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dual monitor help

cannondalejunky

ease dropper
Jun 19, 2005
2,924
2
Arkansas
i just got a second monitor, i've got the latest drivers for my video card, and i've run 2 monitors before..my comp is able to detect the second monitor but nothing comes up on the monitor....any ideas on what might be up
 

bean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 16, 2004
1,335
0
Boulder
Right click the Desktop.
Select Properties.
Go to the Settings tab.
Select the second monitor.
Check the box for Extend my desktop onto this monitor.

You can also drag the two monitors around that window so that you have the correct orientation.
 

cannondalejunky

ease dropper
Jun 19, 2005
2,924
2
Arkansas
Right click the Desktop.
Select Properties.
Go to the Settings tab.
Select the second monitor.
Check the box for Extend my desktop onto this monitor.

You can also drag the two monitors around that window so that you have the correct orientation.

that was one of the first things i did...i've gone through all my video card settings, and still nothing...the monitor turns on, but i just get a blank screen
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,111
1,166
NC
Does the second monitor show up in your display properties as an option to extend the desktop to?
 

cannondalejunky

ease dropper
Jun 19, 2005
2,924
2
Arkansas
Does the second monitor show up in your display properties as an option to extend the desktop to?
yeah...but when i select it to extend the desktop, it turns the monitor on, but i just get a black screen...i can run my mouse over to it, but i don't see anything on it...it may be the monitor since it isn't new...but when i turn my computer off it does pop up the "monitor is going into power saver mode" message or something like that, i don't remember exactly what it says
 

cannondalejunky

ease dropper
Jun 19, 2005
2,924
2
Arkansas
Hook the second monitor up as your primary monitor, see if it works.
so i just did that and the other monitor worked fine...so then i plugged in the first monitor into the secondary slot and i'm having the same problem...i'm using a lcd adapter, maybe that's got something to do with it
 

bean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 16, 2004
1,335
0
Boulder
Do you have another monitor you could hook up without the adapter? It could also be that port on the video card.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,111
1,166
NC
There's no such thing as an LCD port. You should have either a blue one or a white one, the white one has more connectors and is larger - that's a DVI port. The blue (smaller) one is VGA.

I assume what you're doing is using an adapter to plug a VGA monitor into the DVI port.

So, whatever you plug into the DVI port doesn't turn on? Could be a problem with the adapter or the card, the only way you can know is to replace the adapter or find a DVI monitor to try plugging it into.
 

cannondalejunky

ease dropper
Jun 19, 2005
2,924
2
Arkansas
There's no such thing as an LCD port. You should have either a blue one or a white one, the white one has more connectors and is larger - that's a DVI port. The blue (smaller) one is VGA.

I assume what you're doing is using an adapter to plug a VGA monitor into the DVI port.

So, whatever you plug into the DVI port doesn't turn on? Could be a problem with the adapter or the card, the only way you can know is to replace the adapter or find a DVI monitor to try plugging it into.

yeah my bad...i have a vga and a dvi port...i'll see what i can do to test it out
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
I was trying to do the same thing with my card with DVI and VGA. I gave up because I couldn't set it up how I wanted. I could keep the 1280x950 on my 21" and have a smaller resolution on the 17" dell.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,111
1,166
NC
Is this actually a dual head card? Or could it be a single head card with VGA and DVI ports?
Does such a thing even exist? Single head cards should come with a port and a converter if they want to switch between the formats.
 

cannondalejunky

ease dropper
Jun 19, 2005
2,924
2
Arkansas
the thing is, is i've did this about a year ago with the same exact monitors, same video card and probably even the same adapter...it just kinda weird that it's all the sudden not doing it...the computer is about 3 years old, and the video card is an ati radeon 9600...so it shouldn't be messed up, but i guess nothings impossible