[vox-tech] Multiple displays and graphics cards

[John Wojnaroski]

Hi,

Thanks  Kim and Ted for the tips on setting multiple displays on a 
remote server.

FYI, the application is for a flight simulator ( see my 747 project page 
on the FlightGear website -- www.flightgear.org )

It's still not quite as bullet proof as I would like but at least one 
can start an run the sim from an instructor's console via the LAN. My 
early architecture had four machines on the LAN, each with a single AGP 
card.  A bit of a hack in that I had to set the BIOS to make the PCI 
card as primary.  The captain's MCDU keypad needs to be the default 
keyboard and it uses a PCI slot so the mouse focus needs to initialize 
to that screen as there are no mice or keyboards in the sim to change 
focus. Probably a way to do that over the LAN, but for now this will do.

The P4 machine now has three graphics cards, a dual headed AGP Nvidia 
for the captain's displays, a dual headed PCI for the copilot's displays 
and right side MCDU, and a dual headed PCI to drive the other two 
MCDUs.  All the hardware is connected via an interrupt based driver on 
the parallel port and four additional USB ports. And that includes all 
the flight controls, auto-throttles, brakes, tiller, and myriad of 
switches.  In short, I've been able to cram the entire cockpit into a 
single machine.  Also running with RTAI and Xenomai for a real-time 
version of Linux. 

With FlightGear moving up to OSG, I'll also be able to create multiple 
views from a single machine for a  wrap-around display. 

I pity the fools banging their heads and emptying their wallets for all 
that Microsoft jazz, not to mention the pain and angony of trying to 
maintain a herd of machines.

Again, thanks for the tips
JW