I had to take my Zynthian apart to cut the “bumps” on the FFC connectors, so I thought that was a good moment to do something else that was also on my list.
After taking a deep breath I took a drill, a saw and a few files and cut an opening in the front of the case for an HDMI connector.
The front is the only place where there is room for one. The back is full and on the sides there is not enough free space inside, or you have to cut through both the top and the bottom part of the case.
It’s not the most logical place for HDMI, but as we say here: As it net kin sa’t it moat dan moat it mar sa’t it kin.
It’s a rather delicate work as it comes in plain sight. Also the aluminium is a hard and tough kind. Patience is important, and as the Zynthian build instructions say: Think twice and do once.
All in all, I’m rather pleased with it. It’s ideal for diagnosing startup problems. (and I can’t stand it to have an unreachable connector
Every time @HansR writes a post and signs, I’m always double looking thinking who’s signing my name, I did not write this.
Great Job, I was looking at this mod as well but was not a fan of adding it to the front.
Don’t really want to hijack the thread, but since I’m suspecting the answer is related: what is the purpose of the cutout along the edge of the lower part of the case, visible in the pictures above slightly to the left of the newly mounted HDMI connector?
Hi @HansR, I have never experimented with a configuration like yours, but from some Internet search it looks like the kms driver for managing multiple video outputs should be engaged, selecting the available displays with:
xrandr
I ignore whether the simultaneous projection on a DSI touchscreen and a second HDMI display would cause an excess of CPU overhead, or overall video instability/latency. Furthermore, I don’t know if and how the second screen could be used for seeing concurrently the native GUI of the synths armed in the Zynthian chains. Theoretically, this manner of GUI visualization should afford much lower latency then VCN, and thus some increase in speed, but only providing that there is a way to automatically send the native interface of the currently active processor to the HDMI output, without enabling VNC, which notoriously impacts on overall system performance.
I have tried to get both the LCD screen and HDM working at the same time but I couldn’t find a way to do it. In older topics it’s suggested that this is not possible in the current version. Perhaps @riban can shed some light on this.
In fact I couldn’t think of a use case where two screens were useful so I didn’t spend more time on it.
What I have done is make an easy way to switch between both displays. I made a separate topic about this:
