Is there a way to use the Presenter Console with a single monitor?

[bouliosis]

Hey there.

I would like to be able to see the Presenter console during a presentation, but I have only one monitor available (the one from my laptop). Is that possible in any way?

Note : I’m using Ubuntu Focal (20.04.1 LTS), so I’m thinking "Maybe I could use a workspace as some kind of “virtual/dummy monitor”. Sadly, I searched around and couldn’t find any way to do that, but I believe this to be an interesting direction…

Also, I know I could buy a dummy gizmo to mimic a monitor plugged into my laptop, but I’d rather find a way that doesn’t involve buying stuff.

Also also, I tried LO Impress Remote Control, but I can’t find any way to make it work on my computer. Bluetooth and WiFi both fail to connect to Impress. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks in advance for your help.

[keme]

Didn’t try it myself, but the strategies I have seen are:

• Running in a virtual environment where you can set up external display targets.
• Using display driver setup which splits the physical display to multiple virtual displays.
• “Force connect” to nonexistent external display (Display not detected → connect anyway)

See this discussion (mostly Windows, but the general ideas may be useful). Good luck!

[EarnestAl]

I would try and get Impress Remote working. Bluetooth doesn’t seem to work with LO Impress in Linux Mint, (although fine in Windows). I can transfer files happily enough but cannot connect to a presentation. Just as well that you can connect using WiFi. I have Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.3 and Android phone.

First, open Impress, in the menu click Tools > Options > LibreOffice Impress > General and under Presentation, make sure Enable remote control box is ticked. Close Impress and Restart Linux (doesn’t seem to work without restart)

In Linux Mint (let’s say I named it Minty), I open my presentation

In Android (named Droidy) I open Impress Remote, click on the WiFi tab and select Minty. It offers a pin number, say 1234.

In Impress on the computer, I click Slideshow > Impress Remote… , under the entry Droidy it asks for an authorisation number, so I enter 1234

You should see the Presenter screen open in the Android phone with notes under the picture. Swipe to next picture. The screen isn’t as detailed as having another PC screen but it contains the essentials and is more suitable for a presenter who moves around a lot. Cheers, Al

[Abdellah_msm]

I confirm that EarnestAl’s solution works also in MacOS for LO version 24.2. Moreover, restarting MacOS was necessary for the phone to detect it.

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As a side-note, I add that Bluetooth doesn’t work also in MacOS, and many other LO users have reported the same thing.
It would be very appreciated for developers to treat this problem, as the Wi-Fi solution is not very practical for presenters/students in their presentation rooms (which lack Wi-Fi often). On the other hand, exchanging by Bluetooth is more convenient for most people (especially as this technology has much improved in the latest versions).
Abdellah H.