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Thread: Vista Dual monitor problems

  1. #1

    Question Vista Dual monitor problems

    Hi, I have a Pavillion DV8110us laptop (http://tech.yahoo.com/ps/hp-pavilion...0us/1993556903) that i just installed vista on a few weeks ago. Over all the switch has been alright biggest annoyance so far is when it comes to multiple monitors.

    When i go to plug in a secondary monitor the computer automatically switches the display over to the secondary monitor and blacks out the laptop monitor. When i go into the mobility settings or even the display settings it doesnt see there as being two monitors at all. Ive tried different drivers including the one that installed on the vista install and the one from HP's website for the laptop when vista is installed.

    To further the problem when i disconnect the second display i have to restart the computer for the regular display to kick back in.

    The keyboard shortcut also does nothing to remedy the problem.

    Any ideas???
    Thanks a bunch.

  2. #2
    Update...

    I just spoke with the HP online support. They told me it could be because i have only 1.25 gigs of ram installed on the note book. They said i need more video ram to run two monitors. Does this sound correct and if it is wouldnt that be effected by the dedicated video ram on the notebook (128).


    Thanks

  3. #3
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    No you shouldnt need more memory for that... you should be able to do it with a lot less. There should be a key combination you can press to activate it such as FN-f5

  4. #4
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    They told me it could be because i have only 1.25 gigs of ram installed on the note book. They said i need more video ram to run two monitors.
    That "sort of makes sense" The ATi chipset only has 128Mb of dedicated video RAM, which is the minimum for Vista AFAIK. The 1.25Gb of DDR should be adequate.

    Check your BIOS/Setup and see if you have memory sharing enabled I believe that it will allow you to share 128Mb or whatever of the system RAM. Presumably this is to support dual displays?

  5. #5
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    This may... hopefully answer your question or explain why your Dual monitor setup might not be working in

    http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device...imonVista.mspx

    They told me it could be because i have only 1.25 gigs of ram installed on the note book. They said i need more video ram to run two monitors.
    That statement from the tech you spoke to sounds like he didn't know what he was doing and it was an easy way to get you off the phone.

    I bought a Compaq Laptop (Shortly after HP bought them), it was running XP Home, I know.. I know... different OS . it only had 512MB of ram with 16Mb shared for Video, with the ATI Mobile Drivers, and was able to run the Dual display either stretched across both monitors or mirroring across both monitors. With no issues.


    You may want to check this link out
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...1815924&dlc=en

    Its possible that in order to get you Quick Launc Buttons to work in vista you will need to install the drivers for it. This could explain why you have to reboot your computer to activate your laptop monitor again.

    Hope that helps resolve your issue
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  6. #6
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hmmm, another thought:

    that i just installed vista on a few weeks ago. Over all the switch has been alright biggest annoyance so far is when it comes to multiple monitors.
    Was that a clean install or an upgrade? If it was an upgrade then make sure that you uninstall the previous drivers (XP?) That can sometimes be a cause of weird things happening

  7. #7
    Thank you everyone for your help.

    I installed the drivers for the quick launch and i also fixed the ram so its shared and has the dedicated together.

    Its now working.

    I knew something was up when she told me i didnt have enough ram and to make it even more convincing they were trying to screw me she offered to sell me the ram i would "need" right there.

    Damn tech support.

    Thank you again!
    Last edited by swizeguy; March 1st, 2008 at 01:02 AM.

  8. #8
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Glad to hear that you have made it work.

    Certainly you do not need more system RAM (although the more the merrier ?)

    The big difference as I see it is the AERO video thingy, which is much more demanding than previous operating systems.......... XP only mentions a resolution of 800 x 600 SVGA.

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