Dual Monitor Woes

PopeTiberii

Greetings, H/A Forum-Goers,

I've been having issues with my dual monitor setup recently, and I can't seem to find a fix on my own. I am running twin ViewSonic VX922 LCD monitors (yes, I know they're old) on a GeForce GTX285 video card using DVI>VGA adaptors.

My setup just has Screen 1 on the left and Screen 2 on the right, nothing crazy like vertical displays or anything, and they run in dual view (two distinct desktops).

When I turn on my computer, Screen 2 turns on and displays the splash screen and windows loading screen, while Screen 1 remains blank as it should. Once windows loads, however, Screen 2 turns off and says 'no input' and Screen 1 turns on to display the now-loading desktop. My mouse can travel between the two Screens, but Screen 2 turns itself off and will not respond.

Here's the odd thing (at least, I think it's odd): when I pull up my desktop properties, both screens show as connected and active. If I tell windows not to extend my desktop to Screen 2, my mouse will stop at the edge of Screen 1. ...If I then go into the nVidia control panel and run the "Multiple Display Wizard" with all default settings, then Screens 1 and 2 now work as intended. This lasts until I shut down my computer and restart at which point Screen 2 no longer receives a signal and I start the process over again.

Now, I can admittedly disable Screen 2 and run the wizard every time I turn on my computer to get my dual screens working. I'm lazy. I'd rather it just freaking work. Any suggestions?

As a side note, I have all the updated drivers (AFAIK) as of last week.

PopeTiberii

I've not yet found a resolution to this, so I figured I'd give it a love bump. Any thoughts or suggestions for a fix, or need any more info?

BlindZenDriver

Sounds to me like Windows tries to run your Screen 2 with a resolution or refresh rate that it will not display. While Windows is loading it runs with a "safe-mode" that pretty much anything can display but once you get to the desktop the specific graphics drivers and screen settings are loaded.

Check the properties for Screen 2 and make sure it uses the same settings as Screen 1. If it looks right then try and change the settings and then back again. If that does not work then next step is uninstalling the screen, reboot and let Windows reinstall them. If that does not work do the same with the graphics driver. Exactly how this is done depends on Windows version but try right-click on "My computer" and look for "Hardware" and "Device Manager".

Post back and tell how you get on.

PopeTiberii

Thanks for the tips! Okay, so I uninstalled the monitor and rebooted. The screen came up working right away, and persisted through three on/off cycles. It's looking good so far... I'll have to see if it works again in the morning after being shut down all night, and I'll post back with an update.

RhalloTonny

It seems your problem is solved, but as a side note you might want to check out UltraMon, depending on your version of Windows.

It really adds in functionality that should have been added into Windows ages ago (multiple taskbars, different wallpapers for each monitor, hotkeys for sending windows back and forth).

PopeTiberii

Woot. The issue appears to be solved; the monitor came up after extended downtime and persisted through several more cycles off/on (installing software that required reboots). Thanks, Blind!

UltraMon seems pretty interesting; I'll have to look at it more closely, though nVidia's control panel does give you some of that functionality (easy swapping of windows between screens, for example). Thanks for th etip.

PopeTiberii

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. It worked fine for a few days, but now it's back to the same ole thing. I tried uninstalling the display drivers as well, and letting windows reinstall. It worked for the day, but it's back to how it was. Any other suggestions?

BlindZenDriver

Nothing solid. As an experiment to rule out a problem with screen #2 you could try physically swapping the two monitors but I still think it's more likely to be driver/windows screwing up.

Perhaps uninstall both screen and graphics drivers will help. Only other thing I can think of would be getting a second graphics card - if you only need it for none-gaming/video use anything would do and should be very cheap in a 2nd hand outlet. Still not ideal but sometimes it is better to circumvent a problem than s´pend hours getting the pretty solution.

PopeTiberii

Yeah, I've tried swapping the monitors. The problem is with the driver, not the screens themselves. Though I do wonder if it may be partly the screens. They used to support a 75hz refresh rate, but when I try to get them to display that now, they just shut off. They are something like four or five years old at this point, I think. A new problem that I've run into lately is that Screen 2 no longer shows anything during the bootup phase. Not even the splash screen. I can still get it to run using the nVidia control panel, though.