Sunday, March 15, 2015

Using your Android as a second Windows monitor: fast refresh rate + free solution

Ver. 1.6

Do you know that you probably carry a PC monitor in your pocket or backpack?

You may have heard of Android terminal clients connecting to a Windows (Unix, Mac, etc.) desktop server: the most popular are Microsoft Remote Desktop Client  2X Client, VNC, Teamviewer.

Yet do you know that you can connect your Android device (tablet or phone etc.) to the current Windows session so that it is treated as a second monitor?

This is what it looks like in Windows:

and the actual hardware setup:


To enable it, you need any Android (preferably rooted) device, a USB cable connecting the Android device to your PC and Windows 7 or lower (sic!) operating system on the PC.

There are paid applications that do it, but after some modding, we can get the same (or even better) results for free.

Get this modded installation package from here or from here
* [2015-11-01 See important update below]

 It uses AirScreen, and Mirage video driver (no need to install these, they are included already):








  • Install the Airscreen PC server (version 2.6) on your Windows PC. (Do not run it yet.)
  • Delete the installation directory (C:\Program Files\Quickturn\AirScreen) and overwrite it with the patch from the package.
  • Check if the Mirage mirror video driver was correctly installed as a virtual display adapter:

    • (This driver is key to the trick. Alas, it will not work in Windows 8.)


  • Install a VNC viewer (take your pick, I prefer AndroidVNC) in your Android device or use the default AirScreen client app (not recommended).
  • Connect your Android device with the PC via the USB cable. 
  • Enable USB Tethering on Android. (You may want to install the CM-AutoTether.apk to automate it if your device is rooted.)
  • Make sure that your PC discovered your Android device and the right drivers have been installed. (The ADB daemon running is not needed here in fact, just the tethering driver.) 






  • Find your tethered PC client's IP for the USB connection: use ipconfig or hover over the AirScreen server in the tray to display the IPs.

    •  
    Your IP will probably be within the 192.168.42.* range.

    You may check the connectivity to PC from Android - use the IP Tools, ping or a similar package.

    Detect and enable dual monitor in the PC's Control Panel. 
    The "Display device on: VGA" is in fact your virtual mirror Mirage driver.




  • Connect your VNC viewer to http://[your-pc-ip]:7654


    • Tips:
  • Install the fullscreen mode root application.
  • Remap the control key: Left hold -> Android Menu. 
  • Install the AutoTether app
  • Install Rotate Display (or similar), rotate to Reverse Portrait, and rotate to Portrait on the PC. Then physically rotate your Android counterclockwise.
  • Check this animated gif on your new Android monitor window, to test the refresh rate:
    (Click to enlarge in full screeen)
    • Caveats:
    • Create system restore points or backups, to roll back if needed. You have been warned.
    • When playing with it, do not change the main monitor to the AirScreen Android virtual one! Windows will mess things up, even upon reboot. If you get lost, to restore: either drag the control panel window by Alt+Space, M, and arrows to the visible area, or restore Windows to the previous state by e.g. the system restore point.
    • Use the Windows key+P combination to switch the monitors, if you cannot see your the display control window on the PC.  
    Enjoy!


    Refresh rate test:



    Update 1:
    Thank you for alerting me about virus alert when downloading the package from Google Drive. I have not changed the zip file since uploading it, but virus signatures may have been updated since then.

    I checked these with online scanner now. Here are the results ->  One match for: adware-eorezo-374
    I will add a second download link, with a caveat emptor notice.

    Update 2: 
    Use free SCRCPY for fast mirroring Android on your PC, also via WiFi.
    Posted by at
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    23 comments:

    1. UnknownJuly 9, 2015 at 1:03 AM

      Is there any way to get this to work on a Windows 8.1 device?? Thank you :)

      ReplyDelete
    2. 身正不怕影子斜July 23, 2015 at 8:09 AM

      I have never tried it on 8.1. Try getting updated drivers or downgrade ;)

      ReplyDelete
    3. Maltbrew!July 27, 2015 at 5:06 AM

      Okay I've tried and tried and tried and I just can't get this to work!

      androidVNC will not allow me to connect with HTTP, I delete that and it will just load indefinitely :(

      I have no idea what to do!

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. UnknownAugust 18, 2015 at 9:00 AM

        Same here - everything went as it supposed (checked everything that I should, followed every step in precise order).. last step - connection via VNC viewer on tablet fails every time (tried ping through IP app as suggested, and tab pinged the IP address from AirScreen 192.168.42.82).. when establishing connection, in adress line wrote that IP, in port line wrote 7654 (also tried 7564 (which was in readme file and default 5900). Cannot establish, not single time..

        Checked a bit around, tried Teamviewer instead VNC and worked well, but I'd prefer the VNC variant (I use laptop screen, external 24" monitor through HDMI and would like to use tab as third monitor..) when I connect just laptop and tab through teamviewer, it's OK, but when I plug hdmi monitor, the tab shows duplicate of laptop screen (or hdmi monitor screen), but I'd like to have 3 screens.. I think if I was connected through VNC viewer instead of teamviewer, it could work..

        So same question as Maltbrew - why the last step doesn't work, when Everything else worked?

        Delete
      2. QuantaOctober 30, 2015 at 3:10 AM

        This comment has been removed by the author.

        Delete
      3. QuantaOctober 30, 2015 at 3:12 AM

        For me it worked fine with the suggested VNC viewer (AndroidVNC). I typed my PCs IP without preceding "http://" AND following ":7654" into the address box.
        So try putting "[your-pc-ip]:7654" into the address box and just leave "5900" as port!

        Delete
    4. UnknownSeptember 5, 2015 at 4:14 AM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      ReplyDelete
    5. Ana C FelipeSeptember 29, 2015 at 3:40 PM

      Amazing tutorial...And good news: it works on windows 10!
      I´ve used compatibilty mode (windows 7 -mirage driver) .
      Thanks!

      ReplyDelete
    6. UnknownOctober 14, 2015 at 6:44 PM

      How did you run/install the mirage driver in compatibility mode? I installed everything in compatibility mode and checked driver options for it too, but it's still not working on Win10 for me. Thanks for any help.

      ReplyDelete
    7. AdminOctober 14, 2015 at 7:42 PM

      Maybe we can help each other
      I used "bVNC Free" as an alternative viewer and can send
      commands(alt+tab) to my pc but still no video.

      ReplyDelete
    8. lost koreanOctober 24, 2015 at 8:05 PM

      Thanks for great post. I got it working, but I only needed to install 1) Airscreen on my laptop and 2) install vnc client on my rooted android phone. Then I installed "usb tethering" app downloaded from google playstore to establish tethering ip for my laptop and android phone with usb cable connected.. That's it. I ran vnc client and was able to attach to my pc at port 7654 through usb cable.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. lost koreanOctober 24, 2015 at 8:08 PM

        Forgot to add, I am running windows 7 pro on my laptop and Kitkat 4.4 on my phone.

        Delete
    9. MOctober 31, 2015 at 4:43 AM

      Hi,

      Thanks for the guide. Alas, Google Drive says that the files in the package are virus infected... I don't know if this is because of altered files or what, but is there a work-around for it?

      ReplyDelete
    10. AnonymousNovember 15, 2015 at 7:14 PM

      Hi, is this GPL or non-illegal? I mean I would just pay $5 dlls for a legal option.

      ReplyDelete
    11. SlamDecember 7, 2015 at 12:55 AM

      Can it be as the third monitor?

      ReplyDelete
    12. UnknownDecember 19, 2015 at 7:19 AM

      IT LAGS

      ReplyDelete
    13. FrancoisDecember 27, 2015 at 7:56 PM

      Hi, I just want to take the time and say thank you for this post as it helped me out a lot

      ReplyDelete
    14. ierJanuary 28, 2016 at 9:12 AM

      It's working with win 8.1.
      My Address is just PC's IP without "http://" and I've changed
      Port from 5900 to 7654.
      If it doesn't connect make sure to exit vnc, delete it from the last applications list and start the app again and change the settings. Also make sure that windows firewall is not blocking AirScreen.
      BUT
      I can't get duplicate screen function to work. Just extended. Can somebody help me out here?

      ReplyDelete
    15. UnknownMay 3, 2016 at 7:31 AM

      http://www.tightvnc.com/download.html

      You forgot this in your tutorial. This is to register your IP and create a password

      ReplyDelete
    16. UnknownMay 3, 2016 at 7:45 AM

      I'm having trouble detecting my device now. I got it working once on my 8.1 but I noticed that the video quality deteriorated over time. Maybe its because Im using a phone. Anyway. if you can give me tips on how to detect my phone again as a screen that would be cool.

      ReplyDelete
    17. RaymondAugust 24, 2016 at 8:41 PM

      I have an Android device, though I am operating Windows 10 on my PC now. Is there any way of using this hack for Windows 10? I also was interested in whether this could work on a device with a Windows operating system? I'd be interested in what you think.

      Raymond @ CKS Global Solutions LTD

      ReplyDelete

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