Windows 7 a converter from DVI to VGA work for win 7?

[John Loo]

My monitor comes with DVI and VGA interface and I want to use both slots to connect to two computers with only VGA connection. I use a converter from DVI to VGA and connect my monitor to one of the computer (win 7), but when the computer starts, nothing displays on the monitor. Did I do anything wrong with it or win 7 does not support VGA to DVI conversion? I verified the monitor also has VGA slot, if I use VGA on both computer and monitor, it works perfect. Thanks,

 

[kemical]

Hi,
can you post what graphics card your using please.

 

[John Loo]

Thanks for your help, it is

intel(R) Q45/Q43 Express Chipset

I cannot find driver for the monitor, thus it should use the generic driver. I just found from the manual seems to say it is DVI-D connector. In this case, what should I do?

 

[kemical]

Hi,
I did check to see if the device can handle DVI and apparently it can.
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Try installing the latest drivers for the graphics/chipset from here:
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If you only have VGA outputs though it may depend on the actual model you have so if you can please the full details on the motherboard your using or laptop (make and model)

 

[John Loo]

Could you please explain to me possible issues I had run into? The video card itself does not support DVI or it's the VGA to DVI to blame? As I can only see a VGA port on my computer, I had supposed maybe I hadn't get the right VGA to DVI converter while the driver for the video card is fine as it's able to drive a monitor through the monitor's VGA input.

 

[kemical]

It probably isn't producing a signal compatible for use with DVI but VGA only.

 

[John Loo]

It seems I have made certain my monitor has female DVI-D dual link port, while I have purchased a female DVI-I dual link to male VGA connector. Can I purchase a DVI-D dual link cable to ensure my monitor to work with the computer's VGA output signal? I guess it works but just to make sure before I place the order. Thanks,

 

[kemical]

Well a DVI-D is for a digital signal and I'm not sure your gpu is producing one. Maybe you can find a converter but i doubt it will be cheap..

 

[John Loo]

Ok, let me press on a bit more. It seems I get three ports on my computer, VGA, eSATA and DisplayPort. I don't know whether eSATA and DisplayPort also output video signal. Can anybody make certain to me that one of them can send out video signal just like VGA? To link to DVI-D dual link port on my monitor, what do you think the most realistic choice for my case? Can a simple connector work or I need to go for something like an active connector? Does a DVI-D single link cable (coming with the monitor) work to connect a DVI-D port?

 

[ussnorway]

Does a DVI-D single link cable (coming with the monitor) work to connect a DVI-D port?

On W8 laptops yes it should... I never tried this back when I had W7... I'm thinking Kemical is prob on the mark in that the gpu just isn't sending out a signal.

 

[John Loo]

I have done a bit more, but still not successful, actually the screen is black with no display at all. I just cannot understand it, can anybody could possibly explain to me what might be the issue.

It seems my computer has a displayport. So I purchased an active converter from displayport to DVI-D dual link, and then connect a DVI-D single link cable (coming with the monitor) to the monitor which is also a DVI-D dual link port. It seems to me this should work, but unfortunately it does not. Can anybody help me with it. The computer is kind of old, optiplex 760. It does come with VGA and DisplayPort ports. Thanks,

 

[John Loo]

I just tested the whole cable of Displayport to DVI-D dual link ports I have with me on another dell computer, and it works perfectly. This seems its not the fault of the cable, but either the video driver, monitor driver or whatelse? Can you help me to continue debugging the next step? I have to mention that my computer does not have internet connection. Thanks,

 

[kemical]

To be honest John I'm at a loss as to why it isn't working apart from what I've said above. You could try googling the monitor model and seeing if a driver is available as that's what i would try. Perhaps USSNorway will have a better idea?

 

[John Loo]

It seems, after quite some hassle, I did come back to your original suggestions. Sorry that I couldn't do so earlier, but frankly speaking, I couldn't have fully followed your instructions and don't know why they are relevant (still don't understand why a motherboard would matter), thus I had asked for your explanation on my issue. After trying and error and spending more money and gaining more knowledge, I finally found that yours might really be where the issue is.

Now I am trying to upgrade my display driver with the latest I could found (2013?!). For the monitor, it comes with no installation disk/driver. I checked with amazon where I purchased it and they told me that most likely it is automatically installed through windows update, which is an issue for me as my computer does not have internet. Another issue I am concerned is, could it be that the computer cannot detect which port it uses to send video signal? Would this be a valid concern?

Thanks,

 

[ussnorway]

The motherboard matters because it controls all the driver hardware connections and Windows sits on top, using them to manage your cpu/ ram cycles... I suspect the underlining issue is that your dirrect X doesn't have a high enough base number to keep your new hardware working. Dirrect X 11 needs a min of Windows 8 and it's possible that the card simply isn't sending a signal your monitor understands because its too new.

I would have installed a fresh Windows 8 on another hdd to see if that solves it... if so great but that’s the only suggestion I have, sorry.

 

[John Loo]

Thanks for your answer. The test I carried out for DP to DVI-D port is on a win 7 machine, thus it seems the operation system itself is not an issue. One thing I noticed with that machine is if I go control panel/display/change display setting/detect I immediately see three boxes which should represent three monitors to support, but with my own machine, I can only detect one box. Does this mean something not quite right with the win 7 I am having on my own desktop, only supporting one monitor? I tried to upgrade the driver for the display device, but failed saying not supported. I think I will give the idea of connecting DP to DVI-D, but return back to VGA to DVI-D, which should work on my desktop side. Now my concern is whether the monitor itself will recognize signal to DVI-D. Is there way to test that on the software level? The monitor is from acer and it claims the general PnP driver works for it.