On my ACER laptop, it appears like this:
Posted on 03/06/2010 7:05:32 AM PST by Freedom'sWorthIt
Sorry for the Saturday morning vanity - but I know someone out there in Freeperland can help me.
I have a Sony Viao laptop hooked up to a docking station to which is attached my Dell Monitor. I have a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse.
For some unknown reason, my monitor stays in "sleep mode" all the time! I cannot get it to be "on" and viewable! Black screen at all times.
There are 4 buttons on the lower right corner of the monitor and I have tried pushing in each of these buttons and the yellow light that is on the far right button will turn blue - but the screen stays black or says it is in "auto detect entering into power mode" or something like that.
But it doesn't matter. Black screen continues.
(Excerpt) Read more at dell.com ...
Have you tried pushing Fn-F5 to see if the monitor config got mixed up and the laptop is no longer sharing its signal back to itself? I hope that makes sense. Toggle through the monitor configurations and see if the laptop is sharing its signal with the other monitor. Does restarting the computer do anything and did you adjust the power settings to put the monitor to sleep for a longer period?
Thank you for your suggestions also - will do them too since I do NOT want the monitor to go back to sleep.
Now here is the thing - my big monitor is now AWAKE but the laptop screen apparently has now gone to sleep!!!
(I don’t need it now - but when I ever want to take the laptop with me I will - so what do I do to get that screen back working again??)
On mine, whenever I unplug the monitor cable from the laptop, it automatically reverts to a non-external monitor mode.
When I re-attach, I have to go through the right-click Graphics option.
However, if the VGA is connected when I start Windows, it finds the external monitor automatically.
Thanks for your info also. Will have it here for future reference.
I have enjoyed this laptop/docking station/monitor set up for about 2.5 years....it works well or did.
Just this mysterious sleep mode - which now - thanks to FReeper expertise - is gone and my big beautiful monitor is awake again!!
Yoohoo!
Thanks again to all who offered great advice. And for the jokes too....LOL.
OH - ok - so good to know! I can’t remember if I have disconnected the monitor cable from the docking station or not. Don’t think so.
But I have of course undocked the laptop - and, come to think of it, that may be when this problem started - after I put it back in the docking station after having it on a trip with me.
Also, mine has an option in the final menu for:
monitor+notebook
notebook+monitor
If I select the first one, the monitor takes precedence, as long as the VGA cable is attached.
If I select the second one, the laptop screen takes precedence. [This is the option I select.]
LOL - yes - well - the check is in the mail...
OK, step away from the computer and call the FBI... Someone has hacked your computer... LOL
have you tried troubleshooting your system?
Where is this “final menu” located?
The other problem is that SONY loads the Vaio with tons of crapware so something might be fighting in the background. But I am still inclined to check if it is a hardware issue. I deleted, inactivated and removed most of the SONY crap so my machine runs fine.
Um well thought that’s what we were doing this morning - in group support mode here on FR! LOL.
And - as expected - IT WORKED! Trouble found! Solution working! Woohoo!
Actually I ordered this one with XP on it because I had read so much awful stuff about Vista.
When I ordered it from SONY = this was the only VAio laptop they offered with XP on it - and it is one they sell to businesses - many of whom still insist on XP (or did then - which was about 2.5 years ago).
I haven’t ventured into Vista land yet.
“Have you tried pushing Fn-F5 to see if the monitor config got mixed up and the laptop is no longer sharing its signal back to itself? I hope that makes sense. Toggle through the monitor configurations and see if the laptop is sharing its signal with the other monitor. Does restarting the computer do anything and did you adjust the power settings to put the monitor to sleep for a longer period?”
Oh the Fn-F5 key is related to the monitor config??
Well now that the monitor is working i hesitate to touch anything.....but I’ll have this post to go back to later if needed.
No restarting the computer did nothing to solve the monitor issue. And I didn’t adjust the power settings.
I think the issue is solved except for getting the laptop screen to work again - when need it to work. I don’t now so am going to leave well enough alone....whew!
I think I mentioned that on my post earlier that you have to go to graphic properties to adjust the screen display.
bttt
--I would try the "ALT key + F8" combo (hold down ALT and tap F8) until both monitors come on again at the same time. They will rotate one off, one on until both illuminate. (this is the method to use for a projector, too).
Yes you did - thank you! I just didn’t know where to go to get to “graphics” display or properties....TomGuy got me there! Thanks!
Beautiful - thank you!! That makes it so clear!!!!
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