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Laptop, Monitor Not Detected

V

Vinny

pfm Member
My laptop has an unrelaible internal connection to the screen so I decided to buy a cheap, used, monitor from Amazon.
Two hassles - I don't think that I have ever seen one before but despite the Amazon listing just saying 19 inch monitor, what has arrived has, to me, a non-standard, almost square, screen. (Presumably this aspect ratio has a name?)
It has a VGA connector, so I am using it via a VGA/HDMI adapter. I plugged everything in and the display was immediately "duplicated" on the monitor, which is when I realised the aspect ratio, as not ALL of the display fits on the monitor screen and the display is stretched top to bottom.

Ahhh!! I can fix that by setting the monitor up differently to the laptop screen. Settings - displays - detect - "Didn't detect another display", and that is about all that I can find online. I did try a restart.

Can the monitor display be "fixed" in some way, or is this another Amazon return?
 
What make and model is the monitor? Without further info it is impossible to comment, though the ‘monitor not detested’ message is one I’ll certainly save for the future should I ever return to programming!
 
I just noticed that and you were too quick - - I thought singularly appropriate!!!

Monitor and laptop are Dell. Monitor appears to be E177FPf - date made - 2006
 
Duplicating the display can cause issues if the native resolutions of the laptop screen and the external monitor differ - so that could be a factor. I've also had issues in the past using VGA to HDMI adaptors where the laptop seemed to struggle to identify the monitor capabilities (including refresh rates) and didn't always work well (or sometimes at all).

The specs I've seen on the E177FPf (which I'm sure I've had a few of over the years) is 1280 x 1024 native which is lower than a lot of laptops would be native (e.g. the Lenovo I'm using is 1920 x 1080).
 
Thanks @SteveG
The information labels were all buried behind the power and VGA cables, so I have just removed those and reconnected, and the monitor now looks correct - big chunk of black a the bottom due to wrong aspect ratio. The laptop still can't detect it though.

If it now fires-up correctly every time I switch on, it may be worth living with........ £25 or so................
 
Dont be so tight would be my suggestion. You could get a monitor from the last 10 years second hand for 25 quid.
 
garyi said:
Dont be so tight would be my suggestion. You could get a monitor from the last 10 years second hand for 25 quid.
Click to expand...

I am unsure of any logic to that comment - you are accusing me of being tight for spending £25 and then suggesting that I spend £25. :confused:

See my wanted ad' - they are also essentially unobtainium in 17/19 inch and 1920 x 1080 - I do not live on my laptop and need no bigger screen than around 15 inch, but they are even rarer.
 
What you are asking for though was not really a thing as far as I am aware. Pixel density would be massive for a 1920x1080 display at 15 inch or even 19 inch, when 19 inch was a thing 1080 wasn't so much. Presumably its space constraint that is determining this size you need?

VGA is seriously old school at this stage, mind you how old is your laptop?
 
garyi said:
What you are asking for though was not really a thing as far as I am aware.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what that means. I was essentially asking if the resolution of a monitor can be changed (although I did not realise at that stage).

garyi said:
Pixel density would be massive for a 1920x1080 display at 15 inch
Click to expand...

If you read the reply from @SteveG it will be obvious - my laptop is 1920 x 1080 (13 inch display) - Inspiron 5370. The same logic applies to your comment about VGA - I am/was using an adapter and that would be unlikely if my laptop was VGA (I also doubt that a VGA socket would fit in the thickness of a 5370).

I have never bought a monitor before so was unaware that they have a fixed (native) resolution - I do now. This is not helped by very, very many listings, though most especially for used monitors, not mentioning a resolution, or only hidden in tiny print, and if given at all, is very often incorrect - having spent what seems to be hours searching, I know all that all too well, along with the fact that 15, 17 and 19 inch 1920 x 1080 monitors do exist, but as above - they are like hens' teeth, except new.

Space does not really figure - my eye-sight is fine to read a 13 inch screen at 80% zoom, so I have no need for anything bigger.
 
Vinny said:
I have no idea what that means. I was essentially asking if the resolution of a monitor can be changed (although I did not realise at that stage).



If you read the reply from @SteveG it will be obvious - my laptop is 1920 x 1080 (13 inch display) - Inspiron 5370. The same logic applies to your comment about VGA - I am/was using an adapter and that would be unlikely if my laptop was VGA (I also doubt that a VGA socket would fit in the thickness of a 5370).

I have never bought a monitor before so was unaware that they have a fixed (native) resolution - I do now. This is not helped by very, very many listings, though most especially for used monitors, not mentioning a resolution, or only hidden in tiny print, and if given at all, is very often incorrect - having spent what seems to be hours searching, I know all that all too well, along with the fact that 15, 17 and 19 inch 1920 x 1080 monitors do exist, but as above - they are like hens' teeth, except new.

Space does not really figure - my eye-sight is fine to read a 13 inch screen at 80% zoom, so I have no need for anything bigger.
Click to expand...
They don't! I still have and use a 22 year old iiyama 44cm monitor. This ancient although excellent monitor only goes up to 1280*1024 but I can use any standard resolution down to 640*480. My relatively new 28* monitor is QFHD 3840*2160 and Windows 11 will drive it down to 800*600.

If you are using Windows put the cursor anywhere on the screen background and right click the mouse button. This will bring up the display options. You can separately configure your internal and external screens.

As for screen measurements. Depending on their intended use vary from square like my iiyama to various rectangles like my QFHD monitor. It doesn't stop you using them but depending on how you scan them (resolution) you may end up with black bars top/bottom or sides. Thats the way it works. Only the pixels that you are scanning light up!

DV
 
The resolution drop-down menuin display properties should automatically populate with the native resolution at the top.

I also use a 4:3 dell 17” monitor of similar vintage and it’s 1280x1024. If there’s an option to do it, Reset monitor config to defaults before doing anything else, too.
 
Darth Vader said:
If you are using Windows put the cursor anywhere on the screen background and right click the mouse button. This will bring up the display options. You can separately configure your internal and external screens.
Click to expand...

If you refer to my OP, I cannot do that as the laptop does not find the monitor, no matter what I try. Near certainly, as @SteveG suggested, because it is a VGA monitor driven via a HDMI/VGA adapter. That was my very first thought.

The "problem" monitor has been returned.

Essentially no used monitors in small screen sizes are HDMI - I have two choices - sit and wait for a small screen HDMI, or buy a 1920 x 1080 VGA monitor and use an adapter. One way or another I will go for the latter.
 
Vinny said:
If you refer to my IP, I cannot do that as the laptop does not find the monitor, no matter what I try. Near certainly, as @SteveG suggested, because it is a VGA monitor driven via a HDMI/VGA adapter. That was my very first thought.

The "problem" monitor has been returned.

Essentially no used monitors in small screen sizes are HDMI - I have two choices - sit and wait for a small screen HDMI, or buy a 1920 x 1080 VGA monitor and use an adapter. One way or another I will go for the latter.
Click to expand...
First HDMI. I can connect my 22 yo monitor to HDMI and DVI using cheap adapters. I have used it with a Raspberry Pi and Mac Mini as well as PCs. VGA is a red herring its just a mode of operation. Its the input connectors that matter and then you sometimes have to tell the monitor which connector you are using. In my case I use either 15 pin D-sub or 24 pin DVI-D on the iiyama with the correct adapter for HDMI. You'll need to identify the video connectors on both the computer and a monitor or TV and then choose the correct cable/adapter.

This statement "I plugged everything in and the display was immediately "duplicated" on the monitor" tells me that the monitor is working. Maybe thats all your laptop can do.

Or a fault is with the internal display adapter. Maybe something needs to be set up in the BIOS or elsewhere. You could plug the laptop into your TV if it has video ports and you use the correct cable.


DV
 
@Darth Vader - you are MAHOOSIVELY over-thinking and over-assuming.

My laptop has USB ports and an HDMI. That is it.

I VERY, very seldom watch TV so it is "tiny" (AKA normal sized for 20 years ago), was bought at the time of change from analogue to digital and has, if memory serves, just some phono connectors.

I want a monitor that fills the screen with the output from my laptop, and as small as reasonably possible, at little cost. I do not want to play games on it, or films, or need it to prepare dinner for me. My laptop screen has a dodgy connection somewher within the processor part (I can occasionally go to pick it up and totally minimal pressure on the under-side will blank the screen).
I could dismantle the laptop to try to fix it, but I really cannot be arsed, and do not mind paying £20-30 for a monitor and putting up with the cable etc.

The shift keys have also failed on the keyboard, I could have stripped that after thorough cleaning failed to fix it (although both keys failing would indicate that (lack of) cleanliness was an unlucky cause). So, I bought a cordless keyboard.

The problem with consumer-level computer hardware is that it is made down to a budget. There will be many, many hundreds of professional/office-grade Dell laptops at work, most getting really hammered. I have never heard of any hardware problems - lots of software hassles, not hardware.
 
My Pi4 only has HDMI but it connects to my 22yo monitor using the correct adapters. You have already said that the monitor displayed a duplicate screen so it is working. My money is on the computer either doesn't have the ability for an independent monitor other than duplicate or something in the BIOS needs setting.

Its unlikely that laptops will have dual monitor support unless they have a suitable discrete GPU that has this capability such as NVIA

Time for bed zzzzzzz

DV
 
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I have a Samsung tv as a monitor works great.

A 24” tv with a narrow bezel doesn’t look that big.


Pete
 
Update in case anyone finds the above and is curious or has the same problem.

A 21.5 inch 1920 x 1080 HP monitor, pretty much pristine, cost me £18 off the bay. I gave up trying to find a smaller, s/h screen.
Plugged into my laptop while running, it duplicated the screen and my PC could not detect it (if the laptop could not support more than one screen/monitor, I am unsure why it would have an HDMI connector and the software would offer the possibility to use one).
This morning, having switched off over-night, the monitor showed a screen-saver. Turns out, the laptop, presumably as it booted, had found the monitor and extended the display.
Connection is via a VGA/VGA cable and VGA/HDMI adapter.
 
If the core problem is that the laptop cannot be resurrected, you want to move on to another machine, and you want to get at files and data on its internal drive, my inclination would be simply to open it up and remove the drive, taking it away to either insert into a desktop machine as a secondary drive, or put into a USB caddy to connect to another machine; in both cases to copy/paste the data off the drive.
 
The problems with the laptop is a bust touch-switch track somewhere under the keyboard and a dodgy connection somewhere in the screen lead.
Having been down more disasterous routes than this before, the only common form of memory that I could not read, assuming software was available, are 5 1/4 floppy discs - all else I have stand-alone docking stations or drives for.
The laptop SSD should last almost for ever, so there seems little point other than simple convenience, to do away with the laptop.
A desktop machine is the very last thing that I would choose to have, although it might, ought to, save me many wasted hours, as it could not sit directly beside me or on my lap.

By choice, if they were trully robust at "normal" prices, a 15 inch laptop would be ideal for what I need - as above, professional grade Dell ones last for ever through endless abuse at work, but not consumer grade ones.

As it is now - something like £50 has the current laptop doing everything that I need and want, albeit the monitor is far larger than I need/want, although that was my choice as I saw no logic in spending £100+++ on a new 19 inch monitor. (I can always keep an eye open on the Bay for a s/h 19 inch...)
 
There has to come a point, surely, where you consider a new laptop, or even a new secondhand laptop.
 
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