Multiplicity 4 Public Beta 1 Feedback Thread

Multiplicity 4 Changelog

Please see the Multiplicity 4 press release

https://forums.stardock.com/530744/stardock-announces-multiplicity-4

Known issues

While we appreciate all feedback, please remember that we offer no official support for beta \ preview \ developer channel versions of Windows. If you report issues while in any of those early release channels, you should not expect them to be addressed unless it still exists in a retail version of Windows.

• ARM PCs are not fully supported (Seamless and KVM connections should work but "Seamless display" will not).
• English is the only complete translation currently (others will be spotty at best for launch). More translations will be included in subsequent releases. 
• If installing Multiplicity 4 over an existing installation, post-reboot, you will need to open the Multiplicity Configuration UI (by searching or from the Windows system tray) to initiate the activation. 
• If a Secondary is allowed to sleep and is set to 'lock' when it does, when it has 'Seamless Display' connections to it, the local PC will need to be used to unlock it.  The workaround for it is to have Multiplicity set to unlock the Secondary when the Primary is unlocked
  

Multiplicity 4 Upgrade FAQ

Please do not post inquiries about upgrade options, pricing, or account issues in this thread.  For all questions in these areas, please see the Multiplicity 4 Upgrade FAQ here:

https://forums.stardock.com/530769/multiplicity-4-upgrade-faq

***Reserved***

Just installed on both of my machines.  settings from 3 all xferred over more or less.  Having a problem where KVM mode gives me an all black screen and a square thats full of artifacts where the cursor is supposed to be.  

if i move it to the top I get the proper bar as expected but the cursor and the capture from the secondary is just blank.

worked perfect on 3.  not sure what changed to that end so I figured id mention it here. 

Have you tried reinstalling Multiplicity 4 on each PC?

Did you reboot each PC after installation? If not, it is VERY important that you reboot post-install on each PC?

If neither helps, when you KVM to the 2nd PC, if there is more than 1 monitor on the Secondary, if you disconnect 1 of the monitors, does KVM then work?

If that works, what is the typical monitor configuration of the Secondary and how are the monitors connected (HDMI, DVI, etc)?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

I'm using KVM mode with the secondary computer windowed on my primary computer at its native lower resolution than the primary monitor. On Mult3 I was able to use the buttons at the top to quickly snap the window to the exact size for that secondary display resolution. I can't seem to find it in Mult. I can maximise full screen and then pick 1:1 or stretch, all that stuff is fine, but for non-full-screen I'm having to drag that window size to be <approximately> the right size for my secondary. Am I missing something obvious, or is that feature not yet migrated over?

I did not try to reinstall, I can lead with that.  Not gonna hold my breath but perhaps I’ll get lucky.   I did restart, it prompts you to after install. 

will my settings be wiped if I uninstall? 

Settings should not be wiped, but I recommend uninstalling, REBOOTING and then installing MP4.

You can also use the backup settings option first in MP.

This is something thats not currently there.

I am thinking we need a resize window to native resolution menu item assuming native res is less than screen resolution.

To be clear, you would just not check that box to remove settings

And its a good practice to back up setting prior

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Having a really awful time trying to install Multiplicity 4 and get it working. Is it possible to revert to the previous version until I have a few hours/dauys even to get Multiplicty 4 to work?

It would help if we knew more about the 'awful time' - what exactly are the issues you are seeing?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

1. Didn't install immediately on one of my three computers. Managed to install it the second time, but only after deinstalling it. (And ignoring the offer to repair the installation)

2. Got it to work on a primary and secondary computer. For about 5 minutes, than the connection was broken.

3. For some reason I can't get the primary computer to work with 2 secondary computers. If I add a second computer tot the grid, Multiplicity just shoves the first second computer to the side. Doesn't t make much of a difference since neither of the secondary computers are able to make a stable connection with the first one.

OK, maybe 'awful' is an exaggeration. Maybe you prefer 'subpar'? And it still makes me wonder: can I return to version 3?

What connection type, Seamless or KVM?

You are going from MP3 KVM to MP4 (because you activated with your Object Destkop Subscrption).  That allows for 5 Seamless connections.  Is it only the 3 PCs you have configured (1 Primary and 2 Secondaries)?

If you remove all Secondary PCs, from the grid and from the right side, are you able to add them both manually again?

As for the connection issues, are all PCs wired or a mix of wired \ wireless?  If when you add the Secondary PCs, if you add them by IP instead of hostname:

Does that make a difference?

Do any of the PCs have an active VPN connection?  If so, and you disable it, does that change the result?

If you are desperate to have MP3 again, its always available via your account page:

https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Thank you! When (if) I have time, I will look into this and let you know how it goes. 

In the mean time, I will reinstall M3. Always worked fine. Plug and play! 

I have the same issue as klepp0906. When using Multiplicity 4 Beta 1's KVM mode to control a secondary machine, the control window on machine 1 stays black (with the cursor sometimes artifacting, which seems to correct itself after a few seconds) but mouse movement from within the KVM control window is properly translated onto the target machine.

Additionally, applications will "flicker" on the secondary machine while using KVM mode (visible in the video).

It does not make a difference how many screens are connected to the secondary machine, or which capture mode is being used in the KVM settings on the secondary machine.

I have attached a video showcasing the behaviour. Both machines are running Windows 10 Pro version 22H2 (64bit, build 19045.5011) with nvidia GPUs (driver version 565.90 on both machines). Each machine's display is connected through DisplayPort and is powered on/active. There are no power saving settings active (i.e. turning off the screen) and the firewall rules have been freshly created through the Multiplicity 4 setup. There is a physical mouse connected to the target machine, the fake pointer option in Multiplicity is disabled. Restarting the processes through the context menu item makes no difference.

Multiplicity 3 has been uninstalled manually, the remaining Multiplicity firewall rules have been deleted and the machines have been restarted prior to installing Multiplicity 4. It also makes no difference whether MP3 settings are being kept or removed on uninstall - starting from scratch exhibits the same behaviour.

Uninstalling Multiplicity 4, rebooting and re-installing Multiplicity 3 (re-using the same settings) immediatly produces the desired results.

Multiplicity 4 beta 1 refuses to allow me to change computer A to Primary. I click the Secondary computer slider, I get pop-up "are you sure", I answer Yes. Nothing changes.

For some reason Object Dektop does show MP4 on on computer but not on the other. Is the version of MP 4 you can downmload from Stardock.com any different from the one you can import using Object dock? If so, is that the reason I'm not able to add more than one secondary computer? In that case, what should I do? Reinstall Object Desktop? 

Uninstall \ reinstall, please.

If that fails, go to:

C:\ProgramData\Stardock  (note: that's ProgramData, not ProgramFiles)

Delete any 'Multiplicity' folder and try to make it a Primary again.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Object Desktop itself is not an app, Object Desktop Manager is and I will assume that is what you are referring to.

The path of least resistance would be to get the Multiplicity installer from your account page.

https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products

The version in Object Desktop is the base version noted here:

https://www.stardock.com/products/multiplicity/#comparison:~:text=Multiplicity%20Versions%20Comparison-,Multiplicity%204,-Multiplicity%204%0APro

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

Multiplicity 4 Public Beta

The Caps Lock key does not work correctly when focus is on the secondary machine in a Citrix Workspace. 

While on secondary machine if you press Caps lock the Primary machine will set the Caps Lock to correct state but the change does not happen on secondary machine. 

If you move the focus to Primary machine the Caps lock is set correctly on both Primary and Secondary machine.

Tested Num Lock and it appears to be working correctly even in Citrix Workspace

(Disclaimer: I'm new to this, not upgrading from a previous version, so I can't use that as a reference point.)

• I have shortcut keys to switch to specific machines, require shift to move the mouse, and darken effect.
  
  If I use the mouse to switch to a secondary machine, then use the hotkey to go back, the darken effect shows that control returns to the main machine for a brief moment (it undarkens, secondary darkens), and shortly after that the main display darkens again (so now both are dark).  At this point, moving the mouse undarkens the secondary machine and it still has control.
  
  Using the hotkey for the main machine a second time works.
  
  (I also tried it the other way: switch to secondary using a hotkey, and switch back using the mouse, and that works fine.)
  
  
• And speaking about the darken feature: it's a very nice touch.  But if I use the physical keyboard on the secondary device, it's still dark.  Moving the (physical) mouse does lift the darkness off though.  (There's some Event Horizon reference that should be added here.)
  
  
• Would be nice to use more keys as hotkeys: I previously use Shift+PrintSc/ScrollLock/Pause which is extremely convenient, but I was told in a different thread that this is impossible.  I also tried Win+F1/2/3, but that doesn't work too.  I also tried function keys higher than F12 (using a logitech keyboard with G-keys mapped to these), but they also don't register.
  
  (But I'm fine with this limitation if it requires more lowlevel hacks for grabbing these keys, since I'd much rather get the stability.)
  
  
• Editing a hotkey doesn't allow changing the key.  Makes it inconvenient to play with different keys.  The ability to change what it *does* is much less useful, so at this point I'm just adding and deleting keys.
• In some cases (can't remember how) the hotkeys would not take an effect until I restarted Multiplicity.
• I thought that "Computer on LEFT" and "RIGHT" is to switch between computers in sequence, but I couldn't get that to work.  My setup is one machine above the other, so I also tried a horizontal layout but that action didn't do anything anyway.  (And if it really is a left/right, then there's a lack of above/below...)
• Sending audio is very unintuitive for me (see above disclaimer: I'm a new user).  It took me a while to realize that it adds a tray icon that I need to click to start it.
  
  
• Similar comment for using the seamless display feature, but more on that below.
• Would be nice to have an in-app volume control for incoming audio.  I eventually used the windows mixer to lower the Multiplicity volume, but that was after I spread some joyful sounds to my neighbors.
  
  This is particularly tricky since I expected the volume on the sending machine to do something.  It doesn't.  So it would be even more nicer if changing the volume on the sending side had an effect.
  
  
• The Side-Panel feature is kinda cute, but kinda weird.  I could only start it from the main UI in the KVM tab, but that button doesn't change to closing it, leaving me puzzled about how to close it.
  
  I did find the close menu entry on a right click, but that's also kind of strange: you're grabbing a part of my screen to show stuff, why not add a close icon somewhere there?
  
  Basically, unless it's on autohide, the whole thing becomes a little annoying.  But making that the default would also be strange, since the main UI button that opens it just activates it, so it doesn't open it if it's in autohide mode.  (So a summary is that the UI for this sidebar could use some rethinking...)
  
  
• Using the seamless display to use my laptop as a screen for my main machine made me happy (it confirmed that I can now not only give up synergy, but I can also remove my spacedesk installation).
  
  But ... I couldn't figure out how to turn it off.  I did see the "Disconnect all" menu in the tray icon's right-click menu -- but that's grayed out, and does nothing.  After fumbling with it for a while, I ended up restarting Multiplicity on my main machine (or maybe I used unload first, don't remember), which got my machine to stop the extra displays.  But then the resolution on the laptop was reset to its default tiny state (and made Start11 get into a bad state there).  Perhaps the hotkeys for turning it on/off would work, but I'm avoiding trying it since I don't want to mess things up again.
  
  Also, adding both screens on my laptop (builtin + connected monitor) is an impressive feature, but practically speaking, it would be nice to configure using just one of them.
  
  
• SERIOUS PROBLEM: After the above kerfuffle which left me with the laptop in a bad state, I rebooted it.  But I did that via Multiplicity controlling the laptop.  The laptop started to reboot, but control didn't get back to my main machine!
  
  I waited for the laptop to reboot and reconnect, but no matter what, I couldn't get control back to the main machine.  This is obviously a very bad bug, since at this point there is almost nothing that I can do with my main machine.  I eventually Ctrl+Alt+Del-ed it, and restarted it.  (Even starting the task manager doesn't help: it starts, but the keyboard + mouse are still not working.)
  
  Would be good to get control back to the main machine if the secondary doesn't respond for a while.
  
  
• I have no idea why there's the obscure requirement for setting my network to private mode, or the issues I had with a vethernet connection (in another thread) -- I used a bunch of similar tools (I mentioned spacedesk and synergy, but I've tried a bunch of other tools in this neighborhood), and none of them had this requirement.
  
  Removing this restriction would be very nice.  But assuming that there's a reason for it (other than "don't use it in your coffee shop), it would be good to have some instructions for switching to private mode, if not do it for me.  (But yeah, my issue was a Hyper-V virtual connection, so I'm aware that this can get complicated...)

Hopefully this long laundry list of random stuff is helpful.  I'm actually using these machines, so I probably won't be useful to ask for more info...

(And -- in case it wasn't clear, I'm overall very happy that I get to replace a bunch of tools with a single one, so I very appreciate how ambitious it is to get everything right...)

With regards to using a private network, this is purely a case of the default firewall rules being set to only allow traffic when on private/work networks.  It would be unwise at best for a product to open the firewall for incoming connections to ports when on a public network too by default! as public networks should always be considered untrusted.  Obviously you can alter the rules to open them but the product doesn't have a way to do this right now for you.  There is some logic in saying we offer a setting to do so however for those who are comfortable with this.

If a connection is lost within 6 seconds you should have control returned to the primary automatically.  Multiplicity has always worked like this so I am surprised it didn't do this for you.  I will get this checked.

Seamless display does not alter the resolution on the secondary (it has no logic for that), the resolution options on the primary would control the resolution exposed to the primary but the remote end will always use the native resolution.  So assuming you mean the laptop itself changed I cannot explain how your laptop changed resolution. 

To disable there are a number of options.

You can use the right click menu and pick Disconnect all.  This should only be greyed out if there are no open connections.  Likewise the submenu for Seamless display should have a tick next to the connection that is active.  You can also double click on the connection name in Multiplicity config seamless displays page if it says connected by it.

You can also move the mouse on the laptop (using its physical mouse only) and move to the top of the screen and click X in the right corner, or turning off the laptop will stop it.

Finally killing Multiplv64.exe on the primary would achieve this (though not an ideal way )

I suspect given the greyed out disconnect all option that something is interfering with how the tray menu knows that an active seamless display connection is in use.  This could potentially be linked to some sort of security software being silly as we use a globalatom for this so perhaps something is preventing access.

I suspect you mean this

However, 'clicking it' (not sure what that means exactly) is not required.  Sound exchange should 'start' the moment the setting are correct. 

As a test, if you swap what is the sender and receiver (Primary \ Secondary is irrelevant for this), and have the proper credentials, does it just work?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager