Dual Monitor Setup

[shashgo]

@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?

[patio]

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.

[shashgo]

@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?

[patio]

Why ? ?...because it's a PC...that's why.

[Geek-9pm]

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. 

[shashgo]

@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?

[Lisa_maree]

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.

[shashgo]

@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

[shashgo]

Also I have the laptop plugged into the outlet, with the battery removed.  Could that be causing the issue? 

[Lisa_maree]

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 
 

[patio]

Did you re-do the chipset drivers and re-boot as suggested yet ?

[shashgo]

@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

[Lisa_maree]

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. 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.
 

     

[shashgo]

@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

[Lisa_maree]

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.