Solved 2nd Monitor nightmare!

[ricardo2000]

For several years I have used 2 monitors without any problem. A few days ago I decided to replace the 2nd monitor connected by VGA cable for a new HP x2301 MicroThin LED Bright View. My main monitor is a HP x2558hc connected to the desktop HDMI socket. The video card is a NVIDEO GeForce 8600 GS which has been updated with the latest drivers.

After loading the new monitor drivers I connected the new monitor to the VGA cable and booted up. However the new monitor remained blank and showed that it was not receiving a signal. However when the old monitor was re-connected it worked perfectly! I spent hours trying everything I could think of and eventually have got it to the stage that it works perfectly ... until the computer goes into sleep mode or I restart when it again remains blank without a signal. To get it working again I have to turn off the monitor, disconnect the VGA cable and than reconnect the VGA cable and switch on the monitor.

When booting up the old 2nd monitor would display the boot files but the new monitor remains completely blank without receiving any signal until I go through the disconnecting reconnecting as described above. What I do not understand is that if I reconnect the old monitor than everything works perfectly. I would be very grateful for any suggestions.

 

[Total]

Hello : could you just have a defective monitor ? This has happened to me once .

 

[ricardo2000]

Yes I thought that too in the beginning but it works fine with my laptop.

 

[Total]

maybe switch the monitors cable ?

 

[ricardo2000]

Tried that as well ... but in any case the same cable works perfectly with the old monitor and with the new one when connected to my laptop.

 

[frogger4]

A couple quick ideas..
Did the new monitor come with a driver CD? Or can you download drivers for it from HP? I think this might be the driver you need.

Another thought, try just right clicking on the desktop, screen resolution, then click on Detect. It might help

 

[ricardo2000]

I mentioned in my first post that I loaded the driver. Also I mentioned that the new monitor works perfectly when it does and keeps working perfectly until I switch the computer off or until it goes into sleep mode ... it than seems to stop receiving a signal. I have been using computers for some sixteen years and it is something more than the basics so far suggested although I am grateful for all suggestions. When connected to my 5 year old HP laptop it worked perfectly as soon as it was connected and it immediately recognized the monitor without me having loaded the drivers from the CD. It could be the video card but if it is why does it than work perfectly with my old monitor?

 

[cdmoomaw]

Do you have any other options besides VGA?

 

[ricardo2000]

Only the HDMI to which my main HP x2558hc monitor is connected. I had thought of switching them around but the main only has HDMI.

 

[cdmoomaw]

Just to clarify, your monitor has inputs other than VGA, but the only ports on your GPU are 1 HDMI and 1 VGA. Correct?

 

[ricardo2000]

The main monitor only has only the HDMI , the 2nd monitor 1xHDMI and 1xVGA the same as the GPU.

 

[cdmoomaw]

Well, my only thought is that your monitor is going to sleep and Windows just thinks you unplugged your monitor and doesn't bother to send a signal to wake it.

 

[Sardonicus]

Try changing or experimenting with the Screen Saver / power / advanced settings.

 

[ricardo2000]

The mystery is that the old monitor works perfectly on the desktop with the same settings and the new monitor works perfectly on my laptop. The new monitor also works perfectly for hours on end on my desktop .... the problem occurs when I reboot or until I bring it out of sleep mode. It is midnight here now and so I will leave it and have another look at it tomorrow. Appreciate your suggestions.

 

[Sardonicus]

One last thought, does the monitor buttons allow you to change from an analog to digital signal?
I suspect most monitors will detect if DVI, HDMI or VGA is connected and perform a self adjustment.
It may be possible that the user has to select analog on some monitors.

 

[ricardo2000]

That is a good suggestion as the problem seems to be in that direction. It has a Source Control Menu which allows you to select but it has so far accurately shown that it is connected to VGA when there is a signal. You can also select Auto Switch or Default Source and I have tried each one to see if that works better on start-up or restart. But unfortunately it makes no difference.

There is only one sure way to get the monitor working which is as follows. Prior to shut down set the main monitor as the only one in Screen Resolution. Next time before you boot-up disconnect the VGA cable and switch off the power on the 2nd monitor. Once the computer is up and running open the Screen Resolution menu and select 'Extend these Monitors' and than reconnect the VGA cable and switch on and the 2nd monitor will now start up and function normally. I suspect a problem with the Video card ... maybe a faulty VGA terminal or other connection which for some reason will function with the old computer but not the new one on boot-up.

 

[cdmoomaw]

Well, I sure hope so, (or maybe something simpler) I'm all out of ideas. Best of luck though.

~ Chris

 

[ricardo2000]

Found out something new. With both monitors working correctly ... when I reboot or bring them out of sleep mode the 2nd monitor will 95% of the time be blank or very occasionally display badly.In both cases when I check with ''Screen Resolution' I find that the 2nd monitor is shown as a Generic Non-PnP Monitor with a 1600 x 1080 resolution instead of the correct one with 1920 x 1200. Maybe that is why to get it to display properly I have to bootup on the main one only and when Win 7 is running connect the 2nd one. It seems that a normal bootup with both recognizes it only as a Generic Non-PnP Monitor. But why??

 

[Sardonicus]

Device Manager, Monitors,
To change the Generic Non-PnP Monitor to Generic PnP Monitor,

Select Update Driver Software,
Browse my computer for driver software,
Let me pick......,

Uncheck Show compatible hardware,
Search the list for Generic PnP Monitor and select it.
Choose next.

 

[lhorwinkle]

Note to self: Don't buy an HP monitor.