[Solved] Combine laptop and pc with screen to multi monitor setup.

castor · 2023-07-10 20:49:27

I have a laptop and a desktop computer with a single screen.
Is it somehow possible to combine those two, so that I have one external mouse and keyboard and I can just treat both systems as two sceens for example arranged side by side with xrandr, using the hardware of both or using mainly the hardware of the desktop?

Could it be possible with xrdp?
Or X over ssh?
Or is there another solution like a cable to connect a laptop screen as a second screen. For example would it be possible to use the hdmi output of the laptop as input and display the received data on the screen?

I'm curious, but it would be actually really helpful to control both computers with just mouse and keyboard. After all, maybe a usb switch or something would also do the trick.

Last edited by castor (2023-07-10 21:38:53)

Trilby · 2023-07-10 21:06:15

This depends on exactly where you want to set your goal. Some potential goals in what I'd view as increasing feasibility:

1. Both systems run their own software on their own hardware, but each can have their mouse / cursor moved to the other system's screen seemlessly and keyboard input from each system can be sent to the other if / when the focus is on that "external" screen. This would require a two way remote desktop protocol with each system acting as both a client and server. While quite possible in theory, I imagine this would be a total PITA in practice and would take a good bit of expertise to set up.

2. Similar to the above, but only one-way. Both system run their own software on their own hardware, but one acts as a rdp server and the other a client which can move the mouse / focus to the other screen an interact with that system. This is just what RDP systems are for - though making the transition of the cursor from moving off one screen onto the other may take a little doing. In my view this still feels like more trouble than it'd be worth.

3. Using the laptop display as an external monitor for the desktop. In most cases, this is not possible - I really should have put this as number 1 on this list, but it conceptually fits here at number three. It seems simple enough, but most laptop hardware would not allow this. I.E., you could most likely not use the HDMI port as input (I've heard [basically rumors] that there are rare exceptions to this with some laptops ... I've never actually seen such an exception myself).

4. Using the desktop display as an extra display for the laptop. This should be very easy. As should using the desktop peripherals (mouse / keyboard). So in this situation you'd be sitting at your desktop, looking at the desktop monitor, but only interacting with software on the laptop. VERY easy, but I'm not sure this would satisfy your goals.

Just in case, have you considered just using ssh / sshfs / other-file-share systems so that the two computers could seamlessly share data / files as long as they are on the same network?

castor · 2023-07-10 21:37:29

My goal is to use the resources I have in the best way / as much as possible of them. Resources are: external keyboard and mouse, laptop with mid level hardware, desktop-pc with better hardware, laptop screen, external monitor. In one setup.

1. This would be the best, but seems complicated.
2. Maybe it would be possible to define a window as second screen with xrandr and let this window be a rdp client. So you would define a virtual invisible second monitor to the right of your real monitor (where your laptop is). If the rdp client and the laptop screen share the same X session then it would be like an external monitor, but it I think it wouldn't be a "native" control of the gui.
3. I guess not possible.
4. I'd have to sacrifice the desktop-pc hardware, which would be only worth it for certain non-gpu tasks. For hardware intensive tasks I'd have to switch to either single monitor setup (desktop-pc) or keep using the laptop and do hardware intensive tasks on the desktop-pc via ssh.

Number 4. isn't too bad, I might try that. For GPU intensive tasks, I'd have to lower the resolution to a minimum, but I maybe could move some of them to the desktop-pc that is acting as a server. Like rendering videos, or editing images. I didn't think of using my desktop-pc as a server accessing it with ssh before, but it's worth a try.

Last edited by castor (2023-07-10 21:41:22)

Trilby · 2023-07-10 22:12:31

castor wrote:

I didn't think of using my desktop-pc as a server accessing it with ssh before, but it's worth a try.

There are a variety of filesharing methods as well - some of which can make files on the other system seem basically like they are on the local machine.

castor · 2023-07-11 17:54:41

After trying it today, I am back at using my desktop pc directly via the gui. I think I am going to turn the server idea around and use the laptop that is lower on hardware via ssh and xrdp / xvnc.

Last edited by castor (2023-07-11 18:26:33)

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#1 2023-07-10 20:49:27

[Solved] Combine laptop and pc with screen to multi monitor setup.

#2 2023-07-10 21:06:15

Re: [Solved] Combine laptop and pc with screen to multi monitor setup.

#3 2023-07-10 21:37:29

Re: [Solved] Combine laptop and pc with screen to multi monitor setup.

#4 2023-07-10 22:12:31

Re: [Solved] Combine laptop and pc with screen to multi monitor setup.

#5 2023-07-11 17:54:41

Re: [Solved] Combine laptop and pc with screen to multi monitor setup.

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