External monitors no longer work

[yourippehdees]

Hi all,

I've been wrestling with this problem for a week now. Hoping someone here can help.

I've got a W520, 2nd gen Core i7, Nvidia Optimus graphics/Intel HD graphics.

I've been running 2 external monitors (DVI) off my docking station for many months now. I took one of the monitors to a job, and when I hooked it back up, one of the monitors would only display black and white.

Switched cables (no change). Sounded like a driver issue, so I did a windows update (no change) then downloaded new drivers from nvidia.com and updated them, which was apparently a mistake, but made no difference. At that point, I tried to uninstall the new updates, but ended up deleting my nvidia control panel, along with the drivers. I've scoured Lenovo.com for these drivers, but can't seem to find them.

Now neither of my external monitors work, nor are they recognized in the Device Manager.

Need some help here - any suggestions about next steps? Need more info?

I miss my monitors!

[basketb]

If you go to the device manager (within Control Panel), then expand Display adapters. See what options are available and right-click on any/all of them and try to "Update Driver Software".

[yourippehdees]

Thanks for replying.

I just tried this - the only listed display adapter is Intel HD Graphics Family. Update driver says the driver is already up to date.

What's missing is the Nvidia drivers that used to be here. Not sure how to get them back, as Lenovo site doesn't seem to have them for Win7.

[Neil]

I think this is what you are looking for:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... D=DS018891

[yourippehdees]

This is for ATI drivers - I have nvidia Optimus hardware. I've not had luck finding nvidia drivers for Win 7 - found the control panel, but it's for XP.

[Neil]

Oops! So it is. I was thinking W500 the whole time. Now I see you have a W520. This should be the right one:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... D=DS014142

Unless you are running 32-bit Win7 for some reason. Then you will need: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... D=DS013693

[yourippehdees]

Nope, I'm running 64bit.

Just installed the driver. Unpacked files, screen flashed, had cmd window open, then nothing.

Went to the folder with the driver files, >C:\drivers\win\video\Nvidia> setup.exe - double clicked, then got the following error message:

NVIDIA Installer cannot continue
This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware.

That's curious.

[Neil]

Sure is...
Let's go back to square one...what is the seven character type number for your machine?
And, do you have System Update installed? If so, which graphics driver does it pull in?

[yourippehdees]

4270-CTO is the 7 digit code.

Ran System Update (which I didn't know existed until just now), but it doesn't show any graphics drivers in Critical, Recommended, or Optional tabs.

[Neil]

Thanks for the type number, but those CTO (Configure To Order) model numbers don't tell the whole story. In this case what we really need is the Product ID: 4270-???

[basketb]

Maybe check in the BIOS that the NVidia chip is not disabled?

[basketb]

Thanks for the type number, but those CTO (Configure To Order) model numbers don't tell the whole story. In this case what we really need is the Product ID: 4270-???

Why do you need that? (Is the product ID even different than 4270-CTO is this case?)
It's a W520, there are only two possible GPUs available:
Quadro 2000M and Quadro 1000M

[yourippehdees]

I have the Quadro 1000M. I did check the BIOS settings - it is not disabled. The nvidia options disappeared when I tried to roll back the driver and software updates I had done, and I uninstalled the nvidia control panel and drivers.

I've read on another forum that I should also uninstall the intel HD graphics family drivers, in order to get around the error message when I try to install the nvidia drivers, but I'm nervous about trying this - not sure what I'll be left with, and I'm already in a deep hole here.

[jcvjcvjcvjcv]

Then you'll be left with something that's graphically even slower...

Does a right click 'scan for hardware changes' produce anything?

[yourippehdees]

Scan for new hardware does not turn up anything that I can see. Certainly nothing in the Display Adapters category.

The idea behind removing the Intel driver, I think, is so that you can reinstall both nvidia and intel drivers. I was worried that there would be no video driver, but I'm guessing you will end up with a Windows default?