Pending: Help needed re: monitors and display

brophs · 06-16-2009

A bit of help required. If this is the incorrect forum, apologies.

My brother has an Acer Aspire 3100. He plugged it into the tv today, and used the tv as a monitor(using a VGA cable).

Having done that, his screen now looks a bit odd(sort of slightly squashed, and with less definition/clarity) and also the tv is now not picking up the signal from his laptop through the VGA cable meaning he can't now use it as a monitor/to watch stuff from his laptop on-it almost seems that the VGA port has stopped working/outputting.

Also, the Fn+F5 hotkey which usually switches the external display now no longer works at all, but the Fn+F6 hotkey which blanks the laptop screen does work.

The cable and tv are fine(tested my own laptop on them), and it doesn't seem to be a resolution problem, asit was 1024 x 768 beforehand, and still is.

So, anyone got any suggestions?

Smokeycheech · 06-17-2009

Hello Brophs, welcome back to PCHF!

Unfortunately your problem is out of my area of expertise, so i will mark this as open to encourage others to come take a look!

Thanks for your patience,

Smokeycheech

Hengis · 06-17-2009

Hi,

There's a bit missing...in your previous line:

My brother has an Acer Aspire 3100. He plugged it into the tv today, and used the tv as a monitor(using a VGA cable).

it was working fine but then you posted this:

Having done that, his screen now looks a bit odd(sort of slightly squashed, and with less definition/clarity) and also the tv is now not picking up the signal from his laptop through the VGA cable meaning he can't now use it as a monitor/to watch stuff from his laptop on-it almost seems that the VGA port has stopped working/outputting.

What happened in between? What did you change...un-plug...or otherwise alter for the status to change from working to not working?

brophs · 06-18-2009

Sorry, Hengis, I neglected to mention that.

He physically just unplugged the VGA cable. Nothing else.

Amtech · 06-18-2009

It's possible that your brother bent or snapped some of the pins on the VGA cable.

You can check if this is the case just by looking at the cable.

Sometimes a few restarts of the computer will get it working again. You may also need to redo the steps you used to set it up in the first place

eg

Right click desktop
Properties
Settings
Click display 2
Click extend my desktop
Click use this as primary monitor

Some monitors only scan for new/connected devices once the computer has been restarted.

brophs · 06-18-2009

Update:

I tried to power on the laptop when it was connected to the tv, and you were right, it worked. But only momentarily, and the signal goes again once it gets to just before the windows login screen. Fn+F5 is still not working.

So, I decided earlier to try a system restore to a few days ago when things were normal. It revealed one thing. The resolution was one of the issues. When I changed it to 12xx X 800 it was perfect. One problem solved! But the tv connection or Fn+F5 still won't work unless it's booting into windows.

I undid the restore, and changed the resolution to the correct setting, but still the only time the signal comes through to the tv is in booting up Windows.

So, does this shed any light on things for anyone?

Cheers in advance.

Amtech · 06-22-2009

Remember (once its working) to set the TV as primary monitor using the steps above. This is taken from

Vista logon changes Dual monitor display settings in Windows Vista General Discussion

"After further research I found the root cause of the dual monitor problem. There is a task in the task scheduler called TMM (Microsoft Transient Multi-Monitor Manager). I disabled this task, and all seems to work fine now."

Note that this fix is only for Vista. You don't mention which OS you are running. To disable the service click Start > Run > type in services.msc

Right click 'Transient Multi-Monitor Manager' and choose Disable. From what I've seen that service doesn't exist in XP. I use XP and have never had this problem with dual screen configurations.

If you are on XP then some workarounds I have heard of are to:

Disable Screensavers
Disable Powersaving / Power Management Options (eg turn off monitor after x minutes.

You can access / disable those features by right clicking a blank space on desktop and choosing Properties from the menu. The settings are within the tabs that pop up.

06-16-2009	#1
brophs Bronze Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 36 PC Experience: Some Experience	Help needed re: monitors and display A bit of help required. If this is the incorrect forum, apologies. My brother has an Acer Aspire 3100. He plugged it into the tv today, and used the tv as a monitor(using a VGA cable). Having done that, his screen now looks a bit odd(sort of slightly squashed, and with less definition/clarity) and also the tv is now not picking up the signal from his laptop through the VGA cable meaning he can't now use it as a monitor/to watch stuff from his laptop on-it almost seems that the VGA port has stopped working/outputting. Also, the Fn+F5 hotkey which usually switches the external display now no longer works at all, but the Fn+F6 hotkey which blanks the laptop screen does work. The cable and tv are fine(tested my own laptop on them), and it doesn't seem to be a resolution problem, asit was 1024 x 768 beforehand, and still is. So, anyone got any suggestions?

06-17-2009	#2
Smokeycheech Mod Team Leader Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Skynet HQ (kinda near PCHF bunker) Posts: 3,429 PC Experience: Learning more every day!	Re: Help needed re: monitors and display Hello Brophs, welcome back to PCHF! Unfortunately your problem is out of my area of expertise, so i will mark this as open to encourage others to come take a look! Thanks for your patience, Smokeycheech __________________ Prework~Speedfan~CCleaner~Rules~PCWizard~BSOD *If an elephant never forgets, how come they never win mastermind?*

06-17-2009	#3
Hengis PCHF Founder & Owner Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: The PCHF Bunker Posts: 15,740 PC Experience: Microsoft Certified Professional	Re: Help needed re: monitors and display Hi, There's a bit missing...in your previous line: My brother has an Acer Aspire 3100. He plugged it into the tv today, and used the tv as a monitor(using a VGA cable). it was working fine but then you posted this: Having done that, his screen now looks a bit odd(sort of slightly squashed, and with less definition/clarity) and also the tv is now not picking up the signal from his laptop through the VGA cable meaning he can't now use it as a monitor/to watch stuff from his laptop on-it almost seems that the VGA port has stopped working/outputting. What happened in between? What did you change...un-plug...or otherwise alter for the status to change from working to not working? __________________ Handy Links: Pre-Work \| System File Checker \| Promote PCHF! \| Post your BSOD \| Post a screenshot \| Network info Tool

06-18-2009	#4
brophs Bronze Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 36 PC Experience: Some Experience	Re: Help needed re: monitors and display Sorry, Hengis, I neglected to mention that. He physically just unplugged the VGA cable. Nothing else.

06-18-2009	#5
Amtech Tech Support Team Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Bolton Posts: 1,652 PC Experience: Some Experience	Re: Help needed re: monitors and display It's possible that your brother bent or snapped some of the pins on the VGA cable. You can check if this is the case just by looking at the cable. Sometimes a few restarts of the computer will get it working again. You may also need to redo the steps you used to set it up in the first place eg Right click desktop Properties Settings Click display 2 Click extend my desktop Click use this as primary monitor Some monitors only scan for new/connected devices once the computer has been restarted. __________________ File Recovery Removing CMOS Battery ASTRA32 (Device Drivers)

06-22-2009	#7
Amtech Tech Support Team Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Bolton Posts: 1,652 PC Experience: Some Experience	Re: Help needed re: monitors and display Remember (once its working) to set the TV as primary monitor using the steps above. This is taken from Vista logon changes Dual monitor display settings in Windows Vista General Discussion "After further research I found the root cause of the dual monitor problem. There is a task in the task scheduler called TMM (Microsoft Transient Multi-Monitor Manager). I disabled this task, and all seems to work fine now." Note that this fix is only for Vista. You don't mention which OS you are running. To disable the service click Start > Run > type in services.msc Right click 'Transient Multi-Monitor Manager' and choose Disable. From what I've seen that service doesn't exist in XP. I use XP and have never had this problem with dual screen configurations. If you are on XP then some workarounds I have heard of are to: Disable Screensavers Disable Powersaving / Power Management Options (eg turn off monitor after x minutes. You can access / disable those features by right clicking a blank space on desktop and choosing Properties from the menu. The settings are within the tabs that pop up. __________________ File Recovery Removing CMOS Battery ASTRA32 (Device Drivers)

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