then exit-it will come back in full screen. The advantage to saving in windowed mode is you do not have to set it all up again when you recall that flight. (Then you don't have to feed your guests drinks and confuse them while you set the whole thing up--economics. From my experience, they will think you are nuts anyway-doesn't matter.)BTW-quite a system you have there. What kind of frame rates are you getting with the Athlon64-FX51 etal? I am thinking of upgrading my 2000+. Assume you are running 2 monitors off of one video card? I am running 3 monitors from 3 cards. Primary is AGP GEForce 2600-128MB, other two are lesser NVIDIA 64 and 32MB PCI cards.P.S. Sorry about all the capitals in my original reply. I always forget that caps mean "shouting" in E-mail, or in the forums. Didn't mean to shout, just emphasize.P.P.S.S. Tell them to get their own drinks--you are the pilot in command.Baron

[Guest seev_39]

Baron, Many thanks, I will follow your tip right away.To correct one thing, Pilot in Command is my Lady. The most I can expect is being Pilot Flying.My AMD64 system - after building my last two systems by myself, trying to save money but finally getting frustrated with 15-17 FPS, I decided this time to s.... them all. After MS came out with that wonderful but frame rate hungry FS2004 (especially weather and the AA functions) I finally understood that sim software will always be ahead of hardware by at least 2-4 years. The only way to shorten that gap is by puting your hand into your kids education fund or your own retirement fund (just kidding). So three months ago I looked in PC World magazine to see what is the state of the art of gaming machines and came up with the ADM64-FX51 configuration (according to the magazine AMD was better than Intel based machines). Where I live I couldn't buy such a machine off shelf, so I had to order the components one by one and ask a reliable computer shop to assemble them.I am running 2 monitors from one video card. Frame rate is normally 30 (fixed at 30) but over very heavy sceneries it will drop here and then to 20+. The monitors are set for a resolution of 1,024x768 which is enough, clouds are near max. all other sliders are max and AA is on. At this point I don't feel that another monitor will add much, but if and when I think that connecting another PC (a cheap one this time) to drive two additional monitors will be a better solution, or maybe I am wrong?The only drawback of the AMD system was cost, nearly $3,000 without monitors (we have a lot of tax where I live). I believe that within a year you can get such a system for much less.have funSeev

[Guest baron58tc]

Seev:Thanks for the reply. Your AMD64 system sounds stout. I am about where you were on FR's before you built the AMD64 system. My current system is a Falcon-Northwest purchased 3/15/2002--specifically for FS2002. When FS2004 was released, I figured "here we go again--another upgrade". (As you stated--MSFS is always 2 years ahead of the hardware.) Well, with the great help of this forum (including Chris Willis' clouds and many other tweaks.) and the fact that the Falcon-Northwest is one brick of a box, it is flyable. (I talked to Falcon-NW the other day and if I were to upgrade, they recommend your exact system configuration.) I can get 22-24FPS (Locked at 24)if I don't open up too many panels on 2nd and 3rd monitors. The strange thing to me is: If I run in windows, I can open all panels with very little FR hit, but then get stutters. If I run in full screen, and open the GPS on #2 or #3, the FR goes down to 6-7FPS. I have learned to live with this by closing panels when not needing them to keep the FR up or eliminate stutters, depending on the mode I am in. Not like FS2002 at all, where I could leave everything open with no FR hit. As stated by others earlier in this thread, FS2004 took a step backward in multiple monitor support, in spite of the fact MS claimed 2004 "now supports hardware acceleration for multiple monitors." Not sure what they meant by that as all my video cards have hardware acceleration. Perhaps it is just too much load on the CPU to drive all this.BTW-if you want to enhance your flying a bunch--go with Martin Traverso's "shoot 1.6.3" voice activation program. It is freeware from his "shoot" site. (Use Google-sorry, I can't lay my hand on the web site right now.) You need his program, along with two sizable free downloads from Microsoft. If interested, my fs9 voice command configuration file is posted on his site. No perceptable FR hit, and it is fun to pretend you have a co-pilot and say "gear up", "flaps down", "approach hold" etc.(Your lady perhaps?--but then she would be in the right seat, so I don't know if it would work out!?) Also ATC interaction is voice--just say "Roger 1, Roger2, etc." Keeps your hands off the keyboard and your eyes outside the cockpit. It is also fun to fly with a headset and mike--it only gets more real! (Now your friends will really think you are nuts!! Now he is talking to it!!)I won't fly without "shoot" anymore.Fly right, and thanks for the feedback. The AMD64 sounds worthwhile-I would enjoy a steady 20-30FPS.BaronP.S. Don't know much about adding another computer to drive multiple monitors. Project Magenta (Majenta?) has done a ton of work in this direction, with apparently good results. Check them out.

[Guest seev_39]

Hi Baron,>P.S. Don't know much about adding another computer to drive>multiple monitors. Project Magenta (Majenta?) has done a ton>of work in this direction, with apparently good results. Check>them out.From the many comments I heard from other simmers the best solution for a full multi-monitor system is "WidevieW", a program that connects several PC's via network. There is a lot about that solution on the web, including pics - very impressive indeedSeev