Laptop suddenly stopped outputting to TV?

Brolac · 12/01/13 - 23:38

Hi I have my laptop linked up with a vga cable to the TV only now it doesn't work having been fine for a couple of years.
The only thing I've done with the lappy is upgrade the Ram from 2 to the max of 4 Gb.
Any ideas would be gratefully received, though I have been searching for the answer on Google to no avail.

Thanks

Brolac

albertd · 12/01/13 - 23:48

I have a vague recollection that one of the Function keys is used to suppress output to projectors, so maybe it is the same for TVs.

R410 · 12/01/13 - 23:52

If you have Windows 7, try holding the Windows Key down and pressing P to bring up the easy display switcher, and select either Duplicate screens, extendable displays and projector displays.

Stig · 13/01/13 - 07:53

Brolac wrote: »

Hi I have my laptop linked up with a vga cable to the TV only now it doesn't work having been fine for a couple of years.
The only thing I've done with the lappy is upgrade the Ram from 2 to the max of 4 Gb.

Do you mean that you did the RAM upgrade and then the VGA output stopped straight away, or some time after?

Have you tried another VGA cable or TV/monitor?

Brolac · 13/01/13 - 11:54

I don't know stig, the thing is I only use the monitor function for you tube or similar clips due to the laptop being too dark most times.It's just the only hardware related thing I've done in the last few weeks that seems like it might be related.
I don't think I have another vga cable, though I might have on my old PC.I'll have a look now.

Brolac · 13/01/13 - 12:29

I found another cable so a faulty VGA lead is now ruled out.

chrisjr · 13/01/13 - 14:09

You say you have an old PC. Does that include the monitor? If it does then plug the monitor into the laptop instead of the TV. If you get an image on the monitor then that at least proves the VGA output on the laptop is working.

There are any number of reasons why it may not be working. Very often there is one of the F keys that along with the Fn key switches the VGA output on and off. If there is such a key on your laptop it may have an icon of a monitor screen on it.

Another possibility is some setting in the graphics card drivers. If you have something like an ATI or NVidia chipset in the laptop they usually have their own control panel app that lets you set up the display properties. That may include enabling/disabling the VGA socket.

It is also possible the VGA output has got itself set to something the TV doesn't like. Though if that were the case the TV usually displays an error message on screen.

A further possibility is that there is a setting in the BIOS to enable/disable the VGA socket. So may be worth having a look in there, especially if you had to go in to the BIOS when you did the RAM upgrade.

Brolac · 13/01/13 - 14:22

Thanks, I'll check with the other monitor -I never thought of that!
The other thing now is when I enable dual screens my LT screen refreshes 3 times instead of the previous two, like it's trying and failing to produce a readable second screen.That's what I assume may be happening.

chrisjr · 13/01/13 - 14:30

What exactly do you mean by "refreshes 3 times instead of 2"?

Brolac · 13/01/13 - 14:45

The LT used to change when using the FN and F5 key ending in a narrower screen on the LT and a full widescreen image on the TV, this is what I mean and that occurred twice before.
Now it happens 3 times on the LT resulting mostly in a normal image as if it's not being able to produce an output and defaults to the normal screen despite mostly indicating it's in dual screen mod.

The old PC monitor doesn't show an image either saying no signal.

And I didn't go into the bios when installing the ram mods.

chrisjr · 13/01/13 - 15:24

OK so to output to the TV you pressed Fn-F5. If you had an image on the TV (when it was working) and then pressed Fn-F5 did that make the TV go blank? If it did then that sounds like normal behaviour.

I have known some laptops that have three options. Press the key combo once and it blanks the laptop screen and you get just the external screen. Press a second time and you get both laptop and external. Press a third and it goes back to just laptop.

It could be that on yours Fn-F5 switches the external screen on and off with alternate presses. If that is the case there is a condition known as contact bounce where when you operate a switch instead of the contacts operating ON-OFF cleanly they literally bounce so you get ON-OFF-ON-OFF. So if the F5 key is "bouncing" the laptop could interpret that as two presses and hence it switches the external screen on then straight off again.

One thing you could try. Press and hold down both Fn and F5 keys. Then let go of the FN key first then the F5 instead of letting go of both at the same time. If it is a dodgy key contact then that might work as the screen switching may only happen if both switches operate at the same time.

Brolac · 13/01/13 - 16:12

aha since removing the old screen I didn't connect the TV end with the VGA cable.Now as there's no device connected, the graphics media accelerator says you can't enable without connecting to two displays-which means it does know when it's connected and at the mo only have the LCD option in the FN drop down flash panel until I connect it.Now this seems like a TV input problem,
whereas before I thought it may have been my video card???

I don't think it's a sticky key thing as it tells me what mode it's in, output display shows the symbols.

Hey there!

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