Primary monitor does not come up

My previous combination of an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT Video Card and a V7 (whiteplate generic) monitor had a problem:

When set up for a dual-monitor configuration, and placed into sleep, my primary monitor would sometimes not resume. The configuration would switch to the second monitor being primary. The real primary monitor would no longer be detectable by the system.

It would remain undetectable even if the computer was restarted, or the formerly secondary monitor would be unplugged before or during the restart. Refreshing the Device Manager would have no effect as well -- the monitor does not appear there.

If your computer exhibits the following symptoms, here is how to recover your configuration and have the primary monitor come up.

 

1. With the primary monitor undetectable and inactive, login into Windows on the formerly secondary monitor. Save all of your work and shut down. A shutdown is required to fix this issue.

2. With the computer power OFF, swap the video connectors on the computer graphics card, leading to monitors.

3. Start the computer. The computer should still run with the formerly secondary monitor as the current primary monitor. However, the formerly primary monitor should now be at least detectable. If it isn't -- don't worry. We are just trying to force a hardware detection. Shut your computer down again.

4. Swap the cables again, now back to their original configuration.

5. Start the computer. The displays should now be in their original configuration.

 

Note: this problem persisted until I changed my graphics card. I never found a permanent solution.

Note: If your monitor still does not come up, then check its connections. A cable may have got disconnected. Also, it is sometimes necessary not to connect one of the monitors during this reset procedure, and to temporarily do several login-shut-down cycles with only one of the monitors connected.



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Page last modified 05-Feb-17 20:40:47 EST
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