Triplehead 2go confusion

[jnr641802]

Hi I am new here and have just completed a 737 -ish outer shell, now the hard part.....

I am going the simplest route to start with as cockpit building is very new to me.I will use a Triplehead 2go digital for the 3x screens(using pmdg 747/fs9 for mip for now).It arrived yesterday, and after mostly guesswork..... got the stretch mode working adequately to see how it worked.

I bought a Dvi splitter to split the Capt and F/O screens but due to little computer/resolution skills and not detailed enough user info(for me anyway)cannot get the split capt and f/o screens(1 output) and the engine instruments (2nd output) to work.I haven't a clue where I'm going wrong.

If anyone has a similar Mip setup using Triplehead 2go and (for now ) 2x outputs/three screens ,could you point me in the right direction as I'm on complete and utter 'resolution' overload.By the way I have a nvidia 7950gt card if that helps.

regards Jim

Lincs u.k

[Shawn]

I'm not sure that I understand exactly what your trying to do but... The Matrox Triplehead2Go stretches a "single" image across three screens, if your trying to use it to display several panels you will have to do this in windows mode. When flight sim is running, Alt/Enter puts you into windows mode, open the panels you want to use, right click on it and select the undock option, you can then drag them to any monitor. Only problem is you will have to stay in windows mode, if you go back to full screen mode the windows won't display.

[jnr641802]

Thanks for helping Shawn.I'm ok undocking/reshaping various pmdg instruments and getting them to appear on three screens.My problem is using just a total of 2x triplehead outputs .One output utilising a dvi splitter to get 2x screens i.e screen 1: Capt pfd/nav display,and screen 3 :F/o pfd/ nav display.Then using a second output for Screen 2:Eicas/backup instruments.This then leaves the third output free to access the fmc/o/head/comms panel etc etc.

I hope that makes it a bit more clear .

Thanks for helping


regards Jim

[MartinK]

Jim,

If possible you might want to try and hook up a 3rd monitor to your TH2GO (i.e. also use the 3rd output connector).
The box gets a little confused if it doesn't see all 3 ports connected.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Martin

[jnr641802]

Thanks Martin,yes thats a possibility,I had three monitors attached but of course two of them were attached to one splitter,only problem is I don't have a fourth monitor yet as I am still working out what hardware I need.

The user guide however does state that you can use just 2 x monitors/outputs, so is the triplehead getting confused because it can somehow sense that there are three already attached albeit through just 2x outputs?.If anyone is using a splitter I would love to know how you set up the device in the Triplehead 2go Powerdesk software.

All ideas greatfully received.


regards Jim

[MartinK]

Jim,

The splitter shouldn't make any difference. As far as the TH2GO is concerned, that's just a single monitor (the splitting takes place outside of the TH2GO so it's not aware of it).
From my experiments with a TH2GO (digital version) I noticed that it can get confused if you are not using all 3 ports which may be caused by its autosensing capability.

If you take your 3rd monitor (which is now connected to the splitter) and connect it directly to the 3rd port, does the TH2GO work correct then?
If it does, then there is your problem; I don't know whether you can fake the TH2GO to make it think there is a 3rd monitor attached or even switch the autosensing off. So again, if it works correctly with 3 monitors attached, each to their own port, then you will have to live with that until you've found a 4th monitor.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Martin

[jnr641802]

Thanks for the reply again Martin.
Ok ,I tried as you suggested using the 3x outputs with 3x monitors with one of the monitor leads being one half of the splitter lead and that monitor on the splitter wouldn't work.I also tried it using the VGA input lead instead of the DVI into the Triplehead unit just in case and still no go.

I tried the splitter straight into the video card and it splits fine into 2x monitors,so it looks like the Splitter is the problem when used in conjunction with the Triplehead outputs.I am not to good with identifying connection types,so I checked a site which identifies them ,and the splitter appears to be DVI-D Dual link.Is that the wrong one to your knowledge??

I know this setup is quite possible as a few people appear to use the splitter .

Do I need the DVI-I dual link splitter instead of the DVI-D dual link do you think?


regards Jim

[MartinK]

Hi Jim,

Well, this now becomes sort of intriging.

First of all, I have never worked with splitters like you are; the only thing is that from experience I know that the TH2GO box can get confused if it sees only 2 (instead of 3) 'regular' monitors on it's output ports.

To try and answer your question:
- fact is the TH2GO has DVI-I outputs, no doubt about that.
- the following site tells us what you would need: http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/dvi_cables.html

So, the most important question you need to answer now is: what DVI ports do your monitors have?

If it's DVI-D or DVI-A you definately have the wrong cable.

If it's DVI-D then something else is (still) wrong.
If your monitors turn out to be equiped with DVI-D connector then what happens when you just connect all 3 of them to your TH2GO without using the splitter cable. Does that bring you a correct picture on all 3 screens?

Cheers,

Martin

[jnr641802]

Thanks for sticking with this Martin,you are seriously patient!!.

In answer to your questions:
1) The monitors are DVI-D
2) The Unpowered splitter(I believe some are powered) is DVI-D
3) My three monitors work fine plugged in the normal(three individual leads) way and I get the usual wide vc view that most people use the Triplehead for.
4) Strangely for a brief moment today I had one normal lead and one monitor in output no.1,and the splitter in output no. 3 with just one monitor attached to it.I got a picture in both monitor 1 and monitor 3 but then changed the resolution and lost no.3 again and couldn't get it back again grrrrrr......The guide clearly shows a 2x monitor setup.

I regularly see posts where cockpit builders are doing this successfully but I assume they are using different/or powered splitter leads, or more probably are not dummies like me....

I could of course undock and drag the f/o pfd/nav to the third monitor but I lose the spare output for switching fmc/o/head/comms panel onto a 4th monitor which partially defeats the object of buying the triplehead to start with.

Thanks again Martin

regards Jim

[MartinK]

Hi Jim,

Your reply triggered something else.

The TH2GO box seems pretty sensitive to the refresh frequency.
I had some serious issues getting it to work properly with 3 projectors.

Messing around with the settings of the projectors in combination with the GXM utility made it working correctly where the refresh frequency is now at 75 Hz (was different initially).

This may well worth looking into in your setup based on the description in your last post. I too had things working but suddenly 1/3 of the picture disappearing by e.g. moving an IE window to it. The only thing that helped in that situation was a restart of my PC until I found the correct refresh freq.

Good luck!!!

Cheers,

Martin

[brynjames]

the only thing is that from experience I know that the TH2GO box can get confused if it sees only 2 (instead of 3) 'regular' monitors on it's output ports.


The Matrox web site specification page specifically says that the TH2GO can be used with only two monitors, and lists achievable resolutions in that configuration. I haven't tried it so I don't know what hoops you have to jump through to get it to work!

--
Bryn

[jnr641802]

You must be getting fed up trying to help me Martin many thanks for you ideas ,keep 'em coming.

Thanks for replying Bryn,yes thats what I read also.

I've spent all day trying different things to get it to work.The splitter works fine when plugged straight into the video card .I got three monitors working at one stage today using the splitter & 2x monitors and 1 x other monitor using a total of 2x th2go digital outputs(no1 & no 3) but the colour was very distorted and there were loads of 'noise' lines.


regards JIm

[MartinK]

Jim,

Don't worry, I'm not getting fed up at all. I've been in IT support with various employers over the last 30 years and had to deal with much more difficult issues then your stuburn TH2GO box.

Now, if you get the situation you described in your last post where you do get some picture but disturbed, what does the GXM utility say in terms what devices it sees at it's various ports?
If the color is not right and there is noise and disturbance then I would suspect one or more monitor are not detected correctly. Again, the GXM utility will show you what it thinks it's connected to. This, in case it's wrong might give us a clue.

Cheers,

Martin

[jnr641802]

Hi Martin in answer to your question,when trying the splitter the gxm software recognises the monitor ok ,it just doesn't want to produce an image.

Been testing all day again.....when the splitter is connected to the TH2GO there is no picture on that monitor. If I connect the same monitor with the normal lead (approx 2 metre) into the TH2GO ,then on the other end instead of connecting to the monitor connect the plug into one of the 2x splitter female sockets and in turn then connect the one male splitter plug into the monitor ,then I get a picture of sorts but its distorted and after a couple of minutes goes blank.I emailed Gwyn at aerosimsolutions who has a similar setup but using 2!! x splitters and he has no such problem .

Is it possible that my rather dated 7950gt 512 card is only interested in producing 3x splitterless images and I'm asking too much of it,I'd buy a much better card if I knew it would fix the problem.I may have to get a second video card for the 4th image although space is a real problem,as the spare video card socket has my projector attached.I've already tried the splitter on the spare (projector)video card socket,but no-go IF the TH2GO is also being used at the same time on the other video card output.


regards Jim

[MartinK]

Hi Jim,

So this is becoming a really nasty one.

I've checked the compatibility wizard at Matrox.com and the outcome is that your card in combination with the TH2GO should be able to produce the views that you are after. You can check this following this link:

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/support/compatibility/gxm/

Now, in order that make sure we're not chasing ghosts here, have you updated all your drivers, nVidia, TH2GO, to the latest versions? If not, then that should be the first thing to do (if it doesn't solve the issue at least you will probably gain a few fps).
Also, and I know you may not be going to like this, but I had to re-install the TH2GO software a number of times in order to get my setup to work properly.
If you decide to do this then please make sure everything is really deleted from your system and your Registry is properly cleaned (there is plenty of freeware available on the net).

If all of the above doesn't help, any chance of having a 'more recent' videocard on loan from somebody before you buy another one?
As sort of a last resort, you may also try and contact Matrox support; I have no experience with them so I don't know how good they are.

I am very curios to see how this move on and don't hesitate if you want to continue pick my brain (for what it's worth).

Good luck!!!

Cheers,

Martin

[jnr641802]

Thanks again Martin for all your suggestions ,I shall try everything you've suggested and if I get anywhere I'll let you know,may be useful for others doing this.


thanks again


regards Jim