Plug and Play Monitor Driver Issue

[Baron_Nogood]

Hello all,

I have been having a problem with my monitor setup for ages and am now at the end of my tether...so need some help!

I have a Digimate L-1931W monitor, in plain speak, a 19" Widescreen TFT LCD monitor. The screen had been flickering (losing channels) for a while and I have diagnosed the cable as being the culpret (A VGA D-Sub, 15 pin cable). Change the cable you say...which I have done 3 times. Herein lays the problem.

This is where I show my staggering ignorance. The original cable seems to allow my windows XP machine to locate and install an appropriate driver for the monitor, and my Nvidia adapter has the monitor listed as a "M19W". Using any other VGA cable means that the monitor is listed as a "CRT" monitor in my nvidia control panel, and is impossible to change. Being CRT, it gives me no option to have the relevant widescreen resolution (in this case 1440 x 900), and also annoyingly flickers on and off as if it has a CRT gun! (when changing resolution).

Does anybody have any idea why changing a VGA cable would disable the plug and play driver installation from my monitor? Many thanks for any help.

 

[Baron_Nogood]

Not fixed...not fixed...not fixed

 

[fimbles]

I think this should be entered as the shortest thread in the world!!! 6 mins!!

Damn ive ruined it

Well done by the way!

 

[Baron_Nogood]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh

I was wrong...the issue isn't solved.

If anybody here is a cable guru, please let me know what the standard cable for a plug and play monitor is. Unbelievable that this is a problem.

I bought a new monitor only to find that my problem was my CABLE, ironically I am using the same busted cable on my new monitor, because every other VGA lead that I have bought is missing something vital...AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS!!!

If I don't use my busted cable, the monitor is detected as CRT...I can't win! Help anybody!

 

[Blind Dragon]

well, if you have a DVI out from your video card and this is a new monitor it should have DVI in and you may be able to use a DVI cable

Another thing you could try is reset your computer - hit F1, F5 whatever to go into BIOS and make sure that VGA is enabled - i think it should be under advanced settings.

 

[Baron_Nogood]

Hi Blind,

This being a piece of tat monitor, it has no DVI connection point. Additionally, the monitor is fine with the busted cable, and not fine with any other cable, so a trip to BIOS will not help. Many thanks for suggestions however.

 

[Blind Dragon]

Hi Blind,

This being a piece of tat monitor, it has no DVI connection point. Additionally, the monitor is fine with the busted cable, and not fine with any other cable, so a trip to BIOS will not help. Many thanks for suggestions however.

One more suggestion. Have you tried going to display properties, settings tab, advanced, monitor tab

checking the refresh rate and make sure it is set to recommended hz, and make sure that the box is checked not to display modes that your monitor can't display. <---- that can cause flickering and even damage your monitor

Maybe your busted cable isn't busted

Also since nobody said it yet are your drivers up to date from Nvidia

 

[Baron_Nogood]

Latest drivers...check.

My busted cable is busted, but I am failing to understand why one cable works and the other four don't. The monitor has no problems with refresh rate, hiding modes etc.

Bottom line:

It is a plug and play monitor...when I plug the busted cable in, it plays. If not, it just doesn't and the graphics adapter thinks it is a CRT. When I say the busted cable, I am talking about a cable with some loose connection point that makes the screen flicker green, yellow, or whatever channel has decided to malfuction WITHIN that cable. The CRT cables are great in terms of colour channels...not one channel flickering BUT they don't work with a plug and play monitor and the graphics adapter only recognises the monitor as a CRT.

* No driver issues
* No .inf issues
* No graphics adapter problems

It is just the cable, and no matter where I go I cannot find a distinction between the different VGA, SVGA, 15 pin D-Sub, 14 pin D-Subs on the market.

 

[Blind Dragon]

Latest drivers...check.

My busted cable is busted, but I am failing to understand why one cable works and the other four don't. The monitor has no problems with refresh rate, hiding modes etc.

Bottom line:

It is a plug and play monitor...when I plug the busted cable in, it plays. If not, it just doesn't and the graphics adapter thinks it is a CRT. When I say the busted cable, I am talking about a cable with some loose connection point that makes the screen flicker green, yellow, or whatever channel has decided to malfuction WITHIN that cable. The CRT cables are great in terms of colour channels...not one channel flickering BUT they don't work with a plug and play monitor and the graphics adapter only recognises the monitor as a CRT.

* No driver issues
* No .inf issues
* No graphics adapter problems

It is just the cable, and no matter where I go I cannot find a distinction between the different VGA, SVGA, 15 pin D-Sub, 14 pin D-Subs on the market.

There really is no distinction between them, on the 15 pin D-Sub some of the pins are not used, some manufacturers leave the pins in and some leave them out.

The male pins of the cable may not be making good contact
with the female VGA socket, gently squishing the male pins with a pair of needlenose pliers may temporary or permanent relief if the pins are a tad too small. (On the new cables)

The "busted" male cable may have enlarged the femaile VGA socket receptors and now the new cables aren't getting good contact. Careful if you try this because if you go to far you can break the pins. Pins 1, 2, and 3 are R, G, and B those are the one you should try first

 

[Baron_Nogood]

No.

No socket has hole has been enlarged.

 

[Blind Dragon]

No.

No socket has hole has been enlarged.

Ok, so your problem is the resolution with the CRT cables.

here is the difference

VGA (31.5 KHz - 640x480)
SVGA (35-37 KHz - 800x600)

 

[Baron_Nogood]

No Dragon, my problem is that the plug and play drivers are transfered through my busted cable...but not though any other cable that I have purchased.

 

[Blind Dragon]

K, well that doesn't make sense. I would just get a DVI/VGA converter and try plugging the cable into the DVI port on the graphics card to see if it picks it up.

sorry I couldn't help

 

[Baron_Nogood]

Hi Dragon,

Thanks for your efforts, but same goes for using a DVI/VGA converter. There is something about the cable I have that works that isn't in or part of the other four that I have . Very strangely, my busted cable won't even display anything when put through the DVI/VGA converter.

 

[Blind Dragon]

Yea I realized after I posted that it wouldn't work because

DVI-D This is the digital only of DVI. It is less common thant DVI-I but more common than DVI-A, a DVI-VGA converter will not work on this plug.

 

[Baron_Nogood]

It does however work with the other 4 cables BUT only as a CRT monitor...

 

[Blind Dragon]

It does however work with the other 4 cables BUT only as a CRT monitor...

perfect, leave it like that and restart so that BIOS can recognize the change

google ESCD if you don't already know about it

Edit: and if you end up going into BIOS you may want to check that Plug N Play OS is enabled

 

[Baron_Nogood]

Hi Dragon,

When I said it works, I mean it works incorrectly and in teh same way as described in the original problem. I appreciate your help, but the problem is with the cable. Plugging the old cable back in instantly adjusts the monitor from the "plug and play" monitor which I set up to the correct "m19w" monitor...the old cable loads the P&P drivers each time it is plugged back in without a reboot. The same cannot be said for the other 4 cables...it has nothing to do with bios, monitor drivers etc, it has everything to do with the specific cables.

The only problem with the old cable is...it's buggered. Aside from transfering hte P&P drivers perfectly, it flickers on and off like a ***** because of some dodgy loose connection inside the wire...what I still don't understand is what makes THIS wire any different from the other 4. There is a difference. Believe me.

 

[Blind Dragon]

2 words for you then

proprietary cable

 

[Baron_Nogood]

Ah, probably. Very upset if it is. Especially seeing as the company has no customer support, the worst website in the world (hosted in China of course). Right...to the supplier! Thanks for your time Blind.