DisplayFusion RSS: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/RSS/?TopicID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f DisplayFusion RSS: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on Sun, 10 May 2026 14:13:10 GMT en hourly 1 https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/RSS/?TopicID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#15 Tue, 25 Mar 2014 23:27:14 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#15 DisplayFusion Finally upgraded to Windows 8 and simply a "confirm", but it seems USB Adapters are properly supported with 3D so I am able to use the SereneScreen 3D Fish Tank without any problems across 3 monitors. Thanks.

:evil: ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#14 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:23:48 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#14 DisplayFusion Wow! That would be horrible to find out that a co-worker was snooping through your machine!

I do agree that the Marine Aquarium screen saver looks pretty nice :)

We'll definitely let you know if we can implement some kind of workaround for the issue of it not working on USB monitors. In a bit of related good news, I also tested it on Windows 8 with one of the monitors connected to a USB display adapter, and it seems to work fine, so at least Microsoft has sorted it out going into the future! ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#13 Sun, 03 Mar 2013 05:43:56 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#13 DisplayFusion Oh ok, so I finally got around to my testing and was going to report that it is the USB adapter as well, but at least we both now can confirm this for others.

Just a final note, it works 100% as long as you do not check "Require Password after Screen Saver" but then this obviously leaves your machine open to snooping co-workers. Yes, I actually caught a co-worker once reading my instant messages and going through my screen while I was away - Can you imagine?

Also, the "Use Preview Mode for this screen saver" has to be checked otherwise you get black screens on all monitors as it gets stuck loading, so hopefully you guys can look into my "workaround". Or better yet, you can implement some form of "lock screen" independent of the Operating System, like an APPLICATION LOCK SCREEN?

Hokey, I know but just being selfish but you can see how GORGEOUS my screensaver would be (attachment) if this actually worked, hahaha... ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#12 Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:23:00 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#12 DisplayFusion Ok, confirmed! It's definitely related to the USB display adapter, even if that's not the display with the login screen, it's still blank when the screen saver runs.

So, your suggestion sounds like a reasonable workaround, but I'm not sure if it's something that can be easily added. I'll put this on our feature request list, and if we're able to implement it in the future, we'll be sure to let you know.

Thanks! ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#11 Mon, 25 Feb 2013 20:03:40 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#11 DisplayFusion I actually did test by letting it idle timeout, and it still worked fine.

I do have a USB display adapter here, so I'll test using that and we'll see what happens :) ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#10 Sat, 23 Feb 2013 04:08:06 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#10 DisplayFusion
Quote:
Ok, I've just tested this out here, and it works without issues on both a physical machine, and in a virtual machine. Just to double-check, are you running Windows 7? If so, is it 32-bit or 64-bit, and what video card do you have in your machine?

Thanks!


Yeah, I suspect you are not truly testing it but PREVIEWING it. Everything works fine if you hit the PREVIEW button. You have to set it to ONE MINUTE and let it load on its own, so you are cheating. It works GREAT for me also if I hit Preview, but you have to test using REAL WORLD conditions, so let us know if you are actually letting it load on its own?

So getting back to my machine. It is a physical Windows 7 64 Bit machine with Nvidia Quadro FX 880M with the latest 305.93 Nvidia drivers (technically they just came out with 310.90 but makes no difference). I am also running DirectX 11 although technically I think this card only supports up to 10.1

This is an HP Elitebook 8540w with i7 so it is not a cheap-o rig.

Now you have me wondering ONE thing though. I am using DVI on the 2 side monitors, but HDMI on the primary monitor PLUS I am using a USB-HDMI (Diamond BVU1000) adapter so ALTHOUGH this should not make a difference I might actually go get a cable and try re-wiring to see if it makes a difference.

So I guess you can check your test parameters and I can check physical setup again...

:) ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#9 Sat, 23 Feb 2013 03:29:02 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#9 DisplayFusion Ok, I've just tested this out here, and it works without issues on both a physical machine, and in a virtual machine. Just to double-check, are you running Windows 7? If so, is it 32-bit or 64-bit, and what video card do you have in your machine?

Thanks! ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#8 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:16:52 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#8 DisplayFusion What I wrote in my post above is correct.

But to repeat:
- Install SereneScreen Marine Aquarium (latest version is 3 right now)
- Configure DisplayFusion to span this screensaver across all monitors (3 in my case)
- Do not turn on "Require Password" on exit from screensaver

Everything works normally and beautifully.

- Turn ON "Require Password" and now the screen that is set as your main display will be BLACK/BLANK

From other forums, it seems that Windows 7 64bit (and possibly others but I run this one) does not allow Direct3D on the lock screen, so if you check this option then lock screen is loaded prior to screensaver start which is why this screen is blank.

Finally, this is why I recommend that DisplayFusion NOT rely on the Windows OS to do this but instead have DisplayFusion run the screensaver after XX seconds and then send a WIN+L key command to LOCK the computer once activity is detected and the screensaver exits. Basically, take away this check from Windows and do it as part of the application and it should work perfectly otherwise DisplayFusion has to look into how to replace the LOCK SCREEN with one that is compatible or loads Direct3D.

Simple... :P ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#7 Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:24:32 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#7 DisplayFusion Thanks for the info Don! We'll definitely investigate this further. Just to clarify, you've setup the SereneScreen Marine Aquarium screen saver to span all monitors, and enabled the password lock to produce this issue? ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#6 Wed, 13 Feb 2013 05:25:02 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#6 DisplayFusion Just to add something else, but I also tested with the default DisplayFusion 3D screensavers and the middle screen is STILL black, so I did some Google'ing and found:

One of the things to be aware of is that you don't appear to have Direct3D support at the logon screen so the builtin screensavers above won't work. Unless you have another file you might want to grab the LOGON.SCR file from an earlier operating system.

It seems this is accurate because NONE of my 3D Screensavers will work on the screen where the lock screen is displayed, so this seems to be a limitation in the OS and if you uncheck "Require Password" then everything works normally. If you CHECK that option then the Lock Screen seems to be loaded but maybe "hidden" although this then prevents any 3D elements from being displayed on that screen.

So this goes along with my suggestion that DisplayFusion instead launches the Screensaver after a certain amount of time and then sends a CTRL-L command after activity is detected, which will workaround this situation although maybe more work for Mr. Tackabury. I guess I will investigate this suggestion about using the Lock Screen from an EARLIER OS?! That seems hokey but maybe it will work until DP fixes their end, because I NEED MY AQUARIUM and SECURITY!!!!

:P

http://superuser.com/questions/107200/how-to-get-a-screensaver-at-the-windows-7-login-screen ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#5 Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:50:10 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#5 DisplayFusion I am glad to see that I am not the only one having this problem, because I have a 3-monitor setup and the middle one is the MAIN display so when the screensaver kicks in I only see the screensaver on the LEFT and RIGHT but the middle is blank. I also realized that the middle screen is only having problems when you select "Require Password After Screensaver", so when you uncheck that then it works perfectly.

The problem is obviously I cannot walk away from my computer while leaving it unsecured, but the screensaver does not work properly so it looks stupid and ugly anyway. Two good things though.

1) I tried 5 different 3D Aquarium programs and ONLY ONE worked properly

SereneScreen's Marine Aquarium

All the others had problems even though they claimed to support Windows 7 or multi-monitors, but they lie.

2) DisplayFusion was able to make Marine Aquarium span properly across all my monitors

SereneScreen actually has the option to span multiple montiors but it did not work when I tried to set it natively in the program but once I set DisplayFusion to do it then it worked PERFECTLY.

So I am ALMOST OVERJOYED but this one last "defect" is killing my perfect Virtual Aquarium. If you could please test and make DisplayFusion work properly with TIMEOUT and REQUIRE PASSWORD. I suspect you might be leveraging the OS to do the switch which is where I see the problem. Instead DisplayFusion should take it upon itself to:

- launch screensaver after so many seconds of IDLE
- lock computer when ACTIVITY detected

Versus trying to hand off to Windows checking IDLE and then LOCK after screensaver, because something is blacking out the MIDDLE SCREEN and it might be that the LOCK SCREEN is actually launching but being put in a "hidden" or "sleep" state. Basically the screen where that LOCK SCREEN wallpaper appears is the one that goes black depending on which one you set to be the main display.

When I make changes in DisplayFusion with regards to TIMEOUT TIME and PASSWORD CHECK these changes are reflected in the DEFAULT Windows Screensaver settings, which means you are just passing parameters to OS. Do not do this and instead have DisplayFusion launch the ScreenSaver after X idle seconds and then check for activity which then triggers a CTRL-L sequence, so problem should be solved. :) ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#4 Tue, 09 Oct 2012 18:58:52 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#4 DisplayFusion We actually don't have a list of known working screen savers, but it's a fantastic idea! If you do end up finding a third-party screen saver that works, feel free to let us know and I'll start compiling a list.

Thanks! ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#3 Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:07:54 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#3 DisplayFusion Thank you! That was exactly it. It works fine with any of the built in screen savers, and breaks with the third party screen savers I was using. Putting the third party screen saver on either screen 1 or 2 causes the other one to not show photos if the "Require password" option is checked. The third screen is somehow unaffected, probably because it is on a different video card (it is also smaller).

It is strange that it only breaks if the "Require password" option is checked.

It is a pity, my kids liked that screen saver. Too bad they also have a habit of playing with my keyboard, requiring me to set the password on. :)

Is there a list of "known to work" screen savers anywhere? (Besides the built in ones)
I am using the DisplayFusion Photo Screen Saver on two monitors, but it is fun to have some fancy graphics on one of them. ]]> RE: Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#2 Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:42:32 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f#2 DisplayFusion I've just tested this out and it seems to be working ok for me with three different screen savers, and the primary monitor on the far right.

If you're using a third-party screen saver, could you try configuring DisplayFusion to use one of the built-in ones instead? ie. Ribbons, or Mystify?

Thanks! ]]> Screen saver blank on middle monitor with "Require password" turned on https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f Fri, 05 Oct 2012 15:56:11 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/screen-saver-blank-on-middle-monitor-with-require-password-turned-on/?ID=25b9171d-a192-4994-b44b-d887f2f0c15f DisplayFusion I have 3 monitors.
The monitor on the far right is my "primary" which has my login prompt and default Windows task bar.

I have set up a different screen saver for each monitor.

This works fine if I UNcheck "Require password after screen saver"

However, if I CHECK "Require password after screen saver"
then the middle monitor is always blank when it should be running the screen saver.
but the far right and far left monitors show the screen saver just fine.

Any ideas?
Thank you. ]]>