Multiple screens fo MM.

[Joshrobbs1]

I was wondering if it is possible to install a multiple display MM? My idea is to install a large marge for a double sink vanity much like the frameless back lit one. But instead of having a monitor in the middle I would like to have two monitors. One on each the left & right sides. Being able to keep all of my modules on the the perimeter of the mirror. Is this possible or would you have to have (2) pi’s? One for each monitor?

[tbbear]

@Joshrobbs1 hi of course u can use multiple screens, take a look at MMM-HelloLucy

[ninjabreadman]

@tbbear @Mykle1 Do you mean multiple pages of modules? I don’t see how this would help with configuring two monitors. Are you showing different pages on different displays?

@Joshrobbs1 The Raspberry Pi will not support a second monitor out of the box. It is possible to support a second monitor on the RPi, but it will require additional hardware and a different flavour of Linux: See here You could also look for an old laptop that already supports dual monitors, which may be easier and give your setup much more memory and processing power.

Even if you run two separate computers, you may decide to have them run off of a single MM server (think RPi3b with MM install, and an RPi0W that connects to it). Have a look at this tread here. Because their index.html codeblock is empty, I think @Alvinger used code (something like) this:

document.documentBody.setAttribute('data-useragent', navigator.userAgent);

Anyhow, this solution can be used regardless of whether the monitors are connected to the same computer, if you simply want to avoid running a separate instances of MM on each computer. This way you can decide which modules appear on each of your displays simply by using two different browsers.

[Mykle1]

@ninjabreadman said in Multiple screens fo MM.:

Do you mean multiple pages of modules? I don’t see how this would help with configuring two monitors.

I didn’t say a word. Robert mentioned Hello-Lucy, not me. :-/

[ninjabreadman]

@Mykle1 I know, but I figured as the author of MMM-Hello-Lucy you might be able to explain how (and if) it could help (because it wasn’t apparent to me). I only meant to mention you so that you got a notification; it definitely wasn’t meant to be accusatory.

[cowboysdude]

I know about dueling banjos… don’t think that’ll help LOL

[Mykle1]

@ninjabreadman

Heh, no worries ninja. :-)

Now, as far as the dual monitor setup is concerned, I think it’s asking a little too much from the Pi, which struggles under some ordinary circumstances

[tbbear]

OOOO sorryyyy i didnt want a fight it was a misunderstanding my English :-(
I thought he wants multiple pages on ONE screen
my fault
sorry…

[Joshrobbs1]

Yes I️ guess what I️ meant wast different modules showing on different screens at the same time. For instance on the left monitor I️ would put time & date, & on a right monitor on the opposite side of the mirror I️ would have my weather etc. keeping all the info on the outer edges of a large 60”w x 36” H mirror. My idea is to run two monitors vertical on each side.

[Mykle1]

@tbbear said in Multiple screens fo MM.:

OOOO sorryyyy i didnt want a fight

haha, there’s no fight. Everything is cool. Me, you, ninja, we’re all one happy forum family. :-)

[Mykle1]

@Joshrobbs1 said in Multiple screens fo MM.:

My idea is to run two monitors vertical on each side.

I like the idea a lot. Please keep us posted. i am curious as to whether you experience any performance issues.

[ninjabreadman]

@Joshrobbs1 Two monitors on each side, or one each/two total? You could run two completely separate mirror instances, or one instance (i.e. server) and hide the modules (via CSS) you don’t want displayed on each one.

I suggest using a Raspberry Pi Zero W to power one display, run a browser and connect to the other instance/server (or run an MM instance on the RPi Zero W). The server could be on a more powerful Raspberry Pi (3b) or some old laptop hardware. You would want to run the simpler, static modules (weather, time, calendar) on the RPi Zero W and the more demanding, processor-intensive modules (voice, video feeds, complex rendering) on the server.

I don’t know how MM feels about running two instances on the same machine – you’d need to set different ports, scripts, etc, but I imagine it’s possible with some reconfiguration to avoid collisions.

[hogedir]

@ninjabreadman Hi,

Now we have a rpi4B with 2 screens available, and i want to display on 2 screens the magic mirror.

is it possible with the version 2.20 ?

[kayakbabe]

@hogedir With a raspberry 4 you can have two displays. I’m thinking they can be set up as an extended desktop . Then it’s no big deal with the default magic mirror.
Top_left and top_right would end up being left and right…
I haven’t tried this with MM. But I have used my pi with two screens. But in my mind it ought to work with MM.
Just don’t use the middle_center or any position that would span across both monitors.

[hogedir]

@kayakbabe I think we need two electron display, so it’s not quite easy. it’s not just top_left and top_right. I need 2 MMM, 1 magic mirror per screen.

[sdetweil]

@hogedir electron (and other browsers) runs maximized, which is only one screen…

you can DRAG the edge to make the window larger, but cannot maximize over two screens…

you can run separate instances of MM on each display…

[BKeyport]

@hogedir I had two running off one display, just two different Magicmirror installs. I forgot how it works though, was using them as a temporary menu display.

Something about calling different config files if I recall right.

[sdetweil]

@BKeyport MM_CONFIG environment variable

allows the different configs off the same directory tree

[karam]

@BKeyport this answer inspired me to test it, so I have a solution:

1. create two different folders.
2. configure each install as you like.
3. edit each electron file in each folder “js/electron.js”
4. change the default resolution and position based on your screens.
   here is my config:

let electronOptionsDefaults = {
                width: 1280,
                height: 1024,
                x: 1366,
                y: 0,
                             }

NOTE: there are many better methods (electron-multi-monitor for example) but this is the easiest that I could find

[sdetweil]

@karam u can set the electronOptions in config.js, you don’t need to edit the source file

then you can do it with one folder,
and two config files

environment variable
MM_CONFIG=config1.js
for one

and
MM_CONFIG=config2.js
for the other

all modules for both are installed in modules folder, only ones referenced in config file are used

installers/mm.sh is the script used by my pm2 setup routine
copy that to mm2.sh
and then add the export MM_CONFIG=
to each

then copy the pm2_magicmirror.json
and change the title and the mm.sh filename

then pm2 start installers/??? (whatever name u copied the json file to for the second mm)
pm2 save
then on reboot you will get both