How Do I Get My Computer Monitor to Work Again? (vanity)

my computer ^ | March 6, 2010 | self

[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.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

That did not work.

[rabidralph]

Are you using both your monitors as one large monitor? Or are you mimicking your laptop display with your larger monitor? You will have to adjust your graphic display settings to compensate. If you have SLI enabled on your graphics card setting, turn it off/disable it. For some reason, on my work computer, the SLI set to on turns off one of my monitors. I use my work monitors as one large monitor and whenever I update my graphics card, the Nvidia software defaults to the SLI setting and I have to disable it.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

I am mimicking my laptop screen on the big monitor.

[JimWayne]

Oh the Fn-F5 key is related to the monitor config??

One of the function keys is related to which monitor gets the signal. The function key should have the picture containing monitors in it. On my laptop, it is F3. If you repeatedly press it, it cycles the signal going only to the laptop screen, the external monitor, both or puts it in sleep mode (neither screen). So keep pressing it until you get the desired situation.

[fso301]

Some LCD monitors will go black if they can’t support the resolution.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks to you both for the added info.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Connecting directly to the Sony VGA port is THE first step. Isolate the problem. If it works perfectly that way, the docking station is the problem.
If it does the same thing, the next step would be to try a different monitor somehow. If that does the same thing then the laptop is probably the issue.

Of course, all of this is done with the wireless keyboard and mouse out of the picture...use just the laptop to troubleshoot.

Good luck.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks.

It appears the solution TomGuy gave is working!

Yoohoo!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Awesome.

Ain't FR great?

To paraphrase Arlo Guthrie...."You can get anything you want at Robinson's Restaurant!"

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Yes it is! Free Republic is just THE BEST place in cyber world or in the “real” world to find out just about anything!

[SDshooter]

This is where I keep having problems. I keep losing the “graphics properties” and “graphics options” when I right-click on my desktop. If I cycle through Fn-F7 it doesn’t show an external monitor option either. It’s like I keep losing what I think is called the Intel Graphics Accelerator..? My Vaio VGN-FE550G is running WinXP. It’s getting very frustrating that I keep losing the ability to output to my external monitor... X(

[TomGuy]

On mine, the graphic options (Intel Graphics Accelerator) only shows IF the external VGA cable is plugged in to the laptop.

No cable, no option — because it thinks none is required.

Be sure your external VGA is plugged in before right clicking on the “graphics properties”.