Second monitor

[JoshKbosh]

Hello everyone,

I have an old Dell monitor that was working fine on my old windows 7 computer. It is the Dell E173FP.

I am using a Microsoft Surface Pro 2 with a Minidisplayport, running Windows 10. I have a minidisplayport to VGA adapter that works fine when attached to my television (so it's not the port, the adapter, or the cord). I have never tried the monitor on this computer, but it ran fine on my old one. It hasn't been disturbed or been in an area of high activity, and I was extra careful moving it to my computer room.

It shows up on the devices list as GenericPHP with a monitor symbol. Nothing installs when it is connected. I tried to manually install the driver (I downloaded off the Microsoft website, Driver: R74922, comes with a file called e173fp) but it said it was compatible with my current version of windows.

When the VGA cord is plugged into the back, the monitor is fine. It shows a list of colors that move around the screen and said it was running some sort of test. (It was always like that when the old computer isn't connected). The moment I connect it to the minidisplayport adapter, even with it plugged into my tablet, the screen goes blank and the symbol goes orange. When I press it button, it says something like "Monitor in Power Saver Mode (or Sleep mode, I don't remember off hand), press any key or move the mouse to turn on", but when I do either, nothing happens.

Am I screwed out of a secondary monitor? Or is there a fix? I wasn't looking to buy another monitor, but I was hoping to put an old one to good use.

Thank you!

 

[Solandri]

My guess would be your mini-Displayport to VGA adapter is trying to drive the monitor at a resolution and frequency it doesn't support. The monitor, rather than destroy itself trying to do something it can't physically do, is ignoring the signal and defaulting to a power save state (i.e. something is plugged in but it's not getting a signal).

Normally all this stuff about resolution and frequencies is hidden from the user. The monitor and computer communicate with each other about what resolutions and frequencies the monitor supports. That's what the R74922 driver is about. But your adapter is probably preventing the monitor from correctly identifying itself to the computer.

You may be able to get it to display on the monitor by setting your Surface Pro's screen resolution to the same as the monitor's resolution, and at a refresh rate the monitor supports. If you can get that to work, then you can set it up as a second monitor (extend the display) with the same settings.

 

[JoshKbosh]

My guess would be your mini-Displayport to VGA adapter is trying to drive the monitor at a resolution and frequency it doesn't support. The monitor, rather than destroy itself trying to do something it can't physically do, is ignoring the signal and defaulting to a power save state (i.e. something is plugged in but it's not getting a signal).

Normally all this stuff about resolution and frequencies is hidden from the user. The monitor and computer communicate with each other about what resolutions and frequencies the monitor supports. That's what the R74922 driver is about. But your adapter is probably preventing the monitor from correctly identifying itself to the computer.

You may be able to get it to display on the monitor by setting your Surface Pro's screen resolution to the same as the monitor's resolution, and at a refresh rate the monitor supports. If you can get that to work, then you can set it up as a second monitor (extend the display) with the same settings.

I can try doing that tomorrow (I don't have my monitor with me at the moment). So that would mean I change the refresh rate to 76 (Verticle) hz or 80 (horizontal) hz? Or is it 75hz? And how do I do that on Windows 10? Changing it to 1280x1024 is easy.

If that doesn't work, what else could I try doing?

I don't mean to bombard you with questions, but I never thought a monitor would have any issues like this.

 

[Solandri]

I can try doing that tomorrow (I don't have my monitor with me at the moment). So that would mean I change the refresh rate to 76 (Verticle) hz or 80 (horizontal) hz? Or is it 75hz? And how do I do that on Windows 10? Changing it to 1280x1024 is easy.

Windows usually hides the horizontal scan rate. It's determined by your resolution and vertical refresh rate, and is usually in kHz. Basically, vertical refresh time = horizontal scan time * vertical resolution.

Many VGA monitors can only do 60 Hz or 75 Hz max. So if you see an option for 60 Hz or 59 Hz, I'd try that. I don't have Windows 10. In Windows 8, you set the refresh rate with:

right-click desktop -> screen settings -> advanced settings -> monitor tab -> Screen refresh rate (dropdown box)

Hopefully Windows 10 isn't much different.

If that doesn't work, what else could I try doing?

That's all I can think of. Sorry.

I don't mean to bombard you with questions, but I never thought a monitor would have any issues like this.

Properly synchronizing and centering analog video is tremendously complicated. Windows did an incredible job simplifying it to the point where it just works. Even the refresh rates are not the end of the story. You also have to center and size the image correctly (what the "auto" button on a VGA monitor does automatically). Digital is just so much easier. I was overjoyed to ditch VGA connections.

 

[JoshKbosh]

I can try doing that tomorrow (I don't have my monitor with me at the moment). So that would mean I change the refresh rate to 76 (Verticle) hz or 80 (horizontal) hz? Or is it 75hz? And how do I do that on Windows 10? Changing it to 1280x1024 is easy.

Windows usually hides the horizontal scan rate. It's determined by your resolution and vertical refresh rate, and is usually in kHz. Basically, vertical refresh time = horizontal scan time * vertical resolution.

Many VGA monitors can only do 60 Hz or 75 Hz max. So if you see an option for 60 Hz or 59 Hz, I'd try that. I don't have Windows 10. In Windows 8, you set the refresh rate with:

right-click desktop -> screen settings -> advanced settings -> monitor tab -> Screen refresh rate (dropdown box)

Hopefully Windows 10 isn't much different.

If that doesn't work, what else could I try doing?

That's all I can think of. Sorry.

I don't mean to bombard you with questions, but I never thought a monitor would have any issues like this.

Properly synchronizing and centering analog video is tremendously complicated. Windows did an incredible job simplifying it to the point where it just works. Even the refresh rates are not the end of the story. You also have to center and size the image correctly (what the "auto" button on a VGA monitor does automatically). Digital is just so much easier. I was overjoyed to ditch VGA connections.

I tried again with 1280x1024 @ 60hz. No luck (Darn..) Guess I'll have to purchase a new one. Would you happen to know what monitor (Maybe with at least 720p?) is best on a tight budget? Something that'll definitely work on a SP2 with Windows 10. Thanks!

 

[bignastyid]

Content restored and thread closed.