Dual Monitor Issue

alphanumeric said:

Gee said:

The supplied adapter works in both ports, so does that mean that is probably a bad adapter off eBay?

Thats what I'm thinking.

In some combinations the eBay adapter will either:

• Not detect any input/output at all
• Only display in very low resolution

Does that still sound like the adapter? I really want to make sure before I purchase a good quality one.

One works and one doesn't, so from what you posted my bet is its the e-bay adapter thats the problem. If you buy one locally and it doesn't work you can always return it. You don't know somebody you can borrow one from do you? Most video cards come with at least one these days.

alphanumeric said:

One works and one doesn't, so from what you posted my bet is its the e-bay adapter thats the problem. If you buy one locally and it doesn't work you can always return it. You don't know somebody you can borrow one from do you? Most video cards come with at least one these days.

Unfortunately not, I shall purchase one from PC World or Maplins tomorrow.
Thanks for your advice.

The only other thing you can try is to find a driver for your monitor. What you end up with, if you can find it, is an inf file that specifies your monitor type and its supported resolutions. If you can get the correct monitor identified even with the crappy adapter, you may be able to get the screen resolution you want. I can remember hunting one up in the old days but haven't tried to find one recently. I'd try the manufacturers web site first. You may also be able to set a custom resolution in the ATI control panel, or what ever it is. Sorry my card is Nvidia.

alphanumeric said:

The only other thing you can try is to find a driver for your monitor. What you end up with, if you can find it, is an inf file that specifies your monitor type and its supported resolutions. If you can get the correct monitor identified even with the crappy adapter, you may be able to get the screen resolution you want. I can remember hunting one up in the old days but haven't tried to find one recently. I'd try the manufacturers web site first. You may also be able to set a custom resolution in the ATI control panel, or what ever it is. Sorry my card is Nvidia.

For some reason the eBay adapter won't work with either screen in any port now, so I can't even try installing drivers for it.

It's got to be defective, there must be a bad connection internally. There are no electronics inside, it its just wires linking the pins on one connector to pins on the other. Manufacturing defect would be my guess.

alphanumeric said:

It's got to be defective, there must be a bad connection internally. There are no electronics inside, it its just wires linking the pins on one connector to pins on the other. Manufacturing defect would be my guess.

I have bought a new Belkin adapter and the whole setup works perfectly, thank you for your assistance!

OK, thats good to hear, our suspicions are confirmed then. Sometimes cheap really is cheap, but in a bad way.