Dual monitor strangeness

[danomac]

I have Windows 7 Pro and have a dual-monitor set up. There's an nVidia GeForce 7100GS installed.

I have this weird problem after logging in - the second monitor (slave - no taskbar) always has the resolution set to something strange. All I do is load the nVidia control panel and it resets to the native resolution of the panel immediately without me having to change any settings.

I've tried updating the drivers, no luck...

I didn't have this problem with Windows XP, and it sure is annoying getting 800x600 or 1024x768 when logging in.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[SgtJarrow]

Whats the standard resolution for the monitor?? I would venture a guess that says that at boot the OS is reading the resolution the monitor is reporting as standard. You might want to see if there are any drivers for the monitor specifically and install those to ensure the monitor is not reporting incorrect information to the OS at boot.

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People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. (Calvin from Calvin And Hobbs)

Robert L. Johnson III
CCNA, CCDA, MCSA, CNA, Net+, A+, CHDP
VB.NET Programmer

 

[danomac]

The panel's native resolution is 1280x1024. The primary and secondary monitors are the same model - the secondary monitor is the only one with this issue.

I'll look and see if the monitor drivers are installed.

 

[kjv1611]

Do your monitors have dual inputs? I mean, do they have both VGA and DVI? If so, which are you using? I know I've seen issues between VGA/DVI connections on at least one monitor, and I believe such issues are fairly common. Those problems seem to show up when you have any "auto configure" options set.... if they are connected via VGA, and you CAN, try connecting them via DVI instead - is better anyway, with modern hardware.

Or if you can't try that, or they're already connected via DVI, try checking the "auto configure" options on the monitors themselves, turning that part off, and manually configuring them.

 

[danomac]

There are no drivers for my monitor on LG's website. Grr.

The secondary monitor is plugged directly into the VGA port on the card.

The Primary is hooked from DVI -> Vga Converter -> KVM -> monitor, and it's the one that works properly!

Go figure.

 

[SgtJarrow]

Hmmmmm....KVM in between?? Perhaps try removing that and seeing if the problem persists. The KVM may be messing something up as the primary montior runs through it and the secondary is direct to card...

=======================================
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. (Calvin from Calvin And Hobbs)

Robert L. Johnson III
CCNA, CCDA, MCSA, CNA, Net+, A+, CHDP
VB.NET Programmer

 

[danomac]

The monitor that runs through the KVM is working correctly; it's the secondary monitor plugged directly into the VGA port of the nVidia card that isn't working.

 

[kjv1611]

danomac,

Try mstrmage's suggestion. You didn't mention the KVM earlier, but KVMs can cause much ordeal with various monitor setups... it's not just the one monitor you need to look at, but rather the whole setup.

If that does fix it, but you DO need the KVM setup, the another thing you can look at is making sure you've disabled Windows' auto handling of the screen resolutions, as well as the video driver's handling. You need to manually control everything for the type setup you're talking about to even possibly work. Either that, or send BOTH or NEITHER monitors through the KVM... of course, that will depend upon whether or not the KVM supports dual-monitors. It seems that most, or at least many, do.

 

[SgtJarrow]

Yes, but the KVM may be confusing the secondary port on the vid card.

I am offering a suggestion based on the fact that you have two monitors...one plugged into a KVM and one not. Removing the KVM from the equation brings both monitors on a level playing field for troubleshooting. As long as the KVM is present - on either monitor - you cannot be sure the KVM is not part of the problem. Once you eliminate the KVM as a possible issue, you can always reattach it.

=======================================
People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world. (Calvin from Calvin And Hobbs)

Robert L. Johnson III
CCNA, CCDA, MCSA, CNA, Net+, A+, CHDP
VB.NET Programmer

 

[fisheromacse]

i have seen similar issues using a dell laptop with an external monitor. I never found a solution, i just chalked it up to goofy nvidia VGA drivers, as as soon as i manually loaded the CP the resolution would 'auto-correct'. When i connected the same monitor via the DVI, i had no problems at all (so that is where it stays). Check if there are newer nvidia drivers.
sorry this wasn't much help, but at least you know you are not all alone.

 

[kjv1611]

fisheromacse,

The VGA/DVI issue was noted by me earlier in the thread. It seems to specifically be a bigger issue with wide-screen monitors vs. standard definition. I am unsure about all the details behind it, but it does seem to be a common issue, and well-known in some channels. I know my brother has known of such issues for some time amongst his colleagues in the 3D Graphics industry, where that sort of thing would be VERY important.

 

[danomac]

I won't be able to route around the KVM for a while, I have things running on the machine.

What really ticks me off is that this setup worked *perfectly fine* with XP and my recent migration to Win7 around a week ago caused it to surface.

 

[linney]

Anything showing up in the Device Manager or the Event Viewer?

Are all the drivers installed (the Chipset drivers that might be tucked away on an old Driver CD etc.), and are there Windows 7 drivers that need to be located for various pieces of hardware?

 

[danomac]

Nope, everything is loaded other than my old scanner that apparently doesn't work with Win7.

I found drivers for everything but the monitors themselves.

 

[danomac]

OK, so I removed the KVM and it still does it. I swapped the monitors from DVI/VGA to VGA/DVI and it still does it but on the opposite monitor.

I'm beginning to think it's the nVidia driver.

 

[kjv1611]

Your last results seem to point to the fact that it's a VGA/DVI problem, again. I'd suggest you either get a KVM switch that supports DVI, go back to XP for VGA usage, or live with it, quite honestly. I'm guessing that Windows 7 may be less compatible with using VGA for wide-screen LCD monitors in particular, compared with XP. Often when you move to a newer OS, you also have to make some hardware changes in order to keep everything "just so."

But still, there may be something causing this via auto-fix or auto-adjust type settings. Look in the monitor settings as well as the video card driver settings, and Windows built-in settings.

I know that when I finally swapped my main desktop from VGA to DVI, all my "issues" with the monitor were history. Before that, I was running via KVM to a widescreen LCD that supports VGA and DVI. After I finally bought the $9 cable, and made the switch, oh, aint it purty!

Here's another option. You say you NEED the KVM switch in the loop... one option I already mentioned - buy a KVM switch that supports DVI. Another option, take the system using the dual-monitor setup out of the picture - use it separately, and use another monitor for the KVM setup - an old CRT will do, most likely. If you don't have one, try the local paper, freecycle for your area, craigslist, friends, relatives, etc... nowadays, people are begging to give those things away for the most part.

 

[aich69]

I use 2 (22" widescreen) monitors on Win7 Ultimate, one DVI and one VGA... no issues, but then I didn't load the control panel software for my graphics card, I just let Windows do it's thing and all works fine. (ATI 4750HD)

I have had this issue when using ATI/NVidia control panel software in the past though and have ended up uninstalling it. Unless I've speed read this thread badly I haven't seen mention maybe of removing the NVidia control panel software and letting Windows do it's thing. Might that be do-able if removing the KVM isn't?

I used to have a handle on life... but it broke. Cpt. Red Bull

 

[aich69]

Ok, so I did speed read badly and have now seen you've tried without KVM...so maybe try taking the NVidia CP out of the equation, it has worked for me and Windows copes with all the config I need where the 2 monitors are concerned.

I used to have a handle on life... but it broke. Cpt. Red Bull

 

[danomac]

I think I solved it...

I went into 7's Screen Resolution dialog and found that the secondary monitor was being detected as a non-PnP display. I set the resolution manually for now as browsing on 800x600 is not fun on today's web.

I went to nVidia's website and found the beta drivers section. I downloaded the beta 7 drivers for my card and installed them.

Windows 7 now detects them as LG panels and not Generic PnP/non-PnP displays. Logged on and off several times, restarted twice (for testing) and now the problem seems to be completely gone. I'm going to wager a guess: it was a problem with the WHQL drivers I had installed. Go figure.

I hope the beta drivers aren't going to do something weird on me.

 

[kjv1611]

Glad you found the solution, and thanks for sharing. Hopefully nothing bad from the beta drivers, but do keep an eye/nose/ear out, as not long ago - past couple months or so - nVidia had some drivers out that basically burned out some graphics adapters. I'm sure you can read up on it if you ask ole google.