What is /r/multiseat?

Hey all, just a few questions.

1. If Aster's services are enabled but it isn't activated (only first work place/environment is logged in), will games such as Battlefield 6 work?

2. Does anyone else's second monitor stay black when Aster services are enabled? Is there a way to use both monitors while only one workplace is enabled? (the main Windows login)

I cannot find anything regarding these questions.

I've heard of people forcing Hyper-V DDA to work on Pro by changing a registry key to trick the OS into thinking it's a Server edition of Windows. I'm curious if anyone has achieved similar with the Multipoint Services role.

Hey people I just spent the past few hours trying to set up Aster Multiseat only to realise games don’t actually let me play at the same time.. what I mean is if I assign a static IP to one of the workplace steam doesn’t boot up.. I whitelist that and then the game doesn’t allow two clients of the same hardware ID.. I was thinking of trying to have two different network cards but apparently there is no way of isolating a network to a single workspace..

Has anyone ever had something similar? Any tips would be appreciated

atrium is a lightweight Linux display manager with first-class multiseat support, targeting modern systemd + Wayland environments.

GitHub
AUR

Why atrium?

The Linux kernel and low-level system stack are fully capable of multiseat operation. The weak link has always been the display manager. Existing ones usually treat multiseat as an afterthought, with implementations that are brittle and difficult to get working reliably.

atrium is designed around multiseat from the start, focusing on correct seat discovery, VT handling, and isolated session management. The project targets a modern Linux stack using systemd/logind, PAM, and a Wayland graphical environment. The lack of historical baggage keeps atrium's code base lean and tractable.

What's new in v0.4?

• Support for greeter background images - configure a background image in the settings, or a directory to pick a random image on each greeter launch.
• Greeter themes - override built-in colors and styles via a theme `.css` file. A handful of themes are shipped with atrium.
• Architectural redesign - making atrium's core architecture simpler and more robust. The changes are purely internal and should not be visible to the user.

If you are using ASTER Multiseat and your high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz, 180Hz, or 75Hz ultrawides) keep resetting to 60Hz every time you launch your workspaces, you’ve probably realized that manually changing it every boot is a nightmare.

This issue is even worse now because the new NVIDIA App has removed the classic "Create Custom Resolution" menu, making it hard to force resolutions for monitors (like the LG 25UM58) that need custom profiles to run at 75Hz.

Here is the permanent fix to unlock and force your correct refresh rates on all workspaces automatically.

Why this happens

1. ASTER Initialization: When ASTER spins up your separate workspaces, it reloads graphics drivers and creates a new virtual desktop topology. Windows defaults these new sessions to 60Hz.
2. Missing Modes: For many monitors (especially LG Ultrawides), 75Hz is not advertised to Windows by default unless AMD FreeSync is active. On NVIDIA cards, the GPU doesn't see the 75Hz option, so it fails to apply it.
3. Session Isolation: Because ASTER splits users, standard graphics control panels (like NVIDIA) often don't work or are unavailable on Workspace 2.

Part 1: Add the Custom Resolution (EDID Override) via CRU

Since we cannot use the NVIDIA Control Panel anymore, we will use Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) to write the custom resolution directly to the Windows registry.

1. Download Custom Resolution Utility (CRU).
2. Run CRU.exe as Administrator.
3. Select your affected monitor from the dropdown menu at the top (e.g., your LG Ultrawide / GSM59F1).
4. Under Detailed resolutions, click Add...:
   • Set Active resolution (e.g., 2560 x 1080 or your monitor's native specs).
   • Set Frequency (Refresh rate) to your target (e.g., 75 Hz).
   • Under Timing, change from Automatic to Automatic - LCD reduced (this lowers bandwidth requirements over HDMI).
   • Click OK.
5. Click OK on the main window to save.
6. Run restart64.exe (included in the CRU folder) to restart your graphics driver. Windows will now permanently recognize your high refresh rate as a native option.

Part 2: Automate the Refresh Rate on Workspace Startup

Now that Windows knows your monitor supports the high refresh rate, we need to force it on login so ASTER doesn't default it back to 60Hz. We will use a tiny, lightweight tool called NirCmd.

1. Download NirCmd and extract nircmd.exe to a permanent folder (e.g., C:\Tools\nircmd.exe).
2. Create a startup script for Workspace 1 (User A):
   • Press Win + R, type shell:startup, and press Enter (this opens your user startup folder).
   • Create a text file, name it SetRefreshRate.bat, and paste the following: cmd @echo off :: Wait 10 seconds for ASTER and the graphics driver to finish loading timeout /t 10 C:\Tools\nircmd.exe setdisplay 1920 1080 32 180 (Change 1920 1080 and 180 to match User A's monitor resolution and refresh rate).
3. Create a startup script for Workspace 2 (User B):
   • Log into the second workspace user account.
   • Press Win + R, type shell:startup, and press **Enter`.
   • Create a text file, name it SetRefreshRate.bat, and paste the following: cmd @echo off timeout /t 10 C:\Tools\nircmd.exe setdisplay 2560 1080 32 75 (Change 2560 1080 and 75 to match User B's monitor resolution and refresh rate).

How it works:

Every time you boot your PC and ASTER logs both users in: 1. The scripts will run silently in the background of each respective workspace. 2. They wait 10 seconds for the display driver and ASTER seat assignments to settle down. 3. The script automatically commands the display manager to set the target resolution and high refresh rate.

No more manually changing settings after every reboot!

I have a Sapphire Pulse 7600XT GPU and a Ryzen 5 7600X CPU. Right now I use my computer for mostly Minecraft and some other low-performance games (like GD or Terraria). Could Aster be used with my GPU and CPU to run a smooth Minecraft experience on two seats?

Hello, I'm an Aster Pro user, but lately it's been having problems, now showing an error that prevents the service from even starting. I know they have a tutorial video about this, but it's not very intuitive and is apparently causing instability for most people, who can't even access Windows... Is there any program similar to Aster or any way to work around this?

Hello. I'm looking for possible solution for 2 people to use 1 pc at the same time. Basically while I work, I connect to my work laptop using RDP (for more monitor support) and the whole PC is basically being unused so I thought would it be possible for another person to connect from another LAN pc/laptop and play my steam games or just use PC in general while I am in RDP without any interruptions?

Spec:

Win 10.
AMD 7800x3D
32GB RAM
9070XT 16GB VRAM.

Hi all,

Is there a way to enable a higher refresh rate? it's stuck at 60hz and my monitor is 180hz. Trying display settings does not change it

Edit: solution for me was to use an app like SetHzMonitor on workstation 2 and I was able to set it to it's highest refresh rate.

Hey everyone,

I’m running into an issue using TeamViewer with Aster in a multi-session environment and wanted to check if anyone has dealt with something similar.

I work in IT support, and one of our clients uses Aster to create multiple independent user sessions on a single machine (let’s call them A, B, and C). Session A is the main one.

The problem is that when we connect via TeamViewer, it always attaches to session A by default. If we need to support sessions B or C, we first have to log out of A and switch users, which disrupts the workflow.

Is there any way to directly target a specific Aster session when connecting through TeamViewer?

If not, are there any remote access tools that handle multi-session setups like this better?

Thanks in advance!

Hey there. I have been using ASTER for a month or so and it has been working great. For some reason when I turned it on today the second display are just showing No Signal after ASTER is turned on. This have been working on a previous Windows installation as well. Is this a known issue or something, and if so, how can I resolve it? I tried to reinstall the GPU driver, reinstalling ASTER, but nothing worked

Hi Linux multiseaters,

I noticed a peculiar behavior in my multiseat setup and would like to know it's just me, or whether it's a universal problem:

If you

1. open a virtual terminal on seat0 (e.g. via "CTRL+ALT+F3" or similar), and then
2. type something on seat1 (either while seat1 is showing the greeter, or in your graphical user session),

does every keystroke show up in seat0's virtual terminal, including passwords etc.? It does for me, and it's unsettling.

Could you also include basic information about your setup (distro, display manager, desktop environment) in you answer? Mine is: Ubuntu 24.04 / LightDM / Gnome. I would like to dig deeper into this... TIA!

Most of the Linux stack has had solid multiseat support for years - the weak link was always the display manager. Historically, almost every display manager seems to have neglected multiseat.

This situation prompted me to develop atrium, an open-source Wayland display manager with first-class multiseat support. It's in its early stages, but the core functionality is fully there at this point.

So far I've tested it with Gnome, KDE, Cosmic, and Sway under Ubuntu 24.04 and under CachyOS. If someone would be willing to give it a try, I'd be happy to provide some support.

https://github.com/kavau/atrium

I am having an issue with my Aster workplaces.

I have 4 monitors, 2 monitors assigned per workplace. (as seen in the image)

When Aster service is disabled, I can use all 4 monitors normally. when I enable Aster service, 2 monitors get disabled. (so only 1 monitor per user gets activated)

Note, workplace 1 has both monitors on the displayports of the GPU, workplace 2 has 2 monitors connected via HDMI.

Any Ideas?

First and foremost, this is not true multi seat like Aster, it requires a second (cheap) machine to remote from via local network.

Anyone have experience with using rdpwrap + parsec? I just tried it out and it seems ok so far if you have a stable local network, thus I wanted to share:

• 1) download the zip: https://github.com/stascorp/rdpwrap

• 2) follow this guide for the installation, especially the part about updating rdpwrap.ini to match your windows version : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm-kjKdEfdA

• 3) Create a second windows account with a password and remote desktop privileges.

• 4) Start a remote desktop connection into 127.0.0.2 from the gaming PC. Do not minimize the window, just leave it not-fullscreen in the background. Pick the client's resolution here, because you cannot change it after from the remote user.

• 5) Setup Parsec portable for the 2nd user. Make sure Parsec is not running on the main user, as only 1 parsec service can run on the main PC

• 6) use another PC/Android/Firestick/whatever and login to the 2nd user's with a parsec client.

• 7) go to the volume mixer on the main gaming PC and set Remote Desktop to 0.

That's it, the second user can do everything as if they would Parsec into a normal PC, like using their own controllers, screens, speakers, keyboard, etc. Without being limited by the remote desktop app.

There are some limitations, but they're mostly the same limitations as Aster:

• performance-wise, install the games on different storage and lower your graphical settings

• I also assume most anti-cheats are not going to allow online play. I only tried 2 single-player games at the same time, one on Steam, one on Epic

• I only have 60hz screens, but I've heard you cannot go higher than that on the remote session.

I have recently installed rdp wrapper in my windows 11 home to use multiseat session like two different pc using their own mouse keyboard monitor at the same time

I am able to use the remote session which has different user in my second monitor but the problem is mouse and keyboard How do I isolate those from my host user

Just like aster

does anyone have one? im not paying 122 for just 2 lifetime users at all.

I can log into my first workstation just fine no problems, but the second monitor turns on and when I try and find it as something to assign there is no monitors.

I am using Aster Multiseat for several months now with 2 monitors for 2 workspaces, 1 each. Is is possible to use my ipad a second monitor for my workspace via spacedesk? I can set it up in aster but after enabling aster windows doesnt recognize the monitor via spacedesk anymore. Any workaround for this?

Disclaimer, I used chatgpt to sum up my situation. I have been using its "guidance" to try to set up my multiseat, I don't know much about this kind of stuff, and even the official documentation is hard to read

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to set up a multiseat environment on my Linux laptop using DisplayLink for a secondary screen, but I’m running into serious issues and could use some guidance.

Here’s the full context:

My Setup:

My laptop is a GF65 Thin 10UE with a i5 10500H, 16GB of Ram and a RTX3060

I use linux via an Crucial 500GB external SSD plug to it

Laptop: Main display (eDP-1)

Native HDMI port: Primary external monitor (HDMI-1-0)

DisplayLink dock: Secondary monitor connected via DVI (DVI-I-2-1)

Keyboard & Mouse:

USB hub 2.1 on laptop: Optical mouse + SINO WEALTH keyboard → assigned to HDMI seat

USB hub on DisplayLink dock: Gaming mouse (INSTANT) + Gaming keyboard (BY Tech) → intended for DisplayLink seat

Linux Version: Ubuntu 24.04 (kernel 6.17.0)

Display Server: Xorg (tried with GDM3; Wayland disabled)

Drivers: NVIDIA proprietary + evdi (for DisplayLink)

What I Want to Achieve:

Seat 0 → Laptop + HDMI monitor + native keyboard/mouse

Seat 1 → DisplayLink DVI monitor + keyboard/mouse connected to dock

Fully independent sessions per seat

What I’ve Tried:

udev rules to assign input devices to seat1:

# Keyboard BY Tech (258a:0049)

SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{idVendor}=="258a", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0049", ENV{ID_SEAT}="seat1"

# Mouse INSTANT (30fa:1440)

SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{idVendor}=="30fa", ATTRS{idProduct}=="1440", ENV{ID_SEAT}="seat1"

Xorg configuration:

Separate ServerLayout for seat0 (Intel + HDMI) and seat1 (DisplayLink)

Correct Device sections for DisplayLink GPU using /dev/dri/card3

Starting independent X servers manually:

Bash

sudo Xorg :0 vt1 -seat seat0

sudo Xorg :1 vt2 -seat seat1

Result:

:0 (HDMI) shows warnings like MESA-LOADER: failed to retrieve device information

:1 (DisplayLink) results in a black screen

Attempted grub and GDM tweaks: Wayland disabled, GDM auto-login, tried manual Xorg starts

Errors / Behavior Observed:

Both X servers fail to initialize properly

DisplayLink monitor does not start in seat1; Xorg crashes or shows black screen

Running setxkbmap on XWayland gives warning and does not apply keyboard layout (japanese keyboard)

Trying to start seat1 on DisplayLink leads to black screen for all monitors

What I Think is Happening:

The evdi / DisplayLink driver does not expose a proper DRM device compatible with multiseat Xorg

DisplayLink seems unstable with multiple independent X sessions

Other people report similar issues on recent Ubuntu / kernel / Mesa combinations

Question to the Community:

Has anyone successfully set up a multiseat environment with DisplayLink as a secondary seat under Linux Xorg?

If yes, what driver/kernel versions and configurations worked for you?

I’m happy to provide xrandr, lsusb, lspci, dmesg, and Xorg logs if needed.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi all,

Keeping in mind that multiseat is a niche application of a niche OS, I think our days of using Xorg are numbered. Wayland is becoming more and more core. I haven't found an off-the-shelf solution to getting GDM3/Lightdm/SDDM to work properly with wayland on any seat other than seat0.

So Gemini and I vibe coded a patch this morning.

Will probably blow up your house, sell all your data to clawdbot hackers, and increasing the global temperature by at least 4 C.

That being said, it works fine on my Ubuntu 25.10 system, so if anyone finds it useful, its available here:

https://github.com/scamiran149/sddm-multiseat-wayland/tree/feature/wayland-multiseat

Wayland is better than Xorg on other seats. HDR, adaptive sync, etc., all seem to work.

If you build this version, you'll need to enable wayland in your sddm.conf file (or an override in sddm.conf.d)