Extended desktop problem, monitor won't boot!

[Quintox]

Hello,
First of all, I highly appreciate any help I can get through these forums. My problem is so stressful that anything would be good atm.

Ok, so my problem:

I can't get extended desktop to work since I have Windows7. It allways worked flawlessly on windowsXP pro and I used it on windows7 aswell for a little while.
But all of the sudden my second monitor won't boot from hibernation correctly anymore.
When I turn on extended desktop, my second monitor will boot and everything seems to be working perfectly, but unfortunately this only lasts for a couple of seconds before the monitor goes to black again. Windows still sees it as a working monitor and I can drag stuff on that screen.

There's a huge list what i've tried allready:
- Changing monitors and cables ( tried 3 ).
- Dual-link and single-link DVI connectors.
- Updating ATI drivers from 9.7 up till 10.9 ( current )
- Format windows 7
- Checking resolution and hertz
- Replacing the PSU ( old one died, new psu has 200Watt more and runs on 700 and should be enough )

From this point on I contacted a Club3D tech:
- Bios flash to latest version
- Motherboard chipset drivers updated
- Clear CMOS

The Club3D tech analysed the problem and thought it was a timing issue in the graphics card and told me to send it in for repairs.

The card has been tested on:

Benchmarks: 3dmark06 2560x1600, 3dmark vantage 2560x1600.
Monitors: native DVI Dual link monitor 2560x1600, Native D-sub monitor 1280x1024, Native Single link monitor 1920x1080.

OS: Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 Ultimate.

Drivers: ATI Catalyst 10.5, ATI Catalyst 10.8.

Result:
Card was working properly, no defects found by Club3D.

Bad decission:
So then I thought, well.. it has to be my motherboard. And I was so certain about that, that I bought a new motherboard and a second graphics card aswell ( for crossfire purposes ) but I installed the new hardware today and when I booted windows I got disappointed with the same boring old extended desktop problems. I realy hoped buying the new motherboard would solve the problem

Conclusion:
So I now know it aint my graphics card, it aint my motherboard, the screens work fine, the dvi connections work fine.. i've tested and tried everything I know that can be tested. Only items that haven't been tested or replaced are the memory banks and the CPU.. I mean.. what else can cause these problems?

I realy have no idea what to do anymore, i'm stuck and I need help desperately! I've allready spend 200 bucks on hardware that didn't even solve the problem!

Movie made with phone to show what the screen does:
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service


What did I miss? What can cause dual-screen boot issues? Everything else works perfectly fine, except for multi-screening.


Many many thanks in advance for anyone who can assist me!

 

[Lordbob75]

Wow, nice write up.

Did you try the monitor with another computer?

~Lordbob

 

[Quintox]

Thanks for the super fast reply!

Well, all screens work perfectly when they run as the main monitor. All 3 fail as soon as you try to run them as the second extended monitor. So the most logical thing to think would be bad drivers or a broken videocard.. but this has all been tested and it seems that it's not the problem.

Also something that used to help was, turning the second monitor on/off untill it stayed on. This could take up to 40min, but eventually the screen would stay on and work.. nowadays ( 2 months after ) even this doesn't work anymore. Again, makes you think it's graphic card related but this is 100% impossible and it has to be caused by something else.

Do you think this can be caused by the CPU or RAM? That is the only thing untested, tho I wouldn't know why the CPU or RAM would have anything to do with display issues.

 

[Lordbob75]

It might be that the new drivers (for W7) do not support 3 monitors...

~Lordbob

 

[Quintox]

Oh no sorry, you misunderstood. I tried 3 different monitors to work as the second monitor, I don't actually work with a 3 monitor setup. Just to show that it aint the monitor being faulty

 

[Lordbob75]

Oh no sorry, you misunderstood. I tried 3 different monitors to work as the second monitor, I don't actually work with a 3 monitor setup. Just to show that it aint the monitor being faulty

Ah, ok.

Does the second port work ok with just 1 monitor?

~Lordbob

 

[Quintox]

Card has been send back to Club3D, tested in several systems, on several monitors etc etc without any problems. Also, i'm running on Crossfire now and my main graphics card is the new XFX HD4870 and not my older Club3D HD4870 card. So unless the test results of Club3d are faulty and both graphic cards are broken I highly doubt that's the reason

 

[Lordbob75]

Just checking.

Now, I am a little unclear. You are using the card with the problem right now, correct? And you are running it in crossfire?

~Lordbob

 

[Quintox]

The card doesn't have any problems, it has been tested by Club3D technicians in multiple test setups. Problem is caused by something unrelated to the graphics card.

 

[Lordbob75]

The card doesn't have any problems, it has been tested by Club3D technicians in multiple test setups. Problem is caused by something unrelated to the graphics card.

Ok, so this problem occurs regardless of the graphics card? Have you tested it with another card?

~Lordbob

 

[razy60]

will the monitor work if you set the ati ccc to clone instead of extended(just to see if it works as a second monitor)
When you installed the ati update did you clear all the old drivers did you use driver sweeper or similar to get rid of the older drivers correctly, as it has been known (happens a lot) for the older video drivers or parts of them to stay in the system.
One thing i noticed is that you are using windows to enable extended monitors have you set the monitors up in ati ccc if so what settings are you using?

Raz

 

[Quintox]

Thanks for the quick reply guys. But the problem is solved. All the hardware works correctly, the problem were the monitors. None of the IBM monitors work as second monitor ( cloned or extended ).. dunno why, but they don't seem to be compatible because when I hooked on a very old 15" CRT I dug up somewhere from the addict everything was working fine.

So i'm testing tomorow with a Benq 19" TFT from a friend to determine if it realy is a monitors issue. I'll keep you guys posted!

Thanks for the time and help anyways!

 

[Lordbob75]

Thanks for the quick reply guys. But the problem is solved. All the hardware works correctly, the problem were the monitors. None of the IBM monitors work as second monitor ( cloned or extended ).. dunno why, but they don't seem to be compatible because when I hooked on a very old 15" CRT I dug up someone from the addict everything was working fine.

So i'm testing tomorow with a Benq 19" TFT from a friend to determine if it realy is a monitors issue. I'll keep you guys posted!

Thanks for the time and help anyways!

Glad you figured it out. That would have been my guess, but they worked fine on their own, which is odd.

~Lordbob