iBook dual screening..

J

Jonnex

Guest
Hi,
I've got an ibook, and i know that its possible to plug a monitor into it.
At first i thought this was just so that whatever screen was on the macs lcd display would be duplicated on the second monitor, but having discovered some stuff about my PC, i wondered if i would be able to plug in a second monitor to the mac and have it be an extension of my desktop, not just a duplicate?
i downloaded some software, 'screen spanning doctor', but haven't yet installed it, i thought i would find out exactly what the score is first.
thanks alot for any help!
Jonny
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
435
Reaction score
13
Points
18
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Your Mac's Specs
ibook G4 14in
there is no way to actually span the screen like you can on a powerbook, natively the ibook only allows you to mirror the image.
the hack that you've downloaded allows you to get around this issue.
while i haven't tried the hack myself, from what i understand it allows you to do the screen spanning. i think it splits up the v-ram so you have 16mb dedicated to one monitor and 16 to the other (assuming you have a 32mb video card). also this is purely speculation on my part but i thought i heard you may run the risk of damaging your monitor as well.

please someone correct me if i'm wrong. hopefully someone else will throw in their .02cents :black:
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
202
Reaction score
1
Points
18
Location
New Jersey
Your Mac's Specs
1.33GHz 12" iBook; iMac G3 333Mhz; Use Dual 2Ghz PM G5's
I have been using the spanning hack for about 6 months, running the iBook display at full 1024 and a Viewsonic CRT at 1600. Not a single problem thus far.
 
Joined
Dec 1, 2004
Messages
1,112
Reaction score
53
Points
48
Location
Somewhere in the world
Your Mac's Specs
Powermac g4 400mhz, 10gb, 256mb ram, OS9
what model ibook do you have? If you have the 8mb video memory one, i don't reccomend you install the hack. 4mb of video per monitor won't get you decent results...
 
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Messages
166
Reaction score
3
Points
18
So does this hack allow you to increase the resolution on the second monitor? I was under the impression that the iBook (G4 Nov 2005 model) could only output 1024x768 on either the TFT or any external monitor.

Interesting....
 
OP
J

Jonnex

Guest
Hi again
thanks alot for your help, interesting answers there...
i *think* ive got the latests ibook (got it last october) its got 32mb of video/graphics memory, 1gb ram, 80gb hard disk.. do you think the hack will be dangerous if i use it?
the second poster said i may do damage to my monitor, which obviously i really dont want!
am i in danger if i use the hack with my set up?
thanks alot for all your help
Jonny
 
Joined
Mar 9, 2004
Messages
9,065
Reaction score
331
Points
83
Location
Munich
Your Mac's Specs
Aluminium Macbook 2.4 Ghz 4GB RAM, SSD 24" Samsung Display, iPhone 4, iPad 2
You can't damage the monitor.
In theory you might be able to damage your graphics cards - but nobody has yet.

You should be fine.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
68
Reaction score
2
Points
8
Location
Vancouver, WA
Your Mac's Specs
12" G4 1.2 GHz iBook 768mb
chuckalicious said:
So does this hack allow you to increase the resolution on the second monitor? I was under the impression that the iBook (G4 Nov 2005 model) could only output 1024x768 on either the TFT or any external monitor.

Interesting....

The hack allows for much higher resolutions on the 2nd monitor than the ibook's native. It is a great tool. I've been using it since I got my ibook about a year ago.
 
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
79
Reaction score
0
Points
6
uh, I know this is kinda old, but.... does this allow you to have more than one "screen" ala linux/unix style?

edit: and display one "screen" on one monitor and the other... on another monitor?
 
Joined
Aug 27, 2005
Messages
2,406
Reaction score
210
Points
63
Location
Fayetteville, AR
Your Mac's Specs
15" Powerbook G4 • 24" iMac • iPhone 3Gs
Desktop Manager can simulate more than one "screen". It's a very useful app that is totally free of charge.

Although, after reading over your post one more time, I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but I'll leave it up for it's a very useful app. :mac:
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top