G400 + Mill 2 = dual monitors + DVDMax....(pseudo triplehead..??)

[Gavern]

Guys,
As posted to the newsgroups previously thought I may find help in here...

I have a G400 driving my 2 x 17" monitors.

Of recent, I am beginning to watch more videos through DVDMax (old sitcom episodes as DIVX) and was wondering if I could install an original Millennium 2 to drive my second monitor and leave
the G400 second head connected to the TV as DVDMax - I have had enough of having change plugs to switch between dualhead and DVDmax TV mode.

Does this sound feasible and has anyone tried this before - just want a little input before I go pulling open the PC.

Oh, the PC is running WinXP.

Cheers,
Gavern

[Goc]

Frankly, I've never tried that setup but I suppose there shouldn't be any problems. Only thing that comes to mind is if you want your DVD Max function to work, you'll have to start your video files on the desktop provided by G400 primary head... Don't no if it would work if you start it on Millenium2 desktop.

Heh, better wait for someone that already tried this...

[RichL]

I've had a similar setup running before now.
G400max (AGP) and Voodoo 5500 (PCI)
Running with DVDMax from the second head of the G400, or stretching the Windows desktop across 3 screens.

I dont think I've ever actually ran DVDMax at the same time as having the desktop stretched across both screens, but I dont see why it cant be done.

[Gavern]

All sounds good...

Thanks guys.. will be trying this over the weekend..

Would do th ethre monitor thing too.. but don't have the desk space...

Cheers,
Gavern

PS..... Anyone have a pinout diagram for making your own VGA->TV out cable...?? I made one a couple of years ago and it worked very well except I never realised you had to short some wires to allow the second head to recognise the cable (I always booted with the regular cable attached and swapped over when the PC finished booting....)

[piaxVirus]

So you can stretch the desktop across two different cards.

If you are using two matrox cards. Can you choose the order in which each display is placed?

[WyWyWyWy]

You can always drag the displays around in Display Propertises.

And about pseudo-triplehead DVDMax, I think G400 needs the be primary to do that, hardware wise, not OS wise. I.e. "Initial First" need to be set to AGP, in BIOS.

And some older PCI cards makes BIOS stopping POST if they are not initialed first.... no sure about Mill2, but my S3 Trio must be "Initial First - PCI".

[Kruzin]

Milleniums and MillIIs work great as secondaries, and don't need to be init'd first.

This setup should work fine, with the G400 as the primary and TVO for DVDMax, and the MillII as a secondary.
You won't have any overlay on the secondary, but it should do fine for extra desktop space.

[RichL]

Originally posted by Kruzin
Milleniums and MillIIs work great as secondaries, and don't need to be init'd first.

I knew there was a reason I hung onto my old Mil 1's and 2

[Gavern]

YEP... EXACTLY why i still have a couple floating around...

We have used Matrox cards in a dual monitor setup for years under NT4 for CAD, so it's great with the G400 at home too..

I still get the "Why have you got TWO computeres...." from friends