[htpcero]

Thanks! That's exactly the kind of information I was looking for yesterday, ie. where to put the --only-current-screen. Anyway, I had to do couple more things to get it work properly:

1) gconf-editor and change key /desktop/gnome/session/required_components/windowmanager=compiz
2) in /usr/share/applications/compiz.desktop also specify --display :0.0

Now I can see that the second display has no WM indeed. What options are there now to get rid of some more stuff on that display, ie. gnome panels/desktop backgrounds etc?

In my case, I deleted the bottom panel and moved the application list to the top panel, then I made the top panel auto-hide.

I launch xbmc with my own startup script that launches it in windowed mode, then uses wmctrl to maximize it. All this takes a fraction of a second on my desktop (using an ssd drive for the OS and apps)

The background image in the second is the same as in the first, this seems to be a gnome limitation (not sure), however since I run xbmc on startup in that screen - maximized, the background does not bother me, since it is not visible.

[fab31]

Here is my solution for displaying XBMC on secondary monitor without mouse stealing.

My two screens are :
- Left: an LCD monitor (1920x1600).
- Right: an Sony TV (1360x768).

I configured the two monitors in nvidia drivers as twinview. So, the X server has a résolution of 3280x1600.

I simply use devilspie to move XBMC windows on the secondary screen and remove windows decorations.

Here is the devilspie configuration file (~/.devilspie/xbmc.ds) :

Code:

(if
  (contains (application_name) "xbmc.bin")
  (begin
    (undecorate)
    (stick)
    (wintype "dock")
    (geometry "1360x768+1920+0")
  )
)

The geometry statement means that the windows is resized to 1360x768 (the secondary monitor resolution) and move to 1920x0 coordinates, just at the right of the primary monitor.
Of course, I'll maybe have to customize these values depending on your monitors setup.

And here is the XBMC launcher

Code:

#! /bin/bash

devilspie &

export SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dsp
export XBMC_AUDIODEV=spdif
/usr/bin/xbmc "$@"

killall devilspie

It works like a charm !

Hope this helps.

[DoctorDyna]

Hey guys, gonna have to dig this one up again.

So, I've managed to get this working properly, with one minor caveat that I'd like to fix. It doesn't work with compiz. I'm running Mint 14. If I use the shell script it launches xbmc on the tv and gives me the mouse and keyboard back, however if I change from "Marco" to "Compiz" the script starts complaining about "winclass" and loops over and over.

Anyone have any idea?