[SOLVED] Dual monitor problem with Gigabyte ATI HD4550

etherealise · 06-30-2009, 07:13 PM

Hi, I'm having a problem with getting dual monitors working on a new PC.

The problem is definitely not with the monitors (2XLCD) themselves, as each displays correctly as PC boots up through bios and then windows. Ie. both monitors display exactly the same thing at this stage.

Once it gets to the desktop though, I can't view anything on the secondary monitor, even though the control panel display settings says it's active and that the desktop is extended onto the secondary monitor. The monitor's light is clearly not on standby, and there is not a "no input signal" message so it's as if windows thinks there's something being displayed when there's not. Dragging any windows or cursor over to the secondary monitor results in the image disappearing once it leaves the primary screen.

I'm using a DVI to VGA adapter for the second output, so both monitors are plugged into VGA connections. There's no problem with those as each output either VGA to monitor 1 or DVI-VGA to monitor two can be configured independently to be the primary monitor, and I can view the desktop on a single monitor setup. I just can't get both to display

I've tried swapping primary monitors, unticking and reticking the boxes for 'extend my desktop to this monitor', reapplying, rebooting, changing screen resolution etc. I've also tried reinstalling the graphics card drivers, which didn't fix the problem.
I've also searched on forums like this one for advice but couldn't find anything that helped. I'm really at a loss, other than maybe seeing if there are updated drivers available for the graphics card (since I only installed the ones that came on the disc with the box)

I used to have no problems with this dual monitor setup on win98 SE with an NVIDIA card. If anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Daniel

PC specs
Win XP service pack III

CPU:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 CPU, 3.16 GHz, FSB 1333MHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 45nm,
Socket LGA775

M/B:

Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR, P45+ICH10R, FSB 1600MHz, DDR3 2200, PCI-E
x16
2.0, 2oz PCB, SATAII, RAID,GbN LAN, 7.1-chann Corsair TW3X4G1333C9 4GB (2x XMS3 2GB) PC-10600 (1333MHz) XMP DDR3 RAM,2x240-pin DIMMs, Non ECC Unbuffered, 9-9-9-24

GRAPHICS CARD: Gigabyte ATI HD4550 PCI-E 2.0 512MB 64-bit GDDR3, Dual Link DVI-I /D-sub /

etherealise · 06-30-2009, 11:41 PM

Forgot to mention the PSU: Antec EA 500 -- 500 Watt ATX12V v2.2 PSU

etherealise · 07-02-2009, 05:14 PM

Problem solved! Updating drivers for catalyst Control fixed it.

**koala** · 07-06-2009, 06:47 PM

Sorry you didn't get a reply this time, but thanks for posting your solution.

06-30-2009, 07:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
etherealise Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 3 OS: win XP service pack 3	[SOLVED] Dual monitor problem with Gigabyte ATI HD4550 Hi, I'm having a problem with getting dual monitors working on a new PC. The problem is definitely not with the monitors (2XLCD) themselves, as each displays correctly as PC boots up through bios and then windows. Ie. both monitors display exactly the same thing at this stage. Once it gets to the desktop though, I can't view anything on the secondary monitor, even though the control panel display settings says it's active and that the desktop is extended onto the secondary monitor. The monitor's light is clearly not on standby, and there is not a "no input signal" message so it's as if windows thinks there's something being displayed when there's not. Dragging any windows or cursor over to the secondary monitor results in the image disappearing once it leaves the primary screen. I'm using a DVI to VGA adapter for the second output, so both monitors are plugged into VGA connections. There's no problem with those as each output either VGA to monitor 1 or DVI-VGA to monitor two can be configured independently to be the primary monitor, and I can view the desktop on a single monitor setup. I just can't get both to display I've tried swapping primary monitors, unticking and reticking the boxes for 'extend my desktop to this monitor', reapplying, rebooting, changing screen resolution etc. I've also tried reinstalling the graphics card drivers, which didn't fix the problem. I've also searched on forums like this one for advice but couldn't find anything that helped. I'm really at a loss, other than maybe seeing if there are updated drivers available for the graphics card (since I only installed the ones that came on the disc with the box) I used to have no problems with this dual monitor setup on win98 SE with an NVIDIA card. If anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance, Daniel PC specs Win XP service pack III CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 CPU, 3.16 GHz, FSB 1333MHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 45nm, Socket LGA775 M/B: Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR, P45+ICH10R, FSB 1600MHz, DDR3 2200, PCI-E x16 2.0, 2oz PCB, SATAII, RAID,GbN LAN, 7.1-chann Corsair TW3X4G1333C9 4GB (2x XMS3 2GB) PC-10600 (1333MHz) XMP DDR3 RAM,2x240-pin DIMMs, Non ECC Unbuffered, 9-9-9-24 GRAPHICS CARD: Gigabyte ATI HD4550 PCI-E 2.0 512MB 64-bit GDDR3, Dual Link DVI-I /D-sub / Last edited by etherealise; 06-30-2009 at 07:16 PM.

06-30-2009, 11:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
etherealise Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 3 OS: win XP service pack 3	Re: Dual monitor problem with Gigabyte ATI HD4550 Forgot to mention the PSU: Antec EA 500 -- 500 Watt ATX12V v2.2 PSU

07-02-2009, 05:14 PM	#3 (permalink)
etherealise Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 3 OS: win XP service pack 3	Re: Dual monitor problem with Gigabyte ATI HD4550 Problem solved! Updating drivers for catalyst Control fixed it.

07-06-2009, 06:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,174 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: Dual monitor problem with Gigabyte ATI HD4550 Sorry you didn't get a reply this time, but thanks for posting your solution. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here