[SOLVED] two monitors, windows 10 pro, only one monitor gets a signal on boot...

[RagnaSE]

I just posted this - but in the wrong forum section, so that is why i repost it here..

The problem :

I have two monitors on my PC. Everything ran fine for over half a year. But for a months or so .. windows does not see the second monitor anymore and boots up with only one screen.

I am running the latest Windows version 20h2 build 19042.870. The system hardware is:

• AMD Ryzen 3700x CPU with an Arctic 280 cooler
• Asus B550 plus motherboard
• 32GB 3200 Corsair ram
• Asus gtx 2070s dual OC graphics card
• bootdrive is a m.2 Samsung 970 evo

• i am using the latest Geforce experience drivers 461.92 as well as the latest bios from the Asus homepage.
• I have done both .. fully uninstalling the old drivers (i had a quadro 5000 before) and reinstalled the geforce game-ready drivers
• but i have also (when the above did not work) .. completely formated my boot drive and reinstalled a 100% fresh version of windows with a fresh driver package
• i have also tried to roll back to legacy gpu drivers

switching the display ports on the graphics cards does nothing. using one DP and one HDMI port does nothing.

switching the "no signal" monitor off and on again during boot DOES fix the issue .. but only for that one session. I would have to do it every time i restart/reboot.

I have checked and replaced the cables and the connections. I have checked temperatures (they are very low)

going dual monitor by switching the screen off and on again .. allows the normal usage of the system. I have run every common benchmark to check if there might be a fault with the GPU .. but it all looks fine. There is no virus and no unnecessary bloatware on the system since the full re-installation of windows.

I have tried refreshing the screens of course and everything i could find on the internet about similar issues about windows not recognizing the screens. Both screens work fine.

What it looks like is some sort of conflict .. but i have no idea what kind it would be - considering it had all worked perfectly fine with the quadro card .. and with the 2070s for over a month.

 

[Vyrvelata]

It's sounds like the problem could be the second monitor.... try different port on the second monitor... and better yet if you can try a monitor from a friend, just to rule out the other possibilities.

 

[RagnaSE]

I already plugged it into a different display port (since the gpu has 3 of those) i also tried the HDMI port .. on both monitors. sometimes it works .. meaning, windows boots up and accepts both screens .. but most of the time it does not (kid of like 3 out of 4 times it does not work)

It could be a bad connection, but i would not know how or why .. because when you turn it off and on again .. everything works fine and the screen is being recognized.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Can you test the monitors on another PC just to make sure it’s not the monitors themselves? Otherwise it might be a GPU issue

 

[RagnaSE]

plugged both monitors to my laptop and they both work fine (individually, i cannot plug in both at once there)

and i plugged in my friends monitors to my pc .. and they also work fine and boot up OK .. does that mean it is the cables maybe?

 

[Deleted member 14196]

It could possibly mean the cables are bad if you didn’t use the same cables when you plug them into your friends PC. When you took your friends monitor and plugged it to your PC did you use their cables or yours?

 

[RagnaSE]

mine are 5 meters long and DP to DP .. my friends monitor is HDMI and he has DP to HDMI cables.

I could maybe try to use the cables that came with my monitors, but they are a bit short i think because my pc is kind of far away from my desk. But the thing is .. it did work fine for over a month - and nothing changed with the cables, i do not even think anyone touched them at all

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Then you may be facing some hardware issues regarding the GPU. When you tested with your friends equipment it was obviously a quick test nothing you could test over a period of time.

I would try using the cables that came with them and if the issue solved then you’re good and if not then you know that it’s a hardware issue

Also maybe 5 m is too long for a video cable. That is extremely long and I’m thinking could prove to be problematic

 

[Deleted member 14196]

OK so I just read that 5 m is the maximum length of a display port cable and if they are being pulled or stretched in any way that could’ve caused a break since you said your desk was farther away from the PC

 

[RagnaSE]

I just noticed that .. while the cable seems to sit tight in the monitor. just a little rattle seems to make the screen go blank - but re-establish the picture again after a second. Yes they are a bit stretched but still .. it all works fine when i just switch one monitor off and on immediately during boot. But the power cables to the monitors also seem a bit stretched - i had totally forgotten that there were any.

I think i will just unplug all and re-route the cables again and check again. thanks for the feedback so far.

 

[Karadjgne]

I had an issue with my dual monitors. And almost the same pc. One is hdmi intput, the other is dp. What I found after having a similar issue is that it's some sort of handshake issue. Dp and hdmi require a digital handshake, a signal from the port to the monitor saying 'hey' and a return to the port saying 'we good'. Without that handshake, you get nada.

Had DP plugged in and working. Plugged in the hdmi and got zip at boot. Monitor didn't wake. Only when it was active by pushing the button at the right time. Redid the cables, ports all the things you've physically tried. Except seemed to always plug in the DP first.

Plugged in hdmi, booted, then plugged in DP hot and haven't had an issue since. I'm guessing it's the difference between repeatedly giving the wife a nudge to get her out of bed in the morning, and dumping a bucket of cold water on her.

 

[Akshay_38]

I just posted this - but in the wrong forum section, so that is why i repost it here..

The problem :

I have two monitors on my PC. Everything ran fine for over half a year. But for a months or so .. windows does not see the second monitor anymore and boots up with only one screen.

I am running the latest Windows version 20h2 build 19042.870. The system hardware is:

• AMD Ryzen 3700x CPU with an Arctic 280 cooler
• Asus B550 plus motherboard
• 32GB 3200 Corsair ram
• Asus gtx 2070s dual OC graphics card
• bootdrive is a m.2 Samsung 970 evo

• i am using the latest Geforce experience drivers 461.92 as well as the latest bios from the Asus homepage.
• I have done both .. fully uninstalling the old drivers (i had a quadro 5000 before) and reinstalled the geforce game-ready drivers
• but i have also (when the above did not work) .. completely formated my boot drive and reinstalled a 100% fresh version of windows with a fresh driver package
• i have also tried to roll back to legacy gpu drivers

switching the display ports on the graphics cards does nothing. using one DP and one HDMI port does nothing.

switching the "no signal" monitor off and on again during boot DOES fix the issue .. but only for that one session. I would have to do it every time i restart/reboot.

I have checked and replaced the cables and the connections. I have checked temperatures (they are very low)

going dual monitor by switching the screen off and on again .. allows the normal usage of the system. I have run every common benchmark to check if there might be a fault with the GPU .. but it all looks fine. There is no virus and no unnecessary bloatware on the system since the full re-installation of windows.

I have tried refreshing the screens of course and everything i could find on the internet about similar issues about windows not recognizing the screens. Both screens work fine.

What it looks like is some sort of conflict .. but i have no idea what kind it would be - considering it had all worked perfectly fine with the quadro card .. and with the 2070s for over a month.

I think such things happen at the time of booting (but both displays should be up after loading the windows i assume ), sometimes some peripherals aren't meant to immediately starts fully functioning at the time of boot , my system is old but when i see motherboard screen , it shows me the potato resolution (800*600) but as soon as the windows booted my resolution gets back to 1080p , so i am suggesting you to check if your motherboard showing no GOP (Graphics Output Protocol) found , That's a UEFI thing and neither a big mess .
PS: I know You may have booted into dual screen previously but things like these happen , idk why every system does that at some point but it shouldn't be a problem.

Edit: ALSO try to use Win+Ctrl+Shift+B , it try to refresh you display and save your time from connecting or reconnecting cables - restart - turning monitor on/off button

 

[Kalrad89]

Was you problem solved? If not I had a similar issue try downloading or roll back on the update. That fixed mine.