two monitors

[Seasidepeter]

I have two monitors and a tv connected to my graphics card (nvidia gtx460). One
monitor (Benq) uses a DVI port and is set as the primary display. The other (an
old relysis) shares the vga port with the tv (I have to swap plugs, because the
relysis doesn't handle dvi properly).

The problem: the PC always boots to the monitor on the vga socket, whether it's
the tv or the relysis. Which means I'm sat staring at a blank Benq while the tv
in the other room is asking me choose an OS.

How can I get the PC to boot to the dvi port instead? I see nothing in the BIOS
on the Asus M2N68 motherboard to control it.

Help, anyone?

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

I have two monitors and a tv connected to my graphics card (nvidia
gtx460). One monitor (Benq) uses a DVI port and is set as the primary
display. The other (an old relysis) shares the vga port with the tv
(I have to swap plugs, because the relysis doesn't handle dvi
properly).

The problem: the PC always boots to the monitor on the vga socket,
whether it's the tv or the relysis. Which means I'm sat staring at a
blank Benq while the tv in the other room is asking me choose an OS.


How can I get the PC to boot to the dvi port instead? I see nothing
in the BIOS on the Asus M2N68 motherboard to control it.

Help, anyone?

There should be something in the Nvidia control panel that allows you to
set the default display. I have Nvidia 9600, but yours should be
similar. Look for "Control Panel>Nvidia control panel."

 

[Evan Platt]

There should be something in the Nvidia control panel that allows you to
set the default display. I have Nvidia 9600, but yours should be
similar. Look for "Control Panel>Nvidia control panel."

If I understand the OP's question, he has a dual boot system - meaning
he needs to tell the computer what monitor to boot from. If the OP is
seeing a "Choose which OS to boot from" screen, that's prior to
Windows Booting, hence the Nvidia control panel wouldn't have any
bearing.

 

[pjp]

I have two monitors and a tv connected to my graphics card (nvidia gtx460). One
monitor (Benq) uses a DVI port and is set as the primary display. The other (an
old relysis) shares the vga port with the tv (I have to swap plugs, because the
relysis doesn't handle dvi properly).

The problem: the PC always boots to the monitor on the vga socket, whether it's
the tv or the relysis. Which means I'm sat staring at a blank Benq while the tv
in the other room is asking me choose an OS.

How can I get the PC to boot to the dvi port instead? I see nothing in the BIOS
on the Asus M2N68 motherboard to control it.

Help, anyone?

??? MY NVidia 4850 activates both outputs during boot, e.g. it's seen on
both screens. They become "separate" sometime during the OS boot
process. Mind you I have all three connected at once, e.g. two monitors
and a tv.
The displays are duplicated across the two last "active" monitors even
if one was the tv.

 

[Seasidepeter]

??? MY NVidia 4850 activates both outputs during boot, e.g. it's seen on
both screens. They become "separate" sometime during the OS boot
process. Mind you I have all three connected at once, e.g. two monitors
and a tv.
The displays are duplicated across the two last "active" monitors even
if one was the tv.

Yes, that's what I'd hoped for...but sadly, it boots to the vga connection
first. The 460 will only handle two connections at once despite having three
outputs - and the dvi (my main display) doesn't cut in until windows itself has
booted.

I was hoping there'd be a setting I'd missed in BIOS, or at a low level for the
card itself...

 

[Paul]

Yes, that's what I'd hoped for...but sadly, it boots to the vga
connection first. The 460 will only handle two connections at once
despite having three outputs - and the dvi (my main display) doesn't cut
in until windows itself has booted.

I was hoping there'd be a setting I'd missed in BIOS, or at a low level
for the card itself...

Does your GTX460 have two DVI ? And you're using a DVI to VGA adapter
on one of them ?

If that was the case, perhaps you could switch connectors at the faceplate,
on the assumption that the DVI connectors are checked in order for the
presence of a display. (Then, in each OS, you'll need to "reverse" the position
of the "left" and "right" displays, if using dual monitors in span.)

Video cards have impedance sensing. On the VGA port, a 75 ohm load
can be detected on RGB. On DVI, the signals are differential and
a 100 ohm load is expected across each signal pair. I wouldn't have
expected a problem detecting a DVI. Maybe it is something to
do with the display not having DDC EDID ? There is a serial clock and
data channel on the monitor cable, used to communicate resolution info
from the monitor to the computer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_Data_Channel

You can check the EDID info from each monitor, with this. This tool
is supposed to do a real time check (not rely solely on cached info),
and if a display is missing EDID info, you might be able to determine
that.

In the example here, there are two "real time" entries showing.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

Just a guess,
Paul

 

[Seasidepeter]

Does your GTX460 have two DVI ? And you're using a DVI to VGA adapter
on one of them ?

If that was the case, perhaps you could switch connectors at the faceplate,
on the assumption that the DVI connectors are checked in order for the
presence of a display. (Then, in each OS, you'll need to "reverse" the position
of the "left" and "right" displays, if using dual monitors in span.)

Video cards have impedance sensing. On the VGA port, a 75 ohm load
can be detected on RGB. On DVI, the signals are differential and
a 100 ohm load is expected across each signal pair. I wouldn't have
expected a problem detecting a DVI. Maybe it is something to
do with the display not having DDC EDID ? There is a serial clock and
data channel on the monitor cable, used to communicate resolution info
from the monitor to the computer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_Data_Channel

You can check the EDID info from each monitor, with this. This tool
is supposed to do a real time check (not rely solely on cached info),
and if a display is missing EDID info, you might be able to determine
that.

In the example here, there are two "real time" entries showing.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

Just a guess,
Paul

Thanks for the input Paul - I'll check that out.
In fact the card has two dvi ports and one vga - but it will only run two
screens at the same time. I may get a dvi to vga adapter as you mentioned,
though - at least I wouldn't have to keep swapping plugs.