Command Preparations run after checking Display, making it not possible to enable a dummy HDMI just for streaming about sunshine

[mdrichardson]

I am confused on why this would prevent you from swapping monitors. I actually have a script I provide that does this, it doesn't even need to rely on Sunshine checking to see if the display is available or not. https://github.com/Nonary/MonitorSwapAutomation

I only skimmed your code, but it looks like yours only switches the primary monitor? We're talking about enabling it. When disabled, it doesn't show up with dxgi-info.exe, so Sunshine doesn't think it exists and won't run the Do command.

[mdrichardson]

I ran into this as well, for a similar use case: #1535

[Nonary]

I am confused on why this would prevent you from swapping monitors. I actually have a script I provide that does this, it doesn't even need to rely on Sunshine checking to see if the display is available or not. https://github.com/Nonary/MonitorSwapAutomation

[Nonary]

Please elaborate more on the issue, as it stands this looks like a feature request, issues are meant for submitting bug reports so just double checking.

[Nonary]

I am confused on why this would prevent you from swapping monitors. I actually have a script I provide that does this, it doesn't even need to rely on Sunshine checking to see if the display is available or not. https://github.com/Nonary/MonitorSwapAutomation

I only skimmed your code, but it looks like yours only switches the primary monitor? We're talking about enabling it. When disabled, it doesn't show up with dxgi-info.exe, so Sunshine doesn't think it exists and won't run the Do command.

That is a flaw with DXGI in general, it can only see active monitors.

But like I was saying, you can still use scripts to activate and deactivate displays. My script can activate or de-activate any display or multiple displays, it does not matter.

[mdrichardson]

I am confused on why this would prevent you from swapping monitors. I actually have a script I provide that does this, it doesn't even need to rely on Sunshine checking to see if the display is available or not. https://github.com/Nonary/MonitorSwapAutomation

I only skimmed your code, but it looks like yours only switches the primary monitor? We're talking about enabling it. When disabled, it doesn't show up with dxgi-info.exe, so Sunshine doesn't think it exists and won't run the Do command.

That is a flaw with DXGI in general, it can only see active monitors.

But like I was saying, you can still use scripts to activate and deactivate displays. My script can activate or de-activate any display or multiple displays, it does not matter.

Actually activated/enabled, or just set to primary? Like in Windows, if you go to Display Settings deactivated monitors will show grayed out. Sunshine does the monitor check prior to executing any DO commands, so your script won't even fire if the monitor is deactivated like this.

Can your MultiMonitorTool have a config that disallows the mouse or any windows to go to the monitor? That's all I'm really trying to accomplish by "deactivating" it (which I do when Sunshine isn't in use).

And I wouldn't say it's so much a flaw in DXGI or even a bug in Sunshine, more like a feature request to run the DO commands prior to the monitor/adapter check.

[Nonary]

I am confused on why this would prevent you from swapping monitors. I actually have a script I provide that does this, it doesn't even need to rely on Sunshine checking to see if the display is available or not. https://github.com/Nonary/MonitorSwapAutomation

I only skimmed your code, but it looks like yours only switches the primary monitor? We're talking about enabling it. When disabled, it doesn't show up with dxgi-info.exe, so Sunshine doesn't think it exists and won't run the Do command.

That is a flaw with DXGI in general, it can only see active monitors.
But like I was saying, you can still use scripts to activate and deactivate displays. My script can activate or de-activate any display or multiple displays, it does not matter.

Actually activated/enabled, or just set to primary? Like in Windows, if you go to Display Settings deactivated monitors will show grayed out. Sunshine does the monitor check prior to executing any DO commands, so your script won't even fire if the monitor is deactivated like this.

Can your MultiMonitorTool have a config that disallows the mouse or any windows to go to the monitor? That's all I'm really trying to accomplish by "deactivating" it (which I do when Sunshine isn't in use).

And I wouldn't say it's so much a flaw in DXGI or even a bug in Sunshine, more like a feature request to run the DO commands prior to the monitor/adapter check.

So just so we're clear here, can you explain to me what you're trying to do. If the task is, can I script a way to swap to a dummy plug prior to connecting on Sunshine, the answer is yes.

As for being active vs deactivated, yes it does that. It does not swap the primary screen, because the main goal of the script was to deactivate all screens until only one was left, which indirectly forces the remaining screen as primary. Why? Because Windows is a lot better at automatically moving windows to other screens if you do it that way.

However, there is nothing stopping you from altering the backend of the script to use something like https://sourceforge.net/projects/monitorswitcher/ instead, which would give you more flexibility such as putting monitor to sleep or whatever, instead of de-activating it.

[Nonary]

I missed the part about the mouse moving over to the other screen. Yeah my script technically disables all screens except the one you want. So you wouldn't be able to move the mouse over to the other monitors, sounds like it does exactly what you need.

[mdrichardson]

Yeah, let me clarify.

I can't speak for @kinchahoy, but I'd imagine our situations are similar. I have an UW monitor trying to stream to a 4K TV. I don't want my monitor resolution to change when streaming, so I set up a 4K virtual monitor using IddSampleDriver. I think @kinchahoy is doing the same thing via the adapter.

When I'm not streaming, I never want my mouse or windows to go to the virtual monitor. As far as I know it needs to be "disabled" in MultiMonitorTool, via the "Disable" button (I don't see one for "deactivate"). So, the DO commands have to run prior to the monitor/adapter check (unless I'm missing something)

[Nonary]

For the most part you can do anything in the do/undo command portions of Sunshine, because they are executed synchronously. So your script can take as long as it wants to do whatever it needs and you wouldn't run into a situation where you can't run a command before a stream started officially.

Since it can execute code before and after a stream, the sky is basically the limit here.

[mdrichardson]

No no no. The problem is that Sunshine does the check to see if the monitor is enabled before the DO command runs. Since it can't find the disabled monitor, the DO command never gets called. This is a feature request to have the monitor check occur after the DO command is called, which would open the flexibility to do this.

[Nonary]

No no no. The problem is that Sunshine does the check to see if the monitor is enabled before the DO command runs. Since it can't find the disabled monitor, the DO command never gets called. This is a feature request to have the monitor check occur after the DO command is called, which would open the flexibility to do this.

You don't tell sunshine to stream a specific monitor then, you just leave that empty and then use a script to set the monitors. I am doing the exact same thing you're suggesting for months now.

[Nonary]

I mean I even have this script available to download, just follow the instructions and you're basically good to go honestly

[mdrichardson]

I don't want the virtual monitor to become the primary monitor, ever. I want the virtual monitor to always be disabled when not in use. I appreciate your help, but your script doesn't work for my use case.

[Nonary]

I don't want the virtual monitor to become the primary monitor, ever. I want the virtual monitor to always be disabled when not in use. I appreciate your help, but your script doesn't work for my use case.

You are clearly misunderstanding what the script does. Either way from a technical level I can tell you that this feature request would be exceptionally challenging because of how DXGI works, there are certain steps that can only be done once in the lifetime of the process. We would have to setup a mechanism that essentially reboots sunshine and reconnects it, which is a lot of work for something that can be easily scripted like I've explained.

[mdrichardson]

I really do appreciate you trying to help and sharing your script. I do. Your script won't get called. It doesn't matter if it prints gold. It won't get called if the monitor is disabled.

And I think Sunshine can be refactored to support this. I haven't looked at the code, but if I start Sunshine with the monitor enabled, disable the monitor and then start a stream, I can see that Sunshine tries to connect to the monitor before calling the DO script. If it fails, could it not just run a check again?

[Nonary]

I really do appreciate you trying to help and sharing your script. I do. Your script won't get called. It doesn't matter if it prints gold. It won't get called if the monitor is disabled.

And I think Sunshine can be refactored to support this. I haven't looked at the code, but if I start Sunshine with the monitor enabled, disable the monitor and then start a stream, I can see that Sunshine tries to connect to the monitor before calling the DO script. If it fails, could it not just run a check again?

I was mistaken, I was thinking of GPU priority, that is the one that is challenging to do. Swapping monitors is something Sunshine already supports without much effort, its why swapping screens without a monitor selected works.

It would get called if you simply tell Sunshine not to stream a specific monitor and you handle all of the logic with your script. Since it doesn't care about monitors being disabled (when you tell it not to stream a specific monitor) it would get executed.

I am just not really understanding the need for it though, why does it even matter? The outcome is exactly the same, the only difference is you never want your primary monitor changed but you also want a virtual screen active. That alone will cause loads of problems, such as the mouse escaping the virtual screen.

[mdrichardson]

It's far less about how the monitors are configured during the stream (which is maybe an hour or two a week) and far more about how the monitors are configured when not streaming (which is 40+ hours per week). I just want to have the streamed monitor unable to receive mouse or windows when not streaming, be able to run downstairs to stream while accidentally forgetting to enable the streaming monitor, launch Moonlight, have Sunshine enable the monitor, and start streaming without having to run back upstairs to enable the monitor myself.

[Nonary]

It's far less about how the monitors are configured during the stream (which is maybe an hour or two a week) and far more about how the monitors are configured when not streaming (which is 40+ hours per week). I just want to have the streamed monitor unable to receive mouse or windows when not streaming, be able to run downstairs to stream while accidentally forgetting to enable the streaming monitor, launch Moonlight, have Sunshine enable the monitor, and start streaming without having to run back upstairs to enable the monitor myself.

Which is why I am confused why scripting wouldn't work. As explained earlier, by removing the monitor name from Sunshine, it will no longer care that the monitor you picked is disabled.

It will then execute DO commands, using a script, you can turn on that virtual monitor.

When you're finished streaming, an UNDO command will run that will turn off the virtual monitor and enable your real monitor again.

Effectively meeting your requirement, which is swap to a virtual screen when streaming, and leave it disabled when not streaming...

[mdrichardson]

I'd call that a workaround, but not really meeting the feature request. I'd like my monitor arrangement to stay as close to "normal" as possible while streaming to prevent any window shifting. If that can be done, great. If not, I'll settle for the virtual monitor becoming the primary when streaming.

To be clear, I've been aware of this workaround. My chiming into the OP was just to +1 this as a feature request.

[Nonary]

I'd call that a workaround, but not really meeting the feature request. I'd like my monitor arrangement to stay as close to "normal" as possible while streaming to prevent any window shifting. If that can be done, great. If not, I'll settle for the virtual monitor becoming the primary when streaming.

To be clear, I've been aware of this workaround. My chiming into the OP was just to +1 this as a feature request.

Even if we did this feature, you're always going to have window shifting. Window shifting is a side effect of disabling a monitor. It is done intentionally by the OS to prevent users from accidentally leaving Outlook for example on the other monitor and not be able to recover it.

Doing what you want will take more than just shifting the do command before the monitors are captured basically.

[kinchahoy]

Thanks all! Very much appreciate the discussion around this! It looks like the way to handle this is: 1). Do not set a specific display in Sunshine 2). Leave your desktop operating on your personal monitor only (dummy hdmi disabled) 3). Start a Moonlight stream 4). Let the Do script activate the dummy HDMI as a secondary monitor 5). When the Do script unwinds, deactivate the dummy HDMI Here is my question then - can the Do script tell Sunshine to attach to the secondary screen (dummy HDMI) and not the primary screen (personal monitor) once it is active? Obviously the normal way to do this does not work (since the dummy HDMI is disabled at the start)? This would solve the problem that folks like Michael and I have. If not, then I think our feature request - to run some kind of script BEFORE checking that the display is available - may be the only way to handle streaming to a TV while having a single personal monitor that is unaffected.

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On Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 8:21 PM Chase Payne ***@***.***> wrote: I'd call that a workaround, but not really meeting the feature request. I'd like my monitor arrangement to stay as close to "normal" as possible while streaming to prevent any window shifting. If that can be done, great. If not, I'll settle for the virtual monitor becoming the primary when streaming. To be clear, I've been aware of this workaround. My chiming into the OP was just to +1 this as a feature request. Even if we did this feature, you're always going to have window shifting. Window shifting is a side effect of disabling a monitor. It is done intentionally by the OS to prevent users from accidentally leaving Outlook for example on the other monitor and not be able to recover it. Doing what you want will take more than just shifting the do command before the monitors are captured basically. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1506 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABRT7PMYH4UC2CYCGK6NHGDXVWE4HANCNFSM6AAAAAA3E6F3UE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Nonary]

Sunshine does not currently have any other types of commands that execute before you start a stream entirely. I understand your request, but I just don’t know how it would be valuable.

Simply because there would be many issues with a lot of games if you had two screens active. For example, your mouse would travel to the other screen on accident.

Perhaps, if you can stress the value of this, then we can consider you know, maybe prioritizing it as a feature. however, as a developer myself, I really don’t see my self even coding this out one day because I just don’t really see any value in it.

[kinchahoy]

Thanks for trying to understand the need / usecase Chase. I understand that it would be a bit of work to add a "on Moonlight stream request" script hook. Let me try and motivate the usecase: I believe I'm representative of a huge fraction of Sunshine users - folks with a desktop with one monitor who would like to stream to a TV or ipad (with a very different resolution), and would like to seamlessly do both. Right now, as long as I remember to run a script before switching away from my desktop, I have a near perfect experience. The script activates the dummy plug for the TV/iPad, and both Steam and Sunshine attach properly to the secondary display. I can put down my controller, come back to my desk, tap out an email and go back to my game without any issues (this is the advantage over switching completely or just streaming the main display). However, remembering to run the script before and after each gaming session is onerous.Similarly keeping the dummy plug active all the time is a terrible experience (you'll lose your mouse etc.). I'm reasonably sure that if you add this feature and clearly document how to use a dummy plug for streaming to a TV/iPad, you'll find a significant share of Sunshine users will end up using this setup. It allows streaming to a distant device without messing up the primary monitor / computer experience.

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On Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 10:12 PM Chase Payne ***@***.***> wrote: Sunshine does not currently have any other types of commands that execute before you start a stream entirely. I understand your request, but I just don’t know how it would be valuable. Simply because there would be many issues with a lot of games if you had two screens active. For example, your mouse would travel to the other screen on accident. Perhaps, if you can stress the value of this, then we can consider you know, maybe prioritizing it as a feature. however, as a developer myself, I really don’t see my self even coding this out one day because I just don’t really see any value in it. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1506 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABRT7PPBPMG4MENOSW2ELVDXVWR4VANCNFSM6AAAAAA3E6F3UE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Nonary]

I would say it is doubtful we would change Sunshines command execution for this, but what we could do is make it so that if users have a monitor configured and its not active, it should still execute commands. In other words you'd still be on your own on figuring out how to script it.

[kinchahoy]

That would be perfect and would solve our problem! Happy to write up a how-to as a guide for others when we have the feature / tweak.

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On Thu, Aug 17, 2023 at 12:03 AM Chase Payne ***@***.***> wrote: I would say it is doubtful we would change Sunshines command execution for this, but what we could do is make it so that if users have a monitor configured and its not active, it should still execute commands. In other words you'd still be on your own on figuring out how to script it. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1506 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABRT7PNFIVABMV2U5DYXQLLXVW65JANCNFSM6AAAAAA3E6F3UE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>