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PSX with mac mini and touchscreens

Started by Martin Baker, Thu, 6 Dec 2018 15:56

Martin Baker

I am running 2 instances of PSX on a mac mini with 2 touchscreens attached. Each instance of PSX has its own layout and prefs file and I start PSX using AerowinxNetStart.jar. I have saved each instance to open on a different screen. I have the latest Mac OS and PSX 10.54. Two questions:

1. Each time I start PSX the instructor windows open on different screens (correct) but the cockpit displays open on the SAME screen - incorrect. What am I doing wrong? (I have to drag one over to the other monitor each time, but presumably I shouldn't have to do that. I re-save the layout options when it's in the right place but it always reverts to the other screen the next time I start PSX.)

2. I have UPDD drivers for the monitors and Mac OS I'm using, but they don't work in the PSX screens*. They work fine, however, on the OS menu systems and Finders of each screen. Any tips on how to solve this?

* more specifically, they may initially work on screen 1, then when I move to screen 2 I can see the mouse cursor but it won't actually press or turn any switches, then when I go back to screen 1 the same thing happens - I can see the cursor moving with my finger but it's impossible to press or turn anything.

Many thanks for any help,

Martin

Hardy Heinlin

Hi Martin.

1. You may try this: When PSX is loaded, put the desktop focus on the flight deck frame that needs to be on the other screen. Then hit the "0" key on the numpad (or click "Reload layouts" on Instructor > Layouts > Settings). Reloading the layouts should reposition the layouts to the saved locations. -- You may also check "Allow window stretching across multiple monitors" on Preferences > Screen.

2. When a click or touch doesn't instantly actuate a flight deck switch, the flight deck frame perhaps isn't having the desktop focus. Although you have two screens, you have just one computer with one desktop. And that single desktop can focus only one application frame at a time.


Cheers,

|-|ardy

Martin Baker

Hardy, thanks so much for your reply.

1. I've tried both options. Hitting zero on keypad or reload from the instructor has no effect. Selecting the stretch screen option changes the position of the panels in the layout (the focus is further to the left on both monitors) but doesn't affect on which monitor the display is placed.

[On my other mac mini I run 2 more instances with one on a touchscreen (PFD/ND) and the other displaying the outside view on a TV - these displays go directly the correct screens on startup without help from me, and as far as I can see the way I have set up the preferences is identical. (I'm trying to build up a system similar to Peter/Britjet's.)]

2. It's strange - I can access the menu system on each monitor (outside of PSX) but not anything in PSX itself, although the cursor position does move under my finger on either screen. (I discussing this same problem with the developers of the touchscreen drivers in case there's anything they can do on their side - they agree there's a problem.)

Some thoughts: could the choice made in the "hide mouse cursor" option have some effect here?

Also, I am running Java 8 update 191, but the Quit screen in PSX shows Java 1.8.0_25 - could this be a symptom of some sort of problem?

Very best,

Martin



Martin Baker

Re the touchscreens the problem was solved with the help from the developers of the driver:

In the UPDD Gestures menu, go to Interface and select "API only". Also, in the settings for which kind of touch to use, select "move then click" - the other options caused the touch to be one gesture behind.

Now the only issue is that switching between monitors takes two clicks: one click to change screens then another to make the PSX selection. I can live with that unless you know of a solution?

Many thanks, M

Hardy Heinlin


Martin Baker

I'm afraid the touch-screen input still isn't sorted. Using "move and click" is necessary to get the click to be made where my finger touches the screen, rather than where the mouse pointer was before the touch. (The alternative, "click and drag" means that touch gestures are always one step behind: typing "EGLL" into the CDU produces "EEGL" for example.)

But the problem with "move and click" is that for anything that requires a sustained touch, such as rudder trim, heading select, speed etc., the touch inputs only a single click and not a sustained press, so turning from 000 to 180 requires 180 clicks!

Has anyone else got this working and can you give me any advice?

Many thanks,

Martin

Hardy Heinlin

Is this problem related to "getting the focus first"? Or is this just a cursor repositioning effect of the touchscreen system itself?

As for the focus problem: You may also try to use one flight deck frame stretched across two monitors, and create two or four subframes withing this frame, with one or two subframes located on the one monitor, and the others on the second monitor. This way your flight deck frame always has the focus, and you need to run just one PSX instance.


Regards,

|-|ardy

Martin Baker

Quote from: Hardy Heinlin on Sat,  8 Dec 2018 23:49
Is this problem related to "getting the focus first"? Or is this just a cursor repositioning effect of the touchscreen system itself?

The latter. I'll make a video when I have a moment to demonstrate the issue.

I don't think I'm the only person on this forum to use mac minis with touch screens (I got the idea from here) so if anyone is making this work I'd be really grateful to hear how they manage to do it.

Quote from: Hardy Heinlin on Sat,  8 Dec 2018 23:49
As for the focus problem: You may also try to use one flight deck frame stretched across two monitors, and create two or four subframes withing this frame, with one or two subframes located on the one monitor, and the others on the second monitor. This way your flight deck frame always has the focus, and you need to run just one PSX instance.

Thanks, Hardy, I'll have a play around with the different possibilities. It's not a huge issue to remember to touch a blank area of the screen first when moving to a new screen, but the solution you propose may well mean that's not necessary.

Thanks,

Martin.

Martin Baker

Update. Ok, I think it's (almost*) sorted. I decided to work through it methodically, rather than intuitively, starting with one Mac mini and one screen, switching all touch gestures off and adding one at a time. In the basic settings: click and drag. In the UPDD gestures settings, enable a left mouse click for "tap" lasting 1 millisecond, and for "press" select click and drag, holding finger for 200 milliseconds for press to occur. There's a visual display option which is useful knowing when the press is occurring. I can now operate all the PSX controls correctly with finger gestures. :-)

* This now works when set up over 2 monitors and stretching the screen across them both, using different frames as suggested by Hardy. What isn't working is that it defaults to loading on only one screen still, despite saving the layout across 2 screens, and requires manual dragging on each start-up. Hardy, could there be something in the Mac display settings which is stopping PSX from doing what it's designed to do?

Martin

Hardy Heinlin

I don't know, but hitting the "0" key on the numpad after PSX start-up should reset the layout as desired. Did you try this? This way you need not drag anything.

I'll try to make this reset automatic, maybe 1 sec after start-up. Perhaps the stretch mode is not instantly recognized on some computers when a Java VM starts.


|-|ardy

Martin Baker

Quote from: Hardy Heinlin on Sun, 16 Dec 2018 21:10
I don't know, but hitting the "0" key on the numpad after PSX start-up should reset the layout as desired. Did you try this? This way you need not drag anything.

I'll try to make this reset automatic, maybe 1 sec after start-up. Perhaps the stretch mode is not instantly recognized on some computers when a Java VM starts.


|-|ardy

Actually I just deselected "start with maximised window" in Instructor/Preferences/Basics and now it's fine. Did I misunderstand the use of that option? An example of PEBKAC?!

Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers

"Maximized" often means "maximized on the display the thing popped up". So essentially you now reduce it to one of the two displays you intend to span. It works the same on Windows... if you stretch a normal window over multiple monitors and then select Maximize (or double-click the title bar), the window shrinks and drops its resize decoration but now fills exactly one of your displays.

Which is still different from "Full Screen Mode" where the window also drops all other decorations and you just get the main client area. Basically the window stops being a window.

Hoppie

Martin Baker

Thanks. This explains why it appeared very briefly in the correct position before being pulled onto one screen because of that option in preferences. Well, now I know!

Hardy Heinlin

#13
I don't mean: "Start with maximised window".

I mean: "Allow frame stretching across multiple monitors".


The feature "Start with maximised window" is applied after start-up when PSX has read all preference data. And I think this feature is not applicable to the multimonitor mode because multimonitor is not necessarily a rectangle. So it will be applied to the main monitor only.

To get rid of the frame decorations you may deselect "Show frame title etc." instead of selecting "Maximised ...".

Martin Baker

Thanks Hardy. Yes, the misunderstanding was mine.

Final question: I have changed from running 2 PSX instances to 1, stretched over 2 screens, allowing instant touch effect when moving between screens, i.e. without an extra press to activate touch on the new screen. Are there any disadvantages to running a single instance of PSX?

Hardy Heinlin

I think there are no disadvantages in general. On some computers, the frame rate may be higher and smoother if one large screen is used by one PSX; on other computers it may be better if multiple small screens are used by multiple PSX instances. Did you notice any differences in your tests?

I'll try to add an option "First focus click can actuate flight deck switch". Then you may retry the networked method if you like.


|-|ardy

Martin Baker

The Mac mini I've been using is about 3 years old and was the basic model at the time. I upgraded it to Mojave which definitely slowed it down so I'm using it just to drive the overhead and CDU/Lower Eicas panels, which I think are the least demanding areas graphically, and will use a more powerful Mac mini for upper eicas and throttle/radio panels. I've decided then to get a fast pc to drive the captain's PFD/ND and externals using P3D. (PC so that I can use Bacars and other add-ons which won't run on a Mac.) It's a work in progress and I hope to get it all running in the next few weeks.

I didn't look at the frame rates before changing to the single instance on the slower Mac mini but my impression is that it feels faster.

Many thanks again for your help and for this amazing software!

M


Hardy Heinlin

Thank you for the kind words.

The "first-click-no-action" feature can now be deselected in PSX 10.55:

http://aerowinx.com/board/index.php?topic=4191.0


Regards,

|-|ardy

Hardy Heinlin

The "window stretch" versus "maximize" logic is now protected by an exclusive-OR operator in PSX 10.56:

http://aerowinx.com/board/index.php?topic=4191.0


|-|ardy

Martin Baker

Many thanks for both these updates, Hardy, much appreciated.

(Just waiting for a PC to arrive to drive the PFD/ND and externals, then I'll be able to get flying properly.)

M