X201+Ultrabase has a hard time driving two external monitors
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 7:09 pm
I have a new Lenovo X201, running 64-bit Windows 7. Its
display adapter software is having a bit of a problem
handling two external monitors. Has anyone else had any
success with a dual monitor setup?
I have it set up like this:
I.e. my X201 is docked in the Ultrabase. The VGA port
in the Ultrabase is cabled via a VGA cable to an external
1280x1024 monitor (Samsung SyncMater 192N). The DisplayPort
in the Ultrabase has a DisplayPort to Single-Link DVI-D
cable connected to it (Lenovo FRU 43N9160), which is cabled
to a DVI-D-to-HDMI cable, which is plugged into an external
1920x1200 monitor (HANNS.G HG281D.)
This setup works well once I get it working, i.e. both monitors
work well (with the laptop internal LCD screen off), with an
extended desktop set up displaying on the HDMI monitor as primary
and the VGA as secondary.
The challenge is in getting the setup working when I dock or
or reboot the PC. Typically the HDMI monitor will come
up working fine, while the VGA will fail to display (screen
is just dark.)
I may be able to then get the VGA display working at a lower
resolution (e.g. 960x600), and then I can increase its
resolution after some minutes/hours till it gets working at
the native (1280x1024) resolution. For example,
this afternoon, the VGA display could only display at 960x600
- higher resolutions just yielded a black screen. Then, after
several hours, I tried setting the VGA to 1280x1024 - and this
time it took.
Sometimes, when the VGA monitor is not displaying, I can see
a flicker in the lower right corner of the screen, when changing
the video settings, after which the screen goes and stays black.
This behavior has been seen with the following video adapter
drivers:
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD 8.15.10.2025 dated 12/18/2009
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD 8.15.10.2008 dated 11/21/2009
Intel(R) HD Graphics 8.15.10.2110 dated 4/21/2010
I figure the core problem must be in the Intel display adapter
driver ... does anyone have the "inside track" on this?
display adapter software is having a bit of a problem
handling two external monitors. Has anyone else had any
success with a dual monitor setup?
I have it set up like this:
Code: Select all
[1280x1024]==VGA cable==[[VGA] [DisplayPort]]=DP-to-DVI-D=[]=DVI-D-to-HDMI=[1920x1200]
[ Ultrabase ]
[ X201 ]
in the Ultrabase is cabled via a VGA cable to an external
1280x1024 monitor (Samsung SyncMater 192N). The DisplayPort
in the Ultrabase has a DisplayPort to Single-Link DVI-D
cable connected to it (Lenovo FRU 43N9160), which is cabled
to a DVI-D-to-HDMI cable, which is plugged into an external
1920x1200 monitor (HANNS.G HG281D.)
This setup works well once I get it working, i.e. both monitors
work well (with the laptop internal LCD screen off), with an
extended desktop set up displaying on the HDMI monitor as primary
and the VGA as secondary.
The challenge is in getting the setup working when I dock or
or reboot the PC. Typically the HDMI monitor will come
up working fine, while the VGA will fail to display (screen
is just dark.)
I may be able to then get the VGA display working at a lower
resolution (e.g. 960x600), and then I can increase its
resolution after some minutes/hours till it gets working at
the native (1280x1024) resolution. For example,
this afternoon, the VGA display could only display at 960x600
- higher resolutions just yielded a black screen. Then, after
several hours, I tried setting the VGA to 1280x1024 - and this
time it took.
Sometimes, when the VGA monitor is not displaying, I can see
a flicker in the lower right corner of the screen, when changing
the video settings, after which the screen goes and stays black.
This behavior has been seen with the following video adapter
drivers:
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD 8.15.10.2025 dated 12/18/2009
Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD 8.15.10.2008 dated 11/21/2009
Intel(R) HD Graphics 8.15.10.2110 dated 4/21/2010
I figure the core problem must be in the Intel display adapter
driver ... does anyone have the "inside track" on this?