Set up primary monitor in a multiple monitor and video card setup

LucyIX · 15 Feb 2016

Hi there!

What I want to do: "...extend my desktop on a second monitor, but, my second monitor is compounded by 2 HDMI TVs and a VGA LCD stage monitor both used as Duplicate setup in Windows 7".

How I have done this (and it works!):

-I have 4 diplay devices (2 HDMI TVs that are connected using a splitter and two monitors both on VGA);
-I also have two "video cards" (GPU): one Amd radeon hd 6570 (with VGA, DVI, and HDMI ports), and Intel HD onboard (aprox. 1GB with VGA output port).
-I have connected the TVs with a HDMI 1x2 splitter on amd radeon's HDMI port, and one of my VGA monitors (this one acts as a STAGE MONITOR for the singer / artist lyrics).
-The integrated Intel HD card has my "Control" monitor attached that I use as my primary monitor (the one that shows me the Desktop and the lyrics control application).

Software aspect of the problem: In Windows 7, I use my Intel HD video card as my primary display, then I can extend on a second monitor the desktop! (The second monitor is my VGA Stage monitor). The Third display that appears in the setup is the HDMI splitter, this one is a Duplicate of my stage monitor. I use: 1680x1050 resolution for my primary display, and 1024x768 for the second monitor... (I know, this resolution is too small for my HDMI TV's... Windows recommends me a 1900 x ... fullHD resolution, but my STAGE MONITOR does not support that much, so I need to use a small resolution).

PROBLEM: EVERY TIME I DO THIS SETTINGS EVERYTHING WORKS SUPERBLY FINE! AFTER RESTART, OR SHUTDOWN THE PRIMARY MONITOR SWAPS WITH THE EXTENDED, AND THE DESKTOP IS SHOWN ON THE TVs AND THE STAGE MONITOR, AND THE RESOLUTION OF MY PRIMARY DISPLAY JUMPS TO FULLHD AND IT SAYS "OUT OF RANGE!"... WHY? HOW CAN I MAKE MY SETTING PERMANENT?

NOTE: My BIOS setting clearly say: Primary video > Onboard! And, yes, the startup screen and the BIOS screen only shows on my Intel HD primary monitor! After Windows 7 Starts, things swap each other... If I don't connect any display on my AMD Radeon PCI-Express card, the screen stays on my primary monitor! At some point I have observed that, if the display devices are started in a sequence (first the primary, second the splitter and the stage monitor) the settings keep on... But after numerous attemps, this solution became inefficient, because every time I start / stop the HDMI splitter array the resolution changes and the displays swap each other!

Is there any registry tweack that can solve this Software problem?

P.S. Don't recommend me to upgrade drivers or follow off-topic links or to do any troubleshooting or other things like "error fixing software"! I have posted this subject because, I have tried everything, and I have no ideea at the moment how to fix it!

I also mention that: I have done some researches and I found that it can be a Windows 7 Auto- detection issue (ex. Plug And Play), but AMD Catalyst HAS some detection options like: "Detect whenever CATALYST Control Center is opened" and the second option "Use manual detection only (I must click Detect Displays button)". What to do?

If you experience the same problems, let us know about them, and let's solve them together!

Thank you for reading!

LucyIX · 16 Feb 2016

After a while, and some research, I came to the conclussion:

This is a software problem not a hardware problem!

What to do?

FIRST: The problem was that my Windows 7 machine used both Integrated Intel HD and AMD Radeon HD 6570 video adapters at the same time, and the operating system had no clue or ideea wich is the first "at the finish line"! The Intel HD says "ME" by running his drivers at startup, but who's there? The AMD Radeon HD 6570

.

Solution: Microsoft came with a good article over this problem, including also a HOTFIX via Windows Update. (I need to mention here! You won't find this by turning on your Windows Update ON! You need to manualy download the hotfix from here! https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2496400 - And YES, if you face problems at installation check if your Windows UPDATE service is running with the services.msc tool in RUN menu). By installing this hotfix, and doing the good settings for your display array, the setting won't be lost after restart anymore! IMPORTANT: I was thinking that "there was the end of the tunnel" to my problem but, guess what: "NAAA!". IF YOU WANT TO FIX THIS, YOU ALSO NEED TO SET UP IN CATALYST CONTROL CENTER (FOR CATALYST ENGINE BASED CARDS ex. ATI or AMD), THE OPTIO WICH SAYS: "MANUL DETECTION OF DISPLAY" (the one that I was mentioning at the end of the first article)!

And so, no monitor swapping anymore, the icons are at their place, and also the taskbar!
If you face the same problem this might help you!
Let us know if this hotfix works for you! (Please post!)

Thank you guys for supporting my posts and God bless you! :)