REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

AzNightmare · 09-03-2012, 01:04 PM

I was doing some cleaning under my desk and cable management.
I unplugged my monitor DVI cables to untangle the wires and literally plugged them back in within 15 seconds.

One of the monitors don't work now and is giving me a "No Signal"
As well, all my icons squeezed over to just the one working monitor now.
I've had these monitors for about 4 years now and never had any sort of problem like this before.

Further testing, I tried swapping the DVI cables, plugging them in the different ports of my video card, rebooting the computer, etc,

Seems like whichever monitor I plug in first (with either cables or either ports),
will become my primary, and the second monitor will just refuse to post a signal.

But both monitors and both DVI cables are working fine it seems... just won't work together at the same time...

Is this some kind of setting with my video card??

I went into my display settings and only one monitor is being detected.

bloodline129 · 09-03-2012, 02:07 PM

If u have nvidia u can adjust those settings in nvidia control
Panel, I had the same issue when reinstalling the OS...
U have to adjust it in video card settings not windows display settings. Hope that helps

Recon604 · 09-03-2012, 02:45 PM

try to right click the desktop, choose Screen Resolution, then click Detect.

AzNightmare · 09-03-2012, 11:36 PM

I tried nVIDIA settings and windows display settings. Neither one works because a second monitor is simply not being detected.
Anyway, the problem just got worst.

Somehow BOTH monitors aren't being detected now. They both have "No Signal"

I eventually took both of the "busted" monitors to test it on another computer and they both worked fine. So I believe the monitor is fine.

I'm now thinking it's my video card, but I'm not sure. I took another monitor and plugged it into my own computer just to test it out, but the monitor worked fine. But back to the original problem, only one monitor was working.

In the nVIDIA settings, a second monitor was not detecting.
I checked this box that told it to force detection (or something like that) for TV monitors. After rebooting my PC, in my display settings, it gave me the option to change my current monitor to primary or secondary.

I was just playing around with the settings, so I made the mistake of making it "secondary". I realized I just trapped myself (forever?) Now I had no way of setting my screen back to primary, and when I right clicked desktop and tried to get any of my options, I didn't see any. Probably because the menu windows were opening on the "other monitor" that doesn't exist. (That's my theory anyway).

But none the less, I couldn't get any options to appear anymore. I figured I'll just reboot. But now my new monitor I took from the other computer isn't giving a signal either. (This is so messed up...)

I powered off my PSU, removed my Video card, cleaned all the dust, put everything back together, and nope, all the monitors are now showing "no signal detected"

I've pretty much wasted most of yesterday and all of today trying to fix this, and it seems not many people know what to do either. This is a really strange issue.

I've never been so frustrated troubleshooting something like this before.
Is there some kind of service at NCIX or other computer stores that will take a look into this if I bring my system to the store? I'm getting kind of desperate, and really don't want to waste any more time on this if there isn't any leads to a DIY solution.

mb_ · 09-04-2012, 12:14 AM

Have you tried using a different video card?

Presto · 09-04-2012, 07:32 AM

Could both monitors be set to the wrong input?

AzNightmare · 09-04-2012, 09:59 AM

I don't have any spare video cards to test my monitor on.
I've tested both monitors on my sister's computer (on-board gpu) and it works fine.

I used my sister's monitor on my computer and it was working for a bit, but it was still not detecting a secondary monitor.
My mobo doesn't have an on-board vga port, so I unfortunately, I can't "avoid" using my video card to do my testings.

My two theories is:
1) video card is unstable and faulty.
2) display settings are "stuck" at ranges my monitors cannot handle.

I have already took out my video card from the mobo and put it back in.
But that didn't seem to revert the display settings back to "default".

My monitors COULD be set to the wrong "input", but I'm not sure how I would set it back if my monitors aren't giving any sort of signal.

lilaznviper · 09-04-2012, 04:02 PM

most monitors should be able to auto detect but if it doesn't there should be an auto button on the monitor, if not then there should be a input button.

I have an extra video card laying around if you want to borrow it.

AzNightmare · 09-05-2012, 01:40 AM

I hauled my entire system to my friends house tonight to give it a test.
I'm not sure what exactly was the problem, but I was able to get a signal with my friend's monitor.
I booted up in safe mode, and did a system restore.

And then that fixed everything up. I'm a bit surprised it was a software issue, as I was highly suspecting it to be hardware.
I already started looking up video card prices earlier today.

Well, I guess my problem's solved, but thanks for the offer, lilaznviper.

too_slow, thanks for your "help".