Problem - One monitor keeps knocking out the other.

[1sikbITCH]

I have a Vostro 430 I inherited from my boss. It replaced another computer and now I am becoming sorry I have done so. It's an i5 and so theoretically much faster than the old one but this problem is driving me nuts.

I kept the same video card, a Geforce 210. It's the exact same card with which I have had no problems until I put it in the new computer. The old computer was also Windows 7 and again, this issue never happened.

I have a old Panasonic TH-42PWD7 on the wall with a VGA input and a 23in Dell monitor connected to the DVI as the main display. Dual display works fine, and you can turn off the tv and still have a signal on the Dell. The problem arises when you turn the TV back on.

Whenever you turn on the TV, regardless of what input it was set to, the Dell monitor loses signal. It will not come back until I change the TV input to VGA and then "detect" monitors. Then it magically discovers the Dell again. Every day I go through this.

I have changed drivers 2 times and even installed Windows 7 due to some other issues with the first install. I have set all the power settings to Never turn off. After trying all that I am posting here for suggestions.

Thanks for any help.

 

[KingFatty]

Try using the built-in windows hotkey [winkey]+P

That will toggle the different display output modes, such as computer only, duplicated display, extended display (e.g., each monitor active with its own desktop space), and extra monitor only.

Maybe something about your setup/monitor, when you turn on the TV, is forcing Windows to jump from its current mode (e.g., primary monitor only on the Dell), to another mode (secondary monitor only on the TV). So that would be an issue with Windows. Or, maybe the issue is with your Nvidia setup/drivers/software.

Regardless of the cause of the issue, this will help you troubleshoot because when you first invoke the hotkey combination, the current selection will be highlighted.

So maybe try using the [winkey]+P hotkey with the Dell monitor connected/turned on with the TV off, and see what video mode windows is in. Then, turn on the TV and let your computer freak out, then press the hotkey again and see if a different video mode is selected.

The next step will be to see if somehow windows puts\prioritizes the TV as primary display for some reason?

The whole point is to see if you have a setup/software issue, and if so solve it, before moving on to hardware troubleshooting to see if something is physically wrong with the dell or the tv.

 

[1sikbITCH]

First of all thanks for pointing out that awesome shortcut.

What I found was that when the TV is off, the display is still set to Extend mode, but when I turn on the TV, it changes to "Computer only" and sees the TV as that computer. I need to stop that behavior from happening somehow.