AHK DESKTOP STREAMING

[MasterMind]

CLEAN STREAMING - No taskbar buttons or system tray icons when streaming.
UNMUTE HOST ON STARTUP - Optionally unmute the host on startup.
CHANGE RESOLUTION ON STARTUP - Change the hosts resolution on startup.
VOLUME CONTROL OF HOST - Volume up, down, mute/unmute the host.
QUICKLY END STREAMING - End stream and revert resolution with hotkey.
HOTKEY MENU - Press Ctrl+Alt+X to list all available hotkeys.
STARTUP & GAME FREEZE FIX - Refocus in situations where it can become unfocused.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download and install AutoHotkey on the host(needed to compile the script).
2. Copy the code and paste it into a new txt file and rename it to 1-DESKTOP.AHK
3. Right click the file and select compile. A new .exe will be created in the same location.
4. Add the .exe to the host pc's Add a non-steam game section.
5. Stream 1-DESKTOP from client which will be at the top of your library.

I recommend running both steams on client and host as admin as well as the games your playing, this tends to fix input and certain types of black screen issues. Also running the games windowed on the host can help as well...for the steamlink obviously this isn't possible so I don't know what will happen if running steam as admin, I don't have a steamlink but it should work.

Also quite possibly this could be an older script I posted from my dropbox if it is I will check my current file to see what i've added or updated...but ultimately let me know it still works...

|AHK DESKTOP LINK| ---> http://pastebin.com/t2Kggs1x <---|AHK DESKTOP LINK|

More Features & Bug Fixes Upon Request...
Big Picture Mode Coming Soon As Well...

[MasterMind]

Ok, from what your describing to me it seems as though the focus on the window isn't changing like it should to the hosts desktop properly, its been awhile since i've messed with the script or in home streaming for that matter but i'll test it out on my computers and see if I have the same problem, if I do i'll see if I can fix it. May just require some modification to how and when the script is shifting focus...Thanks for the heads up

[SnakeEyes]

No problem, thank you very much for taking a look into it and also for getting back so quickly.

Out of curiousity, and if you don't mind me asking, if you are not really using the in-home streaming anymore for your remote desktop streaming, what alternate solution(s) are you using?

I've really wanted to try out the Moonlight Nvidia game streaming, but previous attempts never supported my 1600:900 client resolution correctly.

[ZildyB]

I've also seen issues with 1-DESKTOP after a recent steam update. I've been able to reliably get streaming to work with 1-DESKTOP, but only when I've already streamed notepad and it's the only app open on the host machine. Steps:

1. Set up notepad.exe as a non-steam game on the host machine.
2. Make sure there are no open or minimized app windows on the host machine (in Windows 10 terms, there are no icons on the taskbar that are underlined).
3. On the client machine, stream notepad.exe. You'll see the notepad app in all of its white full screen glory.
4. Wait about 10 seconds (this gives "Streaming has started" toast on the host machine a chance to go away which prevents a possible streaming freeze when completing the step below due to the notepad app being made the active app but without the window being visible).
5. Use the follow keys to minimize notepad:
- ALT, DOWN, LEFT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, ENTER
6. ALT-TAB to come back to your client machine and close the streaming window.
7. Stream 1-DESKTOP. You'll notice that the previously-minimized notepad window is now open. Minimize it and your streaming session will work (though it's very sensitive to that notepad window... if notepad is closed, or it's made the active app without the window being opened, streaming freezes again).

Hopefully this is helpful MasterMind. Thanks!

[MasterMind]

jbrunette, yah if you stream a specific app window i've seen the behavior your describing. I believe its the way in home streaming is designed to work with apps. Basically in the new update they modified the streaming to freeze when out of focus then reinitialize when it regains focus again, which is what I believe is screwing up the script. I will be working on it tonight and testing to see if I can correct the problem. Thanks for the info everyone...

[ZildyB]

MasterMind, any news on this? :)

[MasterMind]

yah sorry for the delay, when i have more time i'll see what i can do over the next week. My initial modifications and testing were unsuccessful sadly, i'm not 100% sure it can be fixed yet. Steam really botched this one up...i'll repost my results or an update over the next week...

[Wizard09]

Nice work. Yeah almost all trick to access desktop does not work because Steam patched it but opening Explorer with cmd and my program are not patched yet. I forked a program from kevinxucs and continue to work with small Steam Remote Desktop progream which let me access my entire desktop and it works. Fullscreen video and other working without affecting the streamer. I haven't tried fullscreen game yet.


http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/142261352664282822/

[mkdr]

This is just nonsense, also stop calling it they "patched" it. It is unbelievable how stupid Valve is. They could easily allow Desktop + Game streaming flawlessly via Nvidia NVFBC, it is all already implemented, but they just don't allow it, for whatever reason. I guess they just don't ever considered this option, and didn't do it on porous.

Sadly In-Home Streaming is dead though since November 2016. Valve broke window mode (alt+enter) and doesn't give a **** fixing it.

[MasterMind]

has anyone tried this since the last two updates...they seem to be working on AMD hardware encoding, improving it. As well as desktop streaming, allowing up to 60fps now. If i have time this week i'll check out the script again and see if I can get it working, the last time I tried and failed...

[ZildyB]

It doesn't appear to be any better with newer builds of Steam, same issues.

I picked up a Steam Link when it was $20 and I noticed that this problem is non-existant when streaming from my PC with it (which starts in Big Picture Mode) and either minimizing BPM or choosing to exit BPM altogether. The desktop appears and I can do whatever I want without any freezing, no matter what windows are focused/hidden/etc, without the assistance of yours or any other apps. I haven't determined why this is... streaming must be treated differently somehow when doing it via the Link.

[Krombs]

Originally posted by jbrunette:

It doesn't appear to be any better with newer builds of Steam, same issues.

I picked up a Steam Link when it was $20 and I noticed that this problem is non-existant when streaming from my PC with it (which starts in Big Picture Mode) and either minimizing BPM or choosing to exit BPM altogether. The desktop appears and I can do whatever I want without any freezing, no matter what windows are focused/hidden/etc, without the assistance of yours or any other apps. I haven't determined why this is... streaming must be treated differently somehow when doing it via the Link.

Steam link runs on something based on linux so the issues might have something to do with windows

[SnakeEyes]

I ended finding a piece of software called NoMachine. This seems to work for all of my needs. Its performance is slightly worse than steam, but I can get my full desktop on any platform with little more than installing and knowing a system's login info.

[uMinded]

I can't get the AHK script to work, everything running as admin, UAC controls turned off. I get the Hotkey fix screen as a massive streamed window then a slice of the desktop with no clicking control.

What is the current process to get this working, I run a 2560x1080 monitor and existing desktop streaming tricks force me to use the host resolution.

[Limer]

I got the script running with my SteamLink and Windows 8.1 this way:

1. Install the current AHK[autohotkey.com] version.
   
2. Add AutoHotkey***_UIA.exe as a Game to the Steam Library (e.g. "C:\Program Files\AutoHotkey\AutoHotkeyU64_UIA.exe").
   
3. Open the properties of the new game to change the name and set launch options... to direct AHK to your "1-Desktop.ahk" (e.g. "C:\TEMP\1-desktop_test.ahk" and don't forget the double quotes!).
   
4. Edit your "1-Desktop.ahk" to your liking.

This is necessary because sending hotkeys to windows got more difficult for AHK in Windows 8 and later (see here[autohotkey.com] and here[autohotkey.com]).


I made some modifications to the script as well:
1. Show the tray icon.

;[]
;#NoTrayIcon ;MUST REMAIN ON FIRST LINE IN ORDER TO WORK

2. Added Alt+Ctrl+Shift as a hotkey replacement for Alt+Shift+Tab.

;[]
!^SHIFT::!+Tab  ;ALT SHIFT TAB HOST
!SHIFT::!Tab    ;ALT TAB HOST

3. Comment out the admin stuff.

;UNCOMMENT THIS IF YOU RUN STEAM OR ANY GAME AS ADMIN
;if not A_IsAdmin
;{
;   Run *RunAs "%A_ScriptFullPath%"
;   ExitApp
;}

And I'd like to suggest some changes to / new features for the script:[/h1]

• Resolutions and w/o admin as parameters, ini-file or at least as variables at the beginning of the script - not sprinkled all over...
  
• Show the initial splash screen "Hotkey Fix" with desktop resolution.
  
• OS-Ver check and if necessary (Windows8 and later I think) check for ahk_UIA.
  
• Show sys-tray icon and add abillity to "Gosub, QuitStream" from the that icon.
  
• Add Alt+Ctrl+Shift as hotkey for Alt+Shift+Tab (see above).
  
• Add the ability to change the resolution of all displays on the host computer.
  
• Auto-disable the TaskManager hotkey if the script is not running as admin (else you'll loose focus).

Having written all that I have to finish with: AutoHotKey is quite useful in its application but scripts are absolutely awful to write. The syntax and consistency is just terrible!

[MasterMind]

Wow this is still being used, lol...good to see someones using it. I pretty much dropped supporting this because i've updated to windows 10 as have many others and this script no longer works properly in windows 10. As for removing running as admin to each there own, but as stated above under certain situations this can cause issues with games in steam using third party gamepads(has nothing to do with the script) and causing black screens to be more prevalent under certain cirumstances while streaming. Sadly I have failed miserably at getting this to work on windows 10 so I can't continue to support it, anyone's more than welcome to make modifications themselves for previous operating systems and share there updates. I'd actually like to see someone pick this up and improve upon it, sharing with the community of coarse.