What's the trick to running two instances and keeping screens saved?

[Tomlin]

Hi guys

Well, praises, praises, I have got some $$$ coming and I think that I will be buying some monitors soon to get the MIP of the Learjet moving forward. I have been told by a good builder friend that this will work, but I cant figure out the 'trick'.

I need to run TWO instances of PMRJ software on 1 Widescreen LCD monitor w/ the first instance showing the PFD/EICAS and the 2nd instance being much smaller and only displaying the RMU's Radio/Nav Frequenies.

I then must do the very same thing for the copilot's side to show the Nav/Com plus the ND and PFD on another widescreen LCD.

Last night I gave it a whirl-

Started 1 instance of PMRJ and what I normally use came up just as always (the PFD/EICAS). I started another instance and it was minimized so I opened it up and selected F10 and of course, it minmized again, so I again opened it up to the size I wanted and of course it works fine.

HOWEVER, my issue is that I want to be able to close them both and then when I restart PMRJ, they both open placed and sized where needed. When I closed and reopened, they were not in the same configuration that I left them.

Im sure it can, but If this cant be done then there's no need for me to buy 1 LCD monitor for my two different screens to show and instead buy two smaller 19" main displays and 1 really small LCD for both RMUs, but I want to avoid that if at all possible. I have attached a picture to make clear my request.

Thanks a million!

[Trevor Hale]

Hi guys

Well, praises, praises, I have got some $$$ coming and I think that I will be buying some monitors soon to get the MIP of the Learjet moving forward. I have been told by a good builder friend that this will work, but I cant figure out the 'trick'.

I need to run TWO instances of PMRJ software on 1 Widescreen LCD monitor w/ the first instance showing the PFD/EICAS and the 2nd instance being much smaller and only displaying the RMU's Radio/Nav Frequenies.

I then must do the very same thing for the copilot's side to show the Nav/Com plus the ND and PFD on another widescreen LCD.

Last night I gave it a whirl-

Started 1 instance of PMRJ and what I normally use came up just as always (the PFD/EICAS). I started another instance and it was minimized so I opened it up and selected F10 and of course, it minmized again, so I again opened it up to the size I wanted and of course it works fine.

HOWEVER, my issue is that I want to be able to close them both and then when I restart PMRJ, they both open placed and sized where needed. When I closed and reopened, they were not in the same configuration that I left them.

Im sure it can, but If this cant be done then there's no need for me to buy 1 LCD monitor for my two different screens to show and instead buy two smaller 19" main displays and 1 really small LCD for both RMUs, but I want to avoid that if at all possible. I have attached a picture to make clear my request.

Thanks a million!

Your better off running the PFD/ND on 1 19" monitor and then running a small PS1 Screen or something for the RMU's

Just a thought.

[Bob Reed]

To run a second instance you have to use a second installation. In other words copy your PM software to a second directory and start the second instance from there. Resize and q to quit and it will save the settings. Can not be done from 1 directory.

[Tomlin]

BOB!!! How brilliant! Now I just have to get the fine PM folks to send me two new codes then for that. Excellent.

Trevor, were you aware of what Bob has suggested, or have you already done this only to discover youre not happy with it?

I have successfully ran multiple instances before on all of my PM machines with no problems with performance if that is a cause for concern.

By using the 1 widescreen 21" LCD vs. a 19" LCD/PS1 screen, I save money and the need for another PC being used for this function.

My only concern left now is this: I am using a:

Nvidia 5500 w/256 for the Copilot's PMRJ

Nvidia 6600GT w/ 128 for the Pilot's PMRJ

How do I determine if these cards can support the size of the soon to be purchased LCD monitor?

[Trevor Hale]

B
Trevor, were you aware of what Bob has suggested, or have you already done this only to discover youre not happy with it?



I was aware what Bob mentioned. The issue you will have is as follows. With large screens behind your MIP (I have 3 19" Widescreens) You will run into the following issue.

When you install switches in the mip, they will stick out the back of the mip onto the monitor. You won't be able to have the monitor as close to the MIp as you would like, because you have to be able to get wires to those switches as well. Have a look at your panel poster, and plan where your switches are going to go. Once you have them planned make sure your going to only use those switches. I would hate for you to spend big coin on a larger monitor only to find out that a couple of smaller ones would have been better for you..

Just my tidbit.

[Tomlin]

Okay, that's a good point but Im in the clear. Another excellent point for the Learjet is that all of the toggles and Korrys are in the lower panel section, not interfereing at all. The only issue is the RMU buttons/rotaries and they are built up off of the MIP, so no issue there either.

In a purely 'software' sense though, there should be no issues once the 2nd installation is made of PMRJ, correct? If so, then this is really awesome. Thanks to both of you for the suggestions.

Now, Im guessing that I must register both of those again since it will most likely generate a new code when installed, or does it base its code off of the machine itelf? The neat thing is that I realized I can rename the shortcut to PMRJ PFD EICAS and the other one to PMRJ RMU (I hope). That will be nice if so.

[Trevor Hale]

Okay, that's a good point but Im in the clear. Another excellent point for the Learjet is that all of the toggles and Korrys are in the lower panel section, not interfereing at all. The only issue is the RMU buttons/rotaries and they are built up off of the MIP, so no issue there either.

In a purely 'software' sense though, there should be no issues once the 2nd installation is made of PMRJ, correct? If so, then this is really awesome. Thanks to both of you for the suggestions.

Now, Im guessing that I must register both of those again since it will most likely generate a new code when installed, or does it base its code off of the machine itelf? The neat thing is that I realized I can rename the shortcut to PMRJ PFD EICAS and the other one to PMRJ RMU (I hope). That will be nice if so.


If both installations reside on the same Computer, you should not need to re register the software. If you were installing the software on 2 pc's you would need a reg code for PFD/ND Only and EICAS Only.

Good luck.

Trev

[Tomlin]

Awesome news then. The two PCs that are running PMRJ (1 for each side) are both fully registered and good to go. Now as long as I can get it to take the previously recieved code (or whatever its process is to install twice) Im tickled pink.

Now just to find reasonable prices for 2 units that will work. I really appreciate you both for taking the time to post the fix, and pros/cons.

ET

[Bob Reed]

The software will not ask for a new key, it should take right off and go. It is registered to that machine..... So good to go...

[Tomlin]

*Original text replaced with the following*- It works! Thanks for all the help. It took simply copying the original file vs. actually installing it again.

Thanks,

[Tomlin]

Okay, I got these to work for the most part but I have 2 issues that I need to sort now that the 2 20.1" LCDs are here.

I was able to get the 2 instances to work on one machine, and then the other, but then somehow something got corrupted.

1 Machine's 2nd instance would only show the lines around the radio freq. info when activating the F10 page, but not the frequencies themselves. Everything else looked correct on that instance if I had a different page.

The other machine somehow now doesnt start up the 2nd instance without crashing, saying the path or file is not found.

I suspect some sloppy copying/relocating on my end but here's the real question:

To resolve this, should I:

A) Uninstall all the PMRJ software, or

B) Roll my PCs back to an earlier time using the Restore function?

Thanks, other solutions are welcomed.

[Bob Reed]

YOu need to copy the entire directory to a directory with a new name. And then start the software and readjust, when all is as you like hit the "Q" to exit and save your settings. Next time you fire it up it should be how you want it.

[Tomlin]

Bob, thanks, but that is not the issue. I got it to work the first time I did it per yall's instructions. However, somehow something got corrupted, so to start over and fix it right, should I just uninstall it all, or 'roll back' my pc to a date prior to the changes?

[Bob Reed]

Uninstall and reinstall.....If files are corrupted roll back will not help.

[Tomlin]

Thanks, that's what I will try tonight then.

[Tomlin]

Okay, I dont know much about how computers do their 'thing' but I uninstalled the PMRJ on both machines, restarted the machines, and of course, I forgot to take the shortcut out of my startup folder, and of course, PMRJ started on both machines (even though I 'uninstalled' it) and so I did what I should have done in the first place. I found the 'good' installation on each machine, copied them AGAIN, and placed them in a unique place different from the original, and then resized as needed, quit, and all is now well with the world of the Learjet sim at Eric's house!

Thanks again for the guidance,

There are some pics up at the website.