Computer Hope

Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows Vista and 7 => Topic started by: shashgo on March 24, 2019, 01:34:55 PM

Title: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on March 24, 2019, 01:34:55 PM
I have an HP pavillion dv7t-4100.  I have a hisense tv.  I have an HDMI cord plugged into the tv and the laptop.  Earlier, whenever I wanted to choose dual display, I would right click on desktop, go to screen resolution, select duplicate displays or extended displays, and then hit okay, and the tv screen would go black and then reappear with the duplicate or extended display.  More recently, I have had to change the display settings and then restart the laptop and the TV and both would come back up with the dual display.  Nowadays, it seems that nothing is working, and I dont know why.  I set the display setting to dual or extended.  Then I restart the laptop and TV, sometimes the tv and laptop come back showing a proper dual display, but at other times the TV comes back up with "No signal" and when the laptop comes back it loses the display settings and goes back to single display.  Why is it not working properly

Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: patio on March 24, 2019, 02:00:34 PM
Does the card support dual/extended display ? ?...just curious.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on March 24, 2019, 02:20:31 PM
Hi shashgo,

You don't say in your post what Windows version you are running, if 10 it is likely Microsoft has updated the drivers for your video. And as the laptop only has Windows 7 64 bit drivers we will need a lot more details to possibly find a solution.
The easiest way is to run speccy from here    https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download/portable
Then go File, Publish snap shot and copy the link to the report here.
It could also be a problem with Windows not switching to the ATi second graphics adapter or that the ATI graphics adapter is failing.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on March 26, 2019, 01:02:12 PM
Patio,

Its a laptop, so there is no external graphics card as there is for desktops.  There is an HDMI output.  Also, at times the computer boots up and there are two drivers that get installed under display: intel and ATI, which is when the computer gets displayed on my monitor as well.  At other times, the laptop boots up, and there is only the Intel driver under the Display section in device manager, and the monitor keeps showing no signal, regardless of whether I select a duplicate or extended display mode. 

So Im wondering why this is happening and what is the fix

Lisa_Maree,

Let me post the details.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on March 26, 2019, 01:10:42 PM
Lisa_Maree,

I have three screenshots, I think these are the ones that should tell you what you need to know

Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Geek-9pm on March 26, 2019, 02:37:49 PM
Similar problems reported on HP support forum.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Archive-Read-Only/Random-black-screen-while-laptop-is-in-use-HP-Pavilion-dv7t/td-p/2713199

...and the problem is not just with an HP. Other laptops have this kind-of trouble with some kinds of external monitors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI85Qfq41Hk

And I have a similar issue with my old Dell desktop and Windows 10. Windows XP does  better job fining the external monitor.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on March 26, 2019, 05:59:17 PM
Hi

Looks from the report you installed a generic copy of windows 7 on the 24 Aug 2018,  the full report would have shown driver versions, temps and other things.

As i said in one of my other posts quote " It could also be a problem with Windows not switching to the ATi second graphics adapter or that the ATI graphics adapter is failing."

With laptops running dual graphics adapters like yours, it is best to use the manufactures recovery media written to get the best from the laptops configuration.

The external monitor will only work when windows is showing the ATI gpu is enabled and this part of the laptop can become intermittent due to heat problems. The overheating can be caused by the gas leaking from the heat pipes, Blocked heat sink fins or using with the fan blocked or loading windows without correct support for dual display.

If it was a laptop other than a HP pavillion dv7t-4100 then i would put money of windows configuration or drivers .  As it's an  HP with ATI graphics adapter i suspect the ATI graphics Adapter is playing up.

 
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on March 27, 2019, 01:50:29 PM
Lisa_Maree,

So, is there any way for me to diagnose the ATI graphics adapter?  But in any case, shoudnt there be an entry for the driver under device manager
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on March 27, 2019, 07:52:55 PM
Hi

HP has a windows diagnostic tool from here https://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/hpsupportassistant/pc-diags.html  These diags will show a white screen if the ATI graphics is not working.
Also if you start the laptop pressing the esc key there is diagnostics built into the bios menu. These diagnostics don't test the graphics adapters thou.
You could also run the DXdiag command in windows and see if 2 display adapters are shown. It will only show the 2nd adapter if it is listed in device manager and therefore it should work on the TV.
I have a DV6 here so have tried these steps on it, My laptop has a failed ATI graphics adapter.
 


Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on March 30, 2019, 12:00:31 PM
I am able to get it to work, so it isnt a failed adapter or anything.  But it doesnt work the way it should.

This is what I had to do to make it work:  First of all, I uninstalled the Intel HD driver, then went to control panel and completely uninstalled the ATI Catalyst Install Driver.  Then I rebooted, and when the computer rebooted, it loaded a basic video graphics driver and also the ATI driver with a question mark (meaning the ati driver did not load sucessfully).  So I went to the folder where I had downloaded the two video drivers for my computer from the hp website, and I ran the amd driver file as administrator, after which the computer prompted me to reboot.  So I did, and then everything worked fine, and the dual setup worked.

I then rebooted the computer to see if the setup would stay and work each time, I rebooted the laptop with the tv off, and then turned it on, I rebooted the laptop with the tv on.  In all these cases, the dual setup stayed and worked properly.  However, after I turned the laptop off and left it off for an hour or so, and then turned it back on to see if the dual setup would still work, it did not.  So, the configuration was lost or the driver didnt work or something.

But then this morning , when I repeated the steps (2nd paragraph) to make the dual setup work, I was able to get it working again.  But again, after an hour of being turned off, the dual monitor setup stopped working.    Doing the steps (paragraph 2) got it to work again.

So Im wondering, why is the setup configuration being lost.  My initial thought was the bios battery, but thats not it, because the time and date have not been lost
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 01, 2019, 02:46:48 PM
Whoops, I spoke to soon,  the problem with the dual monitor setup persists.

I have my tv monitor plugged in to my laptop via an hdmi cable.

If the computer loads two drivers for the display (when the computer boots up), then if I manually install the amd/ati driver (that I download from the HP website),the driver is installed without errors and everything works fine.

 If the computer only loads one driver for the dispay, then the ati/amd driver does not install correctly and the dual monitor setup does not work.

So, should the laptop see the second monitor as soon as it is plugged in via the hdmi cable and powered on, or is there a driver that makes the laptop detect the monitor.  I thought that because the monitor is a device, should it automatically be detected as a plug n play device?

How do I get my laptop to consistently load two drivers for display instead of just one?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Geek-9pm on April 01, 2019, 06:54:06 PM
Whoops, I spoke to soon,  the problem with the dual monitor setup persists.
...
So, should the laptop see the second monitor as soon as it is plugged in via the hdmi cable and powered on, or is there a driver that makes the laptop detect the monitor.  I thought that because the monitor is a device, should it automatically be detected as a plug n play device?

How do I get my laptop to consistently load two drivers for display instead of just one?
No, laptops are not predictable with dual displays. You have to do it yourself.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: patio on April 01, 2019, 07:06:56 PM
1 question... did it ever work ?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 01, 2019, 11:21:45 PM
@Patio,

It did.  Whenever the laptop boots up with two drivers under the display tab in device manager, then Im able to get the ATI driver installed successfully and the TV comes to life.  But more often than not the laptop only boots up with one driver under the display tab, and then even if I try to install the ATI adapter, the install fails, and the dual setup does not work.  So Im wondering why the second driver doesnt load up consistently on every boot.

@Geek,

I do go to the Screen resolution when I right click on the desktop, and sect extended displays and even sometimes duplicate, but if the second driver is not loaded automatically by the laptop on bootup, then the extended or duplicate display setup does not work, because the ATI driver that I need to install does not install properly.
The only one driver that does load up updates to the Intel HD display driver.  Whenever the other driver is loaded automatically by the laptop, it turns into the ATI 5650 driver once I install the ATI driver.
So my question is, what makes the laptop decide to load one or two drivers under display upon bootup?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Geek-9pm on April 02, 2019, 02:10:14 PM
Here is an article that was recently updated.
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000801.htm (https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000801.htm)
It has some links that may help.

Also, the link below may answer your last question.
https://windowsreport.com/the-best-driver-software-is-already-installed-windows-10/ (https://windowsreport.com/the-best-driver-software-is-already-installed-windows-10/)
 :)
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 03, 2019, 11:39:06 AM
@Geek,

I went through both the links, but they dont help me.  I thought initiallly, that there must be a driver for the TV.  But usually, the only drivers that have to be installed are on the laptop, not on the TV.  Anyway, the issue here is that the laptop used to load two basic video drivers under display in device manager, and then when I installed the specific video drivers from the HP website, one would bcome the Intel HD driver, and the other would update to the ATI 5650 driver.  It is this second driver that would handle the display on the TV.  But nowadays, more often than not, the laptop only boots up with one basic video driver, so even though I try to install both the specific video drivers, only the Intel one installs properly, and the other one does not (as there is no basic driver loaded). 

Sometimes when it does boot up with the two basic drivers then I can install both the specific drivers and everything installs fine and the dual set up works.  But there are no specific to make the laptop load up both the basic drivers, its aways trial and error, and what works one doesnt work the next time.  So Im wondering, why doesnt the laptop load up both the basic drivers.  I checked the HDMI on the TV, its working fine.  I dont know how to check the HDMI port on the laptop, but is there some driver that would make the HDMI port on the laptop work?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: patio on April 03, 2019, 05:16:43 PM
I would try re-installing rhe MBoard chipset drivers....re-boot after.

If that fails i would revert to the original drivers that shipped with the PC.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 03, 2019, 07:56:57 PM
@Patio,

Ill try that, but what Im wondering is, why did something that was working suddenly start acting weird and stop working.  It was loading two Basic video drivers on reboot, and now it just loads one.  By the way, I did install the original drivers that came when I got the computer, but no luck.  Any ideas?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: patio on April 03, 2019, 08:19:16 PM
Why ? ?...because it's a PC...that's why.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Geek-9pm on April 03, 2019, 09:52:31 PM
Quote
Ill try that, but what Im wondering is, why did something that was working suddenly start acting weird and stop working
Often this would indicate a hardware issue.

I use two TV sets for my dual monitors with my desktop. Often I have to cycle the TV sets on and off so the PC can find the TV sets. This is a hardware issue. Ina nutshell, the people who make TV sets do not make desktop PCs and have little interest in the compatibility thing.
I accept this as satisfactory for my personal use. But I do not recommend using TV sets for any important business workstation.
Overall, I like the TV sets. Big screen, excellent resolution. Just hard to start in the morning. I can live with that.  :D
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 03, 2019, 11:25:43 PM
@Geek, 

True that.  But even when the TV screens are not detected, do you still see 3 drivers under the display tab in device manager?  Or when you right click on the desktop, does it show a line 'Switchable graphics'?

Mine used to say switchable graphics (which is what allows dual monitors), but now it doesnt.  Why is the question.  Any ideas?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on April 04, 2019, 02:30:02 AM
Did this problem start in August 2018 or after ? If so when did it start as you may be able to restore back before the problem started and fix this.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 04, 2019, 09:31:29 AM
@Lisa_Maree,

The problem of the dual monitor setup working properly has been very unreliable, sometimes it would work and the tv and laptop would both show the display, other times it would not.  And I would try different things , installing, uninstalling, going into safe mode, etc to make it work somehow and it would , but the sequence of steps was never the same.  This was going on since october of last year. 

But now I cant get the dual setup at all. 

When a tv or monitor is plugged into the laptop, with the tv being on and set to the correct input, then does the laptop have to have some driver installed or updated to be able to recognize that there is a monitor plugged in, or are there generic drivers pre-installed that will cause the laptop to recognize the monitor without any further updating.  And also, if the monitor is at some point recognized, then will there be one driver per monitor listed under display in device manager
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 04, 2019, 09:43:39 AM
Also I have the laptop plugged into the outlet, with the battery removed.  Could that be causing the issue? 
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on April 04, 2019, 01:33:39 PM
Also I have the laptop plugged into the outlet, with the battery removed.  Could that be causing the issue? 

It won't be causing the problem having it plugged in to the mains without the battery. In fact it is more likely to work with the external monitor when on mains.


This was going on since october of last year. 


So it worked reliably Thru September last year ?

As i said a few days ago it could be hardware in that the ATI video adapter is intermittent. Or that the windows 7 reload was not done correctly back in August last year. So how could it have been done incorrectly? well it wasn't loaded from the DV7 recovery media which would have set the laptop up correctly. It is also possible windows isn't activated and after the 1 month grace period windows isn't working as we expect.
Also I wonder if all the updates are loaded?

Frustrating in that a full Speccy report would have answered those questions
 
Anyway I believe you should get the Recovery media and install windows again. The recovery process gives you the option to do a backup.
Remove all the stuff like Nortons if you are not going to renew the licence.
install the 300 + updates
If the dual monitors work do a full backup of the system.
Start enjoying your laptop 
 
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: patio on April 04, 2019, 02:59:00 PM
Did you re-do the chipset drivers and re-boot as suggested yet ?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 14, 2019, 05:30:08 PM
@Lisa_Maree,

I will do the speccy report and post it here.  Could it be that since windows 7 is no longer supported, that the necessary updates didnt get installed?  Two updates I dont want to add  are windows 7 sp1 and kb971033.  These have caused windows to get deactivated, so now I dont install them.  The other one that I dont like is the installation of the .NET framework, it slows my machine down.  Do I really need those updates?  Also, is there maybe a directX update or something Im missing thats causing the second video adaptor not to show up in device manager?

@Patio,

Yes I installed all the drivers that I was able to download from the hp website for my machine, and it had the chipset drivers and the bios drivers and all the other network, sound, etc drivers
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on April 14, 2019, 07:56:18 PM
Hi

The 2 updates Windows 7 SP1 and kb971033 are not causing the dual display to not work reliably. What is causing the problem is the ATI GPU drivers are not loading sometimes. Why we will know better once you post the whole Speccy report. I suspect the drivers are not compatible with the build of windows 7 you are running.
You are running an illegal copy of windows. :o I'm just hoping that the Speccy report shows the HP windows recovery partition is still in tact on the hard drive and you are able to recover from that.  :)
 
How long will you be keeping this laptop ?

If longer than say 6 months at most. You should look at getting the Windows up to the latest service pack before you can't anymore. This would require you getting the recovery disks or having the recovery partition on the hard drive. Or you could try loading the Windows 7 home premium 64 bit using the  licence key under the battery. Using the HP recovery partition or Disks is the preferred method.
 

     
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 14, 2019, 11:41:41 PM
@Lisa Maree,

Well, no, this laptop was an old one that I refurbished.  And, there is no recovery partition.  But the ati drivers used to load up earlier.  Now all of a sudden they wont.  So, nothing changed from then to now as to the OS, it was win7 home premium and it still is win 7 home premium

These are some of the speccy screenshots:  Summary, Operating System, Graphics and Audio
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on April 15, 2019, 01:14:14 AM
Hi

Well thanks again for the screen shots not the full report. You don't seem to understand how impossible you are making this by not publishing the report. For example as i type this I don't see the screen shots you posted , I can't copy and paste from  screen shots.  And there is lots of very important diagnostic data missing.
 
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on April 15, 2019, 01:20:43 AM
Oh and something I can get from the screen shots is the Motherboard and CPU temperatures and they appear about 15 degrees to high, relative to the Hard drive temp. The first screens shots were even higher so that could point to a over heated ATI Graphics adapter failing causing your problem.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 15, 2019, 11:03:27 AM
@LisaMaree,

I dont understand what you mean by full report.  I run speccy and it gives me information about whatever it finds on the computer.  So what is the full report and how do I get it?  Let me know, I thought you wanted these screenshots, if theres something else, let me know what or how to get it so I can post it here
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: BC_Programmer on April 15, 2019, 11:23:13 AM
When Speccy has gathered all the information, you can use File->Save as Text File to save everything to a report.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 15, 2019, 12:04:43 PM
@BC_Programmer

okay thanks, I think I got it now

@LisaMaree,

Is this what you need to see
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Lisa_maree on April 15, 2019, 05:51:18 PM
Hi

Thanks for the full report it's not really the way  I wanted but does confirm the original diagnoses of a faulty ATI graphics adapter.
This is something you can't fix with software you would need specialist re balling soldering equipment.

A note to anyone reading this , if you need to provide a Speccy Report. Please use the file  then publish report and copy the link to the report.
This will only give the needed info, nothing like network info or product keys.
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 16, 2019, 11:15:23 PM
Awww, crap!!!  What in the report tells you that its a faulty graphics adapter?
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: Geek-9pm on April 16, 2019, 11:26:40 PM
...
This is something you can't fix with software you would need specialist re balling soldering equipment.
...
She is right!
Title: Re: Dual Monitor Setup
Post by: shashgo on April 22, 2019, 02:04:05 PM
@Lisa Maree and @Patio,

I did what I did earlier and the monitor setup worked this time.  I uninstalled the AMD Catalyst converter driver by using revo uninstaller, rebooted, then I uninstalled intel management components using revo uninstaller, rebooted into safe mode, uninstalled intel hd driver using revo uninstaller, and uninstalled it again from the device manager.  Then I rebooted, and installed the intel mangement driver, rebooted and then somehow the second driver showed up in device manager.  So, I installed the AMD driver (SP50640), which changed the basic vga adapter into the ATI adapter and also added the ATI sound driver . I have attached screenshots of the device manager, the right click menu on the desktop that shows switchable graphics, showing both the adapters under display in device manager.

But why does this sequence work sometimes and not work other times?  And why does the dual setup stop working when I reboot sometimes?  Ive noticed that if I start the computer say within an hour of the last session (when dual setup worked), the dual setup still works.  But if I keep the computer shutdown more than one hour, then that configuration is lost.