Thinkpads Forum

I'm not sure if this is specific to my X1 Yoga, so apologies if it should be there (I'm happy to delete and repost).

I have an old monitor with only VGA and DVI. Nothing special but good enough for occasional use. It worked well with a USB-C-to-DVI cable. I was hoping to switch to the notebook's HDMI port and bought an adapter (eBay item # 303407362975 ). When I connect the HDMI cable & adapter to the notebook, the computer recognizes there are 2 displays, but the external screen stays blank and in fact the power light goes out.

Should this setup work? Is there some setting I can change so it works?

Thanks.
=aw

I have a monitor with Displayport and DVI-I inputs, and occasionally use an HDMI female to DVI male passive adapter similar to this one in conjunction with a normal HDMI cable. It works OK, but sometimes the monitor doesn't detect a signal.

In my case, the usual cause is a loose connection. In your case, it's possible you got a dud. Try a different adapter and/or HDMI cable.

Another thing, what is the resolution of that monitor? DVI and HDMI are signal-compatible, but only to a certain point: DVI's maximum clock frequency is 165MHz, which results in a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 @ 60Hz.

Above that resolution, DVI requires a dual-link connection, which HDMI doesn't support (actually the HDMI specification does support it, but no device has that capability). Instead, HDMI 1.3 and later uses a higher clock frequency (340 MHz) to support higher resolutions, which of course DVI doesn't support.

Thank you, this is a 22" BenQ 1680x1050 display (ca. 2008) so it doesn't sound like the connection is being overrun. It worked with a USB-C-to-DVI cable. Guess I'll test the connections and try a different HDMI cable. Only have the one adapter. Here's a link to the adapter I bought. https://tinyurl.com/rk8axa3

At home I run with 2 externals, I think one is using the USB-C port (to DVI) and the other is using the HDMI port (to HDMI). Those are even older Dell monitors, one doesn't even have anything newer than DVI (!). Still displays a nice image at 1920x1200 though.

I've written to the vendor and will see if he prefers to send me another or just refund.The strangest part is when the cable isn't connected, the display shows "no cable connected" or something, but as soon as I plug it in to the notebook, the screen goes blank AND the light on the power button goes off. I had wondered if that was a sign of anything specific.

=aw