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Windows Client v2.7b10 Released

Submitted by spot on Tue, 2008-09-09 19:06. User Forum

The third release of the so-new-it's-incompatible 2.7 beta client. Get the installer here. The source code can be had from SVN. See also the first beta release, including more info about what's really new, and the second.

After installation, go to your desktop properties and select "ElectricSheep_2_7b10" as your screensaver. Note it does not download in preview mode, so to see it you'll need to let it time-out like normal.

Note that voting with the arrow keys should work, but there's no on-screen feedback yet. The F1 (Help) key shows the current status as an overlay.

You can run it like a regular application in its own window by right clicking on the ".scr" file and selecting "Test". Double-click the ".scr" to edit the configuration settings. The ".scr" means "c:\windows\system32\ElectricSheep_2_7b10.scr" on XP.

Reports of any problems or bugs as well as successes are most welcome. It seems to work great for most people but crashes for others. We are trying to figure out why, so if you try it, please let us know what happens good or bad. We are looking for crashes, freezes, and stutters. It would help most if you included the computer make/model, operating system version, and graphics card hardware in your report. Thanks! Your best bet is to comment on this forum, but you can also send me email.

It writes log files that might include some clues about any problems. On Vista they are in "C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\" and "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ElectricSheep\" on XP. Look at the end of the log file first.

You can browse the new flock here even without the client.

Changes since v2.7b9: settings dialog works, server messages displayed on-screen, breaks out of loops, many bug fixes. Note that even though there are settings for registration, they don't work so leave them blank/off!

Note there is also a Linux beta.

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Can't dload sheep

Submitted by mithra on Tue, 2008-12-30 14:54.

Running Vista 64
Quad Core
8 gig ram
Nvidia 8600GT

Error Log:

2008/12/29.20:36:54 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(420)]: 'syntax error at line 1'

I did manually download some sheep, and they work just fine.

Thanks for this most excellent screen saver!

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Always freezes after some time

Submitted by NRB on Fri, 2008-12-12 22:04.

I have been running this version under Vista Home Premium for some time without issue. Over the last couple of months though, I have noticed constant freezing of the static image at the time of the freeze.

Pressing ctrl-alt-del gets me back to my login screen no worries.

I have noticed the same error in the logs:
yyyy/mm/dd.hh:mm:ss - ContentDecoder.cpp[DumpError(120)]: 'No such file or directory'

What's going on?

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always freezes after some time

Submitted by NRB on Mon, 2008-12-29 18:57.

It's been 2 weeks with no reply, is anyone else having a similar problem?

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documented problems

Submitted by Aenima on Mon, 2008-12-29 19:39.

Most of us are, yes, as has been hashed out in this and other threads. There's really nothing to be done until the next beta gets here. Hopefully that'll be sooner rather than later.

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Freezing problem narrowed down

Submitted by NRB on Tue, 2008-12-30 22:26.

I've tried to localise the environment leading to freezing and it seems it only occurs when the computer is connected to the Internet. When I turn off my wireless card and run my laptop as a standalone the freezing never occurs and ES can run for days without issue.

It must be linked to connecting to the server in some way. I constantly get the "can't connect to server" error message on the top left of screen, but it doesn't freeze.

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thanks, i passed that on to

Submitted by spot on Wed, 2008-12-31 15:28.

thanks, i passed that on to the developer!

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Stuttering Gone, but crashes now

Submitted by alainbryden on Mon, 2008-12-01 12:26.

I've been using the current release on Vista, it runs fine for hours on end but freezes between every transition.
The current beta release has solved the stuttering but crashes for me too. It's running on Vista, with a high end graphics card, processor and plenty of RAM. The crash is typical of a large memory leak, where the frame rate becomes gradually slower over an hour or so upon which it will lock up completely. The program finishes after about an hour and a half by crashing entirely (with a dialog from the C++ library). Typically, the crash also freezes up my entire computer if I don't tend to the crashing program quickly, and a hard reset is required.

~Alain

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freeze

Submitted by basmati on Mon, 2008-11-24 07:35.

Sometimes, Electricsheep is freezing.
Ctrl + Alt + del doesn't have any issue ... but Alt + Tab is working so I go to task manager to kill the process ...

I have the following line many times in my warning.log file
2008/11/24.12:13:47 - texture2d.cpp[Resize(170)]: 'Graphics adapter does not support non-power of two textures...'

I have the following line many times in my Error.log file
2008/11/17.14:51:19 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(420)]: 'not well-formed (invalid token) at line 1

My configuration :
Dell Latitude D610
Windows XP SP3
Graphic Card ATI Mobility RADEON X300

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trying again with beta...

Submitted by noluv2mro on Sun, 2008-11-23 16:02.

I'm giving it another shot.

How can I begin to address this?

2008/11/23.14:51:42 - Exception.cpp[ReportCatch(34)]: 'EXCEPTION: in Q:\Work\Projects\ElectricSheep\trunk\client_generic\DisplayOutput\texture2d.cpp(150): Unrecognized OpenGL Error.'
2008/11/23.14:51:42 - Exception.cpp[ReportCatch(34)]: 'EXCEPTION: in Q:\Work\Projects\ElectricSheep\trunk\client_generic\DisplayOutput\texture2d.cpp(118): Unrecognized OpenGL Error.'

XP home ed. SP2
pent 4 2.93 GHz
504mb ram

Love Life...

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Same OpenGL error here

Submitted by WickedTunez on Wed, 2008-11-26 13:36.

I have exactly the same problem. Just updated my videocard driver (Mobile Intel 845), but Electric Sheep still hangs when starting. Computer: Compaq NX7400 Laptop, Intel core2 t5500@1.66Gz, 2 GB ram, Win XP sp3.

Any aditional OpenGL drivers needed?

Cheers,

Jeroen.

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video card?

Submitted by Aenima on Sun, 2008-11-23 16:20.

You don't mention your video card/chipset, but an OpenGL error usually points to a video driver issue. If the latest video drivers for your card don't help, I suspect you'll have to wait for the next beta which is supposed to use DirectX instead of OpenGL.

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This particular error...

Submitted by Amgdust on Tue, 2008-11-25 00:25.

Well, I am running two machines here at home.
I've got my laptop running a nVidia 8600M GT and then a desktop with a Intel(R) G33/G31 Express.
ES performs amazingly on my laptop (8600M GT) however I get the same error you are getting on the Intel(R) G33/G31 Express.
Im not exactly sure what you are using, but it would definetly have to be with the video card and it's ability to use OpenGL.
I'll try a few things and get back to you...

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Lockups & avgrsstx.dll

Submitted by xpwiz on Wed, 2008-11-19 23:21.

FYI:
I am running v2.7b10 on a couple Vista PC's. 32Bit Ultimate on desktop and 64Bit Home Premium on notebook.

I am experiencing frequent lockups on both.

Everytime 32Bit Ultimate locks up, I can move or click the mouse, the frozen sheep goes away, and I get the white screen with the following error message box:
"avgrsstx.dll is not responding", click on "close program" and everything is back to normal

When 64Bit Home Premium locks up the only way I can kill the frozen sheep is CTRL-ALT-DEL. Just before the full screen task manager menu appears I sometimes see an error message box for a split second (Not long enough to make out the error but I suspect it the same as 32Bit) When I cancel out of the menu, error message is gone and everything is back to normal.

I have looked thru all the logs and found nothing specific.

32Bit error log: Last Freeze

2008/11/19.18:53:30 - ContentDecoder.cpp[DumpError(120)]: 'No such file or directory'

64Bit error log: Last Freeze

2008/11/19.19:17:49 - ContentDecoder.cpp[DumpError(120)]: 'No such file or directory'

Anybody else running AVG seeing this behavior?

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Uninstall

Submitted by Amgdust on Sun, 2008-11-23 01:00.

Have you uninstalled AVG and tried running your ES again?
I have never had any good feeligns about AVG (in general) which is why I moved to NOD32. Works great...
Anyway, try uninstalling AVG and see what happens from there.

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AVG's not the problem

Submitted by xpwiz on Fri, 2008-12-05 22:46.

Yeah, I uninstalled AVG on both PC's and ES is still freezing. I think the AVG error message I was getting on the desktop was just a sympton, not the actual bug.

Desktop:

Q6600
4GB RAM
NVidia 8800GT
Vista Ultimate x32

Notebook:

Turion X2 TL-60
4GB RAM
NVidia 7150M
Vista Home Premium x64

I really like this screensaver. I hope the next release fixes problems. Guess I'll just CTRL-ALT-DEL till then.

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I'm trying to download

Submitted by Znah on Wed, 2008-11-19 19:07.

I'm trying to download sheeps for new client from torrent using this feed http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/gen/rss-small.xml
It seems that there are no seeders at all :(
Why? And how can I automatically download sheeps in background?

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No torrents for new server

Submitted by Aenima on Wed, 2008-11-19 19:31.

I'm paraphrasing, but spot has mentioned that the 2.7 server has plenty of bandwidth and torrents are not needed at this time. There are no 'archived' packs to download so just let the screensaver run and it will get everything that's current.

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yes i think there is

Submitted by spot on Sun, 2008-11-23 05:53.

yes i think there is something wrong, thanks for the report. currently you shouldn't really need torrents because we have plenty of bandwidth for our current users as described, but otoh, it was working and will become more important as the new version spreads to many users. i'll look into it.

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Dual Monitor

Submitted by linuzo on Wed, 2008-11-19 13:13.

Hey,

I know this was already commented about, however I would really like to be able to use the dual screen feature. I am currently testing Windows 7 and i must say it does work well. However the Stable release does disable Aero so it is a pain which is why I am running the beta version. I have not really experienced any problems with it on here so far so keep up the good work guys. :)

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ElectricSheep v2.7b10 Report

Submitted by Mercanis on Wed, 2008-11-19 18:42.

I installed and ran the ElectricSheep v2.7b10 today for several hours without a problem. My hardware:

3.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 Gb RAM
NVidia GeForce 9600 GT
Windows Vista Business 32-bit

I tweaked some of the settings in the screensaver too:
Under Renderer:
- turned on "Use all available processor cores..."
- turned on "Save completed frames"

Under Display (value for each descending item):
(70) (2) (check) (check) (30)

I noticed that the screensaver's sheep look better than the previous versions, and more importantly, they're linked together for more seamless transitions. The old version was always chopped up because it could never play sheep in the right order.

I also noticed there's no option to limit the size of the cache, but I'm sure you're well aware of that. I'll post again if I come across a crash. So far my Error.log file is blank.

EDIT: when the screensaver crashed, nothing was written to Error.log. Here is the last contents of Info.log:
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 8298'
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking edge!'
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'no loops'
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked connection 8299 from pq (playcount 0 )'
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 8299 has been played 1 times...'
2008/11/19.16:05:12 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=08299=08297=08094.avi'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - ProcessForker.h[Wait(214)]: 'Fork done...'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[setSheepFile(84)]: 'setSheepFile( C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep/content/\jpeg\sheep_243_8562_253.png )'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(99)]: 'uploadSheep()'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - ProcessForker.h[Wait(214)]: 'Fork done...'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[setSheepFile(84)]: 'setSheepFile( C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep/content/\jpeg\sheep_243_8562_190.png )'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(99)]: 'uploadSheep()'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(109)]: 'filesize: 199862'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(136)]: 'uploading: http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/put?j=253&id=8562&s=199862&g=243&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=69480BBEB7D9E080'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(109)]: 'filesize: 978606'
2008/11/19.17:38:11 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(136)]: 'uploading: http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/put?j=190&id=8562&s=978606&g=243&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=69480BBEB7D9E080'

After a period where the OS disabled the monitor and the monitor was physically off, I turned the monitor back on and moved the mouse to be greeted with a "program not responding" prompt.

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Crash

Submitted by Poil on Tue, 2008-11-11 06:02.

Sometimes, screensaver freeze (it stay on my screen but not playing). I must do CTRL ALT SUPP, and windows say, electricsheep stop working ....

Here is some log :
Error log :
2008/11/11.10:33:33 - ContentDecoder.cpp[DumpError(117)]: 'Unknown format' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(420)]: 'syntax error at line 1 ' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(420)]: 'syntax error at line 1 ' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(420)]: 'syntax error at line 1 ' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(420)]: 'syntax error at line 1 '

Warning log :
2008/11/11.10:33:33 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(262)]: 'Failed to open C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=01917=01702=01902.avi...'

Info Log:
2008/11/11.10:33:17 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=01896=01861=01702.avi' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 1896' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking edge!' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking loop!' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked connection 1702 from pq (playcount 0 )' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 1702 has been played 1 times...' 2008/11/11.10:33:22 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=01702=01702=01702.avi' 2008/11/11.10:33:27 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '' 2008/11/11.10:33:27 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '' 2008/11/11.10:33:27 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 1702' 2008/11/11.10:33:27 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 1702 has been played 2 times...' 2008/11/11.10:33:27 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=01702=01702=01702.avi' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 1702' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '1702 looped 2 times...' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking edge!' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'no loops' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked connection 1917 from pq (playcount 0 )' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 1917 has been played 1 times...' 2008/11/11.10:33:32 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=01917=01702=01902.avi' 2008/11/11.10:33:33 - ContentDecoder.cpp[ReadPackets(448)]: 'Ending decoder thread...' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(317)]: 'Curl -> http://r2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/get?n=Poil&w=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eown%2Dyou%2Ecom&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=A2E40F6E4291108B' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(317)]: 'Curl -> http://r2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/get?n=Poil&w=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eown%2Dyou%2Ecom&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=A2E40F6E4291108B' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(52)]: 'Terminating process...' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(56)]: 'Closing handle...' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[generateSheep(620)]: 'Chilling for 600 seconds...' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(52)]: 'Terminating process...' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(56)]: 'Closing handle...' 2008/11/11.10:34:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[generateSheep(620)]: 'Chilling for 600 seconds...' 2008/11/11.10:44:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(317)]: 'Curl -> http://r2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/get?n=Poil&w=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eown%2Dyou%2Ecom&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=A2E40F6E4291108B' 2008/11/11.10:44:05 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(317)]: 'Curl -> http://r2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/get?n=Poil&w=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eown%2Dyou%2Ecom&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=A2E40F6E4291108B' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(52)]: 'Terminating process...' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(56)]: 'Closing handle...' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - SheepGenerator.cpp[generateSheep(620)]: 'Chilling for 600 seconds...' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(52)]: 'Terminating process...' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(56)]: 'Closing handle...' 2008/11/11.10:44:06 - SheepGenerator.cpp[generateSheep(620)]: 'Chilling for 600 seconds...'

Windows Vista 32Bit SP1, NVIDIA Quadro 140M (tested with 180 and 174 series), 2GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo

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Doesn't work ("Badness...")

Submitted by dreixel on Mon, 2008-11-10 07:10.

Just installed electricsheep-2.7b10. When I preview the screensaver, I get a popup error saying "Badness...". This is on WinXP 64. Any ideas?

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Crashing and strenuous on system... but looks gorgeous

Submitted by Stoic on Thu, 2008-10-30 02:46.

Let me say one thing first, the new sheep is amazing. However, this pushes my system to the limit. Understandable though, since it's beta. My computer goes nuts when this thing runs and all my cores immediately spike to 100%. Prime95 is the only other program that stresses my computer so. It runs it pretty smooth but may have minor spikes at times. Along with the occasional crashes. I'd say it can run for nearly 2-6 hours without crashing. I'll post later when I have more time to look at my event log. Although, as said before, expected with beta. Love the new look... can't wait for the final version.

Vista 64-bit
Intel Q9500
NVidia 9800GT
4gig RAM

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thanks! the next version

Submitted by spot on Thu, 2008-10-30 14:50.

thanks! the next version fixes a lot of performance bugs and crashing bugs too.... watch for it here.

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I know it's probably a bad

Submitted by arakcheev on Thu, 2008-11-06 04:44.

I know it's probably a bad question... but is there an ETA on the next version? I love the new sheep but I've had to revert back to the 2.6 due to the performance issues and crashing.

On a side note, we run three different machines for sheep on nine screens in my bar. Response has been overwhelmingly positive. People think it's the coolest thing ever.

So, on that note, awesome job guys. Thanks for all your hard work.

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glad you like it :) there's

Submitted by spot on Thu, 2008-11-06 15:25.

glad you like it :) there's no ETA for the next windows beta. in the meantime, i recommend you try the Linux version, which doesn't crash or stutter. it doesn't support voting, but for your application that's probably fine.

fyi, one of the things we are considering is charging for commercial use, like playing it in a bar. how would you feel about that? right now the project is still losing money, and we are trying to figure out how to make it self-sustaining.

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I think that's perfectly

Submitted by arakcheev on Sat, 2008-11-08 05:35.

I think that's perfectly reasonable. However, I think I was misleading with my previous post.

My bar is in my living room, not a commercial thing. I built it for myself and co-workers to hang out after work.

It's far from done, and these photos are old, but you'll get the idea (in case you're interested).

http://www.wdfnews.com/UserFiles/DSCN0299.JPG
http://www.wdfnews.com/UserFiles/DSCN0301.JPG
http://www.wdfnews.com/UserFiles/DSCN0304.JPG
http://www.wdfnews.com/UserFiles/DSCN0305.JPG

Obvious steps are to run wires properly and replace crts with lcds... but it's a work in progress. I hadn't noticed a donation link, but I'm going to be sure to donate here soon. Your screen saver has provided hours upon hours of entertainment for myself and my guests.

Anyway, I'm a windows guy at heart. I keep meaning to tackle linux, but right now I'm just too busy to learn a new OS.

Out of curiosity, what aspect of the project is losing money? I assume it's bandwidth from the server? Not sure if it's something you'd even consider, but we've got a server cluster colocated in Washington that is hardly being used. Perhaps we could donate in the form of bandwidth/sever space?

Anyway, thanks for all of your hard work. Looking forward to the next release.

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Commercial use

Submitted by Aenima on Thu, 2008-11-06 16:42.

Since it wouldn't affect me I don't know if my input would be worth much, but I think charging for commerical use (only!) would be reasonable. That's not uncommon in the GPL/open-source/copy-left world.

As an aside, have you considered a donation option? If I've missed such a thing, I apologize for not looking closer. It won't make a profit, but even $5-10 here and there can be a surprising offset to your costs.

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Note that the charge not be

Submitted by spot on Thu, 2008-11-06 21:10.

Note that the charge would not be for use of the software, which is GPL and therefor free even for commercial use, but for the Sheep animations, which are Creative Commons and so could be restricted.

There is a donation system, see the link on the home page. In the past this has been more prominently placed, and I have even once put a message "please donate, see the website" into everyone's screen-saver, NPR style. That was effective as a one-off, but I really want to keep the primary experience ad and nag free.

The plan for 2.7 is to make the request for donations a clear part of the installation process. See the plan, which also includes premium accounts that would get more bandwidth. We are also trying to think of other features that people would be happy to pay for, while keeping basic use free to the public. Any suggestions you have would be most welcome.

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This definitely seems

Submitted by cooldudefx on Mon, 2008-11-10 00:59.

This definitely seems reasonable. I read the plan, and as much as I don't care for the NPR-style fund drives, I think they do also work and that people (like me) should be asked to pay to keep the project going, if necessary. I'm not a server expert by any means, but I assume something like sourceforge's distributed mirrors is out of the question?

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Sheep crashing

Submitted by arakcheev on Wed, 2008-10-22 21:14.

Randomly. It could be two hours or two minutes, it just freezes sometimes. Have to hit both left and right mouse buttons, and the screen goes white. Hitting right click again brings up the windows crash dialogue (looking for solutions). Upon closing that the machine returns to normal. Sheep work again after that when the time for the screen saver is reached.

Figured I'd report it. Not sure if anyone else is having this issue.

Vista Ultimate 64.
q6600
2GB ram
8800ultra

Not sure if any of this is helpful.

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Update

Submitted by arakcheev on Sat, 2008-11-08 18:12.

Wanted to update this and let you guys know that while it is crashing on vista 64, it's not crashing on my xp pro laptop. Just a heads up.

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This happens to me a lot. I

Submitted by Aenima on Wed, 2008-10-22 23:36.

This happens to me a lot. I figured it's just one of those things when dealing with beta software. If the frozen sheep doesn't go away after I move my mouse, I just hit ctrl-alt-del and cancel the menu.

Vista Ultimate x64
Xeon e3110, 4gb RAM
Nvidia 9600GT PCI-E

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Same problem.

Submitted by cooldudefx on Sun, 2008-10-26 22:20.

The file that has a problem is secpro.dll, which seems to be the file that locks the computer after the screensaver initiates.

Vista Home Premium 32-bit
AMD
ATI Radeon

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hu?

Submitted by keffo on Fri, 2008-10-31 18:49.

Eh, what? Are you talking about secproc.dll? "Windows Rights Management Desktop Security Processor"?

Why do you think that?

// Keffo

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Electric Sheep Config -> Display -> buffer minor bug

Submitted by tyeh26 on Sat, 2008-10-04 22:20.

When going from a 2 digit buffer to a 3 digit buffer, the hundreds digit is dropped. But if you close and re-open the electric sheep config, the hundred digits will display.

Minor bug, not life threatening.

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Hey there. So the sheep have

Submitted by nekizalb on Fri, 2008-10-03 11:33.

Hey there. So the sheep have been running great for me. But recently they've started freezing on me. It will run fine for an hour or so, but will then randomly freeze up. The only way i can get out is to hardboot my computer. Other times it will run for hours no issue. Here's the error log.

2008/10/02.10:42:20 - ContentDecoder.cpp[DumpError(120)]: 'No such file or directory'
2008/10/02.15:42:20 - ContentDecoder.cpp[DumpError(120)]: 'No such file or directory'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - ContentDecoder.cpp[DumpError(120)]: 'No such file or directory'

Here's the warning file from 20 seconds before the last log in the error log

2008/10/03.01:33:10 - linkpool.h[Allocate(95)]: 'Expanding pool...'
2008/10/03.01:33:15 - linkpool.h[Allocate(95)]: 'Expanding pool...'
2008/10/03.01:33:18 - linkpool.h[Allocate(95)]: 'Expanding pool...'
2008/10/03.01:33:22 - linkpool.h[Allocate(95)]: 'Expanding pool...'
2008/10/03.01:33:25 - linkpool.h[Allocate(95)]: 'Expanding pool...'
2008/10/03.01:33:29 - linkpool.h[Allocate(95)]: 'Expanding pool...'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(262)]: 'Failed to open C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04777=04711=04719.avi...'
2008/10/03.01:33:33 - linkpool.h[Allocate(95)]: 'Expanding pool...'

Here's the info.log from 20 seconds before to 20 seconds after

2008/10/03.01:33:05 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04693=04693=04693.avi'
2008/10/03.01:33:16 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(317)]: 'Curl -> http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/get?n=Tur&w=&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=92E41C6E9291238B'
2008/10/03.01:33:16 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(52)]: 'Terminating process...'
2008/10/03.01:33:16 - ProcessForker.h[~CProcessForker(56)]: 'Closing handle...'
2008/10/03.01:33:16 - ProcessForker.h[Execute(113)]: 'Started C:\Program Files\Electricsheep Screensaver\\flam3.exe, with env time=42...'
2008/10/03.01:33:18 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/10/03.01:33:18 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/10/03.01:33:18 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 4693'
2008/10/03.01:33:18 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 4693 has been played 2 times...'
2008/10/03.01:33:18 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04693=04693=04693.avi'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 4693'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '4693 looped 2 times...'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'no edges'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'no loops'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'No connections!'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked new location 4777 from pq (playcount 0 )'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 4777 has been played 1 times...'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04777=04711=04719.avi'
2008/10/03.01:33:31 - ContentDecoder.cpp[ReadPackets(448)]: 'Ending decoder thread...'
2008/10/03.01:36:21 - SheepDownloader.cpp[downloadSheep(200)]: 'issuing curl req: http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/gen/243/5599/sheep.avi'
2008/10/03.01:37:50 - ProcessForker.h[Wait(214)]: 'Fork done...'
2008/10/03.01:37:50 - SheepUploader.cpp[setSheepFile(84)]: 'setSheepFile( C:\ProgramData\ElectricSheep/content/\jpeg\sheep_243_5568_42.png )'

Surprisingly, it seems the program is still running even after the freezing. I can't be sure that the error at 1:33 is what caused the freeze, but i'm pretty sure. The info.log runs up till i killed my computer this morning, so it was still running underneath the frozen display. My computer was running pretty hot when i shut it off. I'll keep an eye on the error log and see if it's continues to add that error each time it freezes. Thanks!

nekizalb

Vista Business 32x
Intel Dual core 2.0
Nvidia GeForce 8600m gt

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repetition brain injury

Submitted by meander on Wed, 2008-10-01 21:07.

I hate order, I love randomness!

Well, more specifically, the same few patterns seem to keep showing up most of the time when the screensaver starts up. Later on it seems more random. Has your randomiser gained a sense of order?

FWIW, I currently have 231 sheep in the electricsheep mpeg folder, so there should be plenty of variety at screensaver startup.

Thanks again for a wonderful program.

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Much better on Wista 64 bit

Submitted by Themelonator14 on Tue, 2008-09-30 22:22.

Great Job on the new release!! Runs much smoother and has a lot less clipping on vista 64 bit still freezes after a running a little while, but I am at least able to shake the mouse and exit. I noticed that the freezing occurs when windows tries to turn off the monitor. My hard drive and my cpu continue to run but the screen is non responsive.

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Link to homepage character limit

Submitted by DaveJazzHound on Fri, 2008-09-26 16:39.

Can we get a few more character spaces available in the link to homepage text box of Renderer settings?

My address is a couple of characters (4) too long. :)

Thanx,
Dave

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the limit will be removed

Submitted by spot on Fri, 2008-09-26 19:59.

the limit will be removed when it becomes based on your drupal account rather than the client. in the meantime, you should be able to use tinyurl or the equivalent.

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Pins both processors

Submitted by DaveJazzHound on Mon, 2008-09-22 00:49.

Runs for a couple of minutes, and then the processors pin at 100%.
Seems like it's when flam3.exe launches.
Any ideas?
Looks great, otherwise.

Also, I left all settings at defaults except for checking "Enables downloading of new sheep". (wouldn't start if i played with them)

2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 4719'
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '4719 looped 2 times...'
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking edge!'
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'no loops'
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked connection 4728 from pq (playcount 0 )'
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 4728 has been played 1 times...'
2008/09/21.21:18:14 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04728=04719=04616.avi'
2008/09/21.21:18:18 - SheepDownloader.cpp[downloadSheep(200)]: 'issuing curl req: http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/gen/243/4566/sheep.avi'
2008/09/21.21:18:18 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(317)]: 'Curl -> http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/get?n=&w=&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=3C2185DDDAEC91A0'
2008/09/21.21:18:19 - ProcessForker.h[Execute(113)]: 'Started C:\Program Files\Electricsheep Screensaver\\flam3.exe, with env time=1471...'
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 4728'
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking edge!'
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking loop!'
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked connection 4616 from pq (playcount 0 )'
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 4616 has been played 1 times...'
2008/09/21.21:18:24 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04616=04616=04616.avi'

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DAVE-FRYS-X2-64
System Manufacturer RS480_
System Model AWRDACPI
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 35 Stepping 2 AuthenticAMD ~2199 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 7/15/2005
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume6
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name DAVE-FRYS-X2-64\Dave
Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.28 GB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.92 GB
Page File Space 4.85 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

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Pins both processors - appended

Submitted by DaveJazzHound on Mon, 2008-09-22 12:26.

FYI (next morning)

Player is studdering along with processors working 100% ...
... Processors run at 80% ... player runs stunningly ...
executes ... back to 100%

Can flam3 be throttled down?
Is this helpful or should i hush up and wait for the next release? :)
Is there a mailing list for release announcements?

2008/09/22.09:01:46 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/22.09:01:46 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/22.09:01:46 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 4739'
2008/09/22.09:01:46 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking edge!'
2008/09/22.09:01:46 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking loop!'
2008/09/22.09:01:46 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked connection 4702 from pq (playcount 0 )'
2008/09/22.09:01:46 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 4702 has been played 1 times...'
2008/09/22.09:01:46 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04702=04702=04702.avi'
2008/09/22.09:01:47 - ProcessForker.h[Wait(214)]: 'Fork done...'
2008/09/22.09:01:47 - SheepUploader.cpp[setSheepFile(84)]: 'setSheepFile( C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ElectricSheep/content/\jpeg\sheep_243_4808_278.png )'
2008/09/22.09:01:47 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(99)]: 'uploadSheep()'
2008/09/22.09:01:47 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(109)]: 'filesize: 735676'
2008/09/22.09:01:47 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(136)]: 'uploading: http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/put?j=278&id=4808&s=735676&g=243&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=3C2185DDDAEC91A0'
2008/09/22.09:01:53 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/22.09:01:53 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/22.09:01:53 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 4702'
2008/09/22.09:01:53 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 4702 has been played 2 times...'
2008/09/22.09:01:53 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04702=04702=04702.avi'
2008/09/22.09:01:59 - SheepUploader.cpp[uploadSheep(155)]: 'UrgError = 0'
2008/09/22.09:01:59 - SheepGenerator.cpp[getControlPoints(317)]: 'Curl -> http://v2d7b.sheepserver.net/cgi/get?n=&w=&v=WIN_2.7b10&u=3C2185DDDAEC91A0'
2008/09/22.09:01:59 - ProcessForker.h[Execute(113)]: 'Started C:\Program Files\Electricsheep Screensaver\\flam3.exe, with env time=72...'
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: ''
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'GraphAlgo: CurrentSheep = 4702'
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: '4702 looped 2 times...'
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'picking edge!'
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'no loops'
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'Picked connection 4740 from pq (playcount 0 )'
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - lua_playlist.h[sLogger(59)]: 'sheep 4740 has been played 1 times...'
2008/09/22.09:02:00 - ContentDecoder.cpp[Next(245)]: 'Playlist->Next ret C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ElectricSheep\content\mpeg/00243=04740=04702=04291.avi'

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Limit the processor useage

Submitted by Amgdust on Mon, 2008-09-22 03:26.

It would seem that ou have a Dual Core AMD processor, there is a setting in the configuration that disables the multicore setting for rendering. This should only pin it at 50% when flam3.exe starts up.
Hope that helps.

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Limiting the processor useage

Submitted by DaveJazzHound on Mon, 2008-09-22 12:41.

Thanx Amgdust,

Yes, "Use all available processor cores" is unchecked. It seems as though the feature is not working. Behavior is the same either way after reboots.

Yes, Dual Core AMD 64 Athlon X2. Could the patch from AMD, "Dual-Core Optimizer" be screwing with me / (flam3)? The machine is a dog without it.

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thanks for the report. this

Submitted by spot on Tue, 2008-09-23 15:06.

thanks for the report. this is a bug, the fix will be in the next release.

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Clarification..

Submitted by keffo on Tue, 2008-09-23 12:38.

Enabling "Use all available processor cores" will start one flam3 process for each available core, so in the case of an Athlon X2, that will start 2 flam3.exe processes.

Now these processes are renderjobs grabbed from the server, and they're always started at a very low priority, and shouldn't affect any other running process, but they -will- grab as much idle cpu time as they can, thus resulting in 100% cpu usage. So obviously in the scenario of a dual-core, where you have two cpu's, running just one flam3 will utilize one of those cores at 100%, leaving the overall cpu usage in your machine at 50% (not counting the actual screensaver and any other processes running at the time)

There is a problem with this that I'm working on fixing, and that is the stuttering that people experience, which is the end result of flam3 processes taking -too much cpu- and leaving not enough for the screensaver itself to keep up the smooth framerate.

Finally I should clarify what AMD's "Dual Core Optimizer" actually does, and it's not what you think.. It has nothing to do with performance of your cpu at all, in fact.
Most modern cpu's support frequency scaling as a means to lower power consumption and heat generation when idle, so your Athlon X2 will peak at for example 2.2ghz when running at 100%, but will throttle down to ~1 ghz when it's not used. (this is amd's 'PowerNow' tech, and Intel has their 'Speedstep' which does the same thing)
The operating system is aware of this, and will adjust any requests for timing accordingly, but the hardware time counter will not, so applications (most notably games) that animate things over time, like "Move this monster X units in Y seconds" and use the hardware cpu function RDTSC(Read Time Stamp Counter) directly, will get a slightly wrong value since the cpu may or may not be running at full speed.
(if the cpu is running at half the speed, the counter will have updated half as much, which kinda results in time passing half as fast)
The optimizer overrides that and makes sure the timestamp returned is compensated for these fluctuations. So this has nothing whatsoever to do with the -performance- of your cpu, just when measuring time.

// Keffo

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Re: Clarification

Submitted by DaveJazzHound on Wed, 2008-09-24 23:05.

Wow, Keffo ... your diligence is inspiring! ... your sharing of knowledge is very much appreciated!

I have a website that needs an advertiser's API installed. Is this in your area of expertise? A redesign and a content management implementation is also needed.

Sincerely, Dave
DaveJazzHound@gmail.com

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Dual Screen

Submitted by Smitty2k1 on Sun, 2008-09-21 18:28.

Hey, I really am in awe at the new sheep but still want to get them to clone on both screens in my dual monitor setup. Any way I can do that now?

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re: Dual Screen

Submitted by wickertu on Thu, 2008-10-02 04:30.

Actually, if screen cloning is on the drawing board (and yes, I understand the technical ramifications so I'm not concerned about how long this takes)--would it be possible to refine Smitty2k1's request and obtain a simple blanking of the non-primary display?

To put it succinctly, at present when Electric Sheep kicks in the second monitor is left entirely alone...leaving the static desktop...defeating the purpose of a screen saver on a dual-monitor system.

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