Eyefinity multimonitor extended desktop is a trap!

[Plimogz]

Very pleased with myself, was I, when I got my brand new main monitor set-up on my desk. So pleased that I tried to tidy everything up and align all three screens through the windows display manager and such. For a minute there, it was looking alright and everything had gone smooth enough.

Little did I realize, as I unwittingly wandered through the "create eyefinity display group" door, that it was in fact a trap...

For one thing, even as I was doing it -- going through the windows, there wasn't a "back-out" button available at the bottom. Sure, I could've closed the whole thing down, but I was naive and optimistic -- how was I know? Then, when everything had gone wrong and nothing looked as it should, could I simply undo what had been wrought? No. Apparently not. Now Windows only sees the one display and CCC is not forthcoming with help -- and I'm sort of stuck with this "eyefinity group" in display manager and a side-ways center monitor and the feeling that this process has been needlessly convoluted.

Oh well, I'm sure it'll work out. But booooh to you, AMD. There's a trap in dem dar options. A preview button, or an automatic-revert-to-previous-state escape timer would be nice.

 

[blastingcap]

I would help you but you're being overdramatic and not funny. Eyefinity works fine.

 

[Plimogz]

Hey, funny's a judgement call and up to you. Over-dramatic I'll happily grant you, as it was completely intentional. Your help? -- well it always sucks when you're stuck up a tree and some passing guy with a ladder just can't be bothered to give you a hand, but whatever.

As for eyefinity working fine or not, I have no opinion -- but I'm sure it is as you say... All I'm saying is that the "create eyefinity group" option evidently contains some surprising pitfalls (wow, mixed metaphor ftl) and I just happen to have fallen down one.

 

[blastingcap]

Identify monitors.

Google for how to create eyefinity groups if you can't figure it out.

Use presets to switch between groups.

It really isn't that difficult once you do it right one time as you can just keep doing it after that.

 

[BrightCandle]

In all the years I had eyefinity I never had it only select one monitor for the group. Did the setup instructions show you it was going to utilise 3 monitors and go through the blue selection screens and then the monitors still didn't come up? That is a new one on me, never seen that before. Are you using the same monitors? Have you ever eyefinity setup these monitors before?

 

[KingFatty]

Also try using Windows Key + P to toggle to the other modes.

Your windows may think it's in the "main monitor only" mode, which disables the side monitors. Try using win+p to toggle to extended mode to turn on all 3 monitors.

Then, after all 3 monitors are on, you can go into the AMD control panel to set the monitors to the eyefinity mode, taking them out of extended mode.

Personally, I just use the Win+P to toggle between 1) single monitor, 2) extended all 3 monitors on, 3) "eyefinity" by way of the 'duplicate' windows mode, which I set to my eyefinity setup, and 4) one of the side monitors only (when I use the other two to display my work laptop.

I think that's most convenient, you just have to fiddle with it once, to win+p into the duplicate mode then configure that for eyefinity.

 

[Plimogz]

Identify monitors.

Google for how to create eyefinity groups if you can't figure it out.

Use presets to switch between groups.

It really isn't that difficult once you do it right one time as you can just keep doing it after that.

Yup, you're quite right, everything is in there all right. And I'm all set now. I think my main gripe could be that "disable eyefinity group" doesn't by it self completely undo whatever the "create group" option does. To do that I had to set the individual displays to "extend" under Desktop Management/Creating and Arranging desktops/"please select a display". And seeing as how I was expecting the contextual menus in the top "configure desktop" and the bottom "select a display" areas to be the same, I missed seeing the setting.

However it certainly did feel like I'd fallen through a trap door for minute there when the displays weren't at all how I wanted them, but backtracking the way I'd come didn't work to release the individual displays for management under windows and with the solution being under a different section of the CCC altogether which I hadn't touched at all.

 

[KingFatty]

I believe you are entirely justified in criticizing CCC.

The control center is very poorly designed. It is not intuitive. You have to jump through hoops.

Some things just don't make sense. I can't understand why AMD fails to see the value in good design. Haven't they ever heard of Apple/iPhone? If you let engineers design things, there are bound to be non-intuitive and hidden features that just annoy and frustrate.

 

[Final8ty]

I believe you are entirely justified in criticizing CCC.

The control center is very poorly designed. It is not intuitive. You have to jump through hoops.

Some things just don't make sense. I can't understand why AMD fails to see the value in good design. Haven't they ever heard of Apple/iPhone? If you let engineers design things, there are bound to be non-intuitive and hidden features that just annoy and frustrate.

Some things have improved while others have gone backwards.