Last message on previous page: Your problem is very easy to fix.. Get a keyboard combination built in mouse, available at Fentek Industries. Info@fentek-ind.com
Since you have that much time on your hands, I assume that you're American and as such are also in the midst of what we call, "Spring" with tomorrow being a day off for you and me too. Since in most of the continetal US is nice and sunny, I would like to suggest that you make use of this opportunity to get the fu[i][/i]ck outside and breathe some fresh air.
Your computer isn't going anywhere. Trust me, as a Warcraft player myself, WoW will be there when you come back. Your girlfriend and your general health don't last forever though, so take advantage of it while you can. Head to the beach, head to a park, do something!
Just my advice.
Juan
PS: You best chance of doing that is under Linux, but my original order still stands. Get out there and catch a tan.
Since you have that much time on your hands, I assume that you're American and as such are also in the midst of what we call, "Spring" with tomorrow being a day off for you and me too. Since in most of the continetal US is nice and sunny, I would like to suggest that you make use of this opportunity to get the fu[i][/i]ck outside and breathe some fresh air.
Your computer isn't going anywhere. Trust me, as a Warcraft player myself, WoW will be there when you come back. Your girlfriend and your general health don't last forever though, so take advantage of it while you can. Head to the beach, head to a park, do something!
Just my advice.
Juan
PS: You best chance of doing that is under Linux, but my original order still stands. Get out there and catch a tan.
On Linux the display is controlled by something called an X-server. You can run as many X-server as you want, each can have their own video card, monitor, keyboard, mouse etc...
You put in 2 vid cards, one for your X-server and another vid card for her X-server (you could share the same card, but this would be intense on the gpu).
then you setup the xorg.conf to bind 1 set of keyboard and mouse to each screen,
You then start up the machine which will give you 2 independent logins. Each of you login with a separate account.
You will both see totally independent desktops. It will feel like you are using separate computers.
You will then need to install Cedega www.transgaming.com to play WoW under Linux,
Done... told you it was easy
Hi cruiseoveride,
You make it sound so simple man! I've spent 4 days on this now, aaaarrrggghhhh! Anyway, a quick update - the bottom line is that I only achieved partial success through using BeTwin. I managed to get a 2nd workstation running for XP and Office (really great achievement in itself and tell your friends, it works!), but it did not work for games. I tried multiple things (installing the drivers on a virtual drive etc). Nothing worked. I am going to try and call the company today to figure out if something can be done. Seems like a 2 person company, so it may be tough, LOL!
Right, so now what? I think cruiseoveride has explained PLAN B in the simplest form, and Im gonna give it a shot. I've never used Linux. Never dug into it (only found out about the different distributions on Sat). Im a total noob when it comes to this new OS. Yes people say its easy etc, but in tech, things NEVER work first time around. I'm gonna give Linux a shot, but am waiting on my new HD so I can install the OS on that drive (cant reformat and partition my existing drive). Anyone know of a good deal on the Seagate Barracua 320GB? Gonna get one today.
The thing that I would really like to see posted here, is from someone who ACTUALLY has this multiple rig setup, and is using it and can talk from experience. Google it yourselfs. There is no info on this. No things on the forumz. Sooooo weird? If it was so simple, why dont more people do it and save thousands?
K cool, keep watching this space, but realize this project has turned into a 1-3 week deal, not a weekend.
PS. I went fishing on Sat/Sun and Mon, and the only thing I caught was a wicked sunburn! It was really good to get out. Evenings were spent playing with my rig.
Thanks again guys.
PS. If anyone has Linux setup, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know if you manage to get the multiple X-Server setup running. Please post - for me and for others.
PS. There is no way I'm giving up. I've come this far! I've conceded though that this project is going to take a long time. No worries though - summer is here and there is plenty to do!! My goal is to have this baby running by the winter. Fricken hate the winters, and WoW and the GF and lots of indoor love making will have to get us through it. I bet some guys here agree that that's not the worst option available to man!!!
(Caveman accent) - "Man must conquer challenge, arrrrrrr!". "Man now use Linux".
Some initial dumb questions about the migration:
1) What distribution of Linux is the best for gaming? What platform is the best for WoW BC? (I've read that Wine works). I have no idea here so please pitch in.
2) Does one need Cedega? I've read that you have to pay a monthly fee for it??? I dont wanna do that. What exactly is it? Is Cedega a SW package that allows your to play most Windows games on Linux? Are there any other solutions?
3) Would I need MPX? Seems easy enough, but its a required to run multiple X-servers? Can it be done without it (as someone mentioned it being a "wild-card" )
Thanks again. Doing research now which will probably answer some of my own questions, but just some initial food for thought.
1) What distribution of Linux is the best for gaming? What platform is the best for WoW BC? (I've read that Wine works). I have no idea here so please pitch in.
It looks like Ubuntu rules. Most popular, and from what I've read, Linux is Linux for gaming. Seems like you need either Cedega or Wine to run games. I really dont/wont pay for an extra package, so if Wine is free, it may work.
Am I right in assuming Ubuntu is the way to go? If so, is Wine the only way to play WoW for free on Linux? Thanks!
Why would you want your GF to play WoW? She's supposed to be your safety net that prevents you from getting sucked too deeply into games like that! WoW just plain sucks. It is completely pointless, you get no satisfaction from it because it's just an endless grind. Pray that she hates it, and you'll thank her for it in the long run!
I have tried several distros, for instance, Fedora, SuSe, Gentoo, and Kubuntu and I would agree that ubuntu seems to have a big following.
I have installed a few older games in wine and they work well but all need some tweaking. Cadega does the tweaking for you hence the monthly fee. I tried Battlefield 1942 on Cadega and it worked well.
Cadega is wine that has been patched to work with games. Wine is the un-tweaked version but the core is the same. Crossover office is another tweaked version of wine designed to allow you to install Microsoft Office.
As far as setting up a dual user xorg check this article out. This sort of thing has been done a zillion times in linux/unix over the past 30 or 40 years. It will blow your mind when you see how robust linux is compared to windows.
I have tried several distros, for instance, Fedora, SuSe, Gentoo, and Kubuntu and I would agree that ubuntu seems to have a big following.
I have installed a few older games in wine and they work well but all need some tweaking. Cadega does the tweaking for you hence the monthly fee. I tried Battlefield 1942 on Cadega and it worked well.
Cadega is wine that has been patched to work with games. Wine is the un-tweaked version but the core is the same. Crossover office is another tweaked version of wine designed to allow you to install Microsoft Office.
As far as setting up a dual user xorg check this article out. This sort of thing has been done a zillion times in linux/unix over the past 30 or 40 years. It will blow your mind when you see how robust linux is compared to windows.
Thanks for the pointers. I will read up on it shortly. One thing I've realized is that this is gonna be far from easy. There are just too many variables involved. How will dual instances of WoW run on Ubuntu with Wine and MPX. Holy shyte. If I cant get it to work with Windows and BeTwin, how the heck will it work with "home made SW". LOL. Im gonna go for it anyway. Please post your thoughts.
320GB Seagate Barracuda from NewEgg. Good deal at $80.
One more thing - a call to a buddy in the Forumz who wants to get the same thing done!
Is there anyone, maybe one or two guys who want to get the same thing done, ie. create a 2nd workstation using one PC, for gaming on both. Some guys here must be interested in this. With 3 guys, we could get it done in a jiffy.
Required:
-modern vcard with dual outputs
-2nd HD for Linux (or partition your main), 2nd monitor
-2nd keyboard and mouse
-balls of steel and lots of patience
Anyone? Doesnt have to be focused on WoW. Lets see if we can run some FPS and RTS games on this too, whatever you want. Thanks!
your article has been a blessing. I'm on the middle of a mod where i've ripped out a ps1 clip on screen (5'', 640x480) and i'm gunna stick it in the top of my computer case. i was mainly going to use it to monitor stuff, but your article has got me thinking of using the screen as a seperate computer by itself, within my rig! i've been looking around and i've found nifty stuff to aid me in this such as this keyboard: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Pro [...] ce=froogle
which is tiny and i could stick on top of my computer. I will use this screen as a seperate account on my computer, using it for msn n stuff (just for the novelty lol) but will not do any gaming on it.
And after reading your hour long thread it seems that you got it working with BeTwin rather well until gaming. I don't think i'll run into your first problems, as i have 2 ATI cards (1950pro, 9200se) and so won't have the driver stuff clashing. (side note, did you need to remove the advanced ati software?)
Anyhoo, like i was saying, you ran into problems when you started gaming. Was this when it was on one screen or two screens? I only wish for one screen to run games, and the other to run normal stuff. Will your method let me do this?
Once again, thanks for the article, i haven't had such a good read since sanji's guide. Hope it all works out for you in Linux
Hey there,
Ironically I just posted a message request some interest from others who want to get the same thing done. Can you repost your message there for future reference, so I can keep track of everything. Im getting a lot of PMs on this topic - seems like I am on to something here.
Both the Nvidia control panel and ATI CCC installed once I swapped the cards around. When I installed the ATI card first, it didnt work. I dont know why, just buggy. I could still play games without a prob on my main, just the 2nd station was the problem. It wouldnt render games.
Download the trial and give it a shot. It will work. I've emailed BeTwin and am waiting to hear back. Will post my reply.
I'm gonna post this in the main section if you dont mind. A lot of people are learning from this post.
Cottonball wrote:
I did some reading around and have yet to find where you can use 2 mice on 1 computer. With that said it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience for either of you to play since you would be fighting over the mouse.
You can Map the n52 to do what you want with the program that comes with it.
There's also the problem that windows can only support 1 program open at a time meaning that only one person could play the game at any instance. You could run 2 copies, but only 1 would beable to play at a time. Was never a problem for my friend because he was the one playing both. He could watch both screens but had to ALT + TAB to control the next one.
With all that said I'm just not seeing this getting off the ground without custom software and some mods to windows.
Some other info from Cottonball. Thanks buddy. Really appreciate the input.
Have You tried running any demanding apps (not games) under BeTwin? Video compression, winrar, photoshop? I just hope that You somehow manage to get it all working under XP.
If your new to linux, this is not easy at all, I said it was a easy thing to do if you use Linux, but not if your new to it.
a few comments...
x. Any distro will do, but use something mainstream, Fedora, openSUSE or Ubuntu (dont expect to get intelligent help if you use Ubuntu, aka n00b00n2).
x. This WILL WORK 100%. Linux is called a Time Sharing operating system, ie it was built ground up to handle multiple users at the same time.
x. Just for kicks, i ran 2 X-servers on my single monitor and used a Key-Combo to switch between them and ran Unreal Tournament 2004 on each X-server as separate users, and it worked fine. my poor 7600GS was pushing out 50fps ish @ 1024x768 on each X-server. Note: I used the same keyboard and mouse for each X-server (cos i dont have a spare). My PC specs are on the signature. However unpractical this may have been, it was proof of concept.
x. People dont do this kinda shit, cos
1. its cheaper to buy two good machines than one mega box
2. You would have to sit right next to each other (this is okay if your gay or its with your gf, but the majority of Lan parties are stag), and hence not done.
3. In a serious game, the sound would really be annoying, as you would share 1 set of sound output.
4. You could get 2 sound cards, but... 2x vid cards...2x sound cards...2x monitors.... yeah you know where i'm going with this, back to no. 1
x. You will almost certainly need Cedega if your going to enjoy WoW (no proof, just guessing from Cedega's performance on DirectX games)
x. Get Cedega off warez (it is free actually, you can pull it off svn, but the release *sold* version contains microsoft dlls and hence it carries a price tag)
Personally.... (very biased with my 10+yrs in computer industry)
x. Use Fedora respin (respin == unofficial service packed) here is a link to the 32bit version DVD http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/3 [...] PB.torrent x. Use Nvidia Video cards (or if you have an ATi, write your own drivers, cos the official ATi drivers are shit)
x. Install Cedega system wide.
x. Install WoW separately for each user
x. Setup a Sound Server so that both users can share the sound at the same time, or use ALSA dmix and set persmissions yourself.
x. If you have 2x Sound cards, all the better, you can bind each sound card to each user using Cedega configuration
x. Using separate video outputs with on-the-fly rendering will cut your vid card's performance in half, so expect the vid performance to be a little slower than usual
Note: This is will be VERY HARD if your a n00b to Linux.
- Hourly worth of your time is T.
- # of hours you will have worked on this to get it working (if you ever do) is H.
- Total cost of a budget gaming rig is C.
Does T * H >= C? If not you should really consider just buying a budget gaming rig for your gf and calling it quits, then getting some sun as Ninja suggested.
- Hourly worth of your time is T.
- # of hours you will have worked on this to get it working (if you ever do) is H.
- Total cost of a budget gaming rig is C.
Does T * H >= C? If not you should really consider just buying a budget gaming rig for your gf and calling it quits, then getting some sun as Ninja suggested.
LOL! Yeah, but what about the variable of experience, or fun factor. It may be a mission to setup, but its still fun along the way to achieve something. If I gave up everytime I didnt know how to do something, I would have never learnt anything about PCs. This was my first real build, and I managed to get that right. Its fun man!
cruiseoveride - thanks for the tips buddy. Im downloading Ubuntu as we speak. Ive read up on it, and its very popular. I'm gonna give it a go tonight. I need to figure out my HD situation - may just format my spare D: and test it before I commit to buying a new one.
I'll let you guys know how it works out. Lets hope I can get it running. I may need your help to get the multiple X-servers running. Thanks dudes!
- Hourly worth of your time is T.
- # of hours you will have worked on this to get it working (if you ever do) is H.
- Total cost of a budget gaming rig is C.
Does T * H >= C? If not you should really consider just buying a budget gaming rig for your gf and calling it quits, then getting some sun as Ninja suggested.
LOL! Yeah, but what about the variable of experience, or fun factor. It may be a mission to setup, but its still fun along the way to achieve something. If I gave up everytime I didnt know how to do something, I would have never learnt anything about PCs. This was my first real build, and I managed to get that right. Its fun man!
cruiseoveride - thanks for the tips buddy. Im downloading Ubuntu as we speak. Ive read up on it, and its very popular. I'm gonna give it a go tonight. I need to figure out my HD situation - may just format my spare D: and test it before I commit to buying a new one.
I'll let you guys know how it works out. Lets hope I can get it running. I may need your help to get the multiple X-servers running. Thanks dudes!
Hmm... I may need to add one more factor to my calculation here. FF = FunFactor.
